Chapter One

Exactly 14 Billion Years Ago Tomorrow

The entire universe was made up of only one thing and that thing had a name. It was called Singularity because it was singular, the one and only.

Singularity was almost infinitely small. Not quite all the way to infinity itself, but as close as anything has ever come or ever will come.

It had been busy for many billions of years, attracting at first the star systems and space dust that were nearby. But as it grew, so did its gravitational pull. Little by little it began to absorb stars by the thousands, then whole galaxies, then whole galaxies by the thousands.

It did this until there was nothing left to absorb and the universe was empty of everything.

At that point, the only thing left was for Singularity to squeeze itself into a smaller and smaller area. A force strong enough to cause the heavens to move now was focused on Singularity. It became smaller and smaller; more and more dense.

Something had to give. An explosion was imminent.

Watchers peered at Singularity even though they were not in the universe. They looked from another universe, one teaming with curiosity about the strange event which was about to occur.

The energy of a thousand suns was used to create a portal – a place where the inhabitants of the other universe could study Singularity. It allowed them to see and take measurements and learn about what was happening. They were almost in two universes at once.

But not quite because Singularity was alone. It had to be or the resulting explosion would be affected.

When the moment came, The Watchers realized they had made a mistake. It was a tiny one, on the order of one part in trillions. But the energy released by Singularity was so massive that this error was enough.

At the speed of light, Singularity exploded into the void, destined to again fill the universe. Some of it became matter.

Some of it was energy.

That was the problem.

3.8 Billion Years Ago

The small planet was just starting to form. It had only been a world for 200 million years, but already the land areas were mostly solid, the volcanos allowing the pressure underneath to be released into the cooler air.

The oceans shone blue from space. A single Watcher, necessarily alone, scanned the foreboding surface for a spot that could accept what he/she/it had to offer.

A suitable place was found almost right away, in less than a hundred million years. The Watcher lowered himself into the cavern, onto the warm floor below. The surface was moist with water, seeping through the rocks above. Chemicals gathered in a small pool at the bottom of an indentation. Lightning flashed almost constantly.

At just the right time, the Watcher touched the pool.

Sometime Right About Now

It was a beautiful night, totally clear but without a single star visible. That’s the way it normally is in New York.

I glanced at my new smart watch as I walked back towards my apartment. It was close to midnight and I had to work tomorrow. I’d been to a Mets game. It had been a good one with the Mets coming from behind, but I only saw about half the game. I found myself talking to a girl from the Fashion Mart for quite a while and she gave me her number.

I’d hoped that my best friend, Jane Mitchell, might want to go with me, but she sounded really bitchy when I called her. She listened to my invitation and then said just three words before hanging up on me. She could be that way sometimes.

Still, it was a good evening and, with any luck, I’d have a good day tomorrow. I liked my job. It gave me plenty of time to surf the net and study the box scores. Jane said I was lazy, but I think she was just pulling my leg. At least I hoped so.

I hit the hay about one and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow. Everything was as normal as it could be.

I don’t often remember my dreams, but I woke up in the middle of the night remembering this one perfectly. It wasn’t like a regular dream, it was a full on nightmare.

I’d been talking to someone at work. I didn’t recognize the person, but she knew me. I was confused and frightened because her lips were moving, but no speech was coming out. She sensed my uncertainty and put both of her hands on my head – one over each ear. Now when she talked I could hear and it was deafening. I shouted for her to talk quieter when her hands pressed against my ears with such force they disappeared inside my head. I could feel that she wanted to talk to me and tell me something.

That’s when I woke up. I was shaking.

I got up, got a glass of water from my tiny apartment kitchen and drank it in the bathroom as I stared at myself in the mirror. My watch said it was almost four.

Well, damn. I’ve got to get up in the morning. I turned off the lights and got back into bed. It took a bit longer than normal, but I was again soon asleep.

Until I had that dream again. Not exactly the same dream, but close. This time, I was here, at home. I was in bed. Some kind of glowing ball hovered over me. I saw my body lying there and smelled the ball. It had the scent of fire. Like before, I knew it wanted to tell me something.

The thing moved closer and closer to my body until it engulfed my head. That’s when I heard the voice. It said, “Can you tell me what two things make up the universe?”

In my dream state, the glowing ball around my head looked completely real, like some fire monster had decided to eat me. I became very, very frightened.

But that didn’t last long. For some reason, I felt myself relax. I could feel a line of spit drip out the corner of my mouth, but I didn’t have the energy to wipe it away. I felt like I couldn’t control my emotions, that one moment I was petrified and the next almost catatonic.

In my dream, I started to laugh.

I howled until the scene changed abruptly. I was no longer seeing my body from above. Now, I was in it and it was in my bed.

That was all normal, but what wasn’t normal was that I could feel something inside my head, something that actually spoke to me.

“My name is Brian A. Pearlmitter and I would like to reveal some things to you. Do not be afraid. What two things make up the universe? Think of my question and I will discuss it with you soon.”

The next thing I knew, my watch was beeping at me to get up and go to work.

Chapter Two

I spent a good part of the day going through the motions at my job and talking to myself.

I don’t normally spend a lot of time talking to myself, but it was that kind of day. At one moment, I was sure that all that had happened last night was just part of one of my strange dreams, and in the next moment my sore chest made me wonder why a dream would make me laugh until my sides hurt.

And what about the question that Brian A. Pearlmitter had asked me - all that stuff about what the universe is made of? At first, I refused to think about it. It was a dream, darn it - not worthy of a lot of thought. Best to let it fade from memory as dreams do.

But this dream didn’t seem like the fading type. I had a vision of myself thirty years later, still remembering the dream as clearly as if it had just happened last night.

I stared at my computer screen and determined that I would focus totally on my job that day. That wasn’t really normal for me, but after all, the company was paying me to do my job, not research what the universe was made of.

I was a worker drone for a successful technology company that sold millions of products a year. I was a Spreadsheet Maker. That wasn’t my real job title, of course, but it’s what I did. At the entrance to my little cubicle was a name plaque that said ‘Roger Seaton, Financial Analyst.’ I’d studied finance in college, but since I graduated and started with the company two years ago, I’d done almost nothing but make spreadsheets - and surf the web for the latest ball scores, celebrity gossip, and answers to questions like what the universe was made of.

And there I went again. All during the morning and afternoon, I tried to concentrate on creating my assigned spreadsheet. I had one to do today that compared payroll costs at one of our foreign factories in Asia, to our factory in India. It was a bit more complicated than most I did, and several times I had to delete whole columns of figures because my thoughts kept returning to the events of the night before. So, either through fatigue or just resignation, I finally gave in. To heck with the company - I had a universe to study.

A search for “what is the universe made of” made me quickly realize that this was the wrong question. Brian A. Pearlmitter had specifically asked “What two things make up the universe?” That’s a different question and the answers I found made a lot more sense. I should have remembered this from school. The answer was matter and energy. It was so simple. Everything in the universe could be classified as either a type of one or the other.

So now I had the answer, but I also had a feeling that something was missing. Why would I dream a question that I hadn’t thought about since high school physics? Why would the question be so easy to answer? After all, my internet search found it as the correct answer in hundreds of places on the web. If it’s on the web, you have to think that it’s true, right?

The rest of the day dragged by. I knew something was bothering me. It took a while, but eventually I realized I was worried about BP visiting me in my dreams again. In a few hours, I’d go to bed and I really, really didn’t want to dream about BP - yes, I had started calling him that in my head. His name was just too long and too much of a tongue twister. And what kind of name was Brian A. Pearlmitter anyway? BP would have to do.

By the time the train dropped me off and I made it to my apartment, I had a plan. I opened the cabinet above the sink in my kitchen and took out a bottle of scotch. It was about half full. I was pretty sure an ounce or two or three would help me sleep.

My normal 11pm bedtime came and went, but there were some very interesting news programs on TV and then I had to watch a monologue on one of the late shows. I told myself I wasn’t really avoiding going to bed; rather I was just letting myself get more tired so I’d sleep like a baby. And that’s what I did.

Until 4:13 that is. I woke up, rolled over sleepily to look at the clock and was just about to fall back asleep when I heard:

“I am sorry about last night. The first time I spoke, you were mostly wide awake, and I know I gave you quite a fright. The next time, I arranged for you to be more relaxed and almost asleep, but I overdid it and you were just giddy. How do you feel now?”

I felt scared but not hysterical; relaxed but with no desire to move. No words would come out.

“My name is Brian A. Pearlmitter, and I would like to reveal some things to you. I am not going to hurt you. You are safe. I just want to talk, and I want you to take my message and write it down.”

I could feel his grip on me loosen. This did two things - it allowed me to move a bit so that I could speak, and it increased my fear greatly. Whatever type of calming trick he was using apparently had to be calibrated just so - too much and I was a laughing idiot; too little and I was petrified and in danger of a heart attack.

I struggled to speak but mostly got out nonsense.

“Slow down and take your time. I will not hurt you. Can you tell me what two things make up the universe?”

All at once I regained control of my vocal chords and was able to answer, “Matter and energy!” I don’t know why, but it felt good to get that out. I started to lose just a tiny bit of my fright. I could actually talk and I could answer a simple question. I didn’t seem to be in any physical danger.

Except he wasn’t exactly satisfied with my answer. He said, “That is correct as far as you and your science know. But have you ever wondered why science so often offers such unfulfilling answers? This answer may appear to be true, but it still leaves a lot of questions, doesn’t it?

“I will provide you a different answer. It is the basis for knowing why the universe is the way it is. It is the basis for knowing why you are here and why things are as they are. It is the starting point from which you will see the real reason for everything.”

My fear was barely under control when I started to feel a bit annoyed. Who was this guy disturbing my perfectly normal sleep with his ravings about sharing a secret that would explain everything there is? And why me? Wasn’t there some other person out there who might want this type of information - perhaps someone in a mental institution somewhere?

My feeling of annoyance gave me courage. “Stop it. Go away and leave me alone. I don’t want you here. I may be going insane, but even if I am, I still don’t want you here.”

Silence reigned for at least a minute. It may have been much longer as I was motionless and couldn’t muster the will to move my head and look at the clock. He still seemed to have me under some kind of control.

“I am sorry. I can see I should have prepared you for the task ahead in a different manner. I underestimated your independent streak, and so I shall change my approach. You do not understand this yet, but I cannot predict exactly what you will do, and that is one of your most wonderful characteristics. So, I may make a mistake in our relationship now and then. Feel free to correct me.”

Now I was getting more than annoyed. “Relationship? We don’t have any relationship. I’m a free person, able to make up my own mind and do what I want. I don’t want you here. I don’t want to have these dreams when I should be sleep and, oh by the way, Mr. BP, I will not write down the things you say.” I had up a head of steam and saw no reason to hold anything back. “Now please get the hell out of my apartment and my dreams and my life and leave me alone!”

In all the hours and nights that came after this one, BP seldom displayed any overt emotion in his voice except for an occasional twinge of sadness or a bit of self-important smugness that really rubbed me the wrong way. However, I swear that his voice had a jolly sound to it when he replied:

“You really are perfect. I certainly started out on the wrong foot with you, but I did choose wisely when I picked you for this task. Now let us see if I can enlist your voluntary cooperation.

“I come to you on a very important mission. It is the most important mission in the history of the universe, destined to change mankind, to help it mature, and to realize its destiny. My Revelation will explain all this and more besides.

“All I ask of you is to listen to what I have to impart for a few minutes at a time. I guarantee you will find it at first interesting, and then later challenging. Yes, I would like you to write down what I tell you, but I should not have been so bold and thoughtless as to order you around - I should have asked. You have an independent soul, so I can understand your aversion to taking what may seem like an order. But you are also intelligent, so I should have simply assumed you would write it down. I think you will, but it must be because you decide to do it.”

I could feel my anger deflating, “So why me?”

“Well, why not you? You meet my requirements and I believe you will be able to act on what I tell you. The most important thing is that we seem to be able to communicate easily. You see, I do not belong here. In fact, I cannot live here for very much longer. I have to find someone to impart this knowledge to who can receive it, and I have to accomplish that before my time is up. I can feel that time approaching, so while there may be others who perhaps could accept this Revelation, you are the one I have found, and you are the one I must use. No . . . I should have said that you are the one I hope to work with.

“So here is what I propose: I will answer the question as to what two things make up the universe, and we shall be done for tonight. You think about the answer tomorrow along with the rest of our discussion, and then I’ll re-engage you soon. If you will spend a few more moments with me, I will start telling you what I need to reveal. However, if you want me to move on, I will attempt to find another person who has your ability to receive my Revelation and will trouble you no more.”

I could feel his grip loosening. At this point, my fright and aggravation were both on the wane. Now I felt a twinge of curiosity.

I paused again and then said, “Okay. So what is the answer to the question if it’s not matter and energy? What else could it possibly be?”

He said with absolutely no emotion in his voice,

“The universe is made up of two things - life and non-life.”

Chapter Three

The next day promised to be really crappy. I woke up tired from my session with BP - or from my latest hallucination - and hit the snooze button a few times, so I was late and had to rush. I hate that.

I think I was still in a daze as I took the train across town. I had hoped to think about things during the trip, but my mind seemed to be running at half speed from worry about what was happening to me. In the light of day, my dreams with BP seemed less real and more like symptoms of insanity. On top of that, the train was a bit late and that made me even later for work. The crappy elevator was slow and crowded as usual, and the entrance to my crappy cubicle was blocked by one of my crappy colleagues reminding me I had to go to a crappy meeting even before I could get some of the crappy office coffee. Yes, it really was starting out to be a craptastic day.

In the meeting, some skinny redhead from the HR department droned on for 30 minutes about “wellness.” She demonstrated how you could do a full set of exercises right at your desk without needing to leave the building or even go to a gym. I zoned out and didn’t listen to a word she said, but I did notice that she had good legs. I was watching them when she looked at me and smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a waste of time after all. I thought about looking her up one day to ask her to lunch.

Even with that smile, I became more than a bit impatient. She made us do a couple of the exercises and they did at least clear my head a bit, so that I finally could start to consider the problem at hand. After what seemed like an eternity, she did her finale with a couple of deep knee bends aimed in my direction and at last I was free to enter my cubicle.

I usually didn’t mind my little space. I had a filing cabinet, a decent desk, and a fairly modern computer that wasn’t monitored by anyone in the IT department. At least, I’d never heard any feedback about the websites I visited--and I visited a lot of them. Normally, it would take me a couple of hours to create some spreadsheet detailing some activity in the company. The company thought this should take a day, and so as far as they knew, it did. That gave me plenty of time to “expand my mind” as I called it. I’d read all the news sites, check out some pages in an e-book, watch an episode of X-Files and generally flit here and there on the net.

Really, I considered it a good tradeoff. The company wanted some meaningless task done and I wanted to see what was happening on some of my favorite sites. I just did their task quicker than required, leaving me time to do my mind expansion. Today, though, that episode of X-Files would just have to watch itself, as I was preoccupied with the universe.

But first I had to earn my keep. I dashed off a spreadsheet comparing the costs of three different shipping methods based on both weight and value of the products being shipped. It was a good analysis. It looked good, it was accurate, and it was totally meaningless in that no one would change their way of doing things because of it. Some mid-level boss would read it and pass it on to his boss, who would send an email back congratulating him on his insightful study. Both would forget the whole thing by tomorrow.

I did it in record time. Normally, I would have asked my friend and co-worker to double check it for me, but she was off for a couple of days. It didn’t matter.

Finally, I could concentrate on the things revealed by BP. I was in no way convinced that he was real, but somehow that prospect appealed to me more than the alternative - that I was suffering from some type of serious psychosis. I felt a shot of fear enter my bloodstream and I had a vision of myself mumbling incoherently while drool ran down my chin. I forced my attention back to the net.

I pulled the keyboard to me and did a search for “The universe is made up of two things life and non-life.”

I like to think of the internet as the “Magic Answer Box,” since you can find out just about anything and answer just about any question - all you have to do is know how to ask. In this case, my search came up with nothing relevant. Oh, it came up with lots of stuff, but nothing that directly addressed the concept of seeing all things in the universe as being either life or non-life. Was it possible that no scientist, philosopher or religious leader had ever explored and discussed this concept? If one had, I couldn’t find it.

And if no one had explored this concept, it might mean that the concept was so alien and likely so wrong as to not merit any serious discussion. After all, the concept assumed that life and non-life were different things, but I knew that wasn’t true. Creatures, whether they are tiny bacteria or humans, are made up of a series of chemicals that are themselves not alive. A human body, for example, is mostly made of water. That’s a lot of hydrogen and oxygen, but those elements aren’t alive. Water is water, whether it is in the ocean or in arteries. Just to be sure, a quick check of the net showed that blood is about 50% water. Ha! I was right. Life was made up of non-life and, therefore, the two were very much the same.

Even though my conclusion could be stated in just a few words, it took me most of the rest of that day to come up with it. I did quite a bit of reading on life and its origins, and my brain meandered all over the place looking at various possibilities - mostly as to how I would present my conclusions to BP.

As the day wore on, I became more concerned that he would return tonight and disturb my sleep again. I wanted to believe that last night was the last time that I’d have that kind of dream and that I was now “cured.” But if not, at least this time I’d be prepared to participate in a real discussion.

Chapter Four

That night, even though I was tired, I had trouble falling asleep. It seemed that having a heavy philosophical discussion with an unknown entity that speaks to you in your mind can throw you off your normal routine.

Eventually, I did fall asleep. The last time I looked at the clock it said 11:56, so I must have dropped off sometime after that. When I awoke, the clock read 5:14. I laid there waiting for BP to speak, but nothing happened.

“Hello,” I said. I tried saying it out loud and also in my mind. “Are you there?”

Still nothing.

I felt a bit relieved, but also let down. I had been prepared to discuss life and non-life, and now it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary. As crazy as it seems, I realized I was looking forward to having another little talk with BP - one in which I was able to participate.

But for whatever reason, it didn’t appear that was going to happen. Maybe he was too busy today. Or perhaps he had someone else to torment. It was also possible that it was just a dream all along, or that I was indeed going nuts. Any of those explanations might be true.

I sighed and got up. My sleep ration had been whittled down quite a bit over the last few days, but I was still too keyed up to drop back off.

I fixed my first cup of coffee and started to drink it while I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. I was trying to work up enough will to shave when I heard, “Hello. You have to write it down every day.”

I must have jumped a foot in the air. The coffee spilled all over my chest. And it was hot.

I toweled off and waited a moment for the pain to subside. “What do you mean, write it down?”

BP had a low rich voice, without any hint of an accent. He never raised or lowered his volume, but he would vary his pace so that he could show exasperation, impatience and sometimes even approval. Now he spoke slowly, so that even I would be able to understand. “We discussed this before. You need to write down what was said after each of our sessions so you will not forget them. You should try to write the words of my Revelation verbatim, but you can also write what it means and the effect it has on you - along with whatever else you think is important.”

I was feeling a bit cross now. “It already has had the effect of making me lose lots of sleep and burn myself. I don’t think I’ll forget that soon.”

He continued in a condescending voice, “You are not really burned, and we have discussed almost nothing so far. I doubt that the one single fact I have revealed to you would tax even your memory. But we will soon move into much more crowded airspace, and it will be necessary for you to write it down before we move on. It’s necessary for you do that now so that you get into the habit of doing so while it is still fresh in your memory.”

Now he was telling me what habits I needed to develop. I had to give it to him; he was one pushy voice in my head.

BP could be annoying at times, and this was one of them. I felt a flash of anger at being ordered around like a servant. “And what if I don’t develop the ‘habits’ you think are so necessary? I might jot some notes down and I might not.

“And by the way, I’m not even sure you’re real. You’ve got me wondering if I ought to drop by the company clinic and see if I can get a referral to a psychiatrist. Before you start ordering me around and before I consider cooperating with you, prove to me that you aren’t just a symptom of some weird type of mental illness. Do that and I’ll be more inclined to cooperate.” It felt good to push back on him a little bit. “And make sure your proof is airtight.”

I had come up with this idea last night. Either I was going insane or he was real. I couldn’t think of any other possibility. I had a couple of ideas as to how he might prove himself to me, but I didn’t need them.

He made a sound that resembled a sigh. “Is there a ballgame in Miami tonight?” he asked. It was a crazy question, but there was a game tonight. It was Braves vs. Marlins. I told him so. “What time?” he said.

I had no idea where this could possibly be heading, but I played along. “They start at 7:10 down there on weekdays,” I said.

He paused as if he were thinking, “Very well. At approximately 9:15, the game should enter the 7th inning. At that time, the official attendance for the game will be calculated and announced. I will be in the room where they make the calculation and will speak to you as soon as I know that number. It will be before they announce it publicly and long before the box score with it is published after the game. When I speak the number to you, write it down and then check it against the actual number later. It will be the same.”

Now that would be quite a trick. The Marlins had a big new stadium, but they were in last place, so their crowds could easily range from small to big and anywhere in between. If he came up with the exact attendance number before I could possibly have seen it, that would indeed be some powerful evidence that he was actually down there snooping - and thus he was real and not just a symptom of some serious mental illness.

“I accept your offer. If you can come up with that number, you must be real since I could never guess it on my own. I can’t see any other option.”

“Very well,” he continued, “I will do this for you, but please understand; if you will not cooperate in this endeavor, then I’ll have to do my best to find someone else. As I said before, if I cannot persuade you to write what is needed, then I must find someone who will.

“You do not understand this yet, but this is your destiny, and it is your burden to bring my Revelation to the world. When you do that, it must be done the right way and with the right words, otherwise you could do more harm than good. You will understand as we go along, but for now you need to simply do it the way I request or else we cannot proceed.”

And with that, my head was again empty. At least it was empty of his voice.

It must have also been empty of common sense because as soon as I arrived at work, I started to write down what had happened so far. I had decided to cooperate - at least until after tonight’s game.

It really didn’t take that long because it was all still fresh in my mind and also there wasn’t that much to write down. Aside from my fears and other reactions, BP hadn’t said all that many words and for some reason I could remember them perfectly. I typed it up as best I could. I was surprised to realize that it actually felt good to write it all down. After my stubbornness with BP, I hadn’t expected to find this chore pleasurable, but as it turned out, it was.

The rest of my workday was normal. I did a little company work and contemplated the universe.

That night, I had a date with Meredith MacFadden. She was an admin assistant to one of the VPs on an upper floor. She was a cute girl, and I’d flirted with her a few times on the train to work, but I was surprised when she called and asked if I’d like to meet for drinks tonight. I was pleased and told her I’d be glad to. Since we lived only about three blocks from each other, we agreed to meet at a little pub near our apartments.

I always left work about five, so I had plenty of time to take the train home, shower and put on fresh clothes before we were supposed to meet at seven. All the time I was going through this routine, my mind kept returning to BP and his Revelation.

It wasn’t really the content of it; I had spent enough company time in research to feel pretty confident that I could argue against this life/non-life way of thinking. It was the whole thing - having this voice appear and claim I was in some way special. Having it promise to reveal the purpose of life in the universe. And having him agree to prove that it was all real.

That last part was what was really weighing on my mind. If I was just imagining BP, then I had problems, and they were likely serious problems. But they would affect mostly me. If BP proved he was real, that meant that something seriously strange was going on that could affect lots of other people. I had a momentary mental image of large numbers of people reading BP’s Revelation and acting on it. I discarded that thought immediately; it was too silly to even think about. It was scary, too.

When I left to walk to the pub, I tried to force myself to think of Meredith, but thoughts of BP kept intruding. Was he in Florida right now waiting for the game to start? Could he actually look over the shoulder of whoever did the final attendance count and fly back to me and whisper that number to me in just a few seconds? I felt a rush of worry hit my stomach. I wondered if he could give me an ulcer.

It was a weekday, so the pub wasn’t too crowded, and I found a table with no problem. One side of the table had a couple of chairs and the other side had a long curved padded booth that was shared with several other tables. I sat on the booth seat. It gave me a good view of the bar and of the TV screens that were above it. Most had ballgames on, but none had the Marlins. All of them had a crawl at the bottom of the screen with scores, so at least I’d know when they got to the later innings.

At 7:08 Meredith showed up, so she was right on time. She saw me and walked over with a smile on her face. The weather was warm outside and she’d changed into a summer dress with a belt around her waist and sandals. It showed off her figure. She had always been pretty when I’d seen her on the train or at work, but she looked better tonight. Her blond hair was pulled back on both side sides with a French braid. It fell to her shoulders. She had a thin face and a longish nose. She’d used more makeup than she did for work and it worked for her.

She slid into the booth beside me. “You look great,” I said. It was the truth.

She laughed, “Yeah, I must. Some construction guys at the park whistled at me.” She paused, “Then they also whistled at a mother with a baby carriage, and at a lady cop, and at a grandmother with a walker. But I’ll take your word for it.”

So she had a good sense of humor. About that time a waitress came by. She ordered a Lemon Gingertini and I got a scotch. I could smell her perfume now.

“What’s a Lemon Gingertini? I’ve never heard of it.” I asked.

“Oh, it’s just some ginger syrup, lemon and gin. It tastes so good, and it’s got a kick. All my friends love them.”

I glanced up at the screen and saw that the game had started. There was no score.

The moment threatened to turn awkward with silence, so I asked her about work. “I know you work for one of the VPs way up in the clouds, but what does your office do?” It would at least get us talking.

“We’re in charge of compliance.” I looked puzzled and so she explained. “It’s just what it means. We make sure the company files all the reports and does everything that is required of us by one law or another. Did you know that our building has exactly 144 exit signs? And that each has a battery inside to light it up? And that each of these has to be tested every six months and each battery replaced every couple of years? And that we have to fill out a form for each one certifying that we checked it?”

I didn’t know that at all and told her so. “Well that’s what we do. We have a database of all the things that we have to comply with and we make sure we, well, comply. And don’t think my boss is special because he’s a VP. The company is overrun with them.”

Our drinks arrived and we continued our office gossip. It was what we had in common after all. But by the end of the fourth inning and our second drink, the conversation was flowing much smoother.

I ordered another round and a plate of appetizers. Meredith slipped closer to me because it was easier to share the plate that way.

She must have felt more comfortable because she said, “Roger, you’re a good looking guy. You’ve got great eyes and a great smile. You’re smart and fit, you’ve got a good job and you aren’t gay. Do you have a girlfriend?”

I wondered if she was applying for the position. I wasn’t expecting this. The TV showed the game had reached the top of the 6th.

“Err . . . well . . . actually no. I don’t have a girlfriend right now.” I didn’t say it, but I wasn’t looking for one either. The last time I’d been attached had made me appreciate unattachment.

“I thought you and that Jane Mitchell had something going on. I see you hanging out with her at lunch all the time.”

I was surprised that Meredith knew who she was. Jane was my best friend from work, but she was in the Finance department with me. I didn't think she had much contact with Compliance. “We’re just good friends, that’s all.” I might do just about anything in the world for her if Jane needed me to, but she wasn’t my girlfriend.

Meredith continued, “My boss used to think she was hot, but now he doesn’t like her. He used to have something to do with Finance, so that’s how he knew her. Ever since he took over the Compliance Department, he wants nothing to do with her.”

I wondered what had happened. “Jane can be a bit, well, headstrong. Not everyone will dig that I guess.”

She giggled then and excused herself to visit the ladies room. If she aspired to the position of girlfriend, I guessed she thought the coast was clear.

It was the top of the seventh. I felt the familiar sensation of BP entering my head. “Write this down,” he said. “18,239.”

I had a pen ready and wrote the number on a napkin and put it in my pocket. I felt anticipation, tinged with a hint of dread. I felt him leave me alone.

When Meredith returned, we finished our drinks with no further talk of girlfriends. Then the conversation wound down, and it was time to go. I stood up and took her hand to help her up. I would walk her home as it wouldn't be right for me to let her walk unescorted through the night in the city. We lived in a safe neighborhood, but I wasn’t stupid.

She put her arm through mine and we talked about this and that as we walked to her place. I had enjoyed myself and normally would have been glad to have a repeat performance in the future, but that girlfriend talk had put me off a bit. I’d have to think about it.

At her door, I gave her a kiss that was sweet and medium long. She gave me a hug and then turned around and went inside. I watched her and thought that I had really enjoyed that hug.

I took out the napkin from my pocket and wiped my lips with it. Some lipstick came off. I walked to the corner and pulled out my phone and brought up the box score for the game. It had ended a short while ago. It has lasted two hours twenty six minutes and the temperature was seventy nine degrees with no wind and the attendance was 18,239.

I walked back to my place with no thought of Meredith. BP was all that was on my mind.

Chapter Five

After his quick visit with the attendance number, BP left me alone the rest of the night. I still had a restless time however, because while I now felt at least somewhat confident that I wasn’t going stark raving mad, I still had a disembodied voice talking to me.

I got to the office a few minutes early the next morning planning to write up what had happened last night. I had written my notes about the challenge itself yesterday, but now I covered how it all turned out. Like before, it felt therapeutic to get the words on the computer screen. I wrote it all down, starting with my date with Meredith, to when BP gave me the attendance number, to how it felt when I found it to be correct.

I was just finishing up when Jane Jackie Mitchell walked into my cubicle. She liked to be called Jane (not Jackie, and certainly not Janie). “Someone is a busy bee,” she said. “What’cha up to?” She’d been off for a few days and I’d missed her.

She knew my habits and knew that it was not normal for me to actually start doing anything until after 11 a.m. or so. She outranked me at the company since she was a Senior Financial Analyst, yet she had the cubicle next to mine - though hers was slightly bigger. We would often proofread each other’s “work product” to make sure we didn’t make any typos, and also to chuckle at what the brain trust up the line thought was good work. She would be the one to notice that I was busy typing when I would normally be digesting the news, checking the ball scores, and generally jumping from here to there on the web.

“Ah…nothing,” I stuttered. I was the world’s worst liar and she knew it.

My answer would not do. It would not do at all. She looked down on me since she was standing and I was seated. She was pretty tall to begin with, but now she towered over me. My screen was at least partially visible to her, but I didn’t think she was reading it. Instead, her eyes narrowed and she stared directly at me, waiting for me to come to my senses and tell her what she wanted to know. She put her hands on her hips. That meant she was prepared to wait until I stopped being “cute.”

I felt a twinge of nervousness that grew by the second as she just stood there, staring. My mind struggled with what to do. I could tell her a lie, but I didn’t want to do that. She’d see through it anyway.

I could tell her I was just surfing for some stuff on the web, but the word processor document was clearly visible. I could tell her I was working on some work stuff, but I’d just written the part about kissing Meredith and wasn’t anxious to have her read that portion of my “work product.”

Instead, I decided to tell her the truth - or at least part of it. I clicked the minimize button and swiveled in my chair to face her head on.

“Now I don’t want you to spend your entire day busting on me, but I’m writing a book.” She hadn’t seen that coming and her eyes now went to my screen, but it was too late. My “book” was no longer visible.

So actually, it was quite easy. I ended up telling her that the book was going to be a real revelation, and that she could read it when I was done. She wasn’t against work itself, just useless company work. So my burst of creative energy actually raised my rep in her eyes a bit as I was instantly promoted from Ambitionless Slug, to Up and Coming Author. For the rest of the day, she was no longer suspicious if she heard me typing something, but now she was curious as to what I was writing. Since this Revelation was meant for Mankind, I thought that likely meant her too, so I figured one day I’d let her read some of it.

I felt like I had dodged a bullet because she only asked me about the book a few times the rest of the day. I held firm - I told her it was too early and that I’d tell her more when I was ready. Since she was higher up the food chain, she had to attend many more meetings than I did, so thankfully she was gone most of the afternoon.

Still, the day dragged on slowly. I thought it likely that I’d hear from BP tonight and I felt a mixture of anticipation and dread at the prospect.

Finally the clock read almost 5 and it was time to leave. Luckily, Jane hadn't returned from her meetings and I could escape further interrogation, at least for this evening. My luck continued on my way home, I caught a train right away and even found a seat. The elevator was waiting with an open door in my lobby and I went right up to my apartment. That didn’t happen often.

When I arrived, I filled up a glass with ice, poured a couple of ounces of scotch and dropped down into my easy chair. I had a sip or two when I was jolted by the sensation of BP entering my head.

“Thank you for writing down your thoughts. In the future, it will be important for your words to be accurately remembered. Are you ready to discuss my first Revelation?”

So this was it. I now knew that the voice in my head was probably real, so it was time to hear what it had to say. But not before I pointed out the problem with what he had told me earlier. If he wanted to reveal stuff to me, it had better be something good. I had built this moment up in my mind until it seemed like a contest between BP and me. And I intended to win.

“According to your Revelation, everything in the universe is either life or non-life. That was an interesting concept to consider, and I did consider it, but it’s lacking in one very fundamental way - life is not something separate from non-life. It is made up of non-life. I have water in me, for example. My blood is brimming with water, and water is not alive.

“Therefore, and without question, life cannot be something separate from non-life, and they can’t be the two different things that make up the universe.”

Just like that, with only eighty seven words, I had blown his whole “Revelation” out of the water. I waited for him to concede my point.

He didn’t concede, however, and instead answered, “Yes, it’s true. You have quite a lot of water in you, and water is not alive. In the same way, you have calcium, salt, and hundreds of organic chemicals that make up your body. They are not alive either. But you are alive, are you not?”

“Yes…” I said. I admit I had to think about it for a second since I didn’t expect that question.

But he wasn’t done. “So, if all your parts are non-life, then what makes you alive? What causes us to think of, for example, a lowly amoeba as being alive? It’s also made up of non-life.”

He didn’t wait for my answer. “We can take it even further. Suppose we take our little amoeba, the simplest single cell organism that is certainly alive. Suppose you disassemble it. You take apart all the pieces that make up the living amoeba and stack them to one side. Once you have torn it to non-living bits, I think you’ll agree it’s no longer alive, correct?”

I didn’t have to think long about this one. “Sure, if you take it apart, it won’t be alive.”

He was ready for me. “So, here is my next question for you.”

“Which part contained the life?”

Now, I’ve got to admit, I didn’t expect that question, but I did think of a darn good answer. At least, it seemed like one.

“Life is not a thing that is separate from its non-living building blocks. It’s simply a combination of the right materials that come together in just the right way. That’s the way life started on Earth, after all.”

“I see,” he answered in a smug voice that I would later learn to dread. “Let’s return to our pile of amoeba parts. All the parts are there. According to you, these parts are all that is necessary to make a living amoeba. In fact, until you took it apart just a few moments ago, these parts did make up a living amoeba.”

He paused for effect, damn him.

“So, here are the parts. Make one.”

If I had been fully in control of myself, my jaw would have dropped. “Make one? It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just take some pieces of a creature and stick them together and have it be alive. Life can only come from life.”

BP didn’t hesitate now. “You may be on to something there. But how about the first bit of life on Earth?”

I was getting flustered, but I did the best I could. “Well, the universe is about 14 billion years old. The Earth is about 4 billion years old and the earliest life sprung up on Earth almost immediately. It didn’t take long for life to get started.”

“So you say. Tell me how it happened.”

“No one knows for sure, of course.” I was feeling a bit more in control since I had spent a good part of a workday reading all about this stuff on the Magic Answer Box. That’s why I knew those numbers off the top of my head. “But scientists have studied this extensively, and it seems logical that the combination of temperature, moisture, and chemicals were all just right on the early Earth for life to form. They know that lightning probably played a part in it as well.”

“Just like it did with Frankenstein,” he said.

I knew he was making fun of me with that remark, but now my head had started to spin, and I couldn’t think of a good reply.

“Thus according to you and your scientists, life started with relative ease and would have presumably existed on other planets with environmental conditions similar to Earth.”

I was starting to feel like my certain victory over BP was slipping away, but I managed to say, “Yes, that’s the current thinking.”

He didn’t hesitate at all, “Ok then, I have a few questions:

“If it is so easy for life to rise out of non-life, then why have there been no other instances on Earth where life appeared spontaneously? According to those same theories you cite, all life on Earth appears to have descended from a single ancestor. The first one to speculate that this was the case was Charles Darwin over 150 years ago. It became known as the Universal Common Ancestor theory. This was one point in which Darwin was completely correct.

“So, you and your scientists believe that life must be common not only on Earth, but also on other similar planets because it will tend to just pop up whenever conditions are right. Yet you also believe that it happened only once on Earth.

“So then, why have we not we seen other eruptions of life on Earth that cannot be traced to a single ancestor? After all, we know the Earth is suitable for life. We don’t know that about other planets. If it is almost destined to happen when all the right ingredients are handy, why hasn’t it happened many times on Earth? Why didn’t it happen spontaneously last week somewhere?

“And while we are at it, why have scientists spent the last fifty years confidently predicting that they will create life in the laboratory sometime soon, yet as much as they try to coax their beakers of non-living chemicals to come together and become life, they have failed.

“It is certainly not due to lack of effort. Hundreds of scientists have spent millions of dollars and dozens of years trying to perform the trick they claim will happen almost automatically if conditions are right.

“It appears we come down to two opposing beliefs: first, that life will appear whenever conditions are right and thus will be common, and second, that life only has sprung up one time on Earth - a spot where we certainly know for sure that conditions are right. This implies that life is rare and uncommon.

“I am feeling a bit confused, but perhaps you can help me with this - does it hurt to hold two opposing beliefs in your head at one time?”

By this point, my head was starting to hurt for sure and his sarcasm didn’t help. Now, I was the one who felt like he’d gone a few rounds with the champ; I was reeling. Was the spontaneous generation of life common or rare? Those seemed to be the only two choices.

Before I could stammer out some response, he said, “I think that is enough for now. But let me leave you with a summary of this Revelation. This will help as you write down your experience. You started by asserting that life was not special because it is made of non-life. That is not true. Life is special. The fact that an amoeba is made of non-living chemicals does not mean that those chemicals are alive, and yet our amoeba contains something else that does make it alive. Remember, life is special. It is one of the two things in the universe.”

And with that I became fully in control of myself again. This appeared to be a lengthy session but it only lasted a few minutes in real time. Just enough for the ice cubes in my scotch to melt.

Chapter Six

Our next “session” didn’t happen until two days had passed. The first night that BP didn’t make an appearance, I slept right through until the alarm woke me for work. I was just that tired. The next night I wasn’t as exhausted, so I woke up several times expecting to feel that sensation in my head that signaled the return of BP.

When the alarm went off, I awoke half relieved and half disappointed. I was relieved that for two nights, I’d managed to sleep without waking up with some disembodied voice talking to me in my head - but I also had to admit that I was disappointed that BP was silent and hadn’t explained more of his Revelation. It appeared that I’d just have to wait until he was ready.

I didn’t have to wait long. I was sitting on the side of the bed getting ready to get up and make coffee, when I felt that pressure in my head that signaled his presence and heard him say “I am prepared to continue my Revelation. Have you any questions before we get started?”

In reality, I had thought quite a lot about what he said in our last session. It seemed to me that he was implying that the scientific belief that life started spontaneously on Earth was wrong. I had spent a few hours at work researching this subject and found that there were lots of people who didn’t believe life just happened on Earth. Most of them seemed to be either religious or nuts or both. While BP offered no real proof of his Revelation, I had to admit that his point about scientists failing to duplicate the “formula” for life was a good one. I decided to start there.

“You say that scientists are mistaken in their belief that life just started by itself on earth; that one piece of evidence that they are wrong is the fact that they have been unable to duplicate the creation of life in the laboratory. I don’t see how this makes their theory necessarily wrong. After all, it could simply be that the formula for life is complex and they haven’t yet stumbled upon the right combination of ‘things’ that will result in new life. Scientists know a lot about the early Earth; how it was made, what the conditions were like, the fact that there was a lot of water and that it was warm. Since we know that life appeared at that point, what else could cause it other than the natural combining of chemicals and energies in just the right way?”

I was proud of myself for this latest gambit. Those company hours spent on the Magic Answer Box had really paid off.

He hesitated for a half second and then replied, “I will answer your last question, but not today. That will come later. Instead, please tell me, how does a weatherman know that his forecast of rain tomorrow is correct?”

He had just shown two of his annoying habits. First, he answered my question with another question; second, he asked a question so far out in left field that it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the topic at hand. Yet somehow, he always managed to make his crazy questions relevant.

I couldn’t think of anything else to do other than to play along. “Well,” I said, “They study cold or warm weather fronts. They study the winds and atmospheric pressure and all kinds of stuff. Then they combine all this into a forecast based on their knowledge about how weather works. If the forecast says it’s likely to rain tomorrow, then there’s a very good chance it will rain.”

BP took his turn. “A brief explanation, but good enough for our purposes. Now let us go back in time to the year 1300 BCE. Imagine that you are a member of a tribe made up of a few hundred individuals living in what is now Egypt. Your tribe grows crops. Some of these crops you eat, some you trade to other tribes and some you feed to your animals. It is a balanced and overall good existence.

“Except that every so often the rain does not come and the crops fail. When this happens, people starve or leave in search of a better place, and the population of the tribe declines. Being human, the people of the tribe search for an explanation. Since they know nothing about modern weather science, they cannot blame their misfortune on a stubborn low pressure area in an ocean hundreds or thousands of miles away - an ocean that they don’t even know exists.

“Instead they believe that the weather is controlled by a God or gods. There would simply be no other explanation that would make any kind of sense to them. And if their fate was in the hands of the weather God, then it would seem logical that their lack of rain was because of some misbehavior on their part. Perhaps the God was jealous of their bounty and wanted some of it. Perhaps they had not been sufficiently pious in their religious observances. All they could know for sure is that their God was displeased and that He was punishing them.

“That’s where the priests would come in. They could answer the question as to why God was displeased. And they could make it up to Him so that the rains would return. Certainly they could make offerings to this God. They could sacrifice animals or even members of the tribe in an attempt to please Him. They could double the amount of time they spent in prayer or double the amount of money the people spent on the priests. And sooner or later, the priests would be proven correct; the rains would return.

“When we look back on that time, we might shake our heads in embarrassment for your poor ancestors. But their priests actually did the best that could be done. Like your scientists today, they could only develop an explanation for the lack of rain based on what they knew. Since they didn’t understand anything about how weather actually worked, they had to find some other answer. And thus the answer was that God made it rain or not rain based on how the people behaved. Their answer was wrong, but this fact could not be discovered until human knowledge had increased enough to explain and predict weather events.

“So you see where we are heading here? Science is, at its most basic, an attempt to understand the workings of the universe. And modern science has learned a lot in a very short time. But it is this success that tends to obscure the fact that there is a knowledge horizon. On one side of that horizon, your scientists have knowledge and understanding. On the other side, they lack knowledge and so they guess. Some of these guesses may be right and some may not, but those guesses can only be based on what science is already certain of.

“Therefore, when presented with the question about how life started on Earth, scientists can only consider what they know to be true. They know the temperature, the elements on the earth, the volcanoes that were erupting, the lighting in the sky – these are the things they know existed on the early Earth. Thus, it seems to them that life had to come from those things. Since there was no God to bring these bits of non-life together and breathe life into them, it must have happened spontaneously and all by itself. Given their present level of knowledge, there is no other explanation.

“However, this explanation has proven to be very stubborn when it comes to actual proof. After all those years and all those scientists trying all those experiments, their Petri dishes are still empty of man-made life. This is a major embarrassment on the same order as the embarrassing guesses from our priests from 1300 BCE. Actually, it may be worse than the priests, since they did seem to get the rains to start again, while your scientists have nothing to show for their efforts.”

He had stopped talking, but I could still feel him in my head, listening. I thought for a minute and then said, “I understand your point. You’re totally right that scientists can’t really be sure of anything until they have an understanding of how things actually work. And okay, so they are forced to make educated guesses. These are called theories. So how about my other point? It may just be that life did in fact simply self assemble under just the right conditions, and that those conditions are so rare and complicated that we might not duplicate them in a thousand years of experiments.”

And with that he left my brain. He would often abruptly end one of our trance sessions without a word of goodbye. I don’t know if he got physically tired or was just tired of dealing with me or if he felt I had absorbed all I could handle in one session. Either way, there would be no more of the Revelation today.

I was actually kind of let down that this session was over. I wanted to know the answer to my question.

Chapter Seven

I spent the better part of the next morning at work typing up my notes on the latest portion of the Revelation. This was, by far, the longest session - not in time probably, since they all seemed to be done fairly quickly, but in content. I wondered if BP was somehow speeding up our interactions so that he could fit in a lot of information in a short amount of time.

While I was typing away, Jane came over to get me for lunch.

“It’s time for the Office Buddy Corporate Meeting and Lunch Date,” she said. “Come on Rog, get your head out of your you-know-what and let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, four of us would meet for lunch, usually at the company cafeteria. We called ourselves the “Office Buddies” and generally had a good time gossiping about company politics and laughing at those who played that game. I always enjoyed these lunches and didn’t mind how long they took since their ending meant the time of the day had arrived when I would probably have to do some company work.

We were lucky that the company was doing so well. Actually, the company was rolling in money; so much so, it hardly had any idea what to do with it all. It seemed to just pile up over time. I was in finance and wondered sometimes why they didn’t invest a bit more of their hoard, but if they had, it likely would have been more work for me and less time to eat nice lunches. So really, I was okay with it.

I must admit that they were not shy about spending some serious money on the cafeteria. That’s a common name for a common place to eat, but this place was anything but common. Think of a trendy coffee shop inside a fancy steakhouse inside a high end produce market, and you would begin to get the idea. The place was huge and had just about everything.

There was a large area labeled “Organic” where they had salad stuff. Right next to it was “Salads,” which also had salad stuff that I guess wasn’t organic. I never knew why they had both.

Further along, you would find several entrees of the day including things like stuffed cabbage, Tikka Masala, steak with blue cheese topping and whatever else the several chefs dreamed up for that day. The head chef had a column in the company newsletter and often told us all about the trials of finding just the right ingredients for his dishes. The average cost for a complete lunch was about $5, which along with the great food, explained why the place was so popular. Signs were all over the place from the HR department reminding us to “Eat Healthy Because Food Becomes You.”

I grabbed a burger and salad and looked around for my friends. I saw Jane sit down and headed over to join her and the other Office Buddies. We had our normal table for four. The other three had arrived before me. I didn’t like to be the last to arrive.

Jane was the leader of the group. Oh, we never had an election or anything, but she just was born to take charge. We all knew she was the leader and we were all comfortable with it. That was just the way things were. It was just as natural as the sun rising in the East and, for us, just as inevitable.

She had just turned thirty and grew up outside of Atlanta. She had thick, dark hair in a short stylish cut. She was actually pretty in a tomboy kind of way with a large mouth, a sharp nose, and expressive brown eyes. She was tall at 5’10” and was probably a bit thin, though she never seemed to be on a diet. I thought she looked fine. She had a southern accent that varied in intensity based on who she was talking to. With us, it was obvious and cute. In a meeting with some higher ups, it could be almost undetectable. But it was always there at some level. I think the prejudice that many Ivy League grads who run highly successful companies have against people from the south may have hurt her a bit in the company. She could have risen higher - and might yet - as she was also the smartest of our group. But she had a flaw. She saw the idiocy of many of those higher ups and it was hard for her to play the game and suck up to them. Still, I didn’t count her out and thought she’d be my boss’s boss one day at the least. I know she dated regularly, but at last report, she said she was “between beaus.”

As I arrived, I saw that Matt Shively was sitting behind a tray sparsely filled with yogurt, fruit and some applewood bacon chicken salad. Matt didn’t say a word, and we didn’t expect him to. Instead he closed his eyes, bowed his head and said a short silent prayer. When he opened his eyes, he smiled. Matt was religious and didn’t mind talking about his faith at all, but he seldom was the one to bring it up. He was very comfortable with us though and didn’t hesitate to pray with us there. We all liked him.

He was in his early forties, was thin and had one of those beards that was supposed to be close cropped, but in his case was just sparse. His hair was also starting to thin a bit at the top, and we often teased him about that. It was otherwise long and he normally wore it in a ponytail. Matt could be a lot of fun and had the smarts since he was a programmer, but there was often a hint of an almost nervous sadness about him. He wasn’t really happy at this job and it seemed to have affected his marriage. He and his wife were getting counseling from their pastor, and we all wished them well.

To Matt’s right sat Allen Olman. Allen was “over sixty” and that made him one of the oldest people in the room - heck, probably in the company. This led to his nickname of Old Man. A high tech company like ours was full of thirty year old wunderkinds; older folks didn’t get hired all that often. Just an oversight, I’m sure. Allen had a grown daughter, but he didn’t talk much about her.

He had picked out the steak lunch today. That cost a bit more, but he could likely afford it since I’m sure he made more than any of the rest of us. He was in sales, and I didn’t begrudge him a cent. If you made your numbers in sales, you were treated like a king and were handsomely rewarded. But those numbers went up every year, and every year it got harder to get over the top. Finance people much senior to me created spreadsheet after spreadsheet that really did matter - they predicted exactly how many sales a guy like Allen would make if he worked himself to exhaustion for sixty hours a week. And then they added on 10% just to make sure. If sales were below the expectations of these financial wizards, he would be treated not like a king, but like the king’s slow stepson; still taken care of, but not respected. If sales were too much below the numbers on that spreadsheet, he’d be treated like he had betrayed the king and would be beheaded. Actually, he’d be “let go.” His name would appear on the list of “Hellos and Goodbyes” in the company newsletter and after that it would be like he’d never existed. I think Allen enjoyed our Office Buddy lunches because he could relax and not have to act like a highly paid high tech salesman. Also, this year had not been a good one for him, so he was glad to have friends that didn’t measure his worth by how many sales he brought in. My guess was that he had descended to stepson territory in the company - surely not a fun place to be.

Arriving last, I took my seat at the table. Allen, Matt and Jane all looked up and smiled at me without words. A formal greeting wasn’t necessary since I was with my best friends and we were close enough not to have to fill every sliver of silence with chatter.

As for me, I was getting ready to enjoy a burger with my friends, and lately I had been hearing the voice of an unknown entity who was giving me his Revelation. But I still had a life to lead, so I took a bite of that burger. As usual, it was great.

Chapter Eight

Allen might have been a bit behind quota, but he was still a salesman, so you can understand why the first thing that was said at our Office Buddy lunch was, “So how’s the book coming?” Leave it to him to say whatever was on his mind.

And leave it to Jane to blab my secret to my friends. I shot her a look that must have surprised her in its intensity as she looked away. I hadn’t asked her specifically to keep my fling with writing to herself, so of course she’d told Matt and Allen all about what had happened.

“Well, I see Janie has been filling you all in on our office pillow talk.” She hated to be called Janie.

Matt snickered and Jane even smiled sheepishly. Matt said, “You should know you can’t keep a secret from our friend Janie here. She’s got the eye of an eagle and the ear of a deer.”

“And the tongue of a rattler,” I added.

That tongue went to work, ignoring my dig, “Come on Rog, tell us what it’s about. We’re dying to know.”

“Yeah,” Allen chimed in. “Is it a bold and sexy story of office intrigue in an ultra successful high tech company?”

“Wait,” said Matt. “I’ll bet it’s the story of a lowly junior financial analyst who claws his way to the top by engaging in office intrigue in an ultra successful high tech company.”

They really were comedians. Or so they fancied themselves.

They were all grinning at me, so it seemed like it was my turn. “Ok, smartasses, so you know what I’m doing. I’m doing it because I’m sure that most people dream about writing a book and I’m just the one of us who is skilled, motivated and determined enough to get it done.”

Jane was the first to leap for this bone, “Uh huh, so what’s the real reason?” She stared at me and continued, “And you didn’t tell us what it’s about.” Now they were all staring at me.

I should have shut them down right there with a gentle “mind your own business” approach and said no more, but I instead blurted out something that would later lead to some serious complications for me. “Look. I can’t tell you much about it right now. It’s complicated and I’m not sure exactly where it’s going, but I think I do have this book in me and if you want - and when I’m ready - I’d like all of you to read parts and make suggestions.”

At the time it didn’t seem like a big deal. My notes were piling up and BP promised to keep the Revelations coming; so it seemed reasonable to get some help from my friends if they were willing to give it. Since I didn’t know the nature of the coming Revelations, I couldn’t have known what effect they would later have on all of us.

We finished another Office Buddy lunch on a pleasant note after they extracted a promise that I would at least update them on my progress at each of our meetings. They all were anxious to get some pages to start reading so they could make snarky comments - at least that’s what they thought.

I was actually pleased. In some way, knowing about BP all by myself was a burden and the prospect of being able to share a bit of what I was being told was at least slightly comforting.

I had thought this through ever since I’d confessed to Jane that I was writing a book. I knew my friends would be very curious and I wasn’t planning on outing myself as a nut. I fully intended to write my notes I shared with them in such a way as to make it clear that BP was just a literary device and not the voice inside my head that he actually was.

After our lunch I returned to my cubicle and congratulated myself on how I’d handled this. I thought I had things under control. I didn’t know how wrong I was.

Chapter Nine

The weather was warm that evening and after I returned from work I decided to visit the park across the street from my apartment building before going inside. After our lunch meeting, I’d been thinking more about BP and what he was revealing. On top of that, I’d been wondering about a sensation I was having inside my head near the spot off to the right side where I heard BP. It was hard to describe - it wasn’t a pain like a headache, or even a physical feeling at all as far as I could tell. I was just, well, aware of that spot inside my head.

I had gone through a fitness phase a year or so ago when I was going to a gym. For some reason that was not at all clear to me now, I had wanted a pair of six pack abs. So four times a week, I paid a trainer to help me with my ab exercises. She would chart my progress and make comments about how much better I looked. I wasn’t sure I was really getting my six pack, so I lost interest and quit after a month or so. I did date her a few times though and that was nice.

My head felt a little like my stomach after one of those sessions. My ab muscles weren’t sore nor were they even particularly tired, but I could just feel them down there. It was like they were now more sensitive.

That’s kind of how that spot in my head felt. It wasn’t much - just a general sensitivity that I could barely feel. I wasn’t even totally sure it was there. It could have been my imagination or it could be something more. I thought once again about hearing voices in my head and wondered if I might have a tumor of some kind. That might also explain the feeling inside my head, but that explanation didn’t seem likely since I was young and healthy, and BP had proven to me that he was real.

I was thinking about all this while I walked around the little path in the park. I must have been really thinking hard because when I stopped walking, I was staring at a little girl playing in a sandbox. I hadn’t even noticed the other people who were enjoying the nice weather at the park.

“You can sit if you want. You look like you’re lost in thought and you might trip over a baby or something.” I turned to see a nun sitting on the park bench grinning at me. She was obviously watching the little girl who was digging holes in the sand. There was a church right around the corner and they must have had a school in it, because I saw nuns herding kids in my neighborhood all the time. I’d never talked to one though.

“Thanks. I will. Sorry, but I was zoned out thinking about work today.” I was a little embarrassed for walking around like a zombie.

“I’ve done the same thing many times,” she said as she smiled at me. She had a pretty smile that lit up her full face. She was young - probably about my age. She wore a nun's habit with a black vest, a white shirt and a longish black skirt along with the headgear that covered her hair and ears - I didn’t know what that was called. She had sandals on her bare feet.

I looked at the little girl. She was still digging in the sand, intent on her own work. “That’s Adelle. I’m her teacher. She’s autistic and part of our program is to get these kids out so that they can interact with other people. You can tell her hello.”

I reached out my hand to her and said, “Hello Adelle. How are you?” She seemed to take no notice of me and continued digging. When one hole reached hard ground below the sand, she’d start another.

“There are various types of autism. With Adelle, she lives in her own world inside her head. She knows I’m here, and if she needs me, she’ll come to me or ask for help. She doesn’t know you and probably takes no notice of you - it’s kind of like the traffic noise. It’s there, but we learn to tune it out and not even notice it.”

The thought of that sweet little girl being trapped inside a closed world seemed very sad to me. “Can you help her?” I asked.

She sensed my concern and smiled at me again. “Maybe. Sometimes they just grow out of it and slowly start to interact in our world until they live in it full time just like we do. I really don’t know how much our therapy helps - no one does - but regardless, sometimes they get better.

“I’m worried about Adelle though. She’s nine and usually if they are going to outgrow this problem they start to get better about now. I don’t see many hopeful signs in her. But I’ll keep trying.”

And I had been worried about a silly phantom feeling in my head. She must have sensed what I felt because she changed the subject. “I’m Sister Mary Celeste.”

“I’m Roger Seaton. I’m glad to meet you Sister.”

“Oh, you can just call me Celeste. We modern nuns aren’t too picky about titles.”

I watched Adelle as she started to fill in the holes that she had dug. I felt small compared to this young nun. At twenty five, I’d done almost nothing with my life and here she was working to save children with bad diseases. I looked at her in admiration and asked what was on my mind. “Why did you become a nun?”

Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Roger, you must be a fun date. You just ask a girl the most personal questions. Most people I meet probably wonder that same thing, but they are afraid to ask. I’m glad you’re not.

“It’s simple really. I became a nun because God called me. Now, he didn’t shout at me or talk to me directly, but ever since I was a teenager, I just felt Him and knew what He wanted me to do. Maybe that’s the same as talking to me, I don’t know. As soon as I was old enough, I went through the process to take my vows. I’ve only been a nun for about a year, but I love it and I love working with these kids that need us.”

It was a beautiful story and I told her so. We talked for another few minutes about me, but our conversation always returned to her ‘kids’ as she called them.

Soon, it was time for her to go. “Please come to the church sometime, Roger. Even if you just sit in the pews all by yourself, it’s worth it. It’s a beautiful building. I’ll say ‘hi’ if I see you there.”

She stood and I looked down at little Adelle again and put out my hand to her to say goodbye. She had been filling in the holes, but this time when I looked at her my sight was clouded. There was a pale, almost gauze-like haze that was obscuring my vision – I could see my hand clearly, but everything beyond it was cloudy and indistinct. I wondered if some type of city pollution had gotten in my eyes.

I blinked and willed my vision to clear and it did. I could see Adelle clearly now. She turned to me and put her little hand in mine.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Celeste. “You really do have a way with the girls, Roger. I’ve never seen her reach out to a stranger that way.”

She pulled Adelle to her and gave her a big hug. “I love you,” Sister Mary Celeste said.

Adelle responded with what sounded like, “too.”

Celeste smiled at me with a dazzling smile and walked off, holding Adelle by the hand. I could hear her sandals flipping and flopping. “Bye bye, Roger Seaton. I hope to see you again.”

I hoped to see her one day too. As I walked to my apartment, I realized that the feeling in my head was more pronounced.

When the weather was good like it was tonight, I had a habit of sitting on my little balcony on the sixteenth floor. No one would think my little one bedroom apartment was anything special, and the balcony was just large enough to hold a couple of lawn chairs - I’d sit on one and put my feet up on the other.

Even though it was small, I really enjoyed the view as it overlooked the park across the street. It was the same park where I’d just met Celeste and Adelle. At least I could see a good bit of the park - about a third of it was hidden behind another hive-like apartment building across the street.

On that Friday night, I was sitting there listening to the traffic sounds, looking at the bench where I’d sat with Sister Mary Celeste and enjoying an after work scotch. I had worked like a dog after lunch. I had two meetings and spent about forty minutes on a spreadsheet that predicted how much costs would go up on one of our products if the price of plastics went up. It was straightforward and took about ten minutes to create and thirty more to make it look impressive. Jane thought it was fine and when I sent it up the line I received an “atta boy” email from my boss. Anyone could see why I would be bushed.

I got into kind of a mellow mood and wondered if this would be a good time for BP to make his next appearance. I couldn’t sense him, so I just watched the people in the park far below. Some people were jogging on the path that circled around the park. I couldn’t see the whole path, but I could see the runners disappear behind the building obstructing my view and then reappear a few minutes later.

There were three baby carriages with three mothers or perhaps nannies. I looked carefully trying to tell one from the other, but at this distance I couldn’t. Over in the corner, three workmen dug at a hole. There was a tree standing up beside them. The city was always putting things into the park or taking them out. I guessed this was a new tree that was being planted according to some arcane master plan. I wondered why they were doing it at this time of the evening.

“Do you have any questions from our last session, or should I move on to answer the last point you made?”

BP sounded like he was all business this evening. I was thankfully no longer fearful, but I always got a start when he popped into my head.

I’d been prepared for this moment. “You ended our last session,” I replied, “after I had made the very good point that perhaps scientists have failed to create life because the requirements to do this are so specific and complex that they simply have not discovered the right procedure. Let’s go on from there.”

He answered, “All right, we shall. Have you ever cooked a turkey dinner?”

Oh boy. Here he went again with the crazy questions. I thought about taking a gulp of scotch, but decided to wait until BP left. “No, can’t say as I have.” If he had a point, I wished he’d just make it.

Finally he started, “Let’s see if we can agree on the basics of your argument. You believe life started on Earth spontaneously; that once the correct recipe of materials, temperatures and procedures all came together in just the right way, life just started. In effect, it self-assembled.

“And we have not seen it start again in such a way, either naturally or in the laboratory, because this recipe is complex and can’t be easily duplicated. Therefore, the more complex the recipe, the less likely it is to be discovered and thus scientists, though diligently trying, can’t be faulted for failing to prove their theory of the creation of life. Is that about it?”

I studied his statement from a couple of angles and could find no problems with it. “I agree. That’s a good summary.”

He continued, “So let us consider a different kind of recipe. Have you ever heard of Thompson’s Turkey?

I searched my memory, but came up empty. “No, I don’t think I have.”

“The recipe for Thompson’s Turkey will, if followed correctly, result in what I understand to be a roasted turkey unmatched for its deliciousness.

“But this meal is not often made because it has so many ingredients, and its instructions are time consuming and exacting. Besides a twenty pound turkey, you need oil and salt and black pepper. You will also have to have on hand some bay leaves, paprika, ground coriander, garlic, and salt.

“And you are just getting started. Next, you will need an apple, an orange, crushed pineapple, a lemon, drained water chestnuts, ginger, mustard, and of course, caraway, poppy and celery seeds.

“Add to this oregano, mace, parsley, garlic, cloves, turmeric, several onions, a lot of celery, marjoram leaves, savory, thyme, sage, bread crumbs, ground veal, ground pork, butter, 12 egg yolks, onion juice, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, flour, cider, water and, of course, heat.

“Once you have assembled all the ingredients, you are ready to begin. First, you make the dressing which requires four separate bowls; each filled with just the right ingredients, in just the right proportions and added in just the right order.

“Those four bowls need to be mixed to make the dressing - again in just the right way - and now you are ready to prepare the turkey. This, of course, requires several exacting steps as well. Once all this is done, your turkey needs to be cooked at three different temperatures during different phases of its preparation.

I listened in amazement and before I could stammer out an objection, BP continued, “As you can see, I have described an example of a complex recipe.”

Actually, he had described the most insanely complex recipe I’d ever heard of.

“But consider that Thompson’s Turkey has a grand total of forty five different ingredients and requires processes that could be accomplished in your own little kitchen. Our tiny single celled amoeba has at least 209 billion DNA base pairs along with untold number of other chemicals that make up the creature.

“Compared to what it takes to make a living amoeba, the Thompson Turkey recipe is beyond childlike in its simplicity. Remember, you agreed that the more complex the recipe, the less likely it would assemble itself without outside help.

“So, if the Thomson Turkey recipe is at least thousands of times simpler than one for a living creature, and since you believe the much more complex amoeba sprung forth by self assembly, then why do we not see this meal make itself now and again?”

I opened my mouth to object, but realized I had nothing to say. I was struck speechless.

But that didn’t stop him from continuing, “Know this: the only way our Thompson Turkey recipe gets made is if humans will it to happen through their actions. And now here is the next part of my Revelation. Life and non-life are the two things that make up the universe. They are NOT the same thing. Life is very, very different from non-life, as you will shortly learn.

“And life did not spontaneously appear on the Earth. It was put here and it was put here for a reason.

“I know because I am the one who put it here.”

And with that I returned to full awareness. It had gotten cool outside and the sun was down. I was quiet and somber the remainder of the evening as I tried to come to grips with this latest part of the Revelation. I finally fell into bed, and when I awoke at the normal time in the morning, I had kicked all the covers off the bed and was cold. This type of nighttime thrashing was not normal for me. If I had been dreaming, I didn’t remember a thing.

Chapter Ten

After I typed up my notes over the weekend from our last encounter, I looked and actually found that Thompson’s Turkey recipe on the internet. BP had certainly described it accurately - this was the most complex recipe I’d ever seen. I started to understand his point that the recipe for life was far more complex than even this crazy turkey recipe.

BP was claiming that life didn’t start by itself on Earth. Today, that sounded kind of quaint, but I was pretty sure that this would have been a very common belief a hundred years ago. In comparison, the theory that life could start when all the right pieces lined up in just the right way was a pretty new concept.

At first, I just wanted to reject this part of BP’s Revelation, but after some thought I became more comfortable with it. After all, did it really matter how that first little bit of fledgling life started a little less than four billion years ago? And what difference might it make if he claimed he put it here himself? None at all that I could see.

There was much wider agreement about what happened after life started. It grew and expanded and, yes, evolved into what it is today. I knew about the controversy related to evolution, and thought I’d ask BP about it one day.

The rest of the weekend, I deliberately kept my mind off this new part of the Revelation. I had thought about it until I had nothing but new questions and no new answers, so I just put it aside until BP chose to return. I didn’t think he’d be away for long – and I was right.

Sunday morning I woke up early, as was my habit. I got up, trudged downstairs and bought the Sunday paper and then returned to make breakfast. While reading and eating, I thought fleetingly about making a Thompson Turkey and inviting Jane over for Sunday dinner, but quickly came to my senses and thrust that idea aside.

At about 1pm, I turned on the radio to listen to the ballgame. I waited for the pre-game commercials to be over so the game could begin - but I didn’t hear the beginning of the game at all. BP chose that moment to return. I had my normal startled reaction to his presence. “Thank you for putting down my Revelation accurately. I think we have completed the first part. Let’s move on.”

He paused for a half second as I resigned myself to missing some or all of the game. “If we think of your universe as being made up of life and non-life, it should lead us to think of the ramifications of this way of looking at things. This is where the true power of the concept lies.

“For example, if the universe is made up of life and non-life, how much of each is there? We cannot be sure exactly know how much life there is on other planets, since the only place we know with certainty that it exists is on Earth. It may exist on other planets, but we will consider that later. For now, let us look at non-life and see if we can tally up how much of it there is in the universe.

“Let us start with stars. Most people would agree that life is unlikely on a burning hot nuclear furnace like a sun, so it’s easy to classify stars and their materials as non-life. None of your scientists know exactly how many stars there are, but their best estimate is about one hundred thousand million in this galaxy alone. Since there are millions of other galaxies out there, we can safely say that there are a lot of big, hot stars where life doesn’t exist - an almost unimaginably large number of them.

“Add to that total all uninhabited planets, of which your scientists are finding more every day, and you can total up another big amount of mass to include in our non-life total. Toss in all the comets, asteroids, space dust, and giant clouds of gas that are common in the universe and we have even more non-life.

“But that’s not all. Even though I have asked you to think of the universe as being made up of life and non-life to help you better understand my Revelation, it is also obviously made of matter and energy.

“Therefore, our non-life sum must also include all forms of energy since it’s not alive. Understanding this, we can add to our total all the light in the universe, gravity, radio waves, electricity and all the other forces.

“It seems reasonable, even without extensive scientific study, to conclude that the universe is just brimming with non-life. It is all over the place. Therefore, it is highly likely that non-life makes up a much larger part of our universe than life does. If Earth is the only repository of life, then life makes up an exceedingly rare and minute part of the overall universe - a part so infinitely tiny as to seem almost trivial in comparison to that portion which is non-life.

“Now let us consider life. We can start with the amount of life on Earth. It is the one place we can make a truly educated estimate as to the relative amounts of life and non-life.

“We could do this the scientific way by estimating the mass of the Earth and then guess how much of that mass is alive. However that seems like a waste of time since you need only look and examine what you already know to be true. One thing that is known is that the surface of the Earth is indeed covered with life in lots of places, but not everywhere. Some spots are literally teeming with life, such as in a city or forest or a swamp. Other spots have life, but in much smaller quantities. The middle of a desert will have a good amount of life, but not nearly as much as the middle of a rainforest.

“Yet even where life is at its greatest concentration, it is still present in smaller quantities than non-life. Imagine an anthill. It is teaming with life, where living masses of ants go about their business. But if we uproot that anthill and carefully separate all the living ants in one pile and all the non-living dirt from the anthill in another, we’ll find the dirt far outweighs the ants. Even in this extreme example, non-life is much more prominent.

“And the surface of the Earth is only a small part of our overall planet. The diameter of the earth is about 8000 miles. That is quite a lot of earth, but life is likely to be very rare or even non-existent on the great majority of it. Once you get down below a few feet, life becomes much more scarce. There are some tiny plants, bugs and bacteria that may live quite a distance underground, but life in great quantities only really exists on or near the surface. Even the oceans are not overly crowded with sea life and the deeper you go, the less life there is.

“So even when we take a good look at the Earth itself, we find that non-life is far more common than life. It certainly seems that if our universe is made up of life and non-life, then non-life is very common and life is exceedingly rare.”

I transcribed his points in an unbroken way because that was how they made the most sense. During the session, I did interrupt and object a few times. Most were not of any importance, but I did manage to ask one good question, “How can you dismiss life on other planets? There are so many stars and planets. There must be life out there. The odds say it almost has to happen. A number of scientists believe that life will appear on any planet where there is water and that has the right temperature and atmosphere. Life could be a lot more common than you think.”

“I had planned on dealing with life on other planets later, but you seem fixated on this point, so let us do it now.”

He started by asking a question. “In what year did the Titanic sink?”

By now I had almost gotten used to this annoying habit of his. In any case, it would have made no difference to have rolled my eyes and objected to it since my objection would have been ignored. Like a good pupil, I just answered the question the best I could, “I think it was 1915 or so.”

“Close,” he said, “Actually, it was 1912. The Titanic was the most technologically advanced ship of its day. It had every modern convenience and was even equipped with something that was invented just a few years earlier - a radio.

“When the ship was sinking, the radio operator tapped out a distress message that lead to other ships in the area coming to pick up survivors of the wreck. By this time, radios had been installed on many ships and it was used not only for emergencies, but also for all kinds of normal communications between ships and shore points.

“Radio transmissions grew exponentially in the coming years with many types of signals being sent across the Earth and eventually to and from satellites.

“Radio waves travel at about the speed of light, so if the universe was teaming with life, you would think you could pick up some radio signals from life on other planets. If, as you suggested, the appearance of life is as inevitable as the creation of ice when the temperature of water drops below thirty two degrees, then life should indeed be common out there in the cosmos.”

I jumped in, “It would almost have to be common given the fact that it happened here and that there are billions and billions of other stars and planets out there.”

He didn’t hesitate. “You made this point before, and it was just as wrong then as it is now. I will deal with it in time, but first let’s finish with the Titanic.

“The ship went down over one hundred years ago. At that time, there were hundreds of sources of radio signals on the Earth and just a few years later, there were tens of thousands. Some of these signals surely traveled outside our atmosphere. By the 1950s, humans were purposely sending very powerful signals into space. In 1977, the two Voyager spacecraft were launched and have just now reached the edge of your solar system, but scientists have been able to beam radio signals to them and receive signals from them during their entire flights.

“Right about now, the radio signals that originated on Earth from the time of the Titanic are passing a point that is about one hundred light years away from their origins on this planet. You would think that if the universe is indeed teaming with life, a sufficiently advanced civilization would have received some of these signals, wouldn’t you? And any planets with advanced life that are within fifty light years from Earth would not only have had time to receive your signals, but any replies they sent would have had time to arrive at radio receivers back on Earth.

“There are about 2000 stars within fifty light years from Earth and people have been listening diligently for many years for those replies.

“And yet, all that has been received is silence. Every day that you receive nothing means that more and more stars are now within range of your signals, and more and more potential alien civilizations would have had time for their replies to reach Earth. In the next one hundred years, there will be 15,000 star systems that could be responding to what they hear from Earth.

“But remember, these planets teeming with life don’t have to transmit just because people from Earth do. Any life on them would presumably be going about their own business on their own planets. Radio waves are a natural phenomenon and would behave exactly the same way on another planet as they do here. And they would have just as many uses there as here. Therefore, if there were a large number of planets filled with large amounts of advanced life, why haven’t their signals been received?

“A recent report came out that concluded that there might be as many as 17 billion roughly Earth sized planets in the galaxy alone. One might guess from these numbers that the galaxy would be teeming with life, and that there should be many civilizations that have been pouring radio signals into the sky far longer than your own pitiful one hundred years. How many have been transmitting for a thousand years; for ten thousand, for a million or more?

“Yet, no one on Earth has heard a single thing from any of them.”

BP paused then to let this sink in, and then he asked, “Why do you think this is?”

I wasn’t expecting this question. I started to answer and came out with, “Well, ah, I mean, you know.” As I was flailing for a reply, one came to me. “Maybe those planets are full of life, but just not advanced civilizations.”

“That would indeed explain a lot, wouldn’t it?” He said. “It would also be wrong.”

And with that, I felt him leave my head, and I became fully awake again. I thought of space and all those suns and all those planets. I had a vision of an antenna I’d seen once in a documentary that was 1000 feet in diameter and was being used to listen for signals from outer space. The scientists in the show seemed certain that they would pick up signals from some far away alien civilization at any time.

That was years ago and I hadn’t heard about any signals being received. I briefly considered the possibility that some government agency might know about such signals, but was keeping it secret - like they might do in an X-Files episode. I quickly discarded that possibility; scientists who received signals from space would trample each other in an attempt to be first to the microphone to make the announcement. No, I was convinced that nothing had been heard from space.

I did hear the start of the second inning on my radio.

Chapter Eleven

The next day was a Monday and I left for work a full hour early. I still had some notes to write and I didn’t want Jane hovering around and watching over my shoulder as I wrote about life - or the lack of it - in the universe. Also, I didn’t have a printer at my apartment and I wanted a hard copy of what I’d written since it was getting to be quite a document. When I needed something on paper, I just took it into the office and used their machines. I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded, even if they had known.

Jane made her appearance at 8:30, so she was in early too. I wondered for a minute if she often came in that early. There was no way for me to know since, before now, I’d always made sure I was there at nine and not a moment earlier. Yet, here I was in my cubicle, busily typing with a half-full cup of coffee.

I heard her drop her purse on her desk, and in a flash she appeared at my cubicle, hands on hips, her face set on scowl. Her eyes were slits and those slits stared at me, unblinking. For a moment she didn’t say anything; she just stared as if she was trying to decide if I was crazy or just a fool. I guess crazy won.

“Are you crazy?” she said. “Coming in so obviously early and pretending to be hard at work might get you noticed, but it’s far more likely that your long suffering co-workers will get noticed for NOT coming in early and working like eager beavers.”

She had a point of course. As long as all the drones showed up at the same time and behaved the same way, we were practically invisible. But let one of the drones get out of step by seeming to show too much ambition and the whole comfortable apple cart was in danger of racing downhill, out of control.

Besides, if there was a drone that was going to be promoted to Queen Bee, it was going to be her and it was most certainly not going to be me.

Her eyes bored into mine. “Roger, please tell me you are working on your book and not company stuff.” Company stuff can be, and often was, counted. Thus, if production of one useless spreadsheet per day was considered a good day’s work, a crazy fool like me turning out two a day might get noticed and that might become the new norm. She wanted to make sure my fling with hard work was for my own personal amusement, and not the benefit of the company.

“Okay,” I said. “Don’t get your panties in a knot.” She hated it when I said that. “I’m just finishing up some notes for my book and then I’m going to print them out. If that’s okay with you, that is.” I couldn’t help myself, so I added, “Your highness.”

She realized I had not taken leave of my senses after all. She smiled and went back to her cubicle to get ready for her day’s labor. I heard her typing and received an Instant Message from her. “Don’t forget our Office Buddy meeting at 12:30 and our Diversity Training at two.”

Oh good Lord. I’d rather eat a bug than attend one of those touchy-feely training sessions where they try to get you to spill your guts in front of your co-workers. But that’s what they paid me for, so I knew I’d have to go. I would not sit near Jane though, because I knew she would make a face at me and then I’d smile and then the instructor would notice me and then I’d get called on to answer some deeply personal, completely embarrassing question. No, thank you. Wherever she sat, I’d find a seat far away.

Soon, I was done with the notes. It was a pretty long document. I clicked print and then brought up yesterday’s baseball box scores on my monitor for some detailed study. I deserved a bit of a break.

A few minutes later, I strolled down to the printer room and picked up my papers. They were collated and had my name on a cover sheet. These expensive office printers sure were able to do great things. I guessed that’s why they got their own room and we lowly drones had to labor away in cubicles.

By this time, it was getting close to lunch and I hadn’t turned out any work product for the company. I really wasn’t in the mood to work on any of the spreadsheets they wanted from scratch, though I did have a couple of assignments in my inbox. None of them were due today, so I decided that I’d get to them when I felt a bit more motivated.

I stood up and stretched and went to Jane’s cubicle to see if she was ready for lunch, but she wasn’t there. I figured she’d gone on ahead, so I took the elevator up to the cafeteria. I was ready for a burger.

When I got there, I saw Jane was already sitting at a table. Allen and Matt were near the end of the line with their entrees. I hated being last because that meant the first jokes would be at my expense.

I made my lunch choice and walked across the room to greet my Office Buddies. Knowing Jane the way I did, it was almost a certainty that she would have told them about my labors with the book this morning.

“So, Hemingway, ready to tell us all about the book?” I hadn’t even sat down and Allen was already at it. I really did know them.

“Yeah,” said Matt. “What’s up with all the science stuff? Are you becoming an author and a nerd at the same time?”

Science stuff? I may not have been at my sharpest since it was lunchtime, but I immediately knew what had happened. Jane had heard me print out my notes and had gone to the printer room to sneak a peek while I was busy studying baseball scores on the Magic Answer Box. I glared at her.

“Now hold on,” she said, “it wasn’t like that at all.” She knew exactly what I was thinking. “I happened to be in the printer room waiting for my own document and yours came out. I couldn’t help but see it.

“And I didn’t read it all, though I must admit I’m impressed with how much you have written. I really couldn’t help but look a bit here and there. After all, you said you would share it with us since you wanted our help. It appears to be fairly raw notes and there is a lot of science stuff in there. So I have two questions.”

When she was on a roll, interrupting her was out of the question, so I just listened patiently.

“Do you really think you can make an interesting story out of this science stuff? And who is Brian A. Pearlmitter?

“And, oh yes, I actually have a third question - what kind of revelation are you writing about?”

That was so like her. I should have been furious, but she was almost certainly telling the truth about being in the printer room when my printout started. After all, how would she know when I hit the print button?

So she “kind of” accidentally saw the document. There would be no apology to me, of course. Instead she had the audacity to share what she saw with the others, and then proceed to grill me on the merits of my approach to writing what she thought was a novel. I stared at her in silent wonder. She sure had a pair.

I hadn’t expected this at all, so I took a few seconds to collect my wits.

I think Matt was afraid that my silence meant that I was seriously angry, so he spoke up first with a sheepish, “We’re just interested, you know.”

His words brought me back to my senses. I realized I’d been frowning and I made myself relax. “Look, I should be mad at you three, but I was the one who said I would share it with you at some point. I just didn’t plan on that point being now. I guess Calamity Janie here couldn’t control her curiosity and I am collecting quite a lot of notes, so maybe you could, if you want to, help me out a bit.”

With that, the tension eased and everyone discovered that they had a lunch in front of them. They all had smiles on their faces as things returned to normal. We ate and talked.

Matt spoke up, “Jane asked about it and I’m curious too. What is this Revelation all about? What will you reveal?”

I was sure that Matt had read the Book of Revelation in the Bible many times and had pondered the mysteries that it contained, so I wasn’t at all surprised by his focus on that as a first point of discussion.

The truthful answer was, of course, that I had no idea what the Revelation would be, but Matt didn’t know that. To him, I was an author in charge of a story and should have been able to will it to go where ever I wanted. That’s what I had to keep him believing, since the alternative - that I was basically a transcriptionist for an unknown, powerful and hopefully helpful being - would not be as easy to explain.

I thought of a response that I hoped would get me off this hot seat, “I have an idea of what it will be, but I might change my mind as I go along. I hope it will be something big to end the book with. The way it will work is that there will be a series of smaller Revelations, until I’m ready to announce the big, earth shattering one. That’s why the science stuff is in there - it will help explain the Revelations as they come along. I hope this will keep the readers guessing and interested.”

Jane piped up. “And this BP character?”

I was ready for this. “He’s a literary device; an all knowing, all seeing wise man who will guide us on our journey toward the ultimate Revelation. Since Jane is the only one to have actually read any of my notes, BP comes to me in a trance state and toys with me, while revealing pieces of the puzzle that will lead to the Revelation that will challenge mankind.”

Allen whistled. “Nothing like starting out big,” he said in his most sarcastic voice. “Why lower yourself to writing about stuff you know something about? Are you sure you don’t want to start over with a novel about a handsome high tech salesman who powers his way to the top of the ladder through guile and irresistible sexiness?”

I rolled my eyes, “Thanks, but I think I’ll stick to my plan.”

“Just trying to help,” he said with a wide grin.

Jane stared into the distance. This meant she was thinking hard. “So,” she said, “you print out three more copies of the whole thing this afternoon, and I’ll see they are distributed to the team.”

I hadn’t planned for this; but neither had I planned on having this conversation. I thought about it for a moment and felt that I had set things up well enough so that they wouldn’t think I was totally nuts and might even be helpful as the Revelations continued.

Jane stood up to leave. “Good. I’ll host our first Office Buddies Author’s Assistance meeting at my apartment. How about Thursday night at seven?”

That’s Jane for you: Ms. Take-Charge. We often did things together like take in a ballgame or meet for drinks, so this wasn’t too much out of the ordinary. Everyone said they would be there and that was it.

At least part of my secret was no more and BP was no longer a burden that I had to bear alone. I left the group with a sense of hope.

Chapter Twelve

The next couple of days went by without any major problems at work and without any visits from BP. We had our normally scheduled Office Buddy lunch, but agreed to hold off discussing the book until our Thursday night meeting at Jane’s place. Now that they had seen my notes, I suspected that they weren’t quite as enthused as they had been when the subject of my manuscript was a mystery. It was certainly possible that no one would want to help with a book about the origins of life by someone who, by all rights, should know nothing about it. I figured I’d find out on Thursday.

I wasn’t really worried about the absence of BP. He’d taken up a lot of my weekend with all his revealing and all my note taking, so I needed a break. I wondered, though, if he knew that there were now three more people who were aware of his Revelation. Did he keep an eye on me when I was going about my daily business? That idea felt kind of creepy, but I guessed that if I could get used to him entering my consciousness whenever the mood struck him, I could get used to that too.

I didn’t have to wait long before he was in the mood. That night, just as I was going to bed, I felt his presence. It was like before - I could see my bedroom in the dim light of night and could read the time on my clock, but I was relaxed and receptive to the voice in my head. I felt no fear.

I wanted to talk to him about the fact that Jane, Allen and Matt had read the first part of his Revelation, but he beat me to it by saying that he approved of me letting my friends read my notes. “I’m especially impressed at how you were able to construct a story to explain your writings that didn’t reveal that I am as real in the story as you are. You’ll have to tell them that at some point, of course, but it wouldn’t be wise to do it this early.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “They’d probably think that I’ve gone nuts.” I paused a moment, “I haven’t, have I?”

He also hesitated just for a second as if he were searching for the right words. “Just the opposite. You are one of the sanest people I have studied. Your almost total lack of artificiality and reflexive honesty are necessary traits for the task we have before us. This is why you will be able to absorb what I am going to reveal without it causing you to become either unbalanced or too self important. No, you are not mentally ill, but you are the one who will bring the knowledge of my Revelation to mankind.”

Before my reflexes could come up with a suitably honest comment, he went on. “Do you have any other questions or comments about life, or the lack of life, outside the Earth?”

“I sure do.” I had been waiting for this. “I understand your points about radio signals in space. We have sent them out for a hundred years and, as far as we can tell, no one has replied. If there were millions of civilizations out there, you’d think we would have picked up some type of transmission from them.

“I admit this is strange, but there are many possible explanations as to why we haven’t picked up alien signals from space. It might even be our fault - they could be advertising themselves with lots of types of signals and maybe we just don’t know what to look for.

“But the real reason to believe that there’s lots of life in the universe is based on the numbers. There are so many untold billions upon billions upon billions of stars and planets that the odds would indicate there has to be life out there and it’s probably quite common. Most renowned scientists make this argument; Carl Sagan made it many times. You really can’t argue with the numbers. So what do you have to say about that?”

Even though I wasn’t really talking with my voice, my mind added a nice smug air to that last sentence. “Gotcha,” I thought.

This time there was no hesitation at all. “So what are the odds?”

“What?” I said. I didn’t get it.

I think at that moment, he thought that I not only lacked artificiality, but also brains. He continued, “You said that since there were untold billions and billions of stars, the odds say there has to be life out there. I understand your point. If we know the number of star systems, and we know the odds that any one will have life, then we can easily calculate how many life bearing systems likely exist out there. As you said, you can’t argue with the numbers. But my question remains - what are the odds?”

He might have doubted it, but I knew I had a brain. I knew I had one because it was starting to hurt. I began to stutter again, “Well, I . . . I don’t know for sure. But I do know for sure that life came into existence at least once.”

He took this time to toss out another of his crazy questions. “Have you ever played the lottery? I mean the one where they have ping pong balls in a big container being blown all around.”

There was no reason to not answer truthfully. “Sure”, I said.

“Then imagine one of these machines with a hundred balls all being randomly blown around. What are the odds that the next ball out will be number eight seven?”

I was no math whiz, but I could do this simple problem. “The odds are one in a hundred.”

He pounced, “How do you know that? I did not say the balls were numbered one to a hundred. They could all be blank for that matter. Or they could have letters on them. Or they might have every even number between 648 and 848. Or they could be evenly split between 86’s and 88’s.”

“Or, consider this. Perhaps they were numbered from one to a hundred, but at some point the lottery operator opened the top of the machine and removed number eight seven. What are the chances it would come up then?”

“It would never come up,” I sighed.

“That’s 100% correct”, he said. “If the owner of the machine manually removed number eighty sevel, it will never come up, regardless of how many times you let the machine spit out a ball.”

I understood what he said, but I didn’t really believe I got the point he was trying to make. It just seemed too fantastic. I said, “So, are you claiming that life doesn’t exist out there? That the fact that there are billions of stars makes no difference if we don’t know the odds of any single star having life?”

He seemed to be pleased with my summary, “Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Using probabilities to suggest there has to be life out in space can’t be done unless the odds are known. By the way, even Carl Sagan came to this conclusion near the end of his life.”

I was reeling by this point. Was he really implying that there was no life out there at all? We are all alone? I felt a bit of depression begin to form when he finished up this session with, “I am now prepared to provide the next part of my Revelation.”

“There is no life in the universe away from Earth. There never has been. Except for the small amount of life on Earth, all the rest of everything is non-life. Life on Earth is alone in this universe.”

And with that, he left me alone too.

Chapter Thirteen

Jane snuck out of work a few minutes early to go “prepare The JanePad for company.” She was the only person I knew who named her apartment like it was Tara outside of old Atlanta. I’d been to her place a few times before for card parties or dinners, so I knew she’d be a good hostess.

As I left work, I was a bit apprehensive about how things would go that night. On the one hand, I wanted to talk about this whole crazy BP thing with my friends. Carrying this burden alone had certainly become tiresome. On the other hand, I knew I’d have to keep my wits about me since I hadn’t told them the whole truth. Writing a book is one thing; receiving a Revelation on the future of man from a disembodied entity is something else altogether.

And on third hand, there was a bit of fear. I realized that I was afraid my friends might think my story was too crazy to be taken seriously and that they were only going through with this meeting so as not to hurt my feelings. I imagined them ending the evening with a group hug and some gentle but heartfelt advice to find other outlets for my creative side. God, I hoped that wouldn’t happen.

I made my way downstairs and fought the crowds of drones leaving the building until I exited into fresh air. I hit the sidewalk and decided to walk to Jane’s place. It was almost a two mile walk, but the weather was still nice and I wanted to use the time to try and clear my head. I had typed up the notes from last night’s Revelation and had passed them out to the members of the team that afternoon. So by now they would know about the latest part of the Revelation. I was sure it would come up tonight.

I was very glad to have walked instead of taking a cab because it gave me time to realize what I had missed in BP’s explanation last night. This session with BP was the first one that I really didn’t “get.” I had understood the others even if I had not yet bought into what he said. But this one eluded me until that moment.

From out of the blue, it suddenly occurred to me that the whole argument as to the odds of life being on other planets was bogus - as long as you understood that life did not and could not appear out of thin air. According to BP, life was purposely put on Earth and it had not been put on any other planet. Its appearance was not a matter of chance at all, but a matter of will.

All of a sudden this made sense; at least in terms of the Revelations that I was receiving. Somehow I felt “better” as I realized I had been slightly uneasy since that last session. Now that I understood it as BP intended, that uneasiness was gone - or at least reduced.

Once again I wondered if BP was hovering around and affecting me even when he was not invading my mind directly. For some reason, I had a vision of BP as an invisible parrot sitting on my shoulder, whispering words into my ear.

“Yarr, ye still don’t get it, do ye?” I imagined he said. “Ye just wait and all will be clear in time, Yarrr.” My parrot had a pirate accent.

I shook my head to clear it and I wondered yet again if I was really just going nuts. I rejected that notion again, but my rejection wasn’t quite as firm as before.

By the time I arrived at Jane’s, I had dispensed with my musings, parrots and worries about my sanity as they were replaced with a vague feeling of anticipation; maybe something would come of this after all. Just as I opened the door to the lobby of her apartment building, Matt and Allen came walking up and so we all arrived at Jane’s door at the same time. No one said much during the elevator ride. Allen rang the bell and within two seconds Jane opened the door and said, “Ya’ll come on in”. So it was going to be a southern belle night. I took that as a good sign; she must have felt comfortable enough with this meeting to let her guard down among her friends.

She didn’t look like a southern belle though. She was barefoot and was wearing Yoga pants and a T-shirt. I was pretty sure she had never done a single yoga movement, so this must be her casual but stylish look. Her apartment was small with a combined living room and dining area that was neat as a pin and had a faint smell of springtime. I have never known how girls do this, but their places always seem to have a nice smell without visible use of candles or other smelly things.

“Grab a drink my friends,” she said and we all headed to the counter that separated the living room and kitchen. She had a little bar set up with glasses, ice and a variety of bottles. Allen and I floated a few ice cubes in scotch, Matt had a club soda and Jane opened a beer. After we sat down, it was time to get to work. I admit I was a bit nervous about their reactions to what they had read over the last few days.

To my surprise, it was Matt who jumped in with a very direct question, “I would still like to know exactly where this Revelation is heading. I mean, you are really bashing scientists and rejecting many of their most precious theories which attempt to explain the beginnings of life on Earth. So what is the rest of the Revelation?”

Thinking back, I should not have been surprised that Matt asked basically the same question that he had before in the cafeteria. If the scientists were correct in their theories of how life started, and if they were correct that life was common in the universe and not at all special, then his most prized religious beliefs were put at risk. But my Revelation (he still thought I was creating this stuff), was much closer to something he could get on board with. Science said life was common, I said it was rare and special. Science said life just appeared on its own, while I said life was put on this planet for a purpose. Science said that there is no purpose to the rise of man, just a continuation of evolution. And I said that man was here for a reason and I would reveal that reason in my Revelation. My Revelation seemed to hold out hope that his beliefs might be found to be correct and the beliefs of scientists found to be wanting. I could see why he was so anxious to hear the rest of it.

But I couldn’t reveal it to him for a very simple reason; I had no idea where BP was taking me. It seemed like he was doling out his Revelation a bit at a time and in an order that would make the whole thing clear - at least it would make things clear eventually. Anyway, that’s what I assumed he was doing. But regardless of BP’s plan, I only knew what I knew and they had already read all of that in my notes.

Ever since Jane had suggested this meeting, I had assumed that some circumstance would arise during the evening where I would have to explain why I couldn’t provide any information beyond what was in my notes. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see this coming. After all, an author should know his story before he sits down to put in on paper, shouldn’t he? I just didn’t expect it to come from Matt and I didn’t expect it would be the very first issue that came up.

Still, I had thought it through and so I had an answer ready.

I took a swallow of scotch and said, “Look, I’m new to this book thing and for all I know I might be going about it in totally the wrong way. I don’t want to mislead you by making you think I have some grand master plan I’m working from. Really, I’m just playing it by ear. This book is kind of writing itself. It is just coming to me in fits and starts, and while I have thought quite a bit about where it’s going, I can’t be totally sure so I’d rather not focus on that right now. It could certainly go a number of ways and I’ll know when I know.”

For someone known for his reflexive honesty, I thought this was pretty good. It was the truth after all, but didn’t reveal what I wanted to keep secret.

Matt pursed his lips and frowned. I could tell he wasn’t satisfied with my answer, but what could he do? Allen had a concerned look on his face, but said nothing. As the silence stretched on for ten seconds, everyone turned to look at Jane. We waited to hear what she had to say.

“Okay”, she said. “I’m just trying to figure out exactly how we can help you. You’ve got this little green man who is whispering all these secrets and you’ve got all this scientific stuff and I’ll admit it’s kind of thought provoking, but . . .,” she paused, looking for the right word.

“But it won’t sell worth a damn,” said Allen. Leave it to the salesman to jump to the heart of the matter. I guessed he was picturing himself trying to sell this idea to a publisher, knowing he was going to fail.

I thought that would be the end right there. We’d finish our drinks and be on our way and I’d work on the book alone until I either finished it, or was committed.

But Jane wasn’t done, bless her. “Let start fresh and from the top. In the story, some unknown green man called Brian A. Pearlmitter appears and begins to give you a Revelation for humanity.”

“Close,” I responded. “He just enters my head and seems to speak to me. I’ve never seen him. I doubt that he’s green. He may not even have a body.”

“I see,” she continued. “But he makes some giant promises, doesn’t he? He says his Revelation will explain the meaning of life and why we are here on this planet. He goes about it by tearing apart scientific theories which are believed by just about every scientist. He then demands that you transcribe these sessions so that his Revelation will be, well, revealed to the world - presumably in your book. And it’s that book we are trying to help you with. Is that about it?”

Put that way, it didn’t sound all that good, but I’d known it sounded crazy from the beginning.

She wisely didn’t wait for me to answer, “So what is this book going to be? Is it science fiction? Or philosophy? Or religion?”

I added in my own mind, “Or nonfiction.”

“I’ve got it.” Allen’s face lit up. “He’s trying to start a new religion like that L. Ron Hubbard guy with Scientology. This is certainly no crazier than that, and look at the big bucks that has raked in.” He was getting excited and I thought he might now be picturing himself selling mountains of books and collecting mountains of fees from a growing horde of converts in exchange for additional crumbs of the Revelation.

Jane and I both looked over at Matt because we knew him. This whole idea of setting up a religion just to make money was not one which he would be interested in at all.

Before he could say anything, I jumped in to reassure him, “No, It’s not that way in any manner, shape or form. I just want to tell a good story. We’ll let the readers decide what kind of book it is.”

I hoped this would satisfy Matt, but in truth, I had no idea what kind of book it would end up being. For all I knew, Allen may have been right and BP may have had an L. Ron Hubbard-style plan in store for me all along.

But Matt wasn’t totally ready to move on, so he returned to the Revelation. “As long as we have gone back to the beginning, let’s do the same thing for the Revelation. From what I read, here is a summary of what has been revealed so far.” He handed out a sheet to all of us that he had prepared and printed.

The universe is made up of life and non-life

These are very different things

Non-life is far more common, but life is rare

Life did not start by itself, but was put on Earth by a Creator

The Creator has not created life on other planets, so we are alone

As we read, he recited the five points from memory, speaking each number and pointing to his fingers as he counted.

“Yep,” I said. “That summarizes it nicely except I didn’t say life arrived via a Creator. I said life did not spontaneously appear.” I saw a frown start to form on his face and quickly added, “BP claims he put life here, but we’ll have to see if that claim is justified later.”

This appeared to satisfy him; at least for the moment.

Jane took charge again, “So Matt, what do you think? Are you interested enough in the story to want to find out more? Allen, how about you?”

Matt answered, “Sure. I want to see where this is heading. I just hope it’s somewhere good.” That could mean a number of things, of course.

Now it was Allen’s turn. “Yeah, I like the parts where BP logically destroys widely held scientific beliefs. Like the part about where there are far, far fewer ingredients in that insane turkey recipe than there are in the simplest cell and if those can all come together by themselves to make a cell, why don’t we get turkey dinners making themselves as well? That really is cool. Sure, you can count me in.”

Jane continued, “I feel the same way. There are some very interesting things here. The problem is that they are just a series of events listing the time and place where Roger gets probed by this little green man and then writes his notes. The book needs something to tie it all together in a readable way.”

She got that far away, dreamy look on her face that meant she was thinking hard. I wanted to correct her again that BP was not a little green man and that I had most certainly not been probed in the way that alien abductees reported. No sir - I was sure I had totally not been probed. In any way.

But since she was hard at work, I had the good sense to keep my mouth shut. I’d seen her do this a few times at work when we needed a creative solution to a problem that really did have some importance. It didn’t happen often since most of our days were spent on useless trivia, but it did happen occasionally. I had learned that when she got that far away look, she was exploring every possibility she could conceive of in search of a solution. And I had discovered that she often came up with an idea that had never occurred to anyone else working on the problem. All three of us waited patiently for her to rejoin us back on Planet Earth.

It only took about thirty seconds. That was about average in my experience with her “gift.”

She gave us each a look, took a long swallow of beer, and said, “The idea here is write a book, right? But you don’t have any part of a real book. You have a bunch of notes that are detailed, but what you don’t have is a narrative. You don’t have anything to tie it all together into a whole; to make the overall story readable and interesting. So let’s start the actual book.

“Why not put yourself deeper into the story? Explain how it felt the first time the little green man came to probe you. Interweave his Revelations with your personal story and show how one affects the other. Shoot - put us in the story too. Have me discover your manuscript in the printer at work and describe our meeting after that happened. Write about doubting yourself - is this real, or am I going crazy?

“But mostly write like this is all really happening. Write it from an autobiographical perspective - it’s all real and you’re just telling the story as it actually happened. I think that would make it more interesting and also help to frame the Revelation in the context of the life of a normal man. At least he was normal until this all started. So, what do ya’ll think?”

I looked down at my glass. It was still almost full of scotch. That must have been why my mind instantly realized the great gift she had just given me. From now on, I could do exactly as she said and that would allow me to freely write about and discuss BP and his sessions with my friends. They would think it was just part of my book, and I wouldn’t have to worry about what parts to talk about and what to withhold for fear of them learning the truth - which was that I really was in contact with a little green man. Now she had me doing it.

“I like it,” said Matt. “It ties everything together and has the potential to turn these notes into an interesting story.”

Allen jumped in, “Me too. If Rog here can pull it off, that is. A writer needs imagination and writing skills. So far we’ve seen the imagination, but Jane is right - now let’s see the writing.”

So it was my turn and they all looked at me. “I think it’s perfect,” I said. Truer words had never been spoken. It did seem to be perfect. “I think I can write the story that way. After all I’m living it.”

Opps. A slip up. “I mean, I think I can make it seem like I’m living it.”

The others smiled happily and reached for their drinks. Jane had been sitting on her feet on the couch, but now she uncoiled and put them on the floor and leaned forward slightly as she stared at me, unblinking, for at least five seconds. I wondered what she was thinking.

The rest of the evening was pretty stress free as we spent the time refilling our glasses and figuring out exactly how they would help on an ongoing basis. Eventually we decided that I would dictate my sessions with BP into the audio recorder app on my phone and then email that file to everyone. They would split up the task of transcribing the notes, leaving me free to concentrate on “telling the story” as they put it.

Matt volunteered to do some internet research on the “science stuff” to make sure I was getting it right. I couldn’t very well say no to his offer since he was a technically oriented programmer and I was a scientifically illiterate junior finance guy. I told him I’d let him know when I could use some help. Actually, BP would come when he wanted, and I really had no idea when that would be, so I had to be vague. Also, I didn’t really need to know anything much about science since BP would explain it in his own way as part of his Revelation.

But I couldn’t tell Matt that. I just thanked them all and we all thanked Jane for being a good host and we left.

The three of us split up when we got down to the street. Matt and Allen went to get a cab while I had to go in the other direction to hop a train back to my place. I had only taken a few steps when my phone rang. The display showed it was a call from Jane. What could she be calling for now?

“Yo,” I answered. She didn’t like it when I answered her calls that way. Normally she’d have some caustic remark for me, but not this time. “Can you come back up here? I want to talk to you about something and I didn’t want it broadcast all over.”

Something was up. If she wanted a private meeting with me, she would normally have told Allen and Matt to leave. Allen could be a bit of a blabbermouth, though. For some reason, she didn’t want them to know about this visit at all. It was strange.

But it was Jane asking, so I said, “Sure, be there in a jiff.” She didn’t like that expression either, so I worked it in whenever I could just to be funny.

I took the elevator back up and when I stepped out, she was waiting at her door for me. She opened it to let me in and told me to sit on the couch. I started to do as I was told. “Not there,” she said, “in the middle.”

I sat and she came over and handed me a fresh scotch. I’d had a couple, but one more wouldn’t hurt. I could see she wanted to say something, but was struggling to get it out. That was definitely not like her. I had an idea. “Why don’t you have one too?”

She looked at the little bar she’d set up and said, “Maybe I will.” She went over and made herself a drink with a healthy amount of scotch and came and sat on the couch with her back against the end so that she was facing me. She put her bare feet on my thighs. Her legs were long, so she had to bend her knees. Her nails were bright red.

She saw my puzzled expression. “This way, if you try to be cute with me, I can give you a kick.” She took a sip of her drink and must have found it acceptable. She took another, bigger one.

I guess it helped, because when she started to speak, it was without hesitation. “Next week, my girlfriend from back home is coming to the city to visit her fiancé. She wants to meet for dinner. I need someone to go with me. I thought I’d ask you.”

This was a first. I’d known Jane for two years. Initially, I thought she was too brash, too quick to criticize, too fast with a scathing comment. She was intimidating. But I toiled next to her every day and soon I realized that I really liked her. If I had a problem, she made me spill it and she often had good advice. It seemed like she could talk to me easily too.

But we had never dated. I’d never kissed her. She was attractive, but she seemed to like older guys and I was happy to have her as a friend - really, as my best friend.

So having her ask me out was strange. I would say “yes” of course, but I wondered why she would ask me.

She saw that in my face and knew what I was thinking. We often knew what the other was going to say. “I thought about asking some of the other guys I know, but they aren’t really right for this - this occasion.”

She paused and I let her decide what to say next. “I was good friends with Cynthia as we grew up. I’ve kept in touch with her via Facebook and I guess we’re still friends, but I haven’t seen her since I was home for Christmas. The problem is that her mom and my mom are close, so anything that happens when I see her immediately gets reported to my mom.”

That didn’t seem to be much of a problem. I told her so.

“You don’t know my mother. Some people think I’m a bit pushy, but she’s on a whole other level. She’s one of a very few female equine veterinarians - horse doctors. But that wasn’t exclusive enough for her. She’s the only female horse vet that specializes in breeding of high end purebred racing horses. To do what she’s does requires a lot of will and a lot of talent. She’s got a lot of both.

“We’re close, but I worry that she’s a bit disappointed in me. She didn’t have me until she was in her thirties and she initially had hopes that I’d be the first or only female something or other. That runs in our family. But I was born too late. By the time I was ready to go to college, women were doing everything. There were no jobs left where I could break ground and be the first. Women were flying planes and designing buildings and breeding horses. She was disappointed, but I was glad to have lots of choices. I never felt the desire to be ‘first.’

“So I went into the business world. I was interested in it, but it’s hard to stand out in a big company. There are lots of smart and hard working people and many times success doesn’t come to those people - instead it goes to those who play the game. Anyway, Mom was very happy when I became the youngest senior financial analyst in the company right before you started. But now she wonders why I’m not CEO or at least VP or something.

“So she’s already on my case about my poor career performance and now she’s going to get a full report on the type of men I hang out with. I really don’t want to have that discussion with her - at least not if Cynthia is doing the reporting. Her fiancé is an intern at some hospital in the city and I understand he’s quite handsome. Mom even likes him - for a man.

“I can’t ask any of the guys I’ve dated. Every one of them is either too shallow or too dumb or too self centered or too something. That’s always been my problem with men - I can’t be around them for more than a few days before I start noticing their faults. Then I try to correct them and, all of a sudden, I’m not around them anymore. Either they break it off, or I do. I admit that I do the breaking more often than not.”

I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. This was bordering on too much information. “But you’ve known me for two years and we’re still good friends.”

She nodded her head in agreement. “That’s the point right there. We’re good friends and that’s it. I can say mean things to you and it doesn’t bruise your male ego in the way it would if I was your girlfriend. I know I can’t always manage to keep my tongue under control, but you know me and I know you, and things just work between us.”

I was puzzled at this logic and she saw it. “Take the other night. You called me to ask if I wanted to go to the game with you. What did I tell you?”

“You said, ‘Like I would’ in a nasty tone and then you hung up on me.”

“See? That’s a great example. I was just getting out of the shower and I had to hurry to get to my phone. I was standing there soaking wet without a stitch on and you wanted to know if I wanted to go to a stupid game. I know I should have been polite, but that’s not me when I’m provoked that way.”

“But the next time I saw you, you treated me totally normally. You weren’t mad or offended or pouting. You knew me. And I wasn’t surprised that you weren’t mad because I knew you. Trust me, if we were lovers, it wouldn’t work that way.

“That’s why I want you to come, Rog. It’s because I know I can trust you. You won’t embarrass yourself or me at dinner by trying to prove how manly and virile you are. You won’t blab what I’ve told you to anyone else. You look like you could be a good catch, so Cynthia will tell my mother that at least I’m not dating Neanderthals. Mom will like it that you’re a bit younger than me. So will you go with me?”

She was trying her best to be polite. She knew my answer, but she did me the courtesy of asking. I smiled at her, “If you’re asking me to step out with you, I guess you’ll be paying.”

That got me a kick. It was gentle and didn’t hurt so I kept it up. “And after this alleged date, whose place shall we go to, yours or mine? I like to get that straight right up front with all my women.”

This time she pulled back both feet for a double kick. Before she could do it, I grabbed her ankles and pulled. She slid until her head was on the seat of the couch.

She laughed and sat up beside me. I put my arm around her. “Sure Jane, I’ll be glad to go with you. And I promise I won’t be dumb and I won’t be vain and I won’t embarrass you. I may steal Cynthia from her future husband, but that’s me. I can’t help it.”

She again laughed at my joke. So I was feeling pretty good as I left. She must have been too, because she gave me a hug and I hugged her back.

Chapter Fourteen

BP didn’t show up again for several more days. This wasn’t an unprecedented absence, but it was somewhat unusual. I wondered if he knew about what we had agreed to at Jane’s and had thus been monitoring me. I promised myself I’d ask about that the next time he appeared.

As it turned out, I was glad he took a break because for the first time in my memory I was busy as I could be at work. Not with company business, of course, but with book writing chores. Jane didn’t seem any more busy than normal, but she still organized all my notes, got Allen and Matt to input them in a sensible manner and produced a document where BP’s literal statements were in italics. My thoughts and speech and actions were not. This made it easier for me to include his actual words in the book. To my surprise and delight, my friends really were being a big help.

This left me free to start the actual book written the way Jane had suggested - as a real narrative with all the details included. At first, it was hard to find the right words, but soon I was writing quite a lot every day as the words came tumbling out. It was like I had this strong compulsion to tell this story and, of course, bring BP’s Revelation to the world.

I decided that I would not show this part of the work to the team quite yet. It was turning out to be too much of a diary and I didn’t want them to see what I wrote about them on an almost real time basis. I didn’t want to be constrained in what I wrote by being worried about hurting their feelings - I wanted honesty instead. I told them not to expect to see the actual book until I was done writing. The result was that there were actually two Revelation document streams - the one I dictated that was transcribed and distributed to all of us, and my own very detailed narrative about everything and everyone involved that I kept to myself. I started referring to it as the “full narrative version.”

I was surprised to realize that I was also starting to wonder about BP. Normally, I was happy to have a break from him, but this one was stretching out a bit. My friends were wondering what was going on as well. They were waiting for more Revelations and since I was pretty much caught up, I was waiting for more too. They thought I could come up with the next part whenever I wanted and, of course, I couldn’t. I told them I was so busy with writing the full narrative that I just didn’t have anything more to offer right now. This satisfied them and had the added bonus of being the truth.

Even though I was hoping he’d make an appearance I was still startled when BP finally did return.

That’s because I was on the train heading to work when I felt him enter my brain. I had a fleeting thought about Jane’s comment that I was being probed. I guess in some way I was.

Before he could say a word, I jumped in with my question, “Do you know how my meeting went with my friends?” If he did know, that meant he’d been watching me like that invisible parrot on my shoulder.

“You organized things in a very clever way so that they would help you create a record of my Revelation without them knowing the truth of my existence.” His voice betrayed no emotion.

“I don’t think I like the idea that you are hovering around or sitting on my shoulder and watching everything that I do. Are you spying on me all the time or just some of the time?” My voice did betray some emotion - annoyance.

His response was almost instantaneous, “It is necessary that I know something of your activities. For example, are you writing my Revelation correctly? Are you spending sufficient time on it? Are your friends helping or hindering the effort?

“But I have no interest in the finer details of your life apart from our joint work on the Revelation. During your average day, I may fleetingly glance in your direction a few times, but I do not have you under any kind of continuous watch. If you call out to me, I may hear you and respond.”

I was searching for a comment that would let him know that I didn’t appreciate being watched this way, but before I could get one out, he came up with his own suggestion, “However, I can see now that you are disturbed about this. It never occurred to me that you would object to such a mild degree of oversight, but now that I know it makes you uncomfortable, let me propose a solution.

“From now on, if I am monitoring you, I’ll create a small pressure on the top of your left shoulder. This will be your signal that I’m there and am monitoring your activities. I can’t actually press you shoulder, of course, but I can make you feel like I am.” He stopped and waited.

That damn parrot. I should have known that idea hadn’t just popped into my head.

I was caught though. This whole thing was so crazy that it seemed reasonable to me that he’d have to keep an eye on me from time to time. I just didn’t want that eye to be staring at me, unblinking, for 24 hours out of each day.

“Okay, I’ll accept that with this addition; if I raise my right hand and scratch that pressure spot on my shoulder, you’ll instantly stop watching.”

“I agree,” he said and then, this minor crisis averted, he went back to his main purpose. “Now, on to the next part of the Revelation. What do you think it should be about?”

Matt had been speculating on that as he waited anxiously for the next part of the Revelation. He thought that since we’d covered the beginnings of life on Earth, it was time to move on to how life got to where it is now - in other words evolution. He was really hoping that I would continue my bashing of scientific orthodoxy and blow a hole in the theory of evolution.

I had read a bit about evolution since Matt had brought it up and I remembered some of it from high school science class. From what I could tell, it seemed to be a reasonable theory.

I answered BP’s question. “So far you have revealed the beginnings of life on Earth, but how about how it grew here? Did evolution work the way Darwin theorized?”

BP sounded pleased. “Excellent. Your friends are providing some useful support. One day I shall have to thank them personally.”

Now that was something to look forward to.

He continued. “What was the first type of life on the Earth?”

The first answer that came to my mind was dinosaurs, but I quickly discarded that. “Was it some type of sea creature?”

He let out what sounded like a disappointed sigh. I guess I was wearing the dunce cap today.

“No, it was not any sort of creature. The first type of life on Earth was a single cell that quickly evolved into a simple type of plant life. Can you guess why?”

I didn’t feel any pressure on my shoulder, but I did feel the weight of the dunce cap. I liked his Revelations better when he just revealed. This game of twenty questions made my head hurt.

Still, I had to try. “It does make sense that plant life would have been first. I guess that was because it was so simple compared to other life.”

“No life is simple.” He stated. “But you are right; plant life is simpler than other kinds of life.

“But that is not the answer. Plant life was first on Earth because the purpose of plants is to convert non-life into life.”

He didn’t even pause to let me try to come to grips with this concept. “Consider an early Earth that has ten sunflower plants on it. Those plants need to grow tall and they need to reproduce to make other plants. A just sprouted sunflower will only be an inch tall and will weigh an ounce or so. A full grown one can weigh ten pounds and be ten feet tall. The “stuff” needed for this plant to grow is all non-life. It needs air, water, minerals and sunlight.

“So, every morning our sunflower plant receives energy from the sun. It then combines this energy with water and minerals from the ground along with gasses in the air so that these non-life materials are converted into a growing amount of living sunflower. In effect, the plant is a little life creating factory that consumes non-life and converts it into life.”

Now I’ll admit I had never thought of plants this way before, but it really did make sense. For one of the first times, I wondered if I was really starting to buy into his Revelation.

“It is the nature of plants to take non-life and convert it to life. It is the nature of plants to use this process in order to grow and reproduce to make more plants. These natural activities of plants occur because they are directed to do this by their genetic material. They are commanded to be life factories.”

Just when I thought I had found an easy concept to believe in, he clouded it up again. “So does that mean Darwin was right? That our DNA determines who or what we will be and that small differences show up over time which, in turn, makes new and different creatures?”

“Not creatures,” he answered. “But within plants, the answer is yes. Given enough time, they do change and over those long periods, many new types have appeared in nature.”

“My friend Matt won’t be glad to hear this.” I said. “He was very much hoping that you would say that Darwin was wrong.”

“Darwin was wrong in several important ways.” He answered. “We’ll get to that at some point, but he was not wrong in noticing that plants tended to change which led to new types appearing. Have you ever been to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show?”

Just when we were in the middle of a serious discussion he took a hard left into Nutville again. What in the world would a dog show have to do with early plants on Earth? I started to object, but realized what was going to happen; somehow he would make this relevant. So I just resigned myself to the inevitable and answered, “No.”

I thought I detected a chuckle in his voice when he continued. I guess he was happy to have me trained like one of the dogs. “This dog show normally has around 175 breeds that are shown. There are all kinds of dogs - big ones, small ones, hairy ones, dogs with floppy ears and dogs with ears that stand up. Dogs that have long tails and dogs that don’t. You get the idea, right?”

“Sure,” I said, “I’ve seen these shows on TV.”

“But what they don’t say on TV is that of those 175 breeds, the majority came into existence within the last two hundred years. Many didn’t exist on this planet until less than fifty years ago and new types are appearing all the time.” He paused then as if he expected a question.

I obliged him. “That’s not really news. Dogs have been crossbred for a long time. I know someone with a Labradoodle, which is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle. So why is this important?”

“Because of the pace of the change and the agent of that change.” He started to roll now, “Most people think of the evolution of life as a glacially slow process, taking literally billions of years to create the diversity of life on this planet. But under the roof of Madison Square Garden during that dog show, you see an example of evolution running at hyper speed. New characteristics, new breeds, new types of dog life are created at a dizzying pace. The exact same thing has happened with cats; there are new types showing up all the time. And it has happened with cattle, turkeys, chickens, rabbits and any number of other creatures. New types have appeared just in the last hundred years that are bigger and meatier; grow faster and are resistant to many diseases. These types of life simply didn’t exist a very short time ago.

“So here is a question for you. Why have dogs, cats and many other creatures all experienced hyper speed evolutionary changes in the last few hundred years? And why didn’t those changes take a few million years?”

He paused now, expecting an answer. I had put two and two together and knew that he was showing how evolution can happen quickly, but I really hadn’t thought about the reason for it until now. In fact, I hadn’t even considered that there was a discoverable reason until now. This part of the Revelation rolled over me like a wave as, for once, I got it.

“Because man has made it happen.” I stammered.

“Yes!” I thought I detected a note of excitement. “That is exactly right. The evolution of these plants and animals has occurred in the way that it has because it has been directed by humans. Humans wanted different types of dogs and bigger turkeys. Thus, they used their knowledge of life to cause them to evolve into being. That Labradoodle your friend has is a result of the willful acts of humans. There are thousands of new plants and animals in existence today, simply because Man directed that it be so.”

This was certainly a new line of thought for me, but I couldn’t find any obvious fault with it. Still, it couldn’t explain the entire subject of evolution, could it? I asked the next question not in a challenging manner, but simply out of a spirit of curiosity.

“Human intervention only explains a tiny part of evolution. No human can create an animal from a plant. Or an apple tree from a corn plant. Or a human from a monkey. Yet we know animals and apple trees and humans exist. How did these things happen?”

He answered, “An excellent question. But I think we have done enough work for this session. There is quite a lot for you to think about and compile into your opus.”

And with that I could feel that he was gone. For the first time, I really was disappointed for one of these sessions to end. I can see now that I was starting to become interested in his Revelation in a more than academic way - I think I was starting to believe it.

Chapter Fifteen

The latest part of BP’s Revelation also left me late for work. Once I returned to my normal self, I realized I had passed the station where I needed to get off to go to the office. I had to wait until the next stop, cross to the other side of the line and catch yet another train to where I should have been thirty minutes ago.

Being late for work was normally not a big deal. The company was not a stickler for watching the time clock. Of course, for many hard workers, this simply meant that there was no clock to tell them to stop working and thus many people ending up putting in some extra time. I wasn’t one of them as I usually arrived promptly at nine and flew out of there at five. Heck, on many days I could have come in at eleven, had a nice lunch at noon and left by two - having done all my required work somewhere along the way.

No one even noticed I was late as I slipped into my cubicle and fired up the Magic Answer Box for another day of writing, web surfing and probably a bit of company business.

No one, that is, except for the all seeing girl next door.

She stuck her head into my cubicle as she walked by, “I’ll be out all morning. Lunch meeting with the group today at 1:15. Be there and do not be late.” She said those last words slowly and distinctly so that even a late arriver like me would know to be on time.

Her voice also had that really abrasive tone that told me that today she would be her evil alter ego, Ms. Bitchy. She got like that every so often as the chore of suffering fools became more than she could civilly bear. Probably some supervisor had asked for some changes in one of her reports or, even worse, someone had questioned one of her numbers. That would make Ms. Bitchy appear every time. She was probably going to be busy proving to some higher up how right she was and, oh yes by the way, how wrong he was. Lunch was likely to be an interesting experience today.

But, even with the prospect of having to deal with Madam B, I had to get focused and get to work - personal work, of course.

I put on a headset with a microphone and spent the next half hour dictating and describing what had happened this morning in my latest session with BP. I had quickly become comfortable with this manner of documenting our “conversations” and found I had an ability to reproduce the words of both BP and myself in an almost verbatim manner. Of all the gifts I could have received, the ability to accurately repeat a conversation was not one I had even known I had. Nor had I ever desired it.

But there it was. I could parrot my conversations with BP very, very well. I wondered if this ability had been in me, unused, all my life, or if BP had some hand in providing this “gift.”

I guess it really didn’t matter since the fact was that doing this audio recording was much easier and quicker than my previous method of writing down notes - especially since the members of my “team” were transcribing them for me. Those written notes also made it much easier for me to write what I thought of as the “full narrative version.”

I sent the audio file via email to Jane, Matt and Allen.

I suspected that they would all listen to the file before our lunch meeting if they had time. Not everyone in the company could spend their mornings dictating Revelations from unknown creatures or catching up on X-Files episodes. Luckily, I could.

Matt could too, as I got an email from him less than an hour later that simply said, “I have GOT to talk to you about this.” I figured he would have a strong reaction to this discussion of evolution, so his message wasn’t much of a surprise.

The morning dragged on and as I got up to take a break from some web surfing, a message from The Old Man came up addressed to me, Matt and Jane.

It simply said, “I might not be at the lunch meeting. I think I’m going to get fired.”

Without even thinking, my hands picked up the phone and I speed dialed Allen.

He must have seen my name on his phone display as he didn’t bother with a greeting. “I guess you got my note,” he said. He sounded slightly weak, not like his usual outgoing self.

“What happened?” was all I could choke out.

“Jerkson called me into his office and told me that now might be a good time to consider retirement. He meant involuntary retirement, of course.”

The sales VP was named Jackson, but Allen thought he was a glad-handing, two faced, back-stabbing, abrasive SOB and always called him Jerkson.

I could tell he wanted to talk. “The thing is, I know my sales have been down this year, but most of my time has gone into three big deals that I just can’t get to close. Any of the three would put me back on track, and all of them want to buy, but they just won’t pull the trigger. There’s always some bean counter on their end who tells them they have to wait until the next quarter or until the moon turns blue or some such excuse. I think it’s simply because none of the finance people want to put their name on the okay for a purchase order.”

I knew what he meant. I had done a fair number of spreadsheets that proved we’d make money by not spending any. The bosses really, really liked that kind of analysis.

“So he gave me until the middle of the month to ‘consider my future with the company.’ I know how he works. This is just a counseling session so that the company can claim they bent over backwards to help a pitifully slow employee return to at least minimum levels of performance. But you and I know it’s just an excuse to ease me out the door. They did the same thing to Harman last year.”

Dave Harman “went on to pursue other opportunities” as the company newsletter had reported in the “Hellos and Goodbyes” section. Last I heard, he was working at Wal-Mart.

“Rog, my friend, it looks like this is the end. As much as I hate the idea of getting fired by a jerk like Jerkson, I hate the idea of my friends feeling sorry for me even more.”

And that was it, of course. Allen was a proud man. It wasn’t the money and he didn’t need accolades and sales awards at his age. He just wanted to be respected and to be able to leave on his own terms. I guessed it would take him a long, long time to get over this - if he ever did.

He paused and so did I. The silence hung in the air for several seconds. I stammered, “Allen, I don’t know what to tell you.”

I was at a total loss for words, but then an idea came to me. I told him I was being called away and that I would see him at lunch. I also told him not to worry, but I was sure he wouldn’t take that advice.

What ran through my head when I was talking to Allen wasn’t about him - it was about Jane. In her present mood, she’d go totally ballistic when she heard this news. If I knew her, she’d go to Jackson and ream him a new one. And then she’d likely call up the CEO and demand a meeting; and if that meeting didn’t go her way, there was about a 50/50 chance she’s ream him a new one too. The way this played out in my head was that I would have two friends out of work, not just one.

An uninvited thought floated by in my head, “If Allen and Jane were gone, who would help me with the Revelation?” I was ashamed of myself for such selfishness. I quickly discarded the thought and mentally slapped myself for thinking such a thing. My problems were unimportant now.

My first plan was to find Jane and calm her down before she did something that would get her fired too. I thought she said something about having a meeting all morning on the third floor, so the odds were pretty good she hadn’t seen Allen’s message yet. Still, I had to move fast.

I left my cubicle and found an open elevator. I was just about to push “3” when I had another idea. At first, it seemed ridiculous, but the more I considered it, the more I thought it was worth a try.

I needed a quiet and private place. That wasn’t an easy thing to find in the ant hill that I toiled in. The whole place had an open floor plan and even the supply closets were locked. Finally I decided to go to the gym. The company had more money than they knew what to do with, so in the interest of good employee health outcomes (that’s really the way they talked) we had a full gym that was stocked with many types of exercise equipment. There was also a sauna, and even private rooms with massage chairs in them. Sometimes the company offered massages to those who wanted them. Usually, they were offered early or late in the day when I wasn’t there. I was sure that some people stuck around late or came in early to get the free massage.

Today the massage rooms were empty. I closed the door on one of them and slipped into one of the chairs. These massage chairs were the kind where you put your knees on pads, and then sit down and lean forward so that you face is in this donut shaped pillow thing. The forward angle meant that your weight is on your bent knees and not so much on other parts.

I felt kind of silly in this position, but it would have to do as it was private and there was no place else to sit.

At first I spoke out loud, but softly, “Hello BP. Roger to BP. Come in BP. I need to talk to you. You said if I called you, you may hear. I’m calling now.”

I felt like a radio operator in a World War Two movie, but truthfully I had no idea what the protocol was to contact BP. I’d never done it before so I was just guessing. There I was, bent over on my knees, calling to some unknown entity to ask for his help.

I waited for what seemed like a long time, but in reality was probably about thirty seconds. Then I felt a slight pressure on my left shoulder. That was the signal that he was there! He entered my head in the normal way.

“I am here,” he said. “I can hear you as I always do. Why did you call me today?”

The fact that he didn’t know what had happened meant that he hadn’t been actively watching me. That provided a small level of comfort; it seemed he was probably telling the truth when he said he didn’t watch me all the time.

“Allen is about to get fired because his sales are low. He’s got accounts that are going to buy, but they just haven’t come through. I also think his boss has it in for him since he’s older.”

I figured I might as well lay it all out for him. “When Jane hears about this, she’ll try to help Allen in a way that might also get her fired. I need your help to keep this from happening.”

There was only a short period of silence, “If they are fired, will that have an effect on the publication of my Revelation?”

I felt my blood pressure spike instantly when he said this. The only thing he was concerned with was his master plan to get out his Revelation. Of course, I had thought almost the same thing, but at least I was ashamed of myself for it. My mental voice took on a sharp tone, “Yes it will. Without their help I don’t know if I can even do this. I don’t know if I’ll want to do this.” I added, “Please help me.”

This time his hesitation was much longer. It dragged on and on to the point where I wondered if I had lost the “connection.” However, I could still feel his presence in my head, so I guessed he was thinking about his response.

“I believe I can grant your request,” he said. And that was it. Before I could ask how he was going to accomplish this miracle, he was gone.

Even though I was totally in the dark as to what he was going to do, I felt a strong sense of calm and peace. It was centered on that spot in my head where I’d just heard him. I just knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that things would work out okay with Allen and Jane. I had no idea what actions he was going to take, but I had faith that they would save Allen and Jane - and me and Matt too.

I was the last one to arrive at the cafeteria for our Office Buddy date due to my impromptu session with BP. I skipped the food line altogether and walked over to them. Someone, probably Jane, had picked a table way over in the back so we could talk without being overheard.

As I approached, Allen looked up and smiled at me. It was a brave smile meant to reassure a worried friend that he would be alright. I will always remember that smile; it used all the right muscles in his face, but somehow missed his eyes.

Matt was not in a smiling mood. His lips were compressed and after a slight nod to me, his put his eyes down and stared at the table. He could have been praying. He probably was.

Jane was exactly as I expected. As I approached the group, Jane turned and glared directly at me. Her eyes were full of anger, her chin was set and she was sitting with a stick straight posture. Her glare was intimidating, but I knew the anger was not directed towards me, but towards a world that would let such a thing happen to her friend. I could feel waves of tension from her when I got to her side. She seemed ready to explode.

Instead of sitting, I put my hand on her shoulder and I said in a very calm voice, “It’s going to be alright.”

Jane was my closest friend and I knew her moods as well as anyone, but that touch resulted in some type of communication between us that was deeper and more meaningful that I had ever experienced. I felt her hurt and anger as if they were living things. I wanted to make her feel better, and so I shared my calm and confidence with her and willed her to feel them too.

At this point, I had no idea how it was going to be alright, but I was certain that would be the outcome. Even though my words were simple, she must have felt it too. Because as I willed it, I felt her anger and sadness subside. She was confused now, but no longer looking to get into a fight with company higher-ups.

I then walked around and put my hands on the shoulders of Allen and then Matt. I don’t know why I did this. I’m normally not a touchy/feely kind of guy, but I think the gesture also made them feel better as they also somehow felt my calm. Matt especially had a look of surprise on his face. I felt very close to all of them.

I took my seat and we all sat in silence. That should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. We waited for something to happen.

It didn’t take long at all. Within a couple of minutes, Allen’s phone emitted a tone to let him know he’d received a text message. He picked up the phone and looked at it. His eyes got big and this time they had life in them.

“It’s from Finance. We just got the Colgeran order. That’s one that I’ve been trying to land for over a year! They want to know if we can deliver right away!”

I looked at Jane and saw tears form in her eyes. She was normally too tough to cry, but this was an exception. She was about to say something when the text alert tone came again from Allen’s phone.

Allen read and he looked at us in surprise. “Now they just got both of the other orders I’ve been looking for. Both of them!! I just can’t believe it. It’s a miracle.”

He bowed his head either to collect himself or because it was suddenly spinning. When he looked up, I saw the happiest expression I’d ever seen on his face.

“I can’t believe it. I’ve got to get down there and make sure they handle all the details correctly. I really appreciate all your support, but it looks like you’ll have to put up with me for a while longer. I’ll talk to you later.”

With that he almost floated across the floor and out of the room. I watched him all the way until he was out of sight.

When I looked back at Jane and Matt, they were both staring at me.

Jane spoke first. She sounded confused. “How did that happen?” she asked while looking at me. I didn’t realize it at that moment, but her question implied that I might actually know how this had happened.

I didn’t get a chance to think or even answer before Matt spoke up with another question that was far more to the point and far more problematic.

He said, “What did you do?”

Chapter Sixteen

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was in deep trouble. Just moments ago my friends were in an emotional turmoil anticipating that Allen would be fired, and then I came strolling in to spread an air of calm and confidence that everything was going to work out. It was as if I had said, “Don’t worry. Things are under control,” and in spite of themselves, they paused in their sorrow and anger with the hope that I might be right.

And then the call came and Allen was off the hook and off it in a spectacular way. Not only did he get the sale he needed to save his job, but he got all three that he had been working on. I wouldn’t be surprised if this bounty made him the top individual salesman in the company.

This kind of thing just didn’t happen. Not in the real world.

Jane and Matt, being smart people, put two and two together and came to the conclusion that I must have had something to do with what had happened. After all, I seemed to know about it in advance.

My reflex at this time was to be anything but honest. I didn’t want to tell them that BP was real and that I had asked for his help - and that he had provided it. Actually, he had landed me in this position by going way overboard in his help. If Allen had received one sale, everyone would have celebrated his luck. But three? That was beyond luck - it was actually way beyond luck. I watched as they tried to come to grips with this turn of events. It was obvious from the way they were looking at me that they suspected I had a hand in making all this happen.

I was still running through this in my mind as Jane and Matt continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer, when I felt a small pressure on my left shoulder.

BP was here. “Tell them it was me”, he said in my mind. “Tell them I needed the team together and intact to get my Revelation out to mankind. Tell them I am watching over them.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to do so I did just as BP suggested. I sat down, looked them in the eye, and gave it to them just as BP had said in a very solemn way. When I was done, they thought about it for a few seconds and then Jane seemed to relax. She grinned at me and gave me a playful kick under the table. She said, “So Rog, how did you develop this imagination? First the book and now this. I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you actually believed in that little green man.”

The spell was broken and things started to return to normal with smiles all around. The heightened sense of “something” that had been in the air since I arrived was gone.

Jane got up, “I guess I’ll go get ready for my next meeting. I don’t feel much like lunch right now.” And with that she was gone.

Matt didn’t rush to leave however. He and I both got our lunches and ate them in near silence. We were just two friends, comfortable enough with each other not to have to jabber every single second. But I could tell he had something to say and just as we were getting ready to leave, he did.

“Rog, when you came in we were all upset. Jane was angry enough to bite nails and was plotting what she would do to either save Allen or destroy Jackson or both. Allen was trying to console us and was pleading with Jane not to do anything that would damage her career.

“I did what I do - I prayed for all of us. I prayed that Allen would get his sale and if not, that he would not suffer the indignity of being fired. That was what he feared most, I think. I prayed that Jane wouldn’t hurt herself for no reason. She’s too talented to let these idiots get the best of her.

“And I prayed for you. I don’t know why, but I even prayed that things would work out so we could complete that silly book project of yours.

“So I shouldn’t have been all that surprised when Allen got his sales - after all I prayed for exactly that and I believe in the power of prayer. I understand why things worked out. I understand how the sales happened and how Jane was saved because of it.

“But there is one thing I don’t understand and I hope you can explain it to me. When you first arrived at the table, we were all in a state. Jane was about to blurt out something scathing at you for being the last one here. Then you put your hand on her shoulder and she seemed to shrink by about an inch. She immediately lost her anger and became more - well, rational. I felt it too when you touched me. What did you do to make that happen?”

The pressure on my shoulder was gone, so I didn’t have BP to help me with this answer, but I really didn’t need him. “Matt, I didn’t do anything but show concern for a friend. Jane needed to feel a human touch right then and somehow I knew it. I didn’t do anything other than try to reassure her.”

In reality, I also had a lot of questions about that incident. I hadn’t planned on providing a blanket of calm over my emotional friends, but there can be no doubt that I had done something along that line. Perhaps it was BP’s work or perhaps it was something he did through me. Either way, I felt uneasy about it.

Matt seemed to accept my explanation. What else could he do?

As we left the dining room, Matt said, “I’ll be thanking God tonight for this day.”

“That’s a good idea.” I said. It was all I could think of at the moment.

Chapter Seventeen

The rest of the day was a blur. I was relieved when it was ten minutes to five and it was time for me to leave. Well, it was a bit early, but I was emotionally drained. All I wanted to do all afternoon was think about what had happened, but I couldn’t even do that as some manager needed a worthless report right away. When I was done, I felt entitled to escape.

I saw Jane only a couple of times as she went from one meeting to another. When I did see her she smiled at me sweetly - which was definitely not normal. Apparently my touch had transformed her mood from Ms. Bitchy to Ms. Congeniality. I had the distinct impression that she was up to something, but I was too exhausted to even try and guess what it might be.

I was very relieved to find an empty seat on the train. I slumped into it and closed my eyes, planning to just veg out on the way home. I sighed and had a mental picture of that scotch bottle in the cabinet. I imagined putting ice in a glass.

I was just about to pour when BP entered my mind.

“Not two times in a day!” I mentally whined. “I’m too tired right now. Check with me tomorrow or next week or something. I may have an opening then.”

“I would think that a more appropriate greeting would be ‘thank you,” he said. His voice was like fingernails on chalkboard.

I saw what was up. I had asked for a favor that he granted and now he wanted me to be all humble and grateful. If that’s what he wanted, fine - anything to make him leave so that I didn’t miss my stop. That scotch bottle was waiting.

“Thank you,” I said. In spite of myself, it wasn’t said in the most gracious manner. In fact, it sounded a bit peevish because I was now in a peevish mood.

Actually, I could feel the amount of peev grow in me by the second. “Why in the world did you make all three companies place those orders? All Allen needed was one nice order and things would have been fine. Everyone would have been happy that Allen’s hard work had paid off and that would have been that. Because all three orders came in within five minutes of each other, my friends are suspicious that I somehow had something to do with getting them. It was just too much - these types of things just don’t happen naturally.”

I was on a roll now. “And that whole thing with me touching Jane and calming her down. She not only felt that, but the others did too. Lord knows where this little episode will lead. So, yeah, thanks. Thanks for putting me in a very uncomfortable position.”

His response was almost instantaneous, “First,” he said, “your point is taken. I admit I am not fully versed in the way these things happen. However, you asked that I get the orders and I did. Still, I should have gone over my intentions with you to make sure I was doing things in the best way. I will do that in the future.”

BP used his most insufferable voice, “As to your ‘uncomfortable position,’ you may as well get used to it. You are the one that has been chosen to bring my Revelation to the world. My words will be published under your name. Yes, it will be my Revelation, but you will be the one who will be the living embodiment of it. I imagine you will get some degree of notoriety. Surely you have thought of this.”

In truth, I hadn’t. I’d been so caught up in the ‘now’ of having BP present this information and my dealing with the trials of trying to actually get it down on paper, that I had never considered what my life would be like when that part ended and the Revelation was released to the world.

If I had thought about it at all, I guess I imagined my post-book life as one of a normal new author - attending a book party with my friends, looking up my name on Amazon to see if I was in the top million - that type of thing. As I considered it now though, I realized that I had envisioned my life post-book as pretty much the same as it was pre-book. After all, the words were BP’s, not mine.

But now he was telling me that my part was going to be a bit more prominent. I wasn’t sure if I wanted that to happen but it still seemed to be a long way off, so I filed that concern away for another day.

“Let us continue with where we left off on evolution,” he said. He really was thoughtless sometimes. Here I was on a train going home after one of the most trying days of my life, and now I had to listen to him lecture on how life on this planet got to where it is now.

I interrupted him, “I’m on my way home. The train ride is only 15 minutes and I don’t want to wake up and find myself way across town an hour from now.”

“Do not worry,” he said. “I will make sure that we are done before your stop, I promise.”

What else could I do? “Let’s get on with this session then,” I said with some resignation.

He started right in. “When we left off last time, I had revealed how plants were the most abundant type of early life on Earth. These plants mutated and evolved over time, which is entirely consistent with Darwin and modern scientific theories.”

“But scientists have a much harder time explaining how elephants, ants and fish evolved from plants. Remember, the prevailing theory is that all life on Earth has a common ancestor. Like many things in science, this is just a guess based on the available evidence filtered through the present level of knowledge. For example, scientists notice that fish and bacteria and plants are all made up of the same basic building blocks of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, so they conclude that all life on Earth sprung from a single source.”

In spite of myself, I was getting interested. Since he had started talking about evolution, I had wondered how he would explain how all the animals and other creatures had appeared over millions of years. My reading showed that scientists had no idea, but were nevertheless certain that they did, in fact, evolve from that single source.

I asked the question that had been on my mind. “So are you saying that science is wrong? That all life on Earth doesn’t have a single common ancestor?” This would be news that Matt would be interested in, for sure. Anything that cast doubt on the godless answers of science would be welcomed by him.

“Not at all,” he said. “In fact, in their belief that all life has a common ancestor on Earth, they are entirely right.”

Now I was confused. One moment he was saying Darwin and science were wrong, and now he was saying that they were right.

He sensed my confusion and asked a question, “What are the stages of growth for a tomato plant?”

I knew I really was tired because I started to actually think of them before I realized this was another one of his ‘off the wall’ questions. There was therefore no need for me to answer since he knew where he was heading and I had no idea.

“We start with a seed, do we not? A tomato seed is a very small, hard seed with one end being round and the other pointed. It’s thousands of times smaller than a tomato, is not red and if you didn’t know otherwise, you would have no idea it was a stage of a tomato.

“Plant our little seed and up comes a tomato seedling. This is a green leafy plant; however it looks nothing like a seed or a tomato. It is, however, the next stage in the life of the tomato.

“Once our plant has grown, we get flowers. These flowers look nothing like seeds or the green stems and leaves of the plant. But once again, they are part of the creation of the tomato.

“That brings us to the last stage, the formation of the tomato itself. These can weigh as much as a pound, have soft flesh and are a very useful fruit. If you didn’t already know, you’d never guess that beautiful red fruit came from a pretty flower, which came from a green, leafy stem, which came from a hard, pointed seed.”

He paused for a couple of seconds to let that sink in, “And that seed which starts the whole cycle, has built into it the instructions and capability to create the end product of its instructions - the tomato fruit.”

I thought I saw where this was going. I had to admit his crazy examples could sometimes explain things in a understandable way. “So you are saying that that first life on Earth actually did contain all the instructions and all the capability to evolve into the life forms that exist here today? That when the time was right, those first plants evolved into the first animals? And every other creature appeared based on the instructions built into that first living thing?”

And before he could answer, I came to the inevitable conclusion. “And that means science and Darwin are right that all life on the planet has evolved from a single beginning based on survival of the fittest.”

Things had been going well until this point.

His voice contained a hint of disappointment when he said, “No. That is not it at all. Let me give you the next part of my Revelation now in context with the earlier parts.”

“The universe is made up of two things - life and non-life

“Non-life is common, but life is rare

“Life exists only on the Earth.

“Life did not randomly appear on the Earth, but was put here for a reason

“Here is the next part: The initial seeding of life on Earth contained instructions that ensured the eventual creation of many different life forms, plant and animal.

“Those initial instructions were designed to eventually result in a species of self aware, sentient life forms - humans.”

I was stunned. “So you are saying that life was purposely put on this planet four billion years ago for the express purpose of creating humanity?”

“Yes, that is it exactly,” he said. “You will probably think of early life as being programmed to progress in a certain way - like our tomato plant. But that is not exactly correct since ‘being programmed’ implies that each step along the way is planned and executed in turn. A better way of thinking about what actually happened is to think of the evolution of life as being directed. It is sent off in the specific direction and we know it will eventually arrive at our desired destination, but we do not know exactly how it will get there. There are reasons for that uncertainty, as we will discuss later.”

And with that, the train stopped at my station, right on time. Suddenly free of BP, I got up and walked home. I was very, very tired since this had been one of the longest and most stressful days of my life. As I relaxed with my scotch, I thought of Allen and Jane and of Matt. I fell asleep in my chair thinking about Matt’s question - “What did you do?”

Chapter Eighteen

The next morning was hectic. I awoke a few minutes early from a dream about plants evolving into bunnies that were sentient and could talk. I had always had crazy dreams and it occurred to me that this one was not a whole lot crazier than my real life at the moment.

I spent my time before leaving for work drinking coffee and dictating the two parts of BP’s Revelations that I had experienced or better, endured, yesterday. I was sure the team would be surprised that I had suddenly become such a prolific writer - especially with everything else that had happened yesterday with Allen and yes, with me.

I was careful to limit my dictation only to the verbatim sayings of BP and me, along with my general comments and observations. I didn’t want to get into the other happenings of the day, such as how I had asked BP to help Allen. That would have opened up too many areas that I didn’t want to explore. I knew I’d had to deal with it at some point if I let my friends read the complete story of these events in the full narrative version that I was keeping to myself. But that point wasn’t now and I was glad to put it off until another day.

I also spent some time thinking about what BP had just revealed. It was two things really and both, if they were true, would be monumental.

First was this whole business of the implantation of life on Earth. While BP hadn’t used the word ‘implantation,’ it seemed appropriate. Given what he said, it appeared that one of the great mysteries of evolutionary science - exactly how did animals, for example, evolve from plants - had been explained. It seemed logical that the initial life that was put on Earth had the capability and was directed to change over time into all the major types of life that exist. Thus, when it was time, plants appeared and started to evolve and, when it was time, animals appeared and started their own evolutionary path. Just like, when the time was right, tomatoes appeared from flowers.

But one thing was clear - once an animal evolutionary line appeared on Earth, it could only evolve into new or different animals. It was simple and elegant and really did fill in the holes in evolution.

The second major part of the Revelation was far more shattering - that all this, the seeding of life and then almost four billion years of evolution was all directed. It was all designed to do one thing - to result in the creation of human beings.

Now, I knew for sure that Matt would be more than intrigued with this idea. It actually fit pretty closely with his beliefs; a creator puts life on Earth, and through various stages, manages the appearance of all forms of life culminating in the creation of Man.

However, this wasn’t the end of BP’s Revelation and I sensed that Matt’s happiness with it might not continue at such a high level as more was revealed. I had no idea how much more this was going to be, but I suspected there was quite a lot - including the big Revelation as to why all this happened. Strangely, I felt kind of eager.

Finally I was dressed and hit the street for the short walk to the train station.

I didn’t have dozens of people I would consider friends, but I had enough. Most were my age or thereabouts and, as far as I knew, I was the only one who liked to read a newspaper. I would usually pick one up at the newsstand at the entrance to the train station and read it on the ride in and finish it on my way home - at least I did when BP wasn’t around.

I gave the guy my two bucks and got seventy five cents in change. I was just about to drop the three quarters in my pocket when I spotted a blind beggar just off to the right, sitting in the shadows of the light that came from the entrance to the station. Without thinking, I walked over and dropped the coins in her cup along with a ten dollar bill I’d planned on using for lunch. I normally don’t give to beggars because many of them are working scams, but for some reason I knew this lady really was blind and in need of some help. What I gave her wasn’t much, but it was all I had to give.

She heard my footsteps and raised her head as she listened for the clink of the coins. She was missing a front tooth and her hair was very stringy. I noticed some healed scars on her wrist. “My Lord,” I thought.

She then smiled and said simply, “Bless you.”

I was startled at her words, and yet, right then, staring at this pitiful blind woman, I felt a rush of thanks for the sincere blessing she had just given me. Almost before I knew it, I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze of encouragement. I wouldn’t normally do such a thing, especially with strangers, but it seemed like the right thing at that moment and I think both of us felt at least a little better. I left her and walked toward my train.

By the time I arrived at the loading area, the train was waiting and I rushed to get on. I had forgotten all about my small display of generosity and was focused on the day ahead. As I entered the train, I heard a commotion from back at the entrance to the station. There seemed to be screams and crying. Oh well, it’s the city. You hear all kinds of things.

I arrived at the office not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed, but at least mostly recovered from the incredibly stressful day I’d had yesterday. Yet, I still felt a bit, well, fragile is the word, I guess. That strange feeling in my head seemed just a bit more pronounced this morning too. The events of yesterday hadn’t helped it, for sure.

However, I was a generally optimistic person, and so was actually looking forward to getting a cup of free company coffee and then spending the entire morning surfing to whatever sites struck my fancy. It was a nice dream, but that’s all it was, since when I actually got to my cubicle, Jane was sitting at my desk.

Without a word of explanation or greeting, she said, “Matt called four times. He really, really, really wants to talk to you.”

I felt a squirt of ulcer juice hit my stomach. Matt could be a bit needy at times and he likely had a large number of questions about the latest part of the Revelation that I could not answer.

But she wasn’t done, “Did you hear about Jackson?”

Here I was standing, while she was sitting in my chair. I thought of a couple of things to say, but settled for “no.”

“It seems that he had told everyone at the top of the food chain that Allen could not possibly get those important sales and that he had to be shoved out so that Jackson could take over those accounts himself and - oh by the way - he would save the company a lot of money in commissions. Well, that was really stabbing Allen - and the other sales people too - in the back. As soon as Jackson’s scheme became known, a number of them felt free to tell the Big Bosses what they thought of Jackson. He was canned late yesterday. I understand it was quite a scene.”

That really was news. A guy like Jackson was a scheming hypocrite, but that type normally covered their tracks pretty well.

“I wonder how the other sales guys knew he was planning on stealing accounts from the sales force,” I said. I doubt the bosses would have said anything, since if Jackson’s scheme had worked, they would be the ones who would reap the benefit.

“Well,” Jane put on her brightest smile, “It appears that some executive type asked a Senior Financial Analyst to report on how much the company would save if these accounts were brought in house. I can only guess that the analyst may have let slip little parts of this plan to the sales people.” She paused for a moment. “Or maybe they just figured it out on their own. You never know.”

The smile told me everything. If you could pick an enemy in this company, you would not want to pick Jane Mitchell.

Thankfully, she was my friend and not my enemy, so I felt safe in asking, “Why are you in my cubicle?”

Again, she smiled at me in an unusually sweet way. I wondered if I should leave. “Because I want to talk to you. Sit down.”

That was easier said than done since she was in my chair. I had another chair in the cubicle, but I kept old reports piled on it so that bosses and other time wasters wouldn’t be tempted to sit and chat during the infrequent times they visited me.

Jane just sat there and waited, and since it appeared there was no other way, I moved the stacks of reports onto a new pile on the floor and sat down.

For the first time I noticed that she was wearing a skirt today. That was only slightly unusual for her. She could be quite stylish if she wanted to be and I guessed that today was one of those days. The skirt was not really all that short, but was certainly cut above the knee so that it showed off her tanned legs. Tanned? I didn’t know she did that. It felt a bit strange to think of Jane like that. I had always thought of her as a good friend - probably my best friend. I wasn’t used to thinking of her in any other way.

As I got seated she crossed her legs and the skirt rode up just a small amount. I had another twinge from my lizard brain suggesting that it might be a good time to flee. Something was up for sure.

“Roger,” she said. “We’ve been friends for a long time, haven’t we?”

That was not a good way to start most conversations. I knew things were likely to go downhill from here, but I couldn’t guess how. I waited for her to go on, but things had to be done her way, so I had to actually say something. I finally answered, “Sure.” It was all I could think to say.

“So will you be honest with me, as a friend? No cute stuff or anything?” Again she waited for an answer. Again, I wished she would just get on with it, but finally had to answer with, “Sure I will.”

“Okay,” she said as she uncrossed her legs and slid forward to get a bit closer to me so she could look me directly in the eye. The skirt rode up some more like it had a life of its own. I was worried that she would notice that I was noticing.

“There is something strange going on with you. First, you start writing this book and then we find out it’s about the meaning of life in the universe. I mean, come on, what kind of topic is that for a new writer?”

For once she wasn’t expecting an answer as she went on. “And what about this BP character? You created him so that not only does he provide the Revelation as you call it, but he does it in a way that actually makes some kind of weird sense. I’ve know you well enough to know that you’re no science wiz, and yet you write about it like you know a lot about it.

“And now you play some part in Allen having the biggest sales day for any salesperson in the history of the company when just hours before, he had one leg out the door. Don’t bother to deny it; I know you pulled some kind of rabbit out of your hat to make that happen. I don’t know how you did it, but I will find out. Trust me on that.”

At that moment, I did indeed trust her on that point. She would find out somehow; probably by making me tell her. I wanted to flee even more.

“But that’s not all. Yesterday, you came to lunch all mellow and confident and you managed to mellow us all out even before we knew that Allen had received his orders. I felt that and so did the others. I’ve been thinking a lot about it too. It was a very strange feeling.

“So tell me now. Tell me what is going on.”

She leaned back slightly and I took the opportunity to look away from her. Unfortunately my eyes fell again to the hem of her skirt which had something managed to move north by another small amount. She uncrossed her legs.

At that moment, I should have been furiously thinking of a way to deal with this. My mind should have been coming up with a strategy to maintain the even keel of my life and Jane’s too. I should have been considering whether it was possible to escape from this direct confrontation with lies, or deciding if half truths would do the trick.

But I did none of that. My mind seemed to have shut down from overload and contained what seemed like exactly nothing, as I couldn’t think of a single thing. I hadn’t realized it until that moment, but the strain of dealing with BP’s demands, and of juggling my cover stories so that my friends wouldn’t think I had totally lost my mind, had taken their toll on me. For quite a while, I had been able to handle this constant strain as background noise in my life, and at times had even been able to ignore it.

Up until now, that is. The combination of Jane’s confrontation, the events of yesterday with Allen, Matt’s calls, that damn skirt, and, yes, that moment when I did seem to calm my friends in some unexplainable way, all came together to push me over the edge. My mind had shut down and all I felt were raw emotions running together like I had devolved into some primitive pre-human creature. I felt sadness and anger and fear all at once. It was all too much and I then did something I hadn’t done in a long time.

I wept.

Right there in front of Jane, near the opening to my cubicle where anyone could walk by at any time, I leaned forward so that I was knee to knee with her. I took Jane’s hands in mine and bowed my head so that my forehead was on her hands - and then I cried deeply and silently.

Bless her; she didn’t pull away in disgust. She didn’t move at all until I was done. It seemed like a long time, but it was actually less than a minute until I got myself under control. I felt my brain sputter to life as my ability to think returned. I raised my head, wondering if I would see disgust or embarrassment or pity on her face. I prayed right then that it wouldn’t be pity.

But as I looked at her, I didn’t see any of them. Instead, I saw a combination of compassion and wonder and perhaps even a bit of happiness.

She squeezed my hands and said the last thing I would have guessed, “This thing with BP. It’s real, isn’t it?”

Chapter Nineteen

Notice that Jane didn’t say, “You really think that thing with BP is real, don’t you?” or “I’m sure he seems real to you.” She could have easily done that and implied that my encounters with BP were just my imagination, or worse, symptoms of a mental illness. I wouldn’t have blamed her for that since I had worried about the same thing. But she had come to the conclusion that I was telling the truth about my encounters - there was no accusation of insanity, no hint of pity for me, no condescending pat on the head. Jane, good friend that she was, proved it that day by simply believing in me.

I hesitated for a moment. My mind was back on track, chugging along as well as it ever did, so I was able to realize that this was a turning point. I could try and make up yet another layer of a cover story to explain what was happening to me, or I could simply shrug off the burden and tell the truth - or as much of the truth as I knew.

It didn’t take long for me to make the decision. “Yes, it is true. I am being visited by BP. I am receiving information that he calls his Revelation. He does promise to explain why we are here and what it all means. BP is the one who makes all the arguments against what most people consider to be settled science. I’m just writing it all down so that others can know it as well. I’m doing it in the way you suggested; as a narrative story so that people can see just how it happened.”

Now that I had started, it felt good to simply tell the truth. “I haven’t been honest with you and Matt and Allen. I needed your help and support, but I was sure you would think I was totally nuts if I told the full truth, so I created this story that I was writing a fiction novel. I am writing a book, but it’s not fiction. It’s more like a diary with a record of my thoughts and actions combined with the Revelation. Maybe when this is all over, I’ll remove all the stuff about me and my life. I don’t know.”

I thought that I was about finished with my confession, but then I blurted out something that had been worrying me for a while. I realized that this worry tried to bubble up to my consciousness often, but that I had mostly managed to push it back down. Until now, that is. Now it just came out on its own.

“And I think something is happening to me. I just don’t feel the same as I did in some subtle way. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s not my imagination. Maybe these sessions with BP are causing it, but all I know is that I feel different somehow.”

Once again, I thought I was done, but I had a few more words. “And I wouldn’t blame you or Matt or Allen if you never spoke to me again. I should have never involved you in this; especially without leveling with you. For that, I’m sorry.”

I still had Jane’s hands in mine, but I had made my confession with my eyes cast downward. I now realized that I was staring right at her thighs. I raised my head to look at her face.

She smiled and it was a wonderful sight.

Just at that time, a co-worker came by to drop off some papers and saw us sitting there, knee to knee, holding hands and just gazing at each other. He grinned and said, “Jez, get a room you two,” and left chuckling.

That broke the spell. I released her hands and sat back in my chair. Jane tugged her skirt down a fraction and backed up slightly. She smiled at me again and, in an instant, I knew she was pleased to have become a part of whatever BP was doing with his Revelation. From now on, I knew we’d be in this together.

“I realized that there was something more going on with you just this morning. That’s why I was in your office - so I could ask you about it and make you tell the truth. Thank you for confirming my suspicions.”

“It’s still so new to me and I need some time to think it through, but I’m almost sure what I want the next step to be.”

My brain no longer felt more than normally sluggish, but I struggled to comprehend what she had just said. Was she going to call a meeting with the others and make me come clean with them? Was she going to volunteer to become a part of the cover-up of what was really going on?

I realized I had no idea what she thought the next step would be and couldn’t even hazard a guess. That was fortunate because if I could have had one hundred guesses, I would not have predicted what she said next.

“I think I want to have a visit with that little green man, BP,” she said.

Chapter Twenty

The rest of that day at work was a blur. Jane was off attending meetings and doing work stuff that I managed to avoid because I just wasn’t up to it. I sat and stared at my computer screen and mostly just played solitaire. I didn’t even feel like surfing to some of my favorite sites. I did call Matt back though. He had called four times and so I was prepared for him to be needy on the phone. He’s an emotional guy and obviously this whole BP thing was eating at him.

Well, “Join the club,” I thought. And unless something really unexpected happened, I was guessing that Matt was going to be even less happy with both me and with BP in the future.

He answered right away and started out just as I expected. “Rog, this book is creeping me out. I read all these “Revelations” again last night and I don’t know - I think you might want to come up with another idea for the book.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked. There was a hint of exasperation in my voice. I really didn’t need this right now.

“Because it’s just not right somehow. At first I thought you were just taking some swipes at scientific theories that I think make no sense. But I’m not sure where this thing is heading and I’m worried about this book being another cult thing like Allen said - you know, the Hubbard guy.

“I realize I asked you before, but I think I need to understand more about this - about where it’s heading, I mean. Can’t you just tell me the big, final Revelation? What are you going to say is the reason we are all here? I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I’m worried. I don’t want to be a part of something that turns out to be blasphemous.”

Matt was careful to live his life based on the rules of his religion and I could see how he wouldn’t want to get into a situation where he would be thanked on the dedication page for a book that would belittle that religion. The problem was that I had no idea where BP was taking us with his Revelation, so how could I answer Matt’s question? The last time he had asked, I opted for the truth and told him I wasn’t sure what was going to be revealed. I implied that I hadn’t decided on it yet and Matt accepted my explanation. I didn’t think he’d be too accepting of another such mild brush off. I decided it was time for a bit more boldness.

“Matt, I really do appreciate all the help that you and Jane and Allen have been with this book, but I’m still not totally sure of what the ending will reveal. But I have come to one strong conclusion; I won’t talk about it with any of my friends, or with anyone else. I just need to finish writing the whole Revelation before I receive advice, and yes, criticism, for my writing. If you want to take a break or drop out at any time I’ll understand completely and you’ll still be one of my best buds, but I can’t have my ending up for discussion before I write it. That would make the writing of the book much, much more difficult for me. I just need to plow on and get it all down in order - the beginning first and then the middle and only then the end. After that, you and everyone can have their say.”

I had copped a bit of an artist’s attitude with him, but after the morning I had, I couldn’t really blame myself. I sure didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I wanted the call to be over so I could shut down my brain and play another hand of solitaire.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll hang in to see where it’s heading. It’s just on my mind, that’s all.” He paused and then used a brave voice, “You keep writing and I’ll keep reading.”

I was satisfied with how I had handled that mini crisis and so I was able to set aside my worries about Matt - for now at least. After another thirty games of solitaire it was finally five o'clock. I gathered my things and left in record time. The train was crowded and uncomfortable and people kept rubbing against me so that by the time I arrived home, I smelled like a mixture of booze and ladies perfume. What a perfect day this had been - perfectly awful that is.

So, I was in a bad mood when I poured myself a well deserved scotch. As the smoky liquid worked its magic, I was finally calm enough to think rationally about all that had happened with Allen and now Jane and Matt. The more I thought of the mess that was my life, the less relaxed I became and the more worked up I got. Damn that BP. He’s the one who was causing my comfortable little life to spin out of control. He’s the one who was making me the center of attention for my friends. I never wanted any of this.

Right at that moment, I wished he would come into my head. I wanted him there so I could talk to him. I knew just what I would say. I would resign. I’d tell him to take a hike; to find some other person to aggravate with his Revelation. After all, I had done darn well with my life before he ever showed up. I had a good job in a good company that let me do pretty much whatever I wanted for most of my day. How can you top that?

Now thanks to BP, I had to get up early and stay up late to work on a book about a subject that I know nothing about and wished I had never heard of. I didn’t ask to be the one to receive his Revelation. I didn’t ask to have my life turned upside down; to have my nerves shredded to the point where I broke down in tears while talking to my best friend. If I had known what I know now, I would never have agreed to start down this path. I would have told BP to buzz off and my simple and happy life would have continued uninterrupted. Why, oh why, had I been chosen to carry this burden?

“Because you are the best one to bring my Revelation to the world,” BP said. I had been so involved in my self pity party that I hadn’t noticed when he entered my head.

And by God, he had the nerve to show up now, right when the scotch was kicking in and I was feeling really sorry for myself.

“And because you are faithful and good to your friends and to me, and I suspect, even to all those who will learn of my Revelation through you. I am proud of you.”

I couldn’t think of another time when he had paid me such a simple and seemingly sincere compliment. My anger started to drain away so that all I was left with was my despair.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through the last few days - heck, ever since this whole thing started. My friends now think I’m some kind of freak. Matt thinks I’m starting a new religion, and today Jane told me she knows you are real and not just part of a story I’m writing. She wants to meet you in person.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take, BP. Sure, I can remember and write down your words, but I don’t know if I can do that and continue to be a normal person, with a normal job and normal friends. Maybe I need to just move away to a forest somewhere and live in a tent until you are finished with me.”

I had never spent a night in a tent in my life, but somehow this seemed like a great idea. I had a vision where I saw myself coming out of my tent to watch the sunrise while wearing a long white robe. I was on a mountain. I saw myself writing down the latest parts of the Revelation while I was eating berries from a nearby bush. I was alone and no one thought I was strange. I was content and all my problems were behind me.

BP brought me back to reality. “I think it might be time for me to meet your friends. I did not anticipate that they would play such a direct role in our endeavor, but since they are, I suppose they should get to know me. I think that would reduce the burden on you since you would no longer have to conceal my reality from them. I will consider what to do and will let you know soon as to how I would like to proceed.”

Well, wasn’t that just great? He will deign to reveal himself so that his puppet, me, can do his work more efficiently. I didn’t know what else to say and he didn’t give me time to think of anything.

“Now,” he continued, “let us finish our conversation about evolution, shall we? Specifically, let us deal with our old friend, Mr. Darwin.”

So that was it? My life was spiraling out of control, and he gave it thirty seconds of attention and now we are back to his Revelation? My anger fought its way back and took the place of my despair.

“Hold on with the Darwin,” I said. “I had almost made up my mind to tell you to find another poor fool to receive your Revelation. I may be faithful and good as you say, but I’m also a wee bit selfish and by that I mean I don’t want to go crazy and totally disrupt my life. You’ve got to help me here. Why am I doing this? Where is it heading? Matt is worried about what I will reveal, but his worry is nothing compared to mine. You’re asking me to do so much based on nothing but faith, and so far I’ve gone along. But now I need to believe that turning my life upside down will lead to something that is important. If you will answer no other question, please at least tell me this - why should I go on?”

His pause was long enough that I started to wonder if he had left in disgust. I started to feel slightly ashamed and wondered if my whining had been too much for him. However, he hadn’t left and eventually he answered.

“You have a lot of questions and that is because there is so much you do not yet know. Please understand that I am revealing everything to you. In fact, I will reveal more than you can possibly dream about at this time. The problem is that my Revelation needs to be provided in a specific order as one piece will build upon another. You can look back and see how that has been the case already. I really cannot just ‘jump to the end’ as you might say. I must proceed in my own way. You will better understand that later.

“As to why you should go on; the reason is the Revelation itself. I am not giving you this information just so you can have some fun facts to know and tell. I am giving you this Revelation and I am asking that you write it down so that mankind will know why it is on this planet, will understand the meaning of it all, and will then hopefully act on that knowledge.

“That is why I am here and that is why you are receiving my Revelation. It is easy to get caught up in comparatively small issues when you do not yet see the big picture. Soon you will understand and so will some of your fellow humans. I give you my word on that.

“Until then, I can only ask that you trust in me. Trust that I am telling you the truth, for why should I lie? Man has a very special purpose in the universe and I am going to reveal to you what that purpose is. You have been the one chosen to receive this knowledge. You will then multiply this message a hundred times as it gets out into the world. That is why you should continue.”

My emotions threatened to overwhelm me, but I wrestled them under control. I felt better, more capable and less frightened. And certainly less angry - as a faithful and good person should be.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll continue at least for the moment.” After all, my sanity and life were small potatoes compared to what he promised to reveal, so I decided that I may as well get over my angst. At least that was what I thought he was implying. I shrugged and resigned myself to my fate. “I’m ready for Darwin now. Give it to me.”

And so he did.

Chapter Twenty One

He started right in. “Scientists who believe in Darwinism almost have it right. They believe that life started in a specific spot on Earth long ago. That is right. They believe that life, over long periods of time, changed and expanded into all the varieties we see today. That is also correct.

“But they believe that these changes are due to life’s need to adapt to changes in its environment so that it can survive. This is the Survival of the Fittest Theory put forth by Darwin and believed by the great majority of scientists. This theory, in reality, can explain only a small part of the changes that have occurred with life - perhaps the smallest part.

“While it sounds logical in the abstract, it is much less so when we examine specific creatures. For example, consider a yellow bird that fits in so beautifully with its surroundings that predators cannot distinguish it from various yellow leaves. Therefore the bird is able to survive because it has adapted to its environment. Now, as I said, this sounds logical until you ask a few questions.

“Such as - if being yellow allows the birds to survive and they evolved their yellowness over time, what color were they before they were yellow? Let’s assume they were red, or brown or orange - it really does not matter. The point is that they were not yellow. If yellowness is necessary for survival, how did the non-yellow birds ever live long enough to evolve into yellow birds?”

It took me a few seconds to come to grips with this, but it seemed to make sense. Being yellow could be handy for a bird, but it was unlikely to be selected as a “survival of the fittest” mechanism since non-yellow ancestors obviously survived.

I thought of a possible explanation, “What if the leaf colors in the environment changed very slowly? That would give the birds time to evolve along with them.” I felt pretty good about this point.

“Things do not often happen like that in the environment. They do not change gradually and linearly over a long period of time - like from brown to red to yellow over a period of a few million years of constant slow change. Usually, things stay the same for quite a while and then some event occurs which causes environmental change to happen very quickly.”

I felt myself being drawn into this argument. Volcanoes, meteors, droughts, floods and all kinds of events can cause very rapid environmental change. I still had a question, “But we know of creatures that have evolved with specific survival adaptations like the giraffe. His long neck allows him to eat from the tops of trees. Wouldn’t that be an example of Darwin’s survival of the fittest?”

BP had a simple answer to that, “No, it is not.

“A giraffe does have a long neck and can eat from the tops of trees where shorter creatures cannot reach, but this is certainly not a survival adaptation. If a long neck was needed to survive, how do half grown young giraffes live? How do buffalo or cows or other non-long necked creatures survive? There is far more plant food on the ground and directly above it than there is twenty feet up in a tree. Try to imagine a situation where there is plant food way up in trees, but none lower to the ground. That type of situation is what would be necessary for giraffes to really need their long necks, and that type of situation would be extremely unlikely to exist in the real world. It might exist occasionally during drought conditions in Africa, but even if it did, why didn’t all the short neck herbivores perish?

“No, giraffes don’t need long necks. They are not necessary for survival, and they were not explained by anything Darwin said. Instead, I am going to tell you why giraffes have long necks - it is because a long neck is not something that will cause the early death of giraffes. As long as any trait does not lead to early or widespread death, it can continue to exist. That is what Darwin didn’t understand.

“This explains a great deal about why there is such an incredible diversity of life. You can have long necks, short necks, or no necks at all. There are really two main things that determine whether various types of life survive. The first is that it should not have traits that are destructive to life and therefore get selected against. How many slow rabbits are there? If some slow rabbits are born, they would tend to get eaten first and thus the slow branch of the rabbit family tree would quickly become extinct. Long necks on giraffes make no survival difference at all and thus continue to exist.

“The second is that the survival of a certain type of life can often be simply a matter of chance. Lucky ones live and unlucky ones do not. Take the wooly mammoth for example. It survived for at least 250 centuries under all kinds of conditions and could easily live today, but it was unlucky enough to have its normal habitat turn cold. It was unlucky to make bad choices as to which direction to wander - choosing colder areas instead of warmer areas in search of food. And finally, it was unlucky that early humans found mammoths to be delicious.

“Here is my Revelation to you on this point: Life can change into an incredible array of living things. This is evolution. The general direction of evolution was set when life was put on Earth. The end result of that evolution was designed to create humans, but the actual path to that creation, all the billions of years and different types of life, was not planned and happened by chance. We will discuss that in more depth in the future, but for now understand that life flourished, expanded and changed over millions of years with the purpose of populating this small planet with human beings.”

I knew his theory was that life was put on Earth in order to populate the planet with humans, but this idea that all evolution was basically a random path to that end was new. I didn’t like it.

“I can understand an explosion of life-creating evolution - new forms of life shooting off in all directions, changing and morphing as they slowly advance towards the goal of the creation of humans. I can even understand your contention that this expansion in life was designed to get to a specific ending point by using an unknown path of basically random evolution. You are saying that many forms of life were created not as survival mechanisms, but as random events. And if enough of these events happened, eventually humans would be the result.

“I get all that. But how can you call that survival of the lucky? That makes no sense.”

His answer was not one I expected. “What is the luckiest type of life form on Earth?”

As always when he asked one of these ridiculous questions, my first reflex was to try and guess the answer. “Humans, I guess,” was what I said.

His voice had a smile in it when he spoke, “Actually, it is not lucky that humans exist. That was planned and is the result of directed but random evolutionary events. Luck played no part in it.

“No, humans are not here due to luck, but many other creatures are. Take the panda for example. Here is a creature that has evolved a whole series of traits that are not optimum for survival, and yet it survives. If Darwin were right, pandas would have been extinct long ago as they are some of the least fit creatures on the planet.

“First, every type of living thing has to get nourishment and a varied diet helps survival when some specific type of food is unavailable due to drought, for example. Pandas, however, eat only a certain type of bamboo which grows in a very small area of the world. They have not evolved a taste for leaves from the tops or bottoms of trees or for anything else. It is bamboo or nothing for them. So pandas are lucky that they are able to continue to find their bamboo and that some drought or bamboo virus has not wiped their only source of food - and them - off the face of the earth.

“But that is not all. This type of bamboo provides very little nourishment so they have to eat just about every waking hour in order to get enough nutrition to stay alive. Pandas are extremely lucky that mountain lions did not evolve a liking for the cover offered by this type of bamboo. If they had, pandas would have been resigned to history long ago.

“A panda would not stand much of a chance against a hungry mountain lion (or most other predators for that matter) because it is not a fierce fighter. In fact, if confronted, it will try to flee up a tree, but if that doesn’t work, pandas tend to put their paws up over their eyes so they cannot see the threat. I think you can see why they would have to be very lucky to survive this behavior.

“However, as long as pandas multiply, they can withstand a lot of bad behavior. But, they are not very good at that either. Female pandas are only fertile for about 2 days a year and the males are not always in the mood during those days. Thus, their fertility rate is very low and they are very lucky to still be around because of it.

“Finally, there is one very significant remaining reason why pandas are one of the luckiest creatures on the planet - they look cute to humans. With all they have going against them, pandas are very lucky that humans like them and will work hard to help them survive. While there are many people who believe that human behavior, especially in the distant past, is responsible for the precarious nature of the panda’s continued existence, think about this: Would pandas have been better off if they had been noticed and liked by humans or by wolves? I would say that they are very lucky that humans have taken an interest in them.”

Once again he was using the theme of humans taking care of things. I felt this was important in the context of why we were here, but couldn’t come up with the exact connection. I just didn’t know enough yet.

There was a time in most of our sessions where I knew I had just about had enough and we would normally end at about that time. It wasn’t physically demanding to have BP rooting around in my brain, but it was mentally fatiguing. I was starting to feel a bit weary, but just had to ask one more question.

“Okay, I can see how pandas survived not by adapting, but by being lucky. I can see how Darwin didn’t grasp this. But I still don’t understand the actual mechanism of evolution. If it wasn’t survival of the fittest, what was it? And you keep saying that the purpose of evolution was to create mankind, but you also say that this creation happened in a random manner over billions of years. I just don’t understand how it could be both directed and random.”

As usual, BP had an answer ready.

“We will spend time on this subject in the future, but for now, consider a herd of goats.”

Twice in one session with the crazy non-sequiturs. This was a record.

“Let us say you have a field that is overgrown with grass and other plant life. You want to tidy up the field. You have a hand scythe that you can use to cut down all the brush, but it will take you many hours of hard work. Is there any other way?”

“The goats?” was all I said.

“Of course. You put goats in the field and then come back in a couple of days to find your field nicely cleaned up.

“But do you know exactly how the goats will clear the field? Do you know which goat will eat which plant? Do you know if they will stay together in a single bunch as they eat, or if they will scatter all over the field? You do not even know exactly how long they will take to clear the field; some may be energetic in their eating and others more content to just eat when they feel like it.

“No, you do not know any of this. You are simply depending on the fact that goats will act like goats and that they will clear the field. Do you understand how this works? You introduce goats into your field knowing that they will clear it, but the actual actions that result in the clearing of the field are totally unknown and random. It cannot be predicted, but the end result can be.

“That is what I am talking about with Evolution. Life was put on the planet. It was destined to evolve and eventually lead to the appearance of humans. The actual steps along the way were unknown and, in fact, unknowable, but the end result was certain.”

And with that he was gone. I was left to have another scotch and to contemplate how humans and goats were both parts of some mysterious master plan.

Chapter Twenty Two

The next few days were thankfully uneventful as BP didn’t reappear. I really needed a break after all I had been through and I mostly got one, though I did have my “date” with Jane.

The dinner was set for a weeknight, so I saw her at work for most of the day. She seemed to go out of her way to be nice to me. She checked a spreadsheet I’d done and corrected a mistake I’d made without any kind of sarcastic comment. That was really very much unlike her. She was trying to control her tongue.

We agreed to meet at her place since the restaurant was only a few blocks from the JanePad. I arrived at 7:30 on the dot. Her door was propped open with a book. I took that to mean I was to enter and I did. I called out, “Hello my love. Your Romeo has arrived and your chariot awaits.”

I thought that was funny, but she leaned out of her bedroom and gave me a look. I could only see her face and neck, but her eyes were shooting darts. “You’d better not try any of that cute stuff at dinner. You do know how to act don’t you?”

She disappeared inside to, I guess, finish getting ready. I decided that I’d better keep my jokes to myself for tonight - even when it was just the two of us. I didn’t want to cause her any more stress.

The dinner reservations were at eight, so she had a few minutes to finish getting ready. I sat down and pulled out my phone and checked for any messages. There was an email from Allen telling me how much he liked the last part of the Revelation about evolution being designed to ensure the appearance of humans. He said he hadn’t seen that coming. He cc:’d the rest of the team and Matt had just replied with, “Yeah Roger. Keep that kind of thing coming. I can’t wait to talk to you about it.”

I was thinking of a reply when Jane appeared in her bedroom doorway. She stopped there, framed by the opening. I did a double take. I was used to seeing her in business attire and the occasional skirt, but tonight she had on a black dress. It was sleeveless but with a high neckline. It ended about an inch above her knees. She was a slim girl and not really all that curvy, but that dress showed off what she had and really accented her long legs. She had a single sparkling stone on a silver chain around her neck and one each dropping from her ears. She had a silver bracelet on her left wrist. She wore heels that would likely make her taller than me.

She looked fantastic. I must have hesitated too long, because she said, “Well, what do you think?”

Now this was a tricky question. I had learned the hard way that you shouldn’t compliment girls too much on their appearance. If you did, they were prone to think you weren’t taking them seriously as a fellow human being. On the other hand, if you were too stingy with your compliments, they tended to get moody. It required a fine balancing act.

But all that went out the window. “You look fantastic,” I said. I couldn’t help myself. She did.

I thought for a moment that she was going to make some snide comment, but she instead just said, “Thank you.” She wasn’t done yet. “I was going to give you a list of things not to do and remind you how to behave, but to heck with it. I asked you to go with me because I trust you. So let’s go.” She paused, “Just do not embarrass me.”

That was clear enough. I offered my arm and she slipped hers through mine and we walked to the elevator. Her heels clicked with every step until we got down to the street and found a cab. She told the driver the name of the restaurant and off we went.

The restaurant was a newish place. It was trendy because the head chef had won some type of cooking competition. It was probably expensive, but I didn’t eat at fancy places often, so I wasn’t worried about the cost. Not too worried, anyway.

We arrived right on time and met Cynthia Cromwell and her fiancé, Dr. Trent Scranton. They seemed like a nice couple. The hostess told us our table would be ready in a few minutes which, of course, meant a half hour or more. We went into the bar to wait. I scanned the scotch bottles behind the counter, but ordered a club soda. Jane smiled at me sweetly. I could read from the expression on her face that she approved of my self-restraint.

Cynthia was a good looking woman, but she wasn’t really my type. She was blonde, but that was obviously from a bottle. She had a round face with full lips and eyes set just a touch too close together. Those eyes were a very striking shade of blue that I suspected were the result of contacts. She was certainly full figured. I could tell because her blouse and skirt made that clear.

She and Jane talked like old friends. It took me a couple of minutes, but I realized they both were using subtle southern accents. They’d grown up together down south, after all.

I thought that things were going well. We talked about Trent’s medical training and he told some stories about being an intern. Cynthia told about how she and Jane had been on the volleyball team. She said she was 5’6” and could spike the ball and Jane confirmed it.

I told about meeting Jane for the first time and talked about my background a bit. It was just general chit-chat that wouldn’t embarrass anyone. Jane appeared to relax and seemed to be enjoying herself.

We ordered and ate dinner. It was expensive, but not outrageous. I had to admit it was very tasty.

After the plates had been removed, Cynthia looked at me and said, “So how is it with you two? You look good together. You getting married, living together or what? Give us the scoop and don’t you dare hold anything back.” She grinned as she waited for an answer.

I saw Jane’s eyes become ever so slightly more slit-like. I knew she was trying to think of what to say since this next part was certain to get reported back home. Her right hand was on the table and I reached out and took it in mine. I gave it a squeeze so that everyone could see.

“Well Cynthia, a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, but I can say this - on top of everything else, I think of Jane as my best friend. I know I’d do just about anything in the world for her.”

I looked at Jane with a smile and she relaxed and smiled back. I could tell she thought that what I had said was okay.

So did Cynthia apparently, “That’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Jane, if I didn’t have my Trentie here, I’d be all over Roger. I think he’s quite a catch. You go girl.”

We all laughed at that and realized it was time to go. We walked together out to the street and told the doorman we needed two cabs. I shook Trent’s hand goodbye. Cynthia came up to me and I realized she was going to give me an air kiss. It turned out to be a double. She leaned into me and did first the right side and then the left. I think she pressed her chest into me a bit more than was needed, but that may have been my imagination.

She and Jane hugged and promised to keep in touch. A cab came and the two of them got inside. We waved as they drove off.

We stood there, shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk. Jane reached down and took my hand and held it. She said without looking at me, “Thank you, Roger.” Nothing more was needed.

That night, back in my apartment, I finally had a scotch. For the first time in a while, I didn’t think of BP at all.

Chapter Twenty Three

When I got to work the next day, Jane had already arrived and been busy. I knew because there was a little box on my desk. It was nicely wrapped in foil paper and had a professionally done ribbon tied on it. I instinctively knew it was from her. I looked into her cubicle, but she wasn’t at her desk.

I was curious so I opened the box. Inside was a certificate that I could trade for two tickets to any Mets game. I looked again and realized I could get seats right behind home plate with these. It was quite a gift and had probably cost a pretty penny. Inside was a note, “If you ask me again, I’ll go with you anytime.”

For the rest of the day, Jane was super nice to me. I thought she was going to talk about her meeting with BP a couple of times, but I was relieved when she didn’t. I knew it would come up at some point, but I was just glad to not have to deal with it until later. In the meantime, she continued to help me with the transcripts as before. I couldn’t ask for much more.

I thought Matt would have a cow when he read the latest part of the Revelation about Darwin, but when I met him in the hallway he seemed very happy. He absolutely gushed about how life was created (which he believed) and how life was destined to create humanity (which he was content with) and, mostly, how Darwin was wrong (which was the icing on the cake for him). I really didn’t want to get into this discussion during a chance meeting, but I promised him we would talk more about it later and I told him again that I appreciated his input. He seemed, for once, content.

Things were, at least for the moment, on an even keel and I was able to get back to my comfortable habits at the office and even managed to watch a couple of episodes of X-Files while my co-workers were busily doing whatever it was they did. I loved the theme music from that show.

BP was leaving me alone for once and I was happy about that. I was pretty much resigned to my fate of having to deal with him, but I was glad to get a break.

I was just about ready to go get a coffee when my phone rang. I saw on the display that it was Allen. I hadn’t talked to him much since he got those big sales because he’d been so busy. I pushed the button so I could talk to him on my headset.

“Hi Allen,” I said.

He sounded too rushed for a greeting. “Can you come by Jackson’s old office for an hour or so? They are letting me use it while I’m trying to get all the things done for these new orders. I’ve been pretty busy.”

I hadn’t expected to have a meeting with Allen and knew of no reason why he would want to have one. Perhaps he wanted to thank me again. He had done that several times, but he really had no firm knowledge that I had anything to do with his good luck. I was pretty sure Jane put him up to it.

Of course I’d meet with him. I said, “It’s almost lunchtime. Do you want to just meet in the cafeteria?”

Something was up because he said, “No. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have the meeting here during lunchtime and I’d prefer it if you didn’t mention it to anyone else.”

By that he meant Jane. I guess I was intrigued because I told him I’d be there. Having the meeting at lunchtime meant that I wouldn’t have to explain my absence from my cubicle to Jane or anyone else. Something really was up.

When I left for “lunch,” I was glad to see that Jane wasn’t at her desk. I knew she’d ask what I was doing for lunch and I was glad I didn’t have to make something up. She had a way of seeing right through me when I tried to, as she said, “be cute” - which in this case simply meant that she knew there was something I wasn’t telling her.

So I was officially off the radar as I got to Jackson’s office. I wondered if I should knock, but since I had been invited I didn’t and just went right in like I’d done it a hundred times before. The office was nice but not large; just a desk, a couple of chairs and a little conference table that Allen was sitting at. There were some papers in front of him. He stood up and greeted me warmly as we shook hands. No one else was in the room. We sat at the conference table.

“Rog, thanks so much for coming. I’m sorry I haven’t been seeing you much, but ever since we got those orders I’ve been busier than two bees. Even though I’m working hard, my mind keeps going back to that moment when you arrived at lunch and told everyone that things would work out. I don’t know exactly why it helped so much, but it did and I want to thank you again. You gave me a lift just when I needed it.”

I started to say something, but he raised his hand. “And now I’m going to repay you by asking a big favor. Please hear me out on this.”

He paused to seemingly collect himself and then started. “You know that I got divorced some time ago. Actually, it’s been over 11 years. You also know that I have a daughter and may have wondered why I don’t talk about her much.”

I nodded my head in the affirmative. It was enough for him to go on.

“The divorce was messy. I was a few years older than my wife and we fell into a pattern of arguing and being nasty to each other after just a couple of years of marriage. For the last few years we raised our little girl and managed to put up with each other until it just became too much. I’m sure it was mostly my fault, but she developed a strong hatred for me - a total loathing. From the day I moved out, she filled my daughter’s head with stories about how awful I was and how she should never have anything to do with me. It was her way of paying me back.

“Bess, that’s my daughter, hasn’t had anything to do with me. I have always paid child support and sent her gifts for her birthday and Christmas, but when she turned twelve she wrote me a note saying she was old enough now to make up her own mind and asked me never to send her anything else again and to just leave her alone. I’m sure her mother helped her make that decision.” He paused for a good long moment. This was obviously hard for him.

“Anyway, so I haven’t had any contact with her for a long time. She just turned twenty one a couple of weeks ago and she’s getting ready to graduate from college soon. I get at least a little information on her from her mother’s sister who always liked me and still does. But the news is never good. My daughter has no desire to see me or hear from me. At this point, it may be better that way.”

He looked down at the table like there was something there that needed close study. After a while he looked up again.

“It hurts Roger - it hurts a lot, but I think I’m resigned to it now. I had my chance in life with her and I blew it and now I’ve got to pay the price. I guess I’ll never see her again.

“But I still remember feeding her when she was a baby. I remember changing her diapers and reading her stories. I remember her mother and I being so happy when she said her first word - which was ‘daddy’ - or at least something that I was sure sounded like that. I remember all these things and I remember that I love her. And I always will.”

Allen was staring off into the distance as he told this story, probably reliving those good times in his mind. I checked to see if his eyes were moist, but I couldn’t tell. Mine sure were.

“Rog, for most of my life I’ve made good money. And I’ve not spent a lot of it. After the divorce I just didn’t feel like having a big place, so I’ve lived in a cheap apartment all these years and threw myself into my work. I don’t even own a car. I just keep socking my money away.

“It has gone into an account for my daughter and there’s a lot in there. There will soon be more due to these unbelievable sales that just came through. I have a will that leaves it all to her, but I’ve been thinking that perhaps I should give her the money now - to help her get a good start in life, you know.

“That’s the favor I want to ask of you. I want to ask you to talk to her and tell her she can go claim the money whenever she wants. I’ve instructed my lawyers on that point, so when she walks into their office, she’ll leave with total control of a fairly large bank account.”

My first question was the same one I had asked BP, “Why me?” It seemed that unwanted tasks had suddenly started to seek me out.

“I had actually been planning for the lawyers to handle the whole thing, but a couple days ago I woke up with the idea of asking you, and it just seemed like the perfect thing to do. I really don’t know beyond that, but I absolutely believe that you’ll play a positive role in this whole thing and that you will help my daughter. Her full name is Bess, by the way, and not Elizabeth. We used to joke with each other about that as she thought we’d given her half a name.”

He eye lost focus for a second and I was sure he was reliving one of those happy moments with his little girl that fathers must really cherish. I waited until that moment passed and he returned his attention to me.

“Of course I’ll do it,” I said. What else could I do? He was my friend and he wanted my help. That was enough right there.

“But I do have a few questions. First, do you want me to tell her the money is from you?”

He seemed a bit surprised at the question. “You know, I always assumed that the lawyers would tell her it was from me, but you’re right. It doesn’t have to be that way does it? You could tell her it was an inheritance from a long lost uncle, or lottery winnings or just a gift from you.”

I didn’t like the sound of any of that. “Allen, don’t you think it’s better to simply tell her the truth? That you started an account for her when she was very little and added to it, bit by bit, as she grew into adulthood, and now that she’s ready to start her adult life, the account is hers with no other strings attached. Isn’t that better than trying to make up some story she’ll likely see through anyway? Beside, I’m a terrible liar and women seem to be able to see through me every time when I try.”

I was thinking of Jane, of course, but something told me Bess would have this skill too.

Allen nodded his head in agreement, “I guess you’re right; a lie wouldn’t work. I just don’t want her to be hurt or conflicted. Suppose she gets this money and then feels bad about not having a relationship with me. I don’t want her to feel any guilt since none of this is her fault.

“Or suppose her dislike of me is so strong she not only wants to have nothing to do with me, but refuses to take the money because it came from me? God Roger, I’d be crushed at that. I’ve always been comforted by the thought that even though I can’t play any active role in her life, I can make her life better with my simple gift. If she turned it down, that would mean - well, I guess it would mean I really am alone and everything I saved and hoped for was for nothing.”

In a flash of insight, I understood. Allen had been a lonely man for a very long time, living in his small apartment and being frugal. At that moment, I couldn’t remember any time where he had talked about going on a date or having dinner with someone, or really anything that showed he had a circle of human contact outside of his work. I knew instinctively that what he had were his friends at work, and the hope that his daughter would be helped by his actions. It was his way of being a father to her during all those years when he couldn’t be one directly. If she turned down his gift it would mean that he had truly and completely lost his little Bess. I had no idea how, but I didn’t intend to let that happen.

We both were quiet for a moment, searching for the next thing to say. I asked an obvious question, “So I’m going to tell her the truth - that the money came from you. But should I tell her ALL the truth? Should I tell her that you would love to be her father again?”

He must have thought this through ahead of time because he answered right away, “I’d love to be able to talk to her, offer her advice if she needs it, help her in her career, meet her friends, attend her wedding, play with my grandkids.” That last part was said in a very wistful manner. My vision blurred momentarily.

“But I absolutely do not want her to feel guilty. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that happened between her mother and I was her fault, and I will not saddle her with a feeling that somehow she did something wrong. She didn’t. I’d rather never see her again if it ended up causing her any more pain.”

Well, that was clear enough. I had to contact a complete stranger, tell her I had a gift for her from her long lost and despised Dad, make her believe me and then see if she would like to resume her relationship with her father while making sure I didn’t cause her any further pain. Okay, but other than picking up the phone and dialing her number, I had no idea how to do any of these things.

It was time to get practical, “Do you think I should meet her somewhere or call her?”

Allen seemed to have thought about this point too, “Call her. A face to face meeting could be very intimidating. Lord knows what she might think was going on. It would be better if you did it from here or from home.”

He picked up a paperweight that had been on the table and started playing with it while he stared into space, searching for the next words. It was from some group called the Centurion Club. I guessed that Jackson had been a member. It sounded like something he would be a part of.

“You know Roger, I’ve worked with a lot of powerful people in my career. I’ve made some big sales to some big companies and I’ve had a lot of co-workers. I’ve even run a sales team or two.

“When you do that, you develop a sixth sense about people; about what they want and what they are capable of. You asked me earlier why I want you to do this favor for me and I told you that I didn’t really know. But now I think I do know. It’s because I believe, without a doubt, that you can do this in the best possible way, a way no lawyer could ever duplicate. I have every faith in you. That’s the reason. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

I marveled at this of course. He did have a lot of experience just as he said. He obviously could read people since he was a successful salesman for so many years, and if he thought I was up to this task, then maybe I was. Actually, he seemed to think I was the one person he could trust with it.

My own self-assessment would not have been so generous, but his faith did give me a sort of strength - or perhaps it was just resignation, since I could see no way out of having to do this for him.

There was no reason to delay since I would just stew about it, so I told him I’d likely call Bess today and that I would let him know what happened. We shook hands and I left the meeting.

On my way back to my cubicle, I made the decision to call Bess right then. It was still officially my lunchtime and so it would be easy to go outside the building to one of the company ‘nature areas’ and call her on my cell. I knew I would have privacy since it was a very hot day and not many people would be outside.

The company nature areas were actually nice. They were basically little parks tucked into the nooks and crannies where the main building wasn’t just a flat wall. Each was about a quarter of an acre and they were nicely landscaped with trees and other plants. There was a walkway that connected them all that I guessed was close to a mile long as it encircled the main building. Just about every tree had a bench under it so that you could contemplate nature before going back inside to labor at spreading high tech gadgets throughout the known world.

I walked for a few minutes to get away from the main door. It was as I suspected; few people were out and I had no problem finding a private spot. I sat down and pulled out my phone and typed in the number that Allen had given me. Before I hit the “send” key, I felt a small pressure on my left shoulder. This was the signal that BP and I had agreed on. It meant that he was popping in to check on me to see if I was busy doing his bidding or if I was performing useless functions, which to him meant anything that was not directly related to doing his bidding.

I could have touched my shoulder, and if he was actually following our agreement, he would have left immediately, but I didn’t. He’s the one whose actions led me to having to call Bess by engineering those sales for Allen and doing it in such an unnatural and spectacular way. And thus, I was sitting here staring at Bess’s number. Let him stay and see what he’d caused.

I dialed the number. It started to ring on my end. Once, twice, three times it rang without an answer. I had a vision of Bess puzzling over the number shown on her display, trying to decide if she should answer.

“Hello,” she said. Her voice was totally neutral; just a greeting so I would know she was listening.

I realized at that point that I didn’t know for sure if this was Bess. I had to ask.

“Bess Olman please,” I said. That was not the most inspired thing I could have said and I was afraid she would hang up, but she didn’t.

“Speaking.” Again, the tone was neutral but this time it had just a hint of annoyance. She probably figured I was a salesman from some bank or, worse yet, someone trying to get a donation for ‘Cancer Awareness.’ What kind of person isn’t aware of cancer?

But at least she was still on the line, so I jumped right in. It was time to see if Allen’s faith in me was justified.

“My name is Roger Seaton. You don’t know me, but I work with and am good friends with your father, Allen. He’s asked me to call you to tell you that he set up a bank account for you many years ago and that you can claim this money - which is considerable - whenever you want. I have all the details on the account for you.”

I could never be a salesman. I was worried she would hang up so I just blurted it all out in one long burst of speech without even taking a breath.

At this point I just shut up and let it sink in on her end. Here was some stranger calling her on behalf of a father she really never knew, telling her she had a lot of money. It was a lot to take in and I was at least smart enough to give her time.

But when she started to talk, it wasn’t encouraging. She started to say, “You just tell him” and at that moment I knew she was going to tell him to never contact her again. I could hear it in her voice. It was totally clear to me that she was becoming very angry. I forgot all about the fact that I was sitting on a bench. I forgot the sunshine and shade. I was so totally and completely focused on Bess that I knew nothing else. I had never experienced such an intimate connection to anyone before. It was like I could feel her presence. It was almost like she was here with me or I was there with her.

Somehow I knew what she was going to do. It was so clear that I could almost see her anger as well as hear it in her voice. Actually, I really could see her anger. My voice connection to her was through a common cell phone, which used a radio signal going to and from a nearby cell tower, which created digital signals representing our voices that were bounced off satellites over 22,000 miles away. But now the connection had changed into something far different. It was so strong emotionally as to be like a lightning strike. I could not only hear her, but actually sense her emotions in a way I had never experienced before. It was as if I could actually see her or better yet, see inside her at the things that really made her tick.

I was in something of a daze as her anger looked to me like a red mist and it was a swirling, boiling thing. I could actually see her emotion, but it didn’t seem strange to me; somehow it seemed natural.

The red mist that was her anger was just on the surface. I looked behind the mist and saw her as she was, a fine young woman with a good heart. I could see her generosity and her kindness and her caring nature. I also saw her pettiness, her jealously, her impatience. I saw a normal young woman whose positive traits far outnumbered her negative. I saw her as who she was.

But I could see something else too, a hard black thing that almost glowed with sickening, malevolent intensity. It looked like a hard piece of black coal, glinting with a cold shininess. It was irregular in shape with razor sharp spikes coming off it in all directions - spikes that could cause pain and even draw blood if they got too close to sensitive areas.

At once I knew that this horrid thing had been living inside her. It was a part of her that ebbed and flowed, sometimes causing great pain and other times living fairly quietly. Today I had agitated it by calling her about her father. This thing - this black awful thing - was her anger mixed with her guilt; and it was living inside her. I could tell it had been there a long time. Its purpose was to cause pain.

I was running totally on instinct at this point. I could instinctively see her emotions. I could instinctively look beyond them and see the thing that was causing this otherwise beautiful person such pain.

And I instinctively started to destroy it.

I just seemed to will it and cracks started to appear in the black disgusting object. Spikes fell off and as they did, they dissolved into nothingness. It seemed to pulse as it resisted my efforts. Its death throes were wild and almost like a living thing, lurching to and fro in an attempt to escape its fate, but eventually it fell apart and was gone.

As I returned to my normal state of consciousness, I didn’t really have time to marvel at what had just happened. I was just too shocked. I realized that I had looked deep into her psyche, or soul, or whatever it was that made her who she was, and had seen and destroyed that awful thing that had caused her so much pain for so long.

As my vision cleared and I returned to normal, I once again was just a junior financial analyst sitting under a tree talking on my phone to a friend’s daughter. There was silence on the other end of the phone. I wondered if she was still there. My phone showed I was still connected.

Finally, she tried to talk and it was all stuttering and nonsense. “I . . . I . . . who.” She had been all set to give me the brush-off and now she was struggling with stringing words together into a coherent sentence. I may have been back to normal, but I had an instinctive feeling that things would be better for her from now on. By some miracle, I thought I had actually helped her.

She finally put two words together. “My father?” she said as a question.

I knew what she meant and answered, “Yes, I’m calling for your father and my friend, Allen. He has set aside a great deal of money for you to have.”

These were the facts, but my instincts were still working and they told me to add something more. “And he has always loved you, but he wants you to know that he respects your decision and will not impose on you again if you don’t want him to.”

“Oh, my God,” was all she said. And then she broke down and cried into the phone. She cried great sobs that I somehow knew would wash out the remnants of that evil thing that had been inside her.

It went on for a long time.

Chapter Twenty Four

Bess eventually got hold of herself enough to stammer that she had to go and hung up. It was abrupt, but she was in an emotional upheaval, so I understood completely.

Actually, I was in an emotional upheaval too. What in the world just happened here? I had called to tell her some important news and all of a sudden, out of the blue, I was looking deep into her soul and found some strange, ugly thing that looked like a hard knot of anger and I somehow removed it. Sure, she had a right to be emotional after what she had been through, but what about me? I had just seemed to do something that was - supernatural.

Suddenly I thought of BP and checked to see if I could still feel his presence on my shoulder. It wasn’t there, so he had flown the coop. But he had been there earlier, right when I was looking into Bess’s soul. That could explain a lot. He was doing this; using his “powers” to allow me to perform some type of psychic surgery on Bess.

This idea helped me to calm down and I began to think more clearly. So clearly, that I wanted to talk to BP. This was unusual since his visits were normally not something I asked for, but today was different. Boy was it.

“BP,” I thought in my head. There was no response, so I thought louder. “BP, are you there?” That didn’t seem to do anything either, so I looked around to see if I was alone and then said out loud in a soft but real voice, “BP, I need to talk to you.” When I had called him for help in saving Allen’s job, I’d spoken out loud. Maybe that was how it had to be done. I called for him again and waited.

And I felt him, not on my shoulder, but inside my head just like normal. My definition of normal had sure changed.

“Are you ready to continue with the Revelation?” he asked, innocent as a lamb.

I felt like my own black thing gave me a poke with one of its spikes. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. “No, I most certainly am not. What just happened here? What did I, I mean you, do to Bess? When you saved Allen, everyone thought I had something to do with it and now you actually have me looking inside someone’s soul or body or something - and you have me changing things around inside them. And what was that thing I saw? What happened to me and to her?”

I finally ran out of questions and just sat there in silence. BP didn’t keep me waiting long, “Let me answer that last question first; nothing bad has happened to you. You are just growing in the knowledge that I have imparted and in your experience with me. You are just a very empathetic person. I knew you were from the beginning. It is a trait that will come in handy as you share my Revelation with others.

“As you were talking to Bess, and when her initial response to your news was so negative, you had a flash of insight into what she was going to say and how she was going to react. I was monitoring you carefully and I must say I was impressed at how you almost instantly and instinctively saw her problem, which was, as you know, the pain caused by her anger directed at her father. Pain can be very long lasting and it can really warp someone.

“And I must confess that I entered your mind at that point so that I could better study this extraordinary thing that was happening. When I did that, your mind seemed to react to my presence by trying to make sense of what you were experiencing by showing you her pain as a real object.

“And somehow, you took away her pain. I do not know exactly how you did it. I just know it happened and I know it was your choice, not mine. Perhaps it was some unknown interaction between our two minds, however, it hardly matters. She’ll be better for the experience without that thing inside her.”

“Not good enough,” I said. “Not good enough at all. Something very strange just happened to me and I want to know what it was. Is this another one of your tricks?”

Actually, I couldn’t think of any tricks he had pulled, but something had sure happened to me and I was worried about it.

“Roger,” he started. I think that was the first time he ever called me by name. Maybe his sudden familiarity meant that he felt some remorse for digging around in my head.

“I really do not think you did this totally on your own,” he said. “I have thought about what happened and I believe that my close connection to you basically was projected into her. In other words, because the three of us were so close at that point, - me to you and you to her - you were able to direct some of my abilities based on your will. Thus, you used my power to remove that thing from her. It was a chance thing that caught us all off guard. It’s not likely to happen again.” And then he added, “Do not forget, too, that you almost certainly helped that girl.”

Well, there was that. In truth, I did feel like he was right about Bess. She would likely be better off based on what had just happened to her. After all, according to BP, I was just brimming over with empathy, so I should know.

But I never wanted such a thing to happen again.

And I told him that and got no reply. “BP?” I thought in my head. “BP, are you there.”

All I heard was silence. He was gone in an even more abrupt manner than normal. He didn’t even attempt to get me to hear more of his Revelation.

I had been concentrating so hard on my talk with BP that I had my eyes closed. I opened them and looked at the tree that was before me. I had never had one of our “sessions” in a park like setting and it was nice to see the trees and flowers and green grass and of course the stone wall that was our building. I felt a strange sense of contentment as I returned to normal.

A bird flew by and I turned to follow its path, but when I did I didn’t see the empty bench that I had been sitting on.

I saw Jane. She was sitting beside me. She’d had taken off her shoes and was wiggling her toes on the grass.

She saw my startled look and said, “Having a talk with that little green man again are we?” She had a mischievous glint in her eye. She didn’t have the slightest idea how stressful this whole thing was.

I was struck speechless from the surprise of seeing her there. It took me several seconds to finally get myself under control. Even then, I only managed to get out, “When did you get here?”

“Oh, just a little while ago. You know it really is just like in your book; you do go into kind of a trance when he comes a calling. You were frowning though. So tell me what happened.”

I wasn’t about to go into that with her at that time or at any time if I could help it.

“I was just resting my eyes, that’s all. I had a rough morning and just needed to relax. That’s all there is to it.” It was the best I could come up with at that moment, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t good enough.

“Sure it is.” She smiled again. I knew she could tell I wasn’t telling her all the truth. “I’m sure your little chore for Allen tuckered you all out.”

How in the world had she known about that?

“Well, you can tell me all about it later. It’s time to get back to the grindstone and I have to tell you something.”

Oh boy, what could cause her to track me down out here? For a moment, I wondered how she did it.

“I’ve got to go on a business trip down south in a couple of weeks. I’ll be running an audit team.” That was not really news that required her to track me down.

“The team consists of me,” she said, “and you.”

“And that’s when I want to meet that little green man, BP.”

Chapter Twenty Five

I should have been dog tired by the time I returned to my apartment, but instead I felt a sense of well being and even accomplishment. I hadn’t heard a word from Allen, but somehow I felt sure that I had done what I promised in my talk with Bess.

At least she now knew about the money and could contact either Allen or me to get it. I believed that things had gone well with her, so I was in a pretty good mood.

I poured a scotch and checked the refrigerator for something to cook for dinner. When I say “cook,” I normally mean “microwave,” but sometimes I get creative and actually make a real meal.

But not this time. I took out a frozen turkey dinner and put it in the oven. A meal heated with real heat was enough culinary creativity for this night.

The apartment was quiet and I realized I was bored. I decided that I may as well check my email and see what the ball scores were.

There was the normal load of crap in my email, but there was also one from Matt. He was keeping a running list of the Revelations and would update everyone with the latest. He listed each item and I fleetingly wondered if he was aiming to have his own list of ten commandments.

That was silly, of course. The Revelations weren’t commandments; they were just Revelations. After he got the latest transcript from me, he sent out the latest list to all of us.

The universe is made up of two things: life and non-life

These are very different things

Non-life is far more common. Life is rare

Life did not start by itself, but was placed on Earth by a Creator

In the universe, life exits only on the Earth. It is nowhere else

Life evolved on Earth, not driven by the concept of Survival of the Fittest, but was directed so as to create Man

I guess I was feeling particularly empathetic because I could readily imagine Matt writing down these items and being happy with them. After all, there was nothing there that directly contradicted his religious beliefs.

And I must admit that I was getting somewhat fascinated by the unfolding nature of the Revelation. I could actually see how it made sense. At least one thing seemed to lead to another. That didn’t make it true, of course; just internally consistent.

But there was one point I still didn’t understand and I wanted BP to appear so we could discuss it. I was surprised at this since his appearances normally were as welcome as a knock on the door from a Seventh Day Adventist.

So I called for him for the second time in a single day. This was unprecedented too and I wanted to keep it that way as much as I could. But curiosity got the better of me and I called out, “BP, are you there?”

I waited for a full minute and was about to try again when I felt his presence. I didn’t wait for him to say anything since this was my meeting and I was determined to run it.

“I have one more question about the process that you say was destined to create human life on Earth. We know that the development of life on Earth wasn’t a linear process; going in a straight line from the first bit of life to humanity. During that period there have been thousands or millions of different types of life that have existed - everything from an ant to an elephant to an orchid. Please tell me exactly how all this could spring from that single first living thing?”

BP answered and sounded very patient, “Why ask me that? This is one point that your scientists and I agree on fully - that life started with a single example and has blossomed into all the varied forms you see today.

“They don’t know exactly how a plant became an animal, for example, but they know it must have happened, since plants were here first and now we have animals too. I can disagree with scientists as to how that first living thing appeared on Earth, but all of us know that everything else came from that.

“As to exactly how it happened, we could discuss DNA and how 98% of all DNA has been thought to have no function at all. Your scientists have even called it “junk DNA.” But it is not junk. It is just that scientists do not know what it does, so they deem it junk. However, it contains instructions and methods that, over time, will result in many, many types of life and eventually will result in the appearance of human beings.

“That has now happened as it was destined to happen, and that’s why I am giving you my Revelation. Humanity is now ready to hear it.”

He was right, of course. Regardless of the method, all life on Earth came from that first living thing.

“Now,” he continued, “let me ask you a question.”

“Uh oh,” I thought. Here we go again.

But it wasn’t. It was a strange question, for sure, but one that deserved a serious answer.

“A thousand years from now, what will humanity have accomplished? Give me your best guess.”

I thought about it for a few seconds before speaking. “Well, first we have to actually be around and not have destroyed each other with some new super weapon.

“We could get hit with a giant asteroid that kills us all off. Or some new disease could pop up. We could get fried by global warming or drowned by rising sea levels. A giant solar flare could burn us to a crisp, or . . .”

I was on quite a roll when BP interrupted me. “That is not really what I had in mind, though your list is interesting. Let me ask the question in a more specific way. In one thousand years, will humans be able to stop that giant asteroid from hitting the Earth?”

I was sure of this answer. “Certainly. In a thousand years we’ll be flying all over outer space doing all kinds of things. Just look at all the progress we’ve made in space already.”

I felt that I was on pretty safe and rock solid ground here. I had grown up during the space age and I was always fascinated with all things space. I knew what I was talking about because I followed this stuff pretty closely.

“Please outline that progress for me if you will.” He was trying to make some point, but I didn’t have a clue what it was, so I just answered, “Well, the Chinese invented rockets made with paper and some type of gunpowder thousands of years ago. Then in World War II, the Germans built large metal rockets and fired them at England. After the war, we put men into orbit and then built better rockets and even some that could come back and be reused. And now we have a space station with scientists doing all kinds of research up there all the time.”

I know this was kind of a scattered history, but it’s what I said. And I wasn’t done. “We’ve also put up all kinds of satellites for TV and text messages, and we’ve explored the moon and Mars and other planets and we have a telescope in space too.”

I could have done better if I’d had the time to really organize my thoughts, but all in all, I was satisfied that I had managed to pretty well convey how much progress mankind had made in space.

“That is quite a list,” he said. His voice didn’t have the admiring tone in it that I had expected. “Answer another question please. Since we are discussing it, exactly where is space?”

I wondered what was going on here. During our “normal” sessions, he would perhaps ask a silly question now and then, but mostly he just lectured me on some aspect of his Revelation. Now we seemed to be playing twenty questions and I had no idea where we were heading or if we were indeed heading anywhere.

But what else could I do? I just answered. “Space is, well, up there.” I imagined myself pointing upwards with my imaginary finger. “I mean it’s above the atmosphere. You know, up where there is no gravity and things just float around.”

I felt some slight tremors in my formally steady ground. I knew this was a poor answer to what should have been a simple question.

So I was a bit relieved with BP took over and started talking. At least I wasn’t being peppered with questions.

“You did not name a distance above the Earth as the point where space starts, but that is understandable. Overall, you have summarized your knowledge of human progress in space in a very conventional way. I suspect that if I asked ten rocket scientists the same questions, their answers would be very much like yours. Perhaps stated in a more refined, elegant and organized way, but nonetheless, their list of accomplishments would likely approximate yours.”

If he had wanted refinement and elegance, I guessed he had picked the wrong puppet to receive his Revelation.

“Let’s consider distance for a moment. Specifically, the distance above the Earth that is considered to be ‘in space.’ There is actually a consensus as to exactly where space starts. It is a point 100 kilometers or 62 miles above sea level.

“Planes only fly about seven miles up. The highest flight from any jet engine powered plane that took off from the Earth is about 37 kilometers - only about a third of the way into space.

“So if space starts at 62 miles up, would you consider that very far? After all, you can drive that distance in a car practically anytime you want in less than an hour while you listen to your baseball game and eat lunch. Also you can finance that trip yourself, using just your own resources. And you can do it at will, safely, and in comfort.

“But to go that same 62 miles into space is an entirely different thing. It takes hundreds of active participants and many millions of dollars. It is risky as well. There have been about 530 humans who have been high enough to qualify as having been in space. There have also been eighteen deaths during flights and eleven more in preparation or training for space flights. Even if we count only the eighteen that happened during actual trips into space, that’s a fatality rate of about one in thirty. Can you imagine if one in thirty plane passengers died? Every flight would need a morgue on board.”

I didn’t like the mental image that came to me after he said that. I was sure his numbers were right, but they only meant that it was hard and dangerous to get into space. Everyone knew that, but humans often did hard and dangerous things. It was a human characteristic.

He waited for me to say something. I was struggling to figure out where this was heading, but it seemed like he was on the verge of putting down human achievements in space. This got my dander up a bit. “No, 62 miles is certainly not all that far. But we can go lots further. The space station is higher and satellites are much higher. We’ve sent robots to Mars and we’ve studied all of the other planets, I think. I notice you forgot that we’ve actually had humans walk on the moon.”

I felt a bit of surprise that I was defending human accomplishments in space, but this was an area of pride for me, so I wasn’t quite finished. “And we’ve been flying in airplanes for about over one hundred years. We’ve been flying in space only about half that time.

“So, yes, I think we’ve done quite well in our advancement into space and only great things are ahead as we get better and better at it. And also yes, we will be able to stop one of these asteroids within 1,000 years. Lord knows how advanced we’ll be, but I know we’ll be able to do that.”

That was a long speech, but it was from the heart. I was something of a space buff and BP had to understand that I knew what I was talking about. Just last year I had toured the Space Shuttle that was on display in town.

BP used his smug voice which put my nerves on edge. “They will have to have advanced quite a lot because human improvements in space flight have been very slow and plodding. You can really tell this by looking at their equipment. You still use rockets that blast off from launch pads using chemical energy and two or three stages to get up enough speed to enter orbit. This is exactly what was done in the 1950s. Today your rocket scientists do it marginally cheaper and probably with somewhat greater efficiency, but have they really made any advances to the state of the art? Have they created a plane that can take off from a runway and carry people and cargo into space with only one stage? Have they found new fuels that have much more energy and weigh much less? Have they developed a new type of propulsion that can lift a craft off the earth without having to burn tens of thousands of gallons of chemicals?

“The main advancement in space flight came from an area that had very little to do with it. The development of the microprocessor made it possible for these powerful little computers to monitor and control hundreds of systems in spacecraft so that they can be flown more safely and with far greater precision.

“But even with hundreds of smart computers making sure everything in a modern spacecraft is working at its best, these machines are as instantly recognizable today as they were in the 1950s. They are still tubes of varying sizes, blasted into orbit by the energy created from burning various types of chemicals. And they still return home by almost burning up in the atmosphere since they must use contact with the air to slow down. They still, after all these years, cannot carry enough fuel to use their engines to slow down and instead have to rely on the friction created by the air.”

He stopped at this point and I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to respond or not. That was fine because I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t because I was plodding, but because I realized that he was right. I wanted him to be wrong. I wanted to explain to him what he had missed and prove to him that humans had made great strides in the short time we had been going into space. But those words wouldn’t come because we really hadn’t done much innovating in our spacecraft designs for many years. At least in ways that would truly make the leap into space quicker, safer, easier and cheaper.

So he was right in that human innovation in space flight seemed to have stalled. But that couldn’t be the whole story, could it?

I spoke up. “Ok, I get your point. But what about all we’ve accomplished? Even if you think our achievements have been meager, we still have quite a number of them. Look at all the things that have been spinoffs from our flights into space. I remember seeing a NASA website that listed hundreds of common items that came about because of our efforts to get into space. Our lives are all better because of these things.”

I wasn’t quite finished, but BP interrupted me. “Can you name a couple of them?”

Well, that was easy. “Sure, how about Tang and how about a pen that can write in zero G. Those are real innovations that have improved things on Earth.”

“No they are not. Neither of these inventions was made by NASA and neither had anything to do with them. NASA itself doesn’t claim the space pen or Tang as a spinoff, but it does have a very lengthy list of things they do claim were created because of their efforts to get into space. Most of these advancements are either small or would have happened even without NASA’s billions being spent on them.

“But those billions have to be justified somehow. I think NASA is glad to point out their list of inventions, rather than dwell on their lack of success in exploring far away parts of the universe. Sooner or later, someone is going to ask why humans seem to be stuck on this tiny planet. I do not think NASA will have a good answer to that question.

“Now this is not to say that human achievements in space are tiny. I point this out so you will wonder why they have not been even greater.”

I was busy trying to think of a response when I realized that he was gone. I hated his habit of simply leaving without a word. I could feel he was gone, of course, but it was jolting to be left the way he did with no warning.

My mind immediately went to work trying to make sense of what he had told me but I reined it in and got it under control. I had experienced an utterly incredible day. There was no other way to describe it. So even though I was emotionally charged up with first Allen, then Bess and Jane, and now BP all laying a big load of stress on me, I knew I had to unwind and get to bed.

I thought to myself, “Lord knows what tomorrow may bring.”

Chapter Twenty Six

Even with all that had happened yesterday, I woke up right on time and seemingly none the worse for wear. My first thoughts were of the latest part of the Revelation and that caused a vague feeling of irritation. My next thought was of Bess and what had happened between us. It was so very strange and I didn’t really buy BP’s explanation that he didn’t understand it either. I suspected that he knew more than he was saying.

That morning I dictated the latest part of the Revelation with BP’s words and mine recorded verbatim and including a bit of my personal feelings and responses. The team would transcribe that accurately and send me the words of BP in italics so that I could more easily put them in the narrative. Even though they knew that I would be describing them in the book as well, they didn’t ask me for those finished pages. I had told them to be patient because I wanted to get it down first before I started getting advice on how to improve the book. Matt, Jane and Allen seemed to understand and they were always there with the word processor document within hours of me sending them the audio recording.

Once that was done, I started actually writing the full narrative version of the events of yesterday. For the moment at least, this was just for me. It was a description of all that had happened with Allen and then with Bess. I had gotten pretty good at remembering exactly who had said what - but, in this case, what had happened was so strange that remembering wasn’t any great trick. When I was done, I felt a strong sense of foreboding - something was happening to me. It might have been triggered by BP, but I was the one who was feeling changed in some strange way.

I had finished my writing and was dressed and about ready to leave for the salt mines when the doorbell rang.

I wondered who in the world that could be. I didn’t have people over to my small apartment all that often anyway and certainly not in the early morning. It was probably a neighbor wanting to borrow something.

But it wasn’t. When I opened the door a strikingly good looking girl was there. She was of medium height - and was young, but not adolescent. Her hair was kind of a blondish brown and fell just below her shoulders. The color looked natural.

But her face wasn’t medium at all. Her eyes, nose and mouth were in just the right places and in just the right proportions. Right now those eyes had a puzzled look in them.

“Are you Roger?” she said. And right then I knew I was talking to Bess. It could be that I recognized her voice, but in looking back I don’t think that was it. It wasn’t particularly strange that I knew her since I had been thinking about her that morning, but regardless, as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, I knew it was her.

“Yes,” I said and then there was an awkward silence. I finally came to my senses and asked her to come in. She didn’t bother to introduce herself and that didn’t seem strange to either of us.

“No,” she said. “I can’t right now. My father - Dad - is waiting downstairs. We’ve been talking and getting to know each other all night and he’s got to get to work and I’ve got to get back to my dorm.

“I made him bring me here this morning and asked him to wait downstairs so I could come up and see you alone for just a minute. Dad said I should wait until later, but I just couldn’t.”

I started to say something but she cut me off. “Please. Just let me say a couple of things and I’ll get out of your hair. First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Dad told me how you helped him and I know you helped me as well. I had always hated my Dad and also hated myself because, as I got older, I knew I was being unfair to him. I thought about picking up the phone and calling him at least every week or so for the longest time. But I never did. And without your help, I almost certainly never would have.

“So I owe you one. A big one.” Her smile was dazzling as she said that.

“This is just the smallest part of our thanks to you. It’s from me and Dad.”

And she handed me a package. She waited expectantly, so I went ahead and opened it.

Inside was a bottle of Highland Park Single Malt Scotch. Holy cow - this stuff is thirty years old and costs about $400 for a single bottle. I knew Allen had put her up to this. I started to tell her that this was too nice a gift when she interrupted me again, this time before I could even get a word out. This was becoming a habit.

“Dad said you would enjoy that and like I said, it’s the smallest thing we could have done. But I said I wanted to cover a couple of things. The second thing is that I have a question to ask you and I hope you’ll give me a straight answer.”

Uh oh. I began to feel like I was on the hot seat again during one of BP’s grilling sessions. What could she want to ask me? I guessed that it might be something related to our call yesterday like, “How did you do to me what you so obviously did?” I didn’t want that question for sure.

It didn’t take long to find out the real question though. She tilted her head back, looked me right in the eye and took my free hand in both of hers and said in a slightly quivering voice, “I want to join your group. Will you let me?”

That was absolutely the last question that I would have expected from her. My mind seemed to shut down as it struggled with trying to think of an answer. It was then that I noticed she had green eyes. She waited for my answer.

“Well,” I said. This was a good way to start when you had no idea what was coming afterwards. “I don’t actually have a group. I mean, it’s not mine and really, it’s not even a real group in a real kind of way. You know what I mean.” I was sounding like an idiot. It occurred to me that she might want to withdraw her question right about now.

I finally got control of my mental processes as I felt the engine in my brain catch and come to life again. “What I really mean to say is that my friends are just helping me with a book project and it would be up to them to add another member. Of course, I’d have no objection, but it’s not really any fun, just some typing and organization stuff. And there’s likely to be no reward since it’s very possible no one will read my book - except my friends of course.”

I trailed off. It was not my best example of speaking off the cuff, but I was very much taken by surprise with her request.

She beamed. “Oh that’s grand. Just grand. I’ll see if I can ask them. I’ve got to go now, say goodbye to Dad, and take a run before I get back to my dorm. I’m sure I’ll see you soon and again, I so want to thank you.”

She was still holding my hand in hers and I hadn’t even noticed. She gave it a final squeeze and then she threw her arms around me and gave me a serious hug. She held it for at least three seconds and then, after an extra squeeze and a kiss on my cheek, she dropped her arms and turned around and walked away. As she left, I noticed she was indeed dressed for a run with leggings, running shoes and an oversized T shirt. On it was written, “Women Boxers Are Hard Hitting.” She was just a happy college girl getting ready for the next day in her life. As she disappeared into the elevator, I had a strong feeling that, for her, this morning was very different from many that had come before.

So that’s how my day started. I thought about it on my way to work and decided that it was a good way to start the day. Meeting Bess was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one for sure. I liked her instinctively and had certainly enjoyed that hug, but I wondered what Jane would say when she found out. All in all, I was glad to know her and I was sure glad to have that bottle. I decided I would crack it open tonight and have a couple of ounces. Or maybe I should bring it to the next team meeting and share it with everyone. That decision would require some thought.

I was in a pretty good mood when I got to my cubicle. Jane was not there yet as my train had been a couple of minutes early for once. I sat down and was deciding which site on the Magic Answer Box to explore when Matt came by. I had sent the recording of the latest part of the Revelation to all the team members this morning and so he had probably listened to it. He often came to work before anyone else.

He came into my cubicle and sat down in my visitor’s chair. I hadn’t replaced the pile of crap on it that was meant to keep this from happening. I wouldn’t forget again.

He didn’t waste any time. “Do you really think we’ve done that poorly in space?” He asked this in an intense way. As far as I could tell, this part of the Revelation should have had no impact on his religious beliefs, so I wasn’t expecting him to have such a strong reaction to it.

Of course, he believed that what I wrote came from me and so I was the one who had to answer for BP’s words. I had thought about this some since last night, so I just told him what I thought.

“I don’t think we’ve done poorly at all. It’s actually kind of amazing to be able to lift over three million pounds of stuff and get it into orbit. That’s the good part.

“But the bad part is that much of what we are lifting is just fuel that gets burned in order to take off. Take the Space Shuttle for example. It weighed about 165,000 pounds and could carry about 70,000 pounds of cargo. Now that’s a lot and it’s amazing we could shoot that thing into orbit. But just the fuel to get it up there - only about 200 miles into the sky - weighed about 3.8 MILLION pounds.”

The Magic Answer Box had come in handy again.

“I’m sure you’d agree that this is an area screaming for improvement. If we had different fuel or different propulsion systems that were radically more efficient or used some different method to get into space, we could lift more things and not have to lift so much fuel - which by the way, all gets burned in just getting us up there. There’s not even enough left to allow a powered landing back on Earth.”

I felt like I was BP talking to me. Matt played my part perfectly. “But we’ve only been doing this a short while. We’ll come up with something better. We have to.”

And just like BP, I asked a question designed to make him defend his last statement. “Okay, so what will it be? You are an engineer, a programmer. You know the state of the art in computers and many other technologies, so you should have some idea. In the early 1900s, humans built the best planes they could, but there were always new paths, new technologies, and new ways of building planes that were being explored. Eventually, planes were given multiple engines, they were made of metal, they became pressurized, jet engines were invented and so on. These were all big, big improvements and they came close together, one after another. All of these technologies were known to the scientific and engineering communities long before they were successfully built into new airplanes. All were being worked on by multiple groups of people. All became real.

“But in spacecraft, we have no idea how to lift things in a way that is significantly more efficient. There are no dreams of new propulsion systems that theory says will work and engineers just need to build. There are no teams building radically different rocket prototypes. All we are doing is creating small incremental improvements. We seem to have no ideas that would lead to a real breakthrough.

“Or maybe I’m just not clued in enough to know what is actually going on. So go ahead and answer my question; what new technology or process will change the status quo and allow humans to easily get into space?”

My question was really more of a challenge than I had meant it to be. Matt was my friend and here I was treating him the way BP treats me.

I immediately felt ashamed, but before I could say anything more, he spoke up. “Now that you put it that way, I guess I don’t know of any upcoming technologies that will make space travel easier, safer and cheaper. But isn’t our future up there? Don’t we have to find a way to explore space sooner or later whether it’s easy or hard?”

Now he was asking me questions that I certainly didn’t have answers to; but I suspected BP would provide an answer in his own time. He would not have opened this can of worms unless it was important in his Revelation.

I noticed Jane standing at the entrance to my cubicle listening. She smiled at me and I changed the tone of my voice in answering Matt. I didn’t want to sound so much like BP.

“I’m not to that point yet, so we’ll see as the Revelation unfolds. I guess I’m just trying to be provocative. I’ve always been a space buff too - always loved science fiction and all those stories in space where anything at all can happen. It makes for good storytelling, but we’re obviously stuck where we are in space exploration right now and I can’t see anything on the horizon to change that. I don’t know if it’s good or bad; it’s just the way I see things. And heck, it’s just a book from a guy who knows little about this stuff. It’s likely no one will pay attention anyway.”

I was trying to make him feel a bit better, but I didn’t know if it helped because in the ensuing silence Jane spoke up. “Well, well, well,” she said. “I always love starting my day with two manly men discussing rocket ships. It just makes me feel tingly all over.”

That certainly broke the spell because Matt was the one that came up with the retort. “Nah, that just means your girdle is on too tight.”

I doubt any woman had worn a girdle in the last fifty years, but that made it all the funnier and we all had a good laugh.

Matt stood up to leave and said to Jane, “Wait ‘till you hear what he’s come up with now. It wasn’t enough to take on the beginnings of life, and the science of evolution and Darwin himself, now he’s going after rocket scientists. What’s next - brain surgeons?”

We all chuckled but I had a distinct premonition that he might not be far off in this prediction.

Matt left, but Jane didn’t. She was still smiling like a cat that was about to play with a mouse. “So how was your little rendezvous with Bessie-Poo this morning?”

I swear that girl knew everything there was to know. I wondered once again if it was possible for me to have any secrets from her.

At first I felt a bit defensive, but then it turned to pique. What did I have to be defensive about? I had just done a favor for Allen and it didn’t have anything to do with her. It was Allen’s business and not mine to decide if he wanted to give her a report on what had happened, as he obviously had.

But so what? I hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, I was glad to have helped Bess.

“It was not a rendezvous, thank you very much. She just came by because she was so happy and wanted to thank me for a tiny favor I did for her and her Dad. I’m sure Allen told you all about it.”

She answered, “Actually, no. I haven’t spoken to Allen since he told me what you were doing yesterday. I just got a call from Miss Bess herself telling me all about how you made her feel like she’s never felt before. How your words were so comforting and how you were able to help her see how her whole life had been a mistake until now. And she said you did all that in a twelve minute phone call. I’ve got to admit it; I’m impressed. You certainly do have a way with the ladies - some of them anyway.”

“Now wait a minute,” I started, but didn’t get to finish.

Jane was now smiling her biggest smile. “Don’t bust a gut, you big baby. I’m just ribbing you. I did talk to her and she seems to be nice. She wants to join our little literary guild and from the sounds of her voice, I was sure you’d approve. I’d be glad to have her on the team if the others are okay with it. I might even be able to get her a job here as an intern.”

Now what was the meaning of that remark about her voice? Sometimes Jane was way too deep for me.

This intern thing was certainly out of left field. “Ah, let’s see what the others say. And you should ask Allen before you go getting her a job.”

Without realizing it, I was making decisions for the group. That wasn’t like me at all. “You’re right, of course, “she said. “But I think Little Miss Bess will fit in quite well in our little group. Do you know what her major is?”

She knew that I didn’t or else she wouldn’t have had that grin on her face. “She’s taking Computer Science - now we’ll have two computer geeks on the team.”

And with that she whirled around and went to her own cubicle. I could smell the faint scent of flowers from her perfume. Had she always worn perfume to the office?

But before I could decide, she called out, “And don’t forget you have that travel preparation meeting today at three. Don’t be late.”

Damn. I had planned on doing some serious loafing this afternoon and now I remembered that I had this stupid training session with stupid Human Resources. After Jane told them I was going with her on our business trip, they scheduled me for “travel training.” If you had never traveled with the company before, you had to attend this training so you would know how to act and, I guess, dress. Probably there would be useful travel tips like, ‘don’t pick your nose in public’ or ‘don’t scratch your crotch in public’ or some such stupid stupidity. Taking a plane ride and checking into a hotel didn’t seem all that difficult, but I was stuck and had to go to the training. I wondered for a moment if I could get out of the trip by skipping the meeting, but quickly rejected that notion. Jane would kill me, and after she did, she’d make sure I lived in Hell. No, I had to go.

The day passed slowly after that and I got little done except for some pouting until I had to leave for the training session. I arrived at three on the dot. It’s better to slip in slightly late and take a seat in the back.

But when I went into the training room, there were only three rows of five seats and all were taken except for one right in the center of the front row. Great.

On top of that, right after I sat down, I felt the pressure on my left shoulder that meant that BP was checking in to see if his puppet was still dancing correctly. I started to touch my shoulder which would have sent him on his way, but I decided to leave him alone. If I had to sit through this crap, then he could too.

He made it almost exactly two minutes and then I felt him leave. For the first time, I envied him.

For the next two hours, I was called on five times, was embarrassed four times and almost fell asleep sevem times. The training could have been summed up with two things:

Do Behave Yourself.

Don’t smoke, get drunk, stay out at parties all night, accept dates from non-company people you don’t know, solicit dates from non-company people you don’t know, eat too much, sleep too little, pick up the check for a group or forget to wash behind your ears.

As big a waste of time as this was, it did serve to make the upcoming trip real in my mind. In just a few days, Jane would be demanding to speak to BP and that was certainly a reason for worry. Lord knows what might happen on this trip.

I also remembered that I hadn’t told BP that Jane expected to have her own little session with him during the trip. I had been putting that off as long as I could, but BP would have to be told, and he’d have to be told soon. I had no idea what his reaction would be, but the idea of throwing him for an unexpected loop appealed to me.

As I rode home that night, I had a strong sense that bringing Jane into the sessions with BP would be a turning point for all of us - Jane, Matt, Allen, Bess, me and probably even BP. I thought once again about our trip and hoped that it would go quickly so that we could get back and finally find out what this Revelation was really about.

And I also felt like I was personally on the verge of something. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but something was different with some part of me and I could feel that part growing. Ever since the appearance of BP, I had felt this . . . this feeling. It was like I was changing or even evolving, but into what I didn’t know. I only knew that something was happening and the proof was my experience with Bess, and also with Allen. Normal human beings can’t calm with a touch or heal the emotional pain of a bright young woman - but I had done both of these things. And while everything seemed to have worked out fine so far, I worried about what lay ahead.

When I arrived back at my apartment building, I decided to take a walk in the park instead of going up to my little apartment. It was a warm evening and I wanted to think things through a bit more. I walked around the park once and realized I was looking for Sister Mary Celeste. She wasn’t around.

I kept walking with no destination in mind. At least, I didn’t have a conscious destination. But after a few minutes, I was in front of the church that Celeste worked and taught in. She had invited me to come by, so I went inside.

It was quiet and cool and fairly dim except for the late afternoon light streaming in through the stained glass windows. I sat at a pew in the back and studied the building. Like she said, it was quite beautiful. I was the only person in the nave.

I felt the weight of BP appear on my shoulder. For once, I didn’t mind. I was in a mellow mood. I knew that his future and mine were likely somehow intertwined, so it felt kind of appropriate for him to be there with me. He didn’t enter my head or speak at first, but he stayed with me the whole time I was in the church.

I sat there thinking about my life and what an amazing course it was on. At one moment, I was in awe of it all.

And in another, I broke out in a cold sweat from fear.

Book Two: The Connection

Forward:

I was in a church all by myself except for Brian A. Pearlmitter. He didn’t really count as another person because he was an alien presence without a body and couldn’t be seen.

I had come in on a whim and because I’d been invited by a nice nun I’d met recently. I was glad I did, because it was quite peaceful in here with the late afternoon sun streaming through the stained glass windows. I was feeling a little down and a lot worried, so the quiet was a welcome change from the noises and rushing that are constant features of New York.

Soon after I arrived, I felt the pressure on my left shoulder that meant that BP was checking up on me. Earlier, we had agreed that he would signal in this way when he was watching over me. I had a lot on my mind, and since he was a big part of everything that was happening, I didn’t mind him being there.

We sat in silence for a few minutes and then I looked around to make sure I was still alone and said out loud, “BP, I want to ask you something.”

Since he was already here with me, I felt him enter my head almost instantly. There was a slightly strange feeling in a certain spot in my head whenever he decided to connect with me. I could feel it now and that meant that our “talk” from now on would be non-verbal. “Would you like me to proceed with the Revelation now?” he asked. I most definitely did not want to do that.

“No. But I do have a question for you about the Revelation.” I paused, thinking of the best way to word this question, “When you are done revealing - I mean, when you have told me the entire Revelation, will it be something that I will understand, or will it be some type of strange concept that I will be expected to accept, but won’t really get?”

This wasn’t the most elegant question I’d ever thought of, but perhaps it would get us headed in the right direction.

“Of course you will understand it. You have understood everything I have said so far, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have. Then, will other people understand it as well? Do you think scientists will accept it, or will they dismiss it as crazy?”

“They will certainly understand it. The question is whether they will believe it. That is why I am revealing things to you in the way that I am. When I am done, you will be able to release my Revelation and anyone will be able to understand it and can choose to believe it or not.”

I thought about what he said for a moment before I continued, “So, when you are done, I’ll know why human beings are on Earth?”

“Yes, you will.”

“And this knowledge will present humanity with a task that you hope we will accomplish?”

“Again, that is correct.”

“And will that task be difficult?”

“Yes, it will be difficult, but with my help, not impossible. I would not be here if it was impossible.”

I was afraid I knew the answer to my next question. “And who will persuade humans to actually do this difficult task?”

“You are the one who will bring my Revelation to the world. At least I hope you will. So you are the logical person to at least get humanity started on this task.”

I felt a squirt of acid hit my stomach even though I had guessed as much. When I spoke, I could hear quite a lot of whine in my voice. “I’m not capable of that, BP. I’m just a low ranking employee in a giant corporation. I’m a nobody. I’ve never done a single thing in my life to indicate that I’m anything special. I can transcribe your Revelation, I guess, but I’m not the one to lead any kind of movement like that. It’s way beyond me.”

At that point I expected BP to say something but he didn’t. Instead, I heard someone enter the church from the back. Sister Mary Celeste slid into the pew beside me. Her round face was flushed from effort.

“Roger, I’ve only got a second, but I was so glad to see you I just had to come over. I was across the street in my classroom when I looked out the window and saw you come into the church. I’ve been praying that you would come by and it looks like my prayers have been answered.”

I was glad to see her again too, but I didn’t think God had anything to do with me coming to this place today. I smiled at her and asked, “How’s Adelle?”

She beamed at me, “That’s why I wanted to see you. I think she’s going to be fine. Ever since that day you saw her, she’s been getting better. I think she’s living in our world full time and now it’s just a matter of her learning how to adapt to it. She’ll do it, I’m sure.”

That was good news and I told her so. Adelle was a sweet little girl with autism and Celeste was her teacher. I’d met them one day as I took a walk in the park near where I lived. She continued, “I prayed for her, of course. But I think God chose that time to heal her because she touched your heart. I saw it in your face when you reached out to her. You really wanted her to be better.

“I’ve thanked God for what He did and now I want to thank you, Roger. I know you probably don’t believe it, but I’m sure that your act of caring really helped her.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had a momentary flashback where I saw myself reach out to Adelle with my hand. I remembered seeing my hand clearly, but everything else was kind of fuzzy, almost like it was covered with gauze. At the time, I thought that some city pollution must have gotten in my eyes. I willed myself to be able to see clearly and my vision returned to normal. That’s when I felt Adelle put her small hand in mine. Now, according to Celeste, she started to get better right after that.

On the one hand, I was happy about Adelle, but on the other, I was taken aback by Celeste’s belief that I had anything to do with it. It couldn’t have had anything to do with me, could it? That was crazy thinking. And it was scary, too.

Before I could think of a response, Celeste said, “I’ve really got to go back to my classroom now. I hope you’ll come by again, Roger. Ask anyone for me. Maybe we can work together to help another precious child.”

And with that she left and I was alone again. I could still feel BP in my head, so I wasn’t completely alone. Still, I was lost in thought when he spoke up. His voice startled me. “So, you have never done anything in your life. I do not think that nun would agree with you on that point.”

I started to object that I’d had nothing to do with Adelle’s getting better, but I didn’t say anything. I just sat there in silence until it was almost dark. BP was there with me the whole time.

Chapter One

My normal work routine was to arrive at my little cubicle and quickly check my email to see if anyone had requested any kind of new task that I would have to do. Usually there was nothing and today was no exception. That was the good news since that type of mail normally meant more actual work for me and less surfing the web, studying the ball scores and watching episodes of The X-Files.

And today I sure didn’t want any real work because I was stressed. I was stressed because of an upcoming business trip that I had to take. And, oh yes, I was stressed because I was hearing a voice in my head from an alien presence who promised to reveal why everything in the universe is the way it is. This voice even had a name, though it was a crazy one. He called himself Brian A. Pearlmitter, but I called him BP for short.

I was also stressed because BP demanded that I write down his Revelation so that I could share it with humanity when he was done revealing. The thought of that growing document caused a squirt of worry juice to hit my stomach. I wondered if I’d have an ulcer before I was thirty.

But the main source of my stress was worry about me. Ever since BP had started telling me his Revelation, I had felt slightly abnormal - different in some way. Actually it wasn’t just a feeling, since I had healed my friend’s daughter of something that had been causing her pain for years. I wasn’t totally sure if I had done that all by myself or if it was BP, but I was sure of one thing - it worried me a lot.

My stress was mostly bearable due to the fact that my best friend, Jane Jackie Mitchell, also knew about BP. The strain of being the only one to know about him had been too much to keep from Jane, so it wasn’t hard for her to make me tell her what was going on. I was glad she did.

All of this ran through my mind as I settled into my little cubicle. I tried my best to put away my worries as I listened for any signs of life from the cubicle next door. That’s where Jane did her work for the high tech empire that we both toiled for. She was a Senior Financial Analyst while I just made spreadsheets. Actually, I had a name plaque that said Roger Seaton, Financial Analyst, but that didn’t matter. I did spreadsheets for the company. Most were of no use to anyone, but they paid me to make them and so I did.

Today, Jane must have heard me arrive because a few minutes after I sat down, she called out over the divider the separated our cubicles. “Roger, come over here.” It wasn’t exactly said as an order, but it also never occurred to me not to obey. With Jane, it was normally best to do as you were told.

For the last few days Jane and I had been preparing for an audit trip to Texas by checking out a couple of laptops and loading them with the numbers and other info we would need. She had just received our travel packets that contained our flight confirmations and hotel reservations.

She was studying hers intently when she handed me mine. Today she was wearing a dark blue business suit with a white blouse. Her short, black hair was combed so that it fell just above her left eye. She looked very professional.

She was frowning when she looked up at me, daggers shooting from her eyes. She said, “A middle seat again!! I can’t believe those people.”

She threw down the personalized travel packet and turned to call the person responsible for the insult of booking her in a middle seat. She swiveled in her chair so that she could pick up the phone. Her back was to me and I was standing at the entrance of her cubicle so I couldn’t hear what she said. She spoke softly and intensely into the phone for about thirty seconds and hung up. She hadn’t raised her voice and it didn’t appear that the person on the other end even had a chance to say anything. I wondered what she had said, but it must have worked because an internal delivery of a new and acceptable travel packet arrived within ten minutes. When it was delivered, she came over to my place and only then did she smile at me for the first time that morning. Oh no, it was totally not a good idea to get on the wrong side of my best friend, Jane Mitchell.

This trip was going to be both interesting and boring. Our job was to audit a small group of workers to make sure they were on budget and that their money was being spent as planned. We’d check accounts, inventory items, look at purchase orders and payment authorizations, and generally stick our noses into every part of the operation that bought or spent anything. It wasn’t our task to determine if the team was doing a good job; we just had to determine that they weren’t stealing or lying or weren’t overly sloppy in their record keeping.

That was the boring part.

The interesting part was, however, going to be very interesting because it had to do with airplanes. While the company was careful with money and had gigantic piles of it stashed all over the world, they did spend some when they got into the mood or when spending some would bring them even more money.

Like most high-tech, high volume companies, almost all of our products were made in foreign factories. I took my share of business courses in college that led me to wonder why successful US companies built their products overseas when I was convinced they could be made here in the USA. Sure, it might appear to be cheaper to make them in a foreign land, but I always thought that a sufficiently clever company could do it here and could make things just as cheap by being more efficient.

During my first couple of weeks with the company, a bunch of us newbies went through the orientation process. Basically that meant we attended a lot of training sessions and watched a lot of videos on how various parts of the empire that was the company worked.

One of these videos focused on the production of a new, small, electronic device. It weighed less than four ounces, fit in the palm of your hand, and did all kinds of wondrous things. It was so wonderful that sales were expected to exceed ten million units in the first quarter.

The video spent a lot of time on the design team and how they came up with all the great ideas that became this product. We watched as they designed circuits on computers, played volleyball, had lunch, brainstormed, overcame challenges and bonded as a team. It was quite inspirational.

Once the product design was ready, the video shifted to the factory that was going to manufacture it. The atmosphere changed abruptly. Gone were the Hawaiian shirts, the volleyball games and the easy camaraderie of engineers chasing a dream.

Instead we saw crisp white lab coats, breathing masks and sparkling white hard hats worn by the managers who were the overseers of the production lines.

We then saw images of hordes of workers. The announcer proudly said that the initial work force hired to make this new product was over one thousand men and women.

The factory was sparkling clean and it was gigantic. Robots were picking up things and putting them together and passing them to the next robot that then placed them on a belt. It was as choreographed as any dance, except that it was done at superhuman speed. That was impressive.

At the other end of that conveyor belt were the humans - unimaginably long lines of them. Each was dressed in an identical white cleanroom suit with their entire body covered except for their eyes. Each was bent over a table, intent on performing some intricate chore. Every head was at the exact same angle. No one looked up. No jokes or even words were exchanged as they were all moving with great speed. Their hands darted from one spot to another. The tools flashed in and out of what they were working on. Quite simply, they moved fast.

The ending music for the video swelled and the announcer thanked everyone involved and the credits started to roll. That took another two or three minutes.

During that entire time, you could still see those lines of employees, busy at work.

They never stopped. They never slowed down. They never paused. They just worked at an insane speed. Finally, the video ended with a fade into a final shot of those workers gathered outside, waving to us back here in the states. They held a sign that said, “We are you.” I remember that made me shiver slightly.

And after that, I knew why our products were made in foreign factories.

And because those workers were making so many of our new, hot product, Jane and I had to go on this trip. We were flying down south because the company had calculated that it was paying a lot of money to fly those millions of devices from the factory over there to the buyers over here and elsewhere around the world. Sure, they tried to ship via cheaper ways when they could, but the world moved fast and people wanted their devices fast and the company had to get those sales going fast.

That meant shipping by air and it was expensive.

So, someone up the food chain made the decision to reduce air shipping costs by purchasing an airplane. This wasn’t some corporate jet so that the bosses could flit here and there in comfort; it was a giant cargo plane. The group Jane and I were going to audit was part of the team doing some work on this new bird.

Actually it wasn’t a new bird. It was a “lightly used” Boeing 747-400, a monstrous plane that had almost overnight become obsolete to airlines all over the world. The fact that it was obsolete didn’t make it a bad plane. On the contrary, all my Magic Answer Box research showed it to be a phenomenally great airplane that could carry upwards of a quarter million pounds of cargo - far more than the space shuttle. The reason they were being retired was because of newer designs that used about fifteen percent less fuel. That was very important for airlines, but the lower price the company paid more than made up the difference in the cost of fuel.

New ones could sell for as much as two hundred million dollars. The company picked up this little number for only thirty million.

My understanding was that the plane was also going to be used to correct “mistakes” made by high ranking managers in the company. Actually, that’s a little harsh since these types of mistakes can’t be prevented. That’s because they come from guesses made by human beings.

These guesses are sales forecasts and they are almost always wrong. The company has warehouses for products in fourteen different countries. They want to stock each of these warehouses with exactly the right amount of product, but it’s always just a best guess and most of the time these guesses are, to one degree or another, wrong. Sure enough, southern Europe will decide to buy more than was predicted and will run out of product. India will then buy a bit less than was guessed and they’ll have an overstock.

The plane should make it possible to quickly get products to the North American market - the biggest by far - and also help to balance supply and demand in lots of other markets. I thought that this plane was going to be in the air a lot.

As to whether this is a wise investment, I left that to the financial wizards who probably created dozens of really meaningful spreadsheets to answer that question. If they thought it would pay off, I was certainly in no position to judge otherwise.

Of course, they may have simply wanted to ride in the comfort of those twenty four first class seats that were to be left in the upper deck. We had a constant stream of people flying back and forth to the foreign factories and I would bet that the travel experience in this plane will be a lot better than the business class seats the company normally buys.

Right now the plane was in a hangar where it was undergoing what I found out was called a “D-Check.” This was the most thorough testing and reconditioning that was routinely done on planes as they age. Each one of these beasts was basically stripped to its skeleton and then completely tested and rebuilt about every six years. As I understood it, the inside of the plane was right now almost totally bare with all the floors, walls and just about everything else having been removed so that teams of technicians could probe, view and X-ray every nook and cranny. This D-check took about two months to complete and should cost around three million dollars. Various teams were assigned to make sure the different sections of the plane were rebuilt to like new condition and we were going to audit one of those teams.

That’s why I was looking forward to the trip, not because of the audit, but because I knew I’d have a chance to see the plane up close since we’d be right in the building where the work was being done.

I was also a bit worried about Jane. She fully expected that BP would “appear” to her while we were on this trip. I had planned to discuss this with BP before we left, but he was nowhere to be found and time was running short.

The first couple of days of his absence were a relief and I was able to recuperate a bit physically and maybe even mentally from the stress of receiving his Revelation.

When another day went by and he still didn’t show, I really began to wonder what was going on. Not only did I have to talk to him about Jane, but I also wanted to confront him about what I had mentioned to Jane when I broke down in my office. I really did feel somewhat different and I wanted to know, once and for all, if he was doing something to me. I didn’t want to be probing peoples’ souls or working any other kinds of tricks - I wanted to be normal, everyday, me.

During that time, we had another Office Buddy meeting. They had become less frequent since Allen had gotten his sales and with everything else that had happened, but we still managed to get together fairly often.

As usual, I was the main topic of conversation. I didn’t like this, but it was just the way things were for me. Allen was still beyond thankful, singing my praises about my call to Bess while I was sitting there, embarrassed. Matt was happy about Bess too, but was still preoccupied with where I was taking the Revelation. He was hooked by the mystery of it all and really wanted more.

On the other hand, Jane was herself. She seemed cheerful and was, as always, in charge. She asked if everyone was in favor of adding Bess to the group. There were no dissenters so it looked like Bess would be our first new group member - if she still wanted to join. Next, she asked Allen if he’d be okay with her getting Bess an internship here at the company. He was. And finally, since it appeared that Bess would be available for some chores, she came up with a few tweaks to our system of creating transcripts of the Revelation that would makes things a bit more efficient.

For once, she hadn’t blabbed one of my secrets to the others. She was certain that BP was real, but she let the others continue to think of him as fictional. She had already decided that they would have to be told, but not until after she herself was “probed.” Nothing I could do would make her stop calling it that.

As the days passed, everyone started to ask about the next parts of the Revelation. I could only tell them that it would appear when it did - which was the truth, of course. I used this time to continue to write the full narrative version of the Revelation. BP had me working for him even when he wasn’t around.

In a private moment, Jane asked why BP wasn’t coming around and I had to tell her that I didn’t know. I was starting to get concerned, but not overly so. I wondered if he had found some other stooge who could do his bidding even better than me. If he never came back again, I might feel some disappointment that I’d never know where this whole thing was heading, but I’d also probably retain a bit more of my sanity.

I think my sanity was mostly intact when BP finally did return only days before our trip.

I was sleeping soundly in my apartment when I felt him. I managed to look at the clock and it said 4:15. He hadn’t been coming at such ungodly hours for a while and I wondered why he was doing it now. I didn’t ask because I actually felt a bit of relief that he had returned.

Before he could say anything I asked, “Where have you been?”

I was not very surprised when he didn’t answer my question, but instead made a statement, “Your friend Jane is expecting to meet me.”

“Yes,” I said. “During our trip down south. That’s one of the things I need to talk to you about.”

“I am aware of that,” he said in his most imperious voice. “I will communicate with her but not in the exact method that I use with you. I will speak to her, but only through you. She will know me to be real and she will experience me, but not in the same way you do.”

I hadn’t seen this coming at all. “But why? You can slip into her head and speak to her just like you do to me. What if I need a day off or get committed to an asylum or something? You can just give her the other parts of the Revelation. I’m nothing special.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “That was one of the things I have been considering over the last few days. Remember one of the parts of my Revelation is that the path that life takes cannot be predicted, but that the end result can be?”

“You mean like the goats?” I said.

“Yes, exactly. I didn’t even realize it at first, but it appears that you are indeed special in more ways that I originally thought. It seems that your interactions with me have caused some augmentation of your abilities.”

Augmentation of my abilities? What the heck did that mean?

He continued, “You yourself said that you feel slightly different. You have been doing things that you normally couldn’t do - like providing your friends a moment of peace when they most needed it, and like removing that burden from Bess. There have been other things as well.”

I wasn’t talking out loud, but I could apparently still stutter, “But . . . but . . . I’m . . . I really didn’t do those things. You did. You said so yourself.”

“Actually, I said that you may be somehow tapping into my abilities to augment yours. I still don’t think you have developed those abilities independent of me. At least not yet. But I do think that because of your close interaction with me, you have developed an ability to use me to achieve your goals. It appears that in certain high stress or even high empathy situations, you can reach out and use me even if I am not fully aware of it. It’s a strange development and one we will want to study.”

I felt my heart skip a beat. Study! Forget that - how about return me to normal! I didn’t want to be some freak! I had been worried for a while that I was somehow not my old self and now he had confirmed it. Damn him and the horse he rode in on.

But he wasn’t done yet. “I have spent quite a bit of time studying this and my belief is that your access to me has enhanced you slightly. It may also be that as others learn of the Revelation directly through you, they will exhibit a small portion of this new ability which may increase over time.

“Remember, my desire is to tell mankind exactly how and why it exists on this small planet. Mankind will then have the chance and the choice to act on this knowledge. I believe what we are seeing here is in some way a small step that makes it more likely that mankind will use this knowledge wisely.”

I was so dumbstruck that I had lost my outrage. “So you are telling me that I have somehow been ‘changed’ because of my contact with you, and that the other people who are close to me will also be changed as they learn more of the Revelation?”

He answered, “As they learn the Revelation and from their contact with you, that is correct. But do not be worried. Just think about it as the smallest of small steps toward an inevitable future. My Revelation is meant to change the path of mankind; it just appears that it has started with you a bit sooner and in a different way than I had anticipated. You’ll see as you learn more.”

Before I could respond, he left. It was his habit to simply leave without a word when he was done. Normally, I was happy to see him go, but now I wanted more answers. I tried calling him many times as I lay there waiting for dawn, but he did not return.

For the remainder of that night, I didn’t sleep another wink. Something he said kept replaying itself over and over in my brain.

“I don’t think you have developed those abilities independent of me.

“At least not yet.”

Chapter Two

The next day was to be our last at work before our trip. I knew we’d have a number of loose ends to tie up before we left and that it would probably be a hectic day. Since I lost quite a bit of sleep and gained quite a bit of worry during the night due to that infernal BP, I didn’t feel at all up to it.

But I had to go in and I had to do my job.

And I had to talk to Jane. I wasn’t looking forward to that.

I had decided that from this moment, I wouldn’t hold anything back from her. I was going to tell her what happened with Bess and I was going to tell her exactly what BP said about her having to hear him through me. I had carried the full weight of BP’s burden by myself long enough. I hoped that she would lighten the load a bit.

That morning I returned calls, answered emails, created a new spreadsheet for the bosses, and generally behaved like a good company man. It was just about eleven when I thought I had things under control and could take a break. Just as I was thinking about watching an episode of X-Files, Jane came by. I could tell from the look on her face that my break was over. She said, “Come on with me. Let’s go for a walk outside.” It was an order, issued in a non-threatening and even friendly style. But nonetheless, it was an order.

She then turned and left leaving me no choice but to follow her. I wondered what she was up to. Whatever it was, she was in for a big surprise when I told her all about what had happened with both Allen and Bess and how my contact with BP was causing some sort of change in me - and likely would change her too if she stuck to her plan to try and talk to BP through me.

We went out the main entrance with its large sculptures and marble floors. We turned right when we got outside and started on the walking path around the building. As before, the little park like settings were almost empty since it wasn’t yet lunch time and the weather was hot. Plus, I guessed that most people in the building had work to do.

We walked in silence for a good ten minutes. We passed several shady benches and I wondered why we were going on such a hike. The only sound was her heels clicking as she walked. Eventually she said, “Let’s sit here” and finally we sat under a tree. The little sign said it was a Common Fig. The tree wasn’t all that tall, but there was plenty of room for a bench underneath and room to sit. No one else was around.

Once again, she kicked off her shoes and started running her toes through the grass. I pictured her spending the summers on a farm, running and playing barefoot just about all summer long so that shoes felt strange when she had to wear them. Actually, I knew she grew up in the suburbs, but she sure acted like a farm girl sometimes.

She stared straight ahead and said in a serious voice, “Before we go on our trip and I talk to BP, I want to know a couple of things. First, I want you to tell me exactly what happened between you and Bess. She’s here today having interviews and meeting people. I talked with her and she is fixated on you and that talk you had. She is still just gushing about it - and about you, I might add.”

I started to object but she cut me off. “Let me finish,” she said.

“I don’t want you to hold anything back or try to keep any secrets. I don’t want you to try to be cute. I just want to know exactly and specifically what happened.

“And I want to know how that relates to what you did to me. I know you did something on that day when Allen got his sales. I’ve thought about it and it wasn’t just a supportive touch from a good friend. I was about to go ballistic and all of a sudden I was calm, even serene. That just doesn’t happen. Not with me anyway.

“That’s what led me to the conclusion that you were really in touch with this, well this thing, this little green man. Before we leave tomorrow, I want to know. Tell me what you’ve been doing to us.”

Well there it was. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to unburden myself. She had given me the perfect opening to do what I had hoped and planned to do anyway. I started to talk.

I told the whole story, not just about Allen and Bess and her, but anything and everything that I had held back from her. It felt good to get it out.

Eventually I began to run out of words. I had covered everything there was to tell and suddenly I was surprised to realize that we were sitting in silence. And that I was holding Jane’s hand. I didn’t remember how that happened, whether I reached for hers or she had reached for mine. Regardless, I must have needed her strength to get it all out and now I had. I let her hand go.

The silence stretched on. I could see that her brain was working hard to digest what I’d just told her. This was one of those times where she lost contact with her surroundings as all her mental energy was directed to studying a problem from every possible angle. I could feel the effort from a foot away and I guessed it was hard work. She didn’t do this often, but when she did, it normally meant she would come up with some approach to a problem that hadn’t been thought of by anyone else. I waited for her.

And I had to wait a while, at least five minutes. This was a very long time for her and I wondered how many dozens of approaches she had considered and discarded.

Finally she was done and that faraway look in her eyes was gone. She turned to look at me and asked a very simple question, “Do you think this BP character is good or not – could he even be evil?”

In truth, I had never thought of that question. BP had been many things to me; he had scared the crap out of me, he’d had angered me with his overbearing ways, he had also been patient and had attempted to explain things when I was too dense to get them on the first try. He had been selfish in his need for me to hear his Revelation, but generous in helping Allen when I called on him.

After everything that had happened between BP and me, I hadn’t picked up any hint that he was not good or that he had any evil intent. On the contrary, my impression had been that he thought he was doing mankind a favor by giving me his Revelation.

That’s what I told Jane. She filed away what I said, but she wasn’t done with this line of questioning. “Okay, perhaps his personality doesn’t appear to be bent on doing harm. It even appears that most of the things that have come about because of him have been good. He saved Allen and restored Bess to happiness and got you to work hard. Those are all good things.”

Before I could object to that last point she said, “From your description, I agree he doesn’t personally seem to be up to no good, but how about the Revelation itself? Matt is super worried that it’s going to be bad and none of us knows for sure where it’s heading. Do you think that those words, written in book form, can cause harm? Can these ideas cause real damage to real people’s lives? They don’t seem to be bad or good so far, just kind of neutral. But do you think it’s possible that humanity, or even some individuals, would be better off if this book we are working on was never published?”

Once again I was amazed at her ability to come up with something I hadn’t considered. I was always judging BP, of course, since I interacted with him. If he had been overtly dangerous, I think I would have noticed by now.

But it never occurred to me that there might be danger in the words themselves that could cause harm. Could they be some type of Trojan Horse, appearing to be benign, but just waiting to cause damage? As I sat there, I could think of more than one book or idea from history whose creation had caused deaths, wars, genocide and more. I had to admit to myself that there were ideas that had turned out to be evil.

I thought back over the Revelation, trying to see if there was anything in it that might cause people to become aggressive or lead them into self destructive activities.

I couldn’t see anything, but I told Jane we’d have to be alert just in case BP had other things in mind that weren’t in the best interests of humanity.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m also a bit suspicious of this idea that I can only experience BP by somehow piggybacking on one of your sessions - like you’re the high and mighty master and us poor womenfolk might get the vapors if we tried to talk directly to BP.” She used an exaggerated southern accent with just a hint of snarl in it. “I’ll go along with it because I don’t see that I have any other choice, but I don’t think I like it.

“Maybe I’ll tell Mr. BP what I think of that myself, so let’s do it now. Call him and tell him you want to hear the next part of the Revelation and that I’ll be hooked into the conference call.”

So that was what she had come up with. I started to stutter again. It was a bad habit and it was getting worse. “But I . . . I . . . it’s almost lunchtime and . . . well …”

She had apparently heard enough of that and said, “Don’t be cute. Just do it. Now.”

I started to object in a more coherent manner, but paused and thought, “Heck, why not?”

I said out loud in a low voice, “BP. BP. Hello BP. Can you hear me? I need to talk to you and Jane is here and wants to talk as well.”

That wasn’t all that elegant, but at least I didn’t stutter. We waited for a minute and I repeated what I had said. I told Jane that it had sometimes taken several minutes before he answered and that he might not be around at all right now.

I was beginning to hope that he wasn’t going to show when I felt that familiar feeling as he entered my head.

“So your friend is ready to officially join us?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Remember how frightened you were the first time I spoke to you? I then calmed you down so you could focus on what I was saying.”

“I am not going to do that with her. You will be in contact with her and I will be in contact with you. If she gets uncomfortable, you will have to calm her down.”

Obviously he had never been in direct contact with Jane. If anything, she’d be calming me down.

“Ask her if she is ready and then touch her. I think it would be best to have physical contact with her.”

For the first time ever in a session, I turned and spoke out loud. “Jane. He wants to know if you are ready.”

“I am,” she said. I thought I heard a slight tremor in her voice.

I reached out my hand and she responded by taking mine and squeezing pretty hard.

And then I felt her.

My vision blurred as I focused my full concentration on what was happening inside my head. I felt the presence of BP, but that was expected and it was just like normal. But I also felt the presence of Jane. She was here, I could sense her and BP, but somehow they were separated. Both were in my head, but BP wasn’t in hers. It was strange, but what else was new?

I was aware of more than just Jane’s presence; I could feel a bit of what she was feeling. It’s was like my initial contact with Bess, but on a much less intense scale. If my connection with Bess had been a ten, this was a three.

I felt that Jane was apprehensive, but not terrified. And she was fast getting herself under control. After all, she had asked for this and knew it would likely be strange but not dangerous, so she was adapting pretty quickly - certainly much quicker than I had.

I couldn’t read her thoughts, but I could tell that she was okay.

“Jane, you are connected to me and BP is also connected to me.” I said.

“I feel it,” she said. She obviously felt a bit of my concern for her because she added, “I’m okay, Roger.” Her voice trembled in the tiniest way.

BP then spoke. His voice sounded like he was pleased with himself. “Young lady, I am glad you are here and want to thank you for all the help you have been to Roger. I have read his writings and have maintained some slight oversight on his activities, so I know you have been both resourceful and supportive during a difficult period for him.”

She must have heard this since she said, “I guess I’m glad to be here too. We’ll see.”

“Indeed we shall,” said BP. “Now I will continue with the Revelation.”

“Roger, do you have any comments or questions on our discussion of human achievements in space?”

I felt better as we returned to more familiar ground. I could feel Jane’s attention focus on what she remembered from this part of the Revelation.

“You bet I do. You are trying to trivialize all the achievements that humans have had in space. Now I agree that we’ve not traveled all that far into space. And I agree that it’s still too hard to get up there and that we don’t have any real ideas as to how to make it easier, safer and cheaper.

“But I also believe will solve these problems sooner or later. And even if we don’t, we’ve still had some tremendous successes that have enthralled mankind. How about the fact humans have walked on the moon and returned? How about our explorations of Mars and the other planets? Why we’ve got robots up there right now running all around and sending back all kinds of data.

“And how about the space station? It’s doing lots of scientific research and men and women are now able to live in space. I call that quite a large list of accomplishments.”

He replied in that self satisfied tone that I hated. “That is indeed quite a list and it deserves some consideration. Let’s start with landing on the moon.”

At this point, I felt a slight jolt of unease from Jane. She had seen something coming that I hadn’t. That wouldn’t be the first time.

“Landing on the moon was quite a feat, but only in the context of your abilities. Tens of thousands of truck drivers have, over time, driven distances further than to the moon and back. It’s your closest planetary body after all; basically it is right next door. So, while going there is impressive for you, it was still very expensive, very dangerous and very hard and you haven’t been back. Why is that?”

I searched for an answer and shifted my mental focus to see if Jane wanted to chime in and bail me out. She didn’t.

“Let me ask another question. What benefit came to mankind from going to the moon?”

I wanted to jump in with a quick answer that would explain the significance of Man’s voyage to the moon, but found myself struggling to come up with something.

BP wasn’t waiting for me. “Did you get any rare minerals? Or even find any? Did you see anything important in the cosmos from the surface of the moon? Did you start the transformation of the moon to make it hospitable for humans to live on?

“No. The only tangible benefit I can see in going to the moon would be as a step in getting good at real space travel. But as you said, there are no breakthroughs on the horizon that will likely make that possible.

“How about your explorations of Mars? There have been quite a number of craft sent there and several have landed. Even today humans have spacecraft in orbit around Mars and robots on the surface looking for ….what? Life? And not even life itself. Your scientists are hoping to find chemical precursors that make up life. They are back to trying to prove that life can just appear on its own if conditions are right.

“It cannot and it did not. You know that now from the earlier parts of my Revelation.”

I couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up. “But so what if we don’t bring back any items that have monetary value. So what if we don’t find those pre-life chemicals they are looking for. If none of that ever happens, we’ll still learn things and that’s important.”

I felt Jane become a bit more uncomfortable.

“Yes, you will learn things,” said BP. “But will these things have any value? You now know what is six inches under the Martian dirt because you sent up a tremendously expensive digging robot. So far you have found that six inches under the dirt is just more dirt. Is that the type of valuable knowledge you are so proud of?

“Suppose you woke up one day and decided that you would like to know how many blades of grass are in this little park here. Exactly how much would you pay to have an army of people come and count each and every blade?

“I am willing to be that you wouldn’t pay a lot because you’d realize that the knowledge gained by counting the blades of grass is not worth very much - if it is worth anything at all. That knowledge will not help mankind or change things in any way. There will however be two parties that are affected by it. You, by paying for it, will be poorer. And the grass counters who do this work will be richer.”

My frustration level spiked when I heard this. He was saying that our space programs were costly to all the taxpayers who had to fund it, but that humans in general got little or no benefit from it - except for the scientists and others who worked for the space program. They got paychecks, had articles written about them and went on speaking tours. He was saying that they got to count the grass and we got to pay for it. That was a real insult to our space scientists.

I needed reinforcements. “Jane,” I said. “Talk to him.”

She had been quiet up to now, but I could tell that her initial uneasiness was no longer bothering her. She was focused and ready to come to my rescue. At least I hoped she would.

“How about the space station?” she said. “I haven’t kept up with this all that much, but weren’t they going to set up a lab and do all kinds of experiments? Weren’t they going to make drugs in weightlessness or ball bearings? And haven’t they been doing all kinds of studies in the fully equipped labs they have onboard? After all, they are up there months at a time; they’ve got to be doing something useful.”

“A good question young lady.” I noticed he didn’t use her name. It took BP several sessions before he ever called me Roger. I wondered what was up with that.

“Have you seen any of these miracle space drugs or super space ball bearings? Actually, they have made ball bearings up there - exactly two of them. One was round and the other wasn’t. They also did an experiment about fifteen years ago in which they tried to find better ways to encapsulate cancer drugs. NASA hails this as a success on their web site, but no one else does. The last time I checked, there were no drug factories in space.

“And as to all the experiments and all the labs that are up there, yes, scientists are learning a lot. They are learning how to live for several months on the space station, while living for several months on the space station. They are experiments with eating on the station, with sleeping on the station, with weight gain or muscle loss on the station, and with the psychological effects of living on the station.

“Just about all their activities are designed to learn how to make it easier to live on the station. And what benefit is that to humanity?”

This was directed at Jane and so she answered. I could feel a bit of impatience enter her. BP was at his most insufferable today. “You’re right. I can’t argue with the facts. But humanity doesn’t always do things simply because it pays off in some mercantile way. In 1962, in explaining his challenge to go to the moon, John Kennedy said, ‘we choose to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.’ We often do things just because they are hard. It’s part of being human.”

BP seemed pleased with her answer. His voice changed to one that revealed satisfaction. “And that trait is probably the best reason there is for your space program. That is an insightful observation.”

And with that he was gone, and the connection between Jane and I was broken as well. In the instant before it did, I could sense a swirl of emotion from her. I felt that I was somehow eavesdropping on her private feelings, but I couldn’t resist squeezing her hand to let her know that all was well.

As we returned to normal, I sighed and turned to look directly at her. Her eyes were locked on mine and even though I was no longer connected to her via BP, I knew what she was feeling.

It was a sense of wonder.

We both sat there in silence for a least a couple of minutes, going over what had happened and coming to grips with what we had just heard. I wanted to discuss it with her, but I realized that I was starting to sweat.

There was an opening in the foliage of the tree that had been shading us. It must have lost a limb at some time and now the sun moved so that it shone right through the bare area. It was hot and bright and the spell was broken and we both got up to leave.

I was disappointed. This was the best session with BP I’d ever had simply because Jane had been a part of it. I had been right that having her with me would be a real help. I was anxious to talk to her in depth about it, but here we were leaving before I was ready.

It was that tree. I said to Jane, “Damn this tree. Next time we’ll sit somewhere else.”

Chapter Three

We arrived back just in time for lunch. No one had noticed that we were gone, or if they did, had any clue that we had been together. I felt that was good. It was too early to share our secret with the others.

We went directly to the cafeteria. It was our normal Office Buddy day, and as we walked in I saw Matt and Allen at a table. We got our food and headed over to them.

I chose my normal hamburger. I got that at least half the time. They were so good. As I sat down and greeted everyone, Bess came over and was introduced all around by her Dad. She had been accepted into the group and I had no doubt that Jane could arrange an internship for her if she wanted it. So it appeared she would be able to attend our little lunch meetings and could help with the transcription duties.

She shook hands with Matt and Jane since, as far as I knew, this was the first time she had met them in person. She gave me a big hug. I looked over her shoulder to see Jane and Matt grinning from ear to ear. Allen just beamed. I was sure I’d hear about this later.

Or perhaps sooner. Jane smiled a devilish smile at me and spoke up, “Roger, you must have spent some time in the sun. Your face is red.” She was quite the jokester.

Everyone chuckled and Bess realized she had embarrassed me. She spoke up. “I’m sorry! It’s just that I’m so happy to see Roger again and I’m a hugger. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Matt couldn’t hold back any longer, “We know what you mean. We can’t stop hugging him either.” He was grinning from ear to ear.

“We all just love him to death,” added Jane in her best exaggerated southern accent.

So that was how it was going to be. It was going to be “make Roger the center of attention and embarrass the heck out of him” day.

I was preparing to put them on Ignore and start eating when I reached for my fork only to find I’d forgotten to get one. Beth noticed and said, “I’ll get you one. You’ve been working hard all day and I’ve just been meeting people. It’ll just take a jiffy. Hold on.”

As she rushed off to get me a fork, I stared into space. I didn’t really want to look at my friends because I felt my face getting a few shades redder.

She returned with the fork. I was worried she’d hug me again, but she put it down and took her seat next to Jane. She was part of the team now, no doubt about it. Everyone liked her.

Especially her dad, who spoke up, “So Rog, we haven’t been getting a whole lot from our old friend BP lately. Think you’ll have some more when you get back from your trip? The way I see it, you can either Par-tay all night or you can sit in your room and write. I know what Jane is going to do, but how about you?”

He said the word ‘party’ like the cool guys pronounced it back in the 1980s. It was still funny today.

“Well, between going to wild parties, running an entire audit all by myself and making sure that plane is being put back together right, I’ll try to find some spare time to put down a few words. In fact, watch your emails. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got a nice recording from me before too long.” This was an easy prediction to make since Jane and I had a session with BP less than an hour ago.

Jane said, “Yeah, right,” and Bess giggled at my joke.

We were only going to be gone for four days, so I suspected that neither Jane nor I would find our way to a lot of wild parties. But you never know.

The cafeteria was generally pretty full at lunch time even though it was a very big space. This made for a general buzz of noise in the air from all the ongoing conversations, the silverware clattering, and all the other sounds that come when a few hundred people are relaxing, eating and talking.

Just at that moment, however, the noise level dropped and dropped a lot. All of us noticed it and looked around to see the cause. The Security department had sent out memos over the last couple of years explaining what to do in case some loon came into the building with a gun. Basically, the instructions were to hide and cower in fear and hope you don’t get noticed or else run like the wind.

It was strange, but my first thought was that something like this might have been happening, but then I saw the true cause. It wasn’t a loon. Instead, it was the founder and CEO of the company. His name was Evan Miller and he was a multi-billionaire. I understood that the bigwigs had an even posher facility way upstairs in the clouds where they ate in peace with their own kind. It was unusual to see him walking into our cafeteria, so people started talking in whispers and openly stared. Actually, it was really unusual. I’d never seen him in person before.

He started the company with an idea that would grow to be incredibly popular on the internet. He then got into one new business after another, either by starting them in house or by buying up little companies with great ideas. Some of his ideas failed, but not many. He just seemed to have the knack to know what new thing would be successful in the marketplace. A popular magazine ran a cover article on him with the headline, “The Man Who Could See the Future.” I read the article and he wasn’t even quoted in it. I remembered that the writer had made a big deal of how private he was; how at only forty five years old he’d achieved so much, but didn’t flaunt it the way some bigwigs did. He didn’t appear at museum openings and he didn’t get his name in the paper by donating to have a new wing named after him at some hospital; it was said that he never granted interviews with the press. His wife had died years ago in a car crash and he was raising his son, Jacob, out of the public spotlight. I guessed Evan was protecting Jacob by doing that.

Public figure or not, he was a big deal, not only in the company but in business in general. And he was walking towards our table.

He walked right up to where Jane was sitting and bent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then whispered something into her ear. She laughed at whatever it was he said.

He then stood up and Jane introduced him to the rest of us at the table. She told him in a few words what each of us did for the Empire. He repeated our names as he shook our hands. He seemed to hold onto my hand just a fraction longer than normal. It was probably just my imagination.

“I just dropped by to say hello to a few people. I should get out and meet everyone more often, but the company is growing so fast it’s hard to keep up with it all. I want to thank you all for your hard work. Allen, those sales have been spectacular. I couldn’t be happier for you. Matt, that project you are working on is important and I’m glad you’re a part of it. Bess, I hope things work out for you here, but regardless I’m sure you’ll do some great things.”

He then looked directly at me. “Roger, I appreciate you taking a trip down south to help get our new plane in the air.” Maybe it was still my imagination, but I thought I felt a hint of sadness from him.

“Did Jane ever tell you how we know each other?” This was the question we were all wondering about. We shook our heads.

“Well, one day about three years ago, I had an idea for a new business. It was risky, but I was sold on it. And when I’m sold, it takes a lot to get me unsold. I’ve been told I’m stubborn, but no one will ever convince me I am.”

We smiled at his little joke.

“Anyway, everyone I pitched the idea to told me how great it was - how it would really help people and make lots of money. I didn’t realize at the time that most of my advisors had become used to simply agreeing with whatever I said. That worked fine as long as I was right.

“So I ordered a financial analysis with projections. My CFO gave the job to our most senior analyst. He pushed it down to one of the analysts that worked for him. And then she sent it to Jane here via email. But she left all the CCs from all the previous emails on it, including my email address since I originally asked for it.

“Jane didn’t notice all those return emails and just replied to all of us. So in a couple of days I got an email with the analysis showing my idea would lose mountains of money. There was also a comment that said ‘This is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard of. Whoever thought of this one doesn’t have a clue.’ That clueless guy we me, but she didn’t know it.

“And then she went on to explain what was wrong with my plan - and you know, she was right. I saw immediately how this would be a failure. My eyes had been opened to what now seemed to be the obvious flaws in my plan that no one else had pointed out to me.

“So that’s how our Janie here really helped out the old man. Well, I’ve got to run and see some other folks. Thanks again to everyone and Jane, it was especially good to see you again.”

And off he went to sit with some people in lab coats at another table. They looked more like doctors than computer guys. We were all stunned at what had just happened. I, for one, had never realized that Jane knew the Big Boss. I wondered if she could have saved Allen without any help from me. That might have helped keep my life from spinning out of control the way it had.

The rest of our lunch was spent pumping Jane for all the juicy details on her adventure with Evan Miller. We all called her Janie at least once. Bess asked the obvious question, “So why didn’t he promote you to the top floor?”

Jane smiled and said that she actually had been promoted to Senior Analyst. She was the youngest one in the company at that time. But she also said she didn’t play well with a lot of what she called the “Gnats” that swarmed around Evan Miller, so she was happy to work at her present job, at least for now.

She also said that a couple of the Gnats had been canned after this little episode and so they were wary of her. I could sure understand that. That might explain how she was able to get things done around here - people were afraid to tell her “no.”

She also added one more item to the tale. Evan Miller was wrong on one point. Jane had seen all those email addresses and knew exactly who was going to read her report.

I was busy for the rest of the afternoon. First, I dictated the latest from BP and sent it out to the team. I had gotten pretty darn good at repeating what I had been told by him. It was so much easier than writing it down. As was my habit now, I stuck to the Revelation itself and didn’t mention Jane’s part in what had happened. For now at least, she was the only one to know that BP was real and that he really was providing a Revelation.

There wasn’t any important company work to do since I was officially leaving for a few days, so I was finally free to catch up on a couple episodes of X-Files and study the box scores from yesterday’s games.

Jane was busier than me tying up some loose ends and getting a final inventory list of the things we had to account for on our trip. She printed the boarding passes for our flight and gave me mine. I was in 12E. I wondered if that was a good seat. She was in 12D so at least we’d be together.

Just as I stood up to head out the door, Bess came by my cubicle. She walked in big as life and said, “It’s me again,” and gave me another big hug. Sure enough, Jane had heard her and had dashed over just in time to see.

I felt a stutter coming on but stifled it. “Ah, don’t you have interviews or something?”

“Oh, that’s all over,” she said. “They offered me the job. They are even going to pay me. And they let me borrow a PC and Matt helped me get on the company network, so I went ahead and typed up the latest part of the Revelation. I wish you were going to be around so that we could discuss it. These ideas of yours - they’re so interesting. I just can’t wait for more. Where in the world do you get this stuff?”

“He gets it from BP,” said Jane.

Bess noticed Jane standing there and for a moment I thought she was going to get a hug too, but the look on her face didn’t invite touching.

She did speak up though, “Oh Jane, you’re so lucky. You get to be with him for four days so you can really pick his brain on the Revelation. I finally finished reading the whole thing so far and I’m just amazed with it. I can’t wait until you get back and we can have our next meeting.”

She handed me a memory stick. “I sent the transcript via email, but thought you might like a copy you could load onto any device. Is there anything else I can do before you leave; anything at all?” I thought about asking for a hug, but quickly came to my senses instead.

Jane’s eyes became slits. “No, I don’t think so,” I said. “We’re not going to the moon; we’ll still have our phones and email. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“Oh that’s just grand,” she said. “I’ll see you in a few days then.”

And with that she gave me a quick hug and before she could do anything about it, Jane got one too. “I’m a hugger,” she giggled and hurried away.

After she was gone, Jane just stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “Oh isn’t it just grand that little ole me is so lucky,” she said in her best Scarlett O’Hara voice. “What are you going to do about that girl?” That last part didn’t have a trace of southern belle in it.

I suddenly saw the humor in this. “Oh, come on.” I said. “She’s just trying to be friendly and she’s a hugger. It’s just coincidence that I’m so darn huggable. Everyone tells me that while they’re giving me hugs.”

She turned and left, but not without saying “You can stop being cute. There was no reason to bring you that memory stick except that she wanted to come see you in person. I think we need to figure this out. I know what you did to her after all, and Lord knows the effect that’s had on her. It’s certainly made her not a very good judge of who is huggable. Anyway, I’ll pick you up at seven on the dot. Try to be on time for once.”

I had a lot on my mind as I returned home and relaxed on my little balcony. It had helped to take Jane into my confidence, but it seemed like I was still juggling a lot of balls in the air, though they seemed to be a bit more under control for the moment.

Still, I felt that something was going to happen soon. I had no idea what it was and I couldn’t even hazard a guess - especially after I opened that bottle of forty year old Scotch.

Chapter Four

Seven o’clock was quite a bit earlier than when I normally left my apartment. We had an early flight and you could never be sure of traffic in the city, so Jane had decided that we should leave early. She wanted to be sure we’d have plenty of time to get to the airport and get through security. I didn’t complain about that at all; I’d rather lose a bit of sleep than miss my flight and cause myself problems on my first company business trip.

I was a couple of minutes early as I went outside to wait for Jane. She was going to pick me up in her cab since my building was on the way to the airport for her. As I hit the sidewalk pulling my suitcase behind me, I saw her get out of the cab and motion me over. She was wearing slim dark pants with a matching jacket and a light yellow shirt with a multicolor necklace made of some type of shiny colorful stones. She was ready to get to work when we got there. She looked good.

I was wearing my normal work clothes. The driver came over and took my suitcase and, to my surprise, Jane gave me a hug.

I gave her a puzzled look and she said, “Good morning. You seemed to enjoy it so much yesterday I figured you’d like it. Or do you just enjoy it when Little Miss Bess is doing the hugging?”

So she was starting in on me already about Bess. I would have to talk to that girl.

We got in the car and started moving. Traffic was light until we passed by the company.

“Have a good look. You won’t see it again for a few days.” said Jane. I had plenty of time to have a good look, because some big truck with an almost fully grown tree on it was parked at the curb and was balling things up. I wondered why someone had ordered a tree to be delivered.

We made it to the airport with no additional issues. We zipped through security and were at the gate a full hour ahead of time. Jane hadn’t been really talkative, so as we waited in line to get a cup of coffee, I asked her what was on her mind.

“It’s this whole thing about being ‘changed’ somehow. What you did to Bess by looking deep inside her is more than a bit creepy, even if you did help her out. And then yesterday, you entered my mind. It wasn’t BP; it was you who did that. I know you said that he would only talk to me through you, but I was surprised that you could just intrude on my mind. I like you and all, and I might even give you a hug once in a while, but I’m not sure I want you to be able to see my thoughts.”

I tried to reassure her. “But it was BP. He’s the one who makes this stuff happen. I couldn’t do it without him; at least I don’t think I can. And you felt it. I can’t read your thoughts; I can only sense your feelings.”

She looked me straight in the eye and said, “Are you sure about that? Go ahead. Try it now. See if you can elbow your way into my head. I want to see just how much you’ve been changed. Let’s see if you can do it without BP.”

I told her I’d give it a shot, but that I really had no idea how to initiate mental contact with her. I closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could with no effect. I opened my eyes extra wide and stared at her - again nothing. I put my finger tips on the sides of her head mind-meld style and willed myself to make the connection with her while holding my breath.

I ran out of breath, but still nothing worked. “See. I can’t do it on my own,” I said.

“Try this,” she said and took my hands in hers. It’s the way we had started yesterday at the suggestion of BP. I closed my eyes again and just relaxed.

I couldn’t read her thoughts, but something was happening. I entered what seemed like a kind of hazy, dreamy state and I somehow felt just a bit of how she was feeling. She was feeling surprised at what was happening. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and then the connection abruptly ended. The spell seemed to have been broken just that quickly and it wouldn’t come back even though we tried for a couple of minutes.

We both opened our eyes. “I felt that you were surprised,” I said.

“And I felt that you were alarmed. You can do this, at least a bit. I wonder if maybe I can do it too.”

“Well, if that’s an example of how much you and I have been changed, then it’s not much. I just received a vague impression of what you were feeling and that’s all. It might have even been just a lucky guess. Regardless, I don’t think you have to worry about being intruded upon if that’s all we can do.”

Jane agreed, “Well, you sure did a lot more than that with Bess, but BP was right there and so maybe he really is the one who makes it happen. Maybe he somehow amplifies the effect.”

She paused and we both considered her idea. It seemed plausible. “But remember, he said it appeared that your contact with him was changing you. He made light of it, but how do we know that the change won’t continue to increase as you and I talk to him?”

“We don’t, I guess.” It was all I could think of.

I realized that we were both talking about meeting BP as a team. I felt thankful to have someone to share the burden, but I felt a jab of worry that she might be hurt because of it. I made a vow that I wouldn’t let that happen.

It was finally time to get on the plane. After a long wait in line, being jostled by people carrying bags big enough for them to have packed a real, full sized kitchen sink, we finally got to our seats.

I looked at my seat number and compared it to the little tags above the row. I had a middle seat! I looked at Jane’s boarding pass. She had the aisle. I shot her a look and she just grinned.

“Sit down, you big baby. If I had an aisle, what did you think you would have?”

I sat down. A three hour flight in the middle seat. Great, just great.

The flight attendants finally got all the kitchen sinks stowed away and gave their safety talk as the plane slowly moved away from the terminal. Jane took the little safety card out and I could see she was actually looking around to make sure where the exits were. The closest was behind us. At least I thought it was.

I leaned over and whispered in her ear. She had that flower perfume on. “Don’t worry. If there’s any sign of trouble, I’ll toss you over my shoulder and carry you out cave man style. I’ll be a hero and get my picture in the paper showing my grinning face with your butt up in the air.”

Her lips compressed into a thin line and she leaned over and whispered. “Don’t even joke about that. I have a real fear of flying. I’ve had dreams more than once of being in a plane that was flying way too low and was going to crash. I can see trees and power lines out the window and we are no higher than they are. They are just flashing by at terrifying speed. I’m always certain the awful crash is coming, but it never actually does. The fear and anticipation just build higher and higher until I wake up.

“I know it’s silly. I’ve flown many times and it’s always been fine and I know it’ll be fine today, but I won’t feel totally safe again until we’ve landed and the pilots have slowed this beast down and gotten it under control.”

I felt a pang of remorse. I wouldn’t have made that joke about crashing if I had known it would distress her. Everyone fears flying at some level. It is safe, but crashes happen and when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Of course, most of us would just as soon not go in a fiery plane crash.

Just at that time, the pilots spooled up the engines and we started gaining speed for our takeoff. This was the worst part of flying for me with all the noise and all the shakes and rattles of the plane as it passes over expansion joints in the runway.

I always like it when a plane fairly leaps into the air using just a small portion of the runway. But this plane was packed. I had a vision of the hold under our feet being jammed with heavy freight and, of course, there were all those kitchen sinks in the overheads. This plane was heavy and so it just lumbered on and on down the runway, slowly picking up speed.

Just as I was starting to get worried, the nose lifted, but the plane just hung there, like it was trying to decide if it was going to make the trip in the air or on the ground. A long second went by before enough air accumulated under the wings so that we finally began to climb at a fairly steep angle. I exhaled and Jane gave me a brave smile.

It was still too noisy in the cabin for normal conversation, so we just looked out the windows at the ground. The city was quite beautiful from this altitude, but in a few minutes we had flown past it and now could see the patchwork quilt of housing developments, shopping malls and farms that made up the suburbs. Even when we reached 30,000 feet, the entire landscape was filled with signs of human activity. “We’ve sure been busy,” I thought to myself.

The flight attendants were up and moving about, talking to people and chatting with each other. I was hungry and was planning on buying something to eat once they started their service. I hadn’t had any breakfast and flying always made me hungry.

They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to break out the carts, however. There was a ‘bing’ and then I found out why.

The Captain came on the intercom. “Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. Thanks for joining us on our flight today. We’ll do our best to make it an enjoyable one. It looks like we are in for some light to moderate turbulence for the next little while. Other flights are reporting a good bump or two and it looks like those conditions exist at all altitudes. We are in contact with air traffic control and we’ll try to find the smoothest air for you.

“I’m going to ask our flight attendants to be seated and ask that you check that your seat belt is on and tight. Once we reach the rough air, we expect the chop to last for about twenty minutes and then we should have a very smooth flight for you. I’ll update you when we learn more.”

The Captain sounded totally relaxed and competent. Did they have classes to teach them how to sound like that?

One of the flight attendants then made her announcement as well. “Like the Captain says folks, be sure your seat belts are buckled. We’ll be coming through to check that everybody is nicely buckled up and then we’ll have our in-flight service as soon as the Captain says it’s okay. You can see the menu in the back of the airline magazine in the pocket in front of you.”

I was pretty sure that was what they were trained to do - get you thinking about food and not about plummeting to a fiery death.

Just in case, I gave my seat belt an extra tug and when Jane saw me do that, she did too. We were as ready as we would ever be.

Truthfully, I wasn’t worried. I had flown in turbulence before and it was annoying, but it didn’t bother me all that much. I didn’t like it when there was almost constant bumping, but other than that, it wasn’t too bad.

“I’m not a big fan of turbulence,” Jane said to me. I thought I detected a slight quiver in her voice. Given her fear of flying, I could understand that.

“It won’t last long and then we’ll have a nice meal. I think I’ll have the egg, sausage and cheese sandwich and you can have a cup of yogurt or a carrot stick or whatever it is you eat for breakfast.”

I thought some levity might help. She gave me one of her looks where her eyes bored into mine. She also gave me a kick in the ankle, but it didn’t hurt.

Just at that time the bumping started. It was gentle at first, like the plane was driving over a roadway that had some small potholes in it. I looked at my watch and noted the time. Twenty minutes to go.

Jane had a determined look on her face. She was going to tough it out. “That’s not so bad,” she said. She was just about to say something else, but I didn’t get to hear it because what must have been some kind of giant creature outside the plane gave it a very violent shove to the right. The upper part of my body lurched to the left and I would have hit Jane except she was tossed in the exact same way that I was. I heard a collective gasp from my fellow passengers and I reached for Jane’s hand out of instinct. I didn’t have to reach far, because she was doing the same thing.

I felt the pilot, or more likely the autopilot, start to correct the path of the plane when we got another jolt. If possible, it was even more intense. I heard the overhead compartments rattle as the contents definitely shifted.

One after another, those awful shocks continued. Not all were the type that pushed the plane hard to the right - we also had a few from the left, just to even things out.

My rational brain knew that these planes were designed to take this type of turbulence and much, much more. I had never heard of a plane going down due solely to turbulence, but I knew that sometimes it got so severe that people were injured. People had even died if the turbulence started with no warning and they didn’t have their seat belt buckled. That’s when you could get thrown out of your seat like a rag doll.

That was the thinking of my rational brain. My lizard brain said “Run. Run you fool.” But of course I had nowhere to run to and besides, I was worried about Jane.

She was now squeezing my hand very hard and her face had lost a few shades of color. She wasn’t the only one. A man across the aisle was praying. The lady beside him was bent over almost double, protecting the infant she was carrying with her own body. I heard sobbing from somewhere in front of me.

The timing of the jolts made for even more terror. After one would hit, there would be just a few seconds to register amazement that the plane was still intact and that you weren’t falling into the void. But before you could begin to appreciate your good luck, the anticipation started as you waited for the next shock. And the next one would come, and it would be very big and very violent.

I looked at Jane and saw a tear escape from the corner of her eye. She really was suffering. On the other hand, I felt strangely calm. After the initial surge of fear, I reined myself in and, while I hated the bumps, I wasn’t particularly worried about them. I knew it would stop soon and that we wouldn’t crash. And if it didn’t and we crashed? Well, for some reason I wasn’t worried about that either.

But Jane was another story. I started to feel her fear, not just mine. To me, it looked like a fountain of toxic liquid shooting into the air, touching and affecting everything around it. The liquid was the color of fear. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what I saw.

By God, I was doing it again. I didn’t want to, but my vision seemed out of my control. I put my mental finger on the leak and the flow slowed. Jane stopped digging her fingernails into my hand quite so hard and I felt her relax ever so slightly.

Just then another bump occurred. Like before, it was accompanied by the sounds of people crying out and loose objects moving around in dozens of purses and briefcases. But I thought to myself that this one was just a tiny bit less violent than the one before. Since we were connected in whatever weird way we were, I could tell that Jane noticed as well. She didn’t feel as fearful. Her hand was very warm.

And that’s when BP said, “Oh yes, this is wonderful. I see you are both connected and ready for our next session. I’d like to finish the part of the Revelation that deals with human space exploration.”

Before I could form a thought, Jane said in a very shrill mental voice, “You have got to be kidding me! We’re getting ready to die here!”

Chapter Five

But we weren’t. The flight had smoothed out until it was now perfectly stable. The turbulence had given way to calm air in what seemed like an instant. I had experienced this before and knew it could happen that way, but I was suspicious. “Did you do that?” I asked BP.

He didn’t bother to play dumb and ask me what I was talking about. Instead he said, “Of course not. I don’t control the weather or any other physical things on this world. If I could smooth out air or move mountains or drive cars, I would attempt to do what needs to be done without having to rely on humans. It’s not my nature to be able to affect changes in non-life in this Universe.”

Just at that time, there was the musical ding over the intercom and the Captain came on. BP kept quiet so we could listen.

He sounded just like before - totally calm and competent with a hint of a smile in his voice. “This is the Captain again Ladies and Gentlemen. That was quite a little roller coaster ride wasn’t it? It appears to be all done now and I anticipate some smooth air ahead. If there are any aviation buffs back there, turbulence is graded from light to severe. What you just experienced would be classified as Moderate Turbulence. Basically, that means the plane gets some fairly large jolts, but always remains under control while we maintain our altitude and heading.

“The Flight Attendants will now come down the aisle to prepare the cabin for a great in-flight service. We’ll give them a few minutes to get ready and then I’ll turn off the fasten seat belts sign. Remember though, turbulence can happen unexpectedly, so it’s a good idea to keep your seat belts loosely fastened whenever you are in your seat.”

I suspected the Captain was deliberately talking for a couple of extra minutes to spread some calm and reassurance to us in the back who were scared out of our wits just a few minutes ago. It worked because people started to bring out their readers and phones and things soon returned to normal.

But not for Jane and me. We were still connected somehow and now I was connected to BP.

As soon as the Captain finished, BP started by asking one of his off-the-wall questions. “How long would it take you to walk from Los Angeles to Las Vegas?”

I could tell Jane felt surprised at this, but I was used to it. Sure, it seemed to make no sense, but somehow he’d use it to make a point. The only thing we could do was answer. And I wanted to answer quickly and get this over with as I was hungry and didn’t want to miss the food cart. But first, I had to remember how far that trip was.

“It’s a bit more than two hundred fifty miles, I think,” Jane said in my mind.

“That’s correct young lady,” BP said. He still hadn’t called her by her name.

So I thought about it. I was a fast walker. When I went for a stroll in the park across from my apartment, I’d normally be passing lots of little old ladies and mothers with strollers. I guessed that I could walk about three miles an hour.

“It would take about eighty three hours,” I said. “A bit more than three days.”

I could feel that Jane didn’t agree with my numbers, and neither did BP. “That would be true if you walked without stopping to eat or sleep or rest. Try again; how long would it take if you really did take that kind of walk?”

Jane had been taking this more realistic approach to the question from the beginning, so she was ready with an answer. “I would guess you couldn’t walk more than twenty miles or so a day - maybe a bit more if you were in good shape. So I’ll say it would take around two weeks to make that trip on foot.”

BP replied, “Okay, but that is too slow. Now answer this, how can you make the trip faster if you aren’t walking all the way?”

I chimed in. “If you rode a bike, you could probably do around a hundred miles a day. That would reduce the time to about three days for the trip.”

“You have now reduced the time needed for our trip from two weeks to three days. That’s a significant improvement. But it is still too slow. How might you make the trip even quicker?”

Jane gave me a mental kick and so I answered, “Driving would be faster. You could do it in around four to five hours I would think.”

“Another nice improvement in speed, but it’s still not good enough. How could you make the trip even quicker?”

I was getting tired of this game of twenty questions. I answered, “You could fly a fast helicopter and be there in an hour. Or you could fly a Learjet and be there in thirty minutes or so. I guess there might be even faster planes that could cut another minute or two off the time. What are you getting at?”

“Patience,” he said. I felt my temper flare a bit. I had better not miss the meal service because of this.

“The point will be clear to you soon. Now suppose I made available to you unlimited funds. Suppose you had the money to hire the best scientists, the best engineers. Suppose you could buy whatever equipment you wanted and build whatever you wanted.”

“You have already cut the time necessary for this trip from two weeks, to three days, to four hours, and now to thirty minutes. With access to anything you want, tell me how you might take the next leap in efficiency and trim the time needed for the trip to be no more than 1 minute.”

He stopped and waited for an answer. I thought fleetingly of high speed rail and of rockets, but quickly realized that neither of those would work. The required speed was just too much.

I was stumped.

I felt Jane start to speak before she did. “I might put together a Manhattan style project and bring all the best scientists together with the express purpose of creating teleportation. Then we could do the trip in almost no time.”

If I had come up with that idea, he would have put a mental dunce cap on me. But with Jane, he had a lot more patience. “You could indeed spend lots of money tilting at that particular windmill, but teleportation is impossible. No amount of money and no number of smart scientists will ever make such a thing happen.

“The Manhattan Project was a success because the scientists knew ahead of time that their theories were correct and that a bomb could be created. They just needed to figure out how to do that which they already knew could be done, and they needed to do it quickly.”

“No number of scientists, no matter how brilliant and how well funded, can make something happen that is impossible. This is an important point and I’m glad you allowed me to make it.”

Now he was complimenting her. I hadn’t had a compliment in a long time.

“Earlier in my Revelation, I described science as a process through which you learn how the Universe works. As humans learn more and more, the creative mind of man finds new uses for this information. While you can learn of the wonders of the universe, you can also learn where its limits are. Over the last one hundred years or so, mankind learned new ways to travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. But man also learned something else: it can’t be done in much less than twenty minutes.

“There is no theory that might make another great leap in speed happen that isn’t a pipe dream. There is no looming technology that will reduce the time required another few orders of magnitude. There is just no way to accomplish this goal. It cannot be done.”

That thought was kind of deflating. I had always thought of humanity as having limitless potential. I had believed that if we were given enough time and enough resources, mankind could accomplish whatever it could dream.

But, according to BP, that wasn’t so. If science was the process by which we could discover new things that we can do, it could also be the process that uncovered new limits that can’t be exceeded. Speed was one of them and now I thought I knew where BP was heading with all this. I didn’t like it.

“So you have reached a limit as to how fast you can travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. How about traveling to the nearest star which is Proxima Centauri? It’s very close - only about 4.3 light years away.”

I was right; I did know where he was going. “It would take a long time - years at least to get there.” I resigned myself to what was coming.

“Years is right. At the speed your Voyager spacecraft is now moving - about, 38,000 mph - it would actually take more than a few years. In fact, it would take about 76,000 years.”

“But Voyager is an old spacecraft. Suppose you use the fastest spacecraft that man has ever flown. You would then have some real improvement in the time it takes to get to your closest neighbor. At that speed of over a bit over 110,000 mph, humans would arrive there in only 19,000 years. That’s quite a bit faster, but still nowhere near fast enough.

“And consider that a trip to Proxima Centauri would make sense only because it’s the closest star system outside your own solar system. It’s really an undistinguished little system and would likely have nothing there of any great interest to anyone. If you wanted to travel to some of the really mysterious and potentially interesting stars, it would take millions or billions of times longer than what we have talked about here. The fate of the Universe would have been decided long before you could complete such a trip.”

Jane was the one to object this time. I would have just let him go on since I could smell something delicious being warmed up for our betters riding in first class. “But there are all kinds of ideas of how to travel faster in space. Surely one day we’ll have warp drive or travel through wormholes or something.”

BP let his voice show no emotion. “No you will not. Those are concepts made up by science fiction authors who had to have some means of overcoming the fact that the universe is so big and the speed limits are so low. Imagine science fiction being limited to only chemical rockets and trips to Mars. It just would not be as interesting and all the stories would get told pretty quickly. No, that would be too constraining. So they made up these ideas about jump drives and warp drives and worm holes just so they could write interesting stories. There is exactly zero credible research going on in any of those areas - and that’s because they cannot be done.

“Einstein discovered that the speed limit in the Universe is the speed of light. He also discovered that you really can’t even approach this speed without all kinds of ill effects. The result is that Man will never explore the universe by traveling to alien suns.

“There is also another problem with space travel beyond just the speeds and distance involved. Space is not a very inviting place. In fact it’s a very deadly and hostile place to life. There is no water, no heat, no air, and the only way to travel in it is to create an artificial environment in a spacecraft. But even then, the danger exists from breakdown or failure of a bulkhead or any number of other calamities that might befall space travelers. And those can easily be fatal to life at any point away from the Earth.

“But there is also another danger. Space might be almost empty, but it is full of something really deadly - radiation. Humans would face significant obstacles to staying alive even if they decided to build ships where colonists and their descendants lived for thousands of years.

“So here is the next part of my Revelation.

“Humans will not ever be able to venture into space outside their own solar system in any meaningful way. The universe is just too big and the speed limits are too low.

“Other than the surface of the Earth, the universe is very hostile to life. Life exists only on Earth and cannot exist anywhere else.

“The universe was never meant to have life in it at all. Life was put here for a reason and it must fulfill its destiny on the one spot in the universe where it can exist and even flourish: the Earth.”

And with that, I felt BP leave us. I had a flash of what Jane was feeling and it was a mixture of wonder and sadness.

Chapter Six

After BP left, the rest of the flight went smoothly. I finally did manage to get something to eat from the cart, and Jane and I discussed the latest part of the Revelation.

It was kind of deflating to think that mankind would never explore the stars, but it was also a really distant concern. I mean, there were probably lots of people who thought we’d never find a way to travel interstellar distances and their lack of belief didn’t bother those who did believe. So to the extent that I believed BP, I was disappointed. But I wasn’t certain that he really knew for sure what was going to happen in the distant future, so I was also still somewhat hopeful that some smart person might come upon an idea that would allow travel to the stars. Who knows, it might happen. BP could be wrong after all.

After what had happened this morning and with the gentle drone of the plane, I got sleepy and dropped off. I was dreaming about wanting a fruit from a tree, but it was bare. It was one of those crazy dreams that made no sense.

I awoke when the Captain again came on to tell us we’d be landing shortly. Jane had fallen asleep too and her head was on my shoulder. I didn’t mind.

She woke up and realized where she was and sat up straight with a hint of embarrassment on her face. “Thank God this will soon be over,” she said. She really didn’t like flying.

Whichever one of the pilots was flying the plane made up, at least a little bit, for the awful beginning of the flight by executing a perfect landing. It was as smooth as silk and Jane seemed happy with it - and with the fact that we were again on Earth and not hurtling through the atmosphere in a thin, metal tube.

As we were taxiing to the terminal, we got the okay to turn on our cell phones. It was ridiculous to have to turn them off because there was just no way they could interfere with the electronics on this plane, but I didn’t complain. Flying with half the people on the plane yapping away on their cells would not be much fun.

As soon as my phone exited from Flight Mode, it beeped and showed I had two voicemail messages. That was strange. I wasn’t expecting any calls. The numbers showed they were from back in the city.

Then my phone whistled at me. This was what it did when I received a text message. It showed I had three of them.

By this time, Jane had her phone on too and it was also signaling. She had three messages and several texts as well. What in the world was going on?

As we waited for all those bags filled with kitchen sinks to be wrestled from the overheads, we checked our text messages.

I had one from Allen. Matt had quit the group and was telling the others to quit too. He wanted a call back.

Bess sent a text to me and to Jane. She also had heard from Matt and was very upset. In her next message, she had been to see him and apparently it hadn’t gone well. She asked for a call back when we landed.

And lastly, I had a text from Matt. It just said, “Please read my email and call me when you can.” He signed it, “Your friend, Matt.” You don’t normally sign text messages.

We finally escaped the plane and headed into the terminal. Since we already had our bags with us, the original plan had been to rent a car and drive out to the work site. Actually, the hangar where they were preparing the new company plane was on the grounds of the airport, but the company paid for a rental car, so why not?

As soon as we found a gate that was empty, Jane said, “Let’s stop here.” We sat down and listened to the messages and read the texts. We both received an email from Matt. He sent it to the entire team. It said:

My Friends,

I really don’t know the right words to use, but I’ll do my best. I need to leave the team that is working on this revelation.

I think you have been aware that I’ve been worried about this from the beginning. At first, I was worried that it was some kind of juvenile attempt at being sensational, but lately I’ve become worried that it might actually be more than that.

Last night I had a counseling session with my pastor, Chuck Cleimer. My wife and I had been going to him for a few months and sometimes we go together and sometimes he meets with us individually. Last night I was alone. He’s really helped us a lot and I’m very thankful to him.

He knows me pretty well by now and sensed that something was wrong. I couldn’t help myself. I broke down and told him everything that had been going on with this book and this whole revelation thing and how it made me feel very strange.

The words in this crazy book, these concepts, they keep running through my mind and I can’t shake them. They aren’t exactly anti-religious, but they aren’t exactly pro-religious either. But there is something there and it has a power over me.

So I told Chuck everything. I shouldn’t have done that without discussing it with you, but I did it anyway. I apologize, but I’m not really sorry - it was something I simply had to do.

Chuck really helped make things clear for me. He said that if something was tugging at my conscience, it probably meant it was not something I should be involved with. That makes perfect sense, so I’m done. I’m dropping out. I don’t want to hear anything more about this revelation stuff and BP or anything else.

In fact, I’d like to forget it altogether. But I can’t.

I also talked to Chuck about Allen and Jane and Bess. He suggested that I honestly tell them how I feel and offer them his support if they want to drop out as well. I will call each of you today. I won’t pressure you. I just want you to know how I feel.

As for Roger, Chuck would like to meet him.

Roger, all I can say is that I am sorry I had to do this, but I did. I hope you can forgive me.

Your friend,

Matt

“Wow,” said Jane. I was thinking of what to do when she added, “I’ll call Matt.”

That was so like her; go right to the source of the problem and fix it. She was taking charge as she normally would, but not this time. I wanted to be the first to speak with Matt.

“No,” I said. “I’ll call Matt and then you call Allen and I’ll call Bess.”

She looked surprised and I thought she was going to object, but she changed her mind. She wasn’t used to having me question one of her decisions, but she simply said, “Okay.”

I had Matt on speed dial, so it only took a second to place the call. It rang only once and he answered. He knew what time we were supposed to land, so he was ready.

“I’m sorry,” was how he answered the phone. His voice sounded old and tired. I guessed that he hadn’t slept much last night. He started to say something more, but I cut him off.

“Wait,” I said. “Matt, there’s no need to feel bad about this. You’ve simply made the same choice that everyone who knows about my book will make - the choice to read it or not. There’s no way I would be upset with someone who decides not to read it. Heck, the great majority of people who even take note of it will pass it by.

“So relax. I’m not mad at you and I respect your decision. I realize that the decision is yours and yours alone and that it’s a really personal thing. I am a bit concerned with Pastor Chuck, however. I don’t know if I want to meet with him. I’ll have to think about it.”

We talked for a few more minutes and I did my best to soothe him. When we hung up, I think he felt better and he was still my friend.

After the call, I reported to Jane what had happened and she made a comment that I had done better than she would have. I just got a compliment. We then made our calls to Allen and Bess.

Bess answered instantly when I called, “Oh Roger. I wish you were here. When I got that message from Matt, I ran over and talked to him, but it didn’t do any good. Are you ok?”

I told her I was fine and also filled her in on my talk with Matt. I explained that he was always unsure about what I was doing and that not having him on the team would likely be for the best. “How about you? Do you still want to be on the team?” I asked. If one dropped out, maybe more wanted to leave. I gave her the chance.

She sounded shocked. “Of course not! I’ll never leave the team as long as there is anything at all that I can do to help you. All you’ve got to do is ask.” And then she added, “I know Dad feels the same way.”

And with a few more calming words from me, we hung up. Jane was also done talking to Allen.

“So let me guess. Ms. Bess is ready to take over and will do anything that Matt would have done and anything else you might require.” I gave her a look and she went on. “Allen actually feels the same way. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal.”

“So are we back on an even keel again?” I asked.

“I think so,” she said. “But I think it’s time that you told them the truth. They’ve certainly earned the right to go or stay based on the real truth. You should tell them and then do one of your mind meld probe things with them so they’ll truly be part of the team. You already did one with Bess and you both seemed to like that a lot.”

I hadn’t really considered opening up to everyone so soon, but it was probably the right thing to do. I told her we’d figure out how to do it when we got back.

For the rest of the day, we did what we had come out here for. We drove to the hangar and met the head of the group that we had come to audit. He name was Jerry Wu. His parents had emigrated from Taiwan before he was born and he was about as American as you can be. He spoke with a Texas accent which, for some reason, I found funny. I didn’t tell him that.

It was mid afternoon before we got there and Jerry asked if we’d like to tour the facility now or wait until later. The tour would take a couple of hours.

Jane told him that we’d love to see the whole thing, but she suggested we inventory the high dollar items and get that out of the way today. I thought I knew what she was doing - if there was going to be a problem of any magnitude, it would be with those items. And Jane didn’t want to get chummy with these people until she knew that they hadn’t lost or stolen any of the company’s valuable stuff.

So we got to work and we did indeed account for each and every one of the expensive pieces. Not only were they there, but they were clean and neat. The operating manuals were up to date and their calibration stickers showed that they had been maintained properly. It looked like Jerry Wu’s team was on the ball.

Before quitting time, we met some more members of Jerry’s team. There was Jed Cunningham whose was born in Texas and who proudly told us that his full name was Jedidiah Houston Cunningham. He was at least 6’4” and was obviously strong. He gave me a hard pat on the back as a greeting and removed his cowboy hat when he met Jane. I thought I saw her blush when he called her “Ma’am.”

Next, we met Mrs. April Johnson. She was the office manager, but she told us that her real job was to keep all the others straight. She’d been doing that job for quite a while. She was an older woman with her hair up in a bun. I learned later that her husband had died a few years ago and that her kids lived overseas. She had adopted the team as her substitute family and she was the mother hen that was always available to help.

One by one, they all came by before leaving for the day and we were greeted warmly and sincerely. I liked these people and I knew Jane did too.

“Did you ask them about the party?” asked April.

“Not yet,” Jerry said. And then to us, “We’d sure be glad if y’all would come to a little barbeque and pool party tomorrow night. If you can’t come, that’s fine. But if you can, we’d be glad to have you.”

Jane and I looked at each other. “We’ll be glad to come. But don’t y’all go to any trouble.”

She’d only been here one afternoon and already her accent was stronger. I’d have to remember to kid her about it.

We said our goodbyes and left for the hotel. By the time we arrived, it was almost six, but the lobby of the hotel was not busy. We checked in and got our keys with no wait and rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. I was in 624 and Jane was in 626. We made plans to meet in an hour for dinner and I went in and unpacked. The room was quiet.

Later, as I was lying on the bed watching a science fiction movie in which they used warp drive, there was a pounding on my door. I got up thinking it was Jane but realized the sound wasn’t coming from the door that led to the hallway. It was coming from an adjoining door that, I guessed, led to Jane’s room. I opened it and she breezed in.

“Ready to go?” she said. She had changed into a pair of jeans with a white sleeveless top and Keds sneakers. Just how many clothes did she bring? I was still wearing my normal work uniform.

She looked around the room to make sure it wasn’t somehow better than hers and sat down in the chair. That and the bed were the only places to sit. She crossed her legs and sat back like she had changed her mind about leaving for dinner. We watched the movie in silence for a couple of minutes until a commercial came on.

“What happens when you get done with this Revelation? Have you thought much about that?”

In truth, I hadn’t. BP seemed to have the idea that simply putting his words down on paper would somehow get them read by lots of people. Right now, it would get them read by me and Jane and Allen and Bess.

I tried my best to answer her. “Well, I guess we could put it up on a website. I know there are ways to self publish today. I’m pretty sure no traditional publisher would take a chance on a book with such a strange theme, but maybe enough people will read it so that it develops some momentum on its own.”

She had thought this through a lot better than I had. “The real problem is that we don’t know where this is heading. That’s always been the problem. BP promises that he will explain everything. He’ll explain why we are here and what the purpose of it all is. If he can really do that, and if it really makes sense, and if, as he says, this knowledge will suggest some actions that humanity should take, then this could be big.

“However, if the reason we are here is something really lame, like ‘We are here to learn to love each other,’ then no one is going to be excited about the book and no one is going to take any kind of action based on this new knowledge.

“Still, I think we need to take BP at his word. I don’t see that we have much of a choice. Whatever this is, we’ve got to assume that it’s going to be something that makes sense; something that is new and will make people say ‘oh my.’ We also should anticipate that it’s going to suggest some actions that we, all of us on the team, should take. This part just occurred to me today. The team will probably be needed far more after this thing is released that it is now.

“It’s likely we’ll have to do a couple of additional things. One, we’ll have to get the Revelation read by as many people as we can and two, we’ll need to make clear to them what actions need to be taken. After all, according to BP, this new knowledge will require that humans do, well, something.”

I was impressed. She really had thought this thing out. This wasn’t just a struggle to birth a book; it was far more than that. I hadn’t considered that the team would be involved beyond the writing phase, but now I saw that she was likely right.

She wasn’t done as she came up with another question. “When you are getting probed by BP, does it feel good? I’ve been in three of these sessions now including our little private one before we got on the plane. I was pretty freaked out during the first one and hardly said a word. But I was much more relaxed during the one on the plane this morning. It was kind of pleasurable. Do you feel that?”

Now that did sound a bit creepy. “No,” I answered, “I’ve felt fear and annoyance and anger and maybe even a bit of thankfulness with BP, but never pleasure. Never that.” I wondered if she knew I had helped to calm her ever so slightly during our flight.

“Hmm . . ,” she said. “I’ll see if I can figure it out better next time. It could have been the simple pleasure of being alive after that turbulence this morning. We’ll just have to see.” She stood up. “You finally ready to get a bite?”

I was and we did.

We had a good meal and she even had a couple of scotches with me.

Later, as I lay in bed ready to get some sleep, my phone rang. It was Bess. She wanted to know how things went today and I gave her a short report and basically told her that I was tired. She didn’t take the hint. “I’m sorry to call at this hour, but I thought you should know about something that happened. Pastor Chuck sent me an email that said he and Matt were worried about me and that Matt wanted to talk to me at work tomorrow. I just got the message and I don’t know what to make of it. Get this - his signature line is, ‘Pastor Chuck Cleimer, All these are the beginning of sorrows.’ I think I’m going to tell them to hold off any talk until you and Jane get back.”

What in the world was this all about? It did sound a bit weird. “Are you in your dorm?” I asked. I wanted to make sure she was in a safe place. She said she was. “Okay, then. Tell your Dad about this in the morning and ask him to call me. I wonder if he’s been contacted too. He’s probably asleep and won’t see it until the morning, so don’t bother calling him tonight unless you just want to talk to him. I think I’ll call Matt after I talk to Allen in the morning, but we’ll see.”

“Alright, I understand. I’m sorry to bother you at bedtime. How’s Jane doing?”

I was tired and now she was ready to chat. “She’s fine. We went out to dinner and she drank scotch with me.”

“Oh, I see,” said Bess. She paused for a bit, “Sounds like she’s having a grand time.” There was another pause that lasted a few seconds. “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you sometime tomorrow. Good night, Roger. Sleep well.”

I hung up and thought about the good Pastor Chuck until I fell asleep.

Chapter Seven

The next morning, I got up and did my dictation of the new part of the Revelation and sent it off to Bess. She had volunteered to do all the transcribing and I was pretty sure that by lunch time, we’d all have a neatly formatted, mistake free document. After that, I got dressed and was ready right on time. Jane came through the interconnected door again, this time without bothering to knock. I marveled for just a moment at her audacity to just waltz into my room, but I was the one who hadn’t locked the door. Knowing her as I did, I wasn’t really surprised - if she wanted to enter, then enter she would. That was just Jane.

She must have been shopping before our trip because I didn’t recognize her outfit. She had on a slim skirt that went below the knees but had a slit up the side. She also wore a high collar blouse and heels. Her earrings were long and dangly. She looked quite stylish and I told her so. “Don’t be cute,” she said.

I had on long pants and a button down shirt. That was pretty much what I always wore. I doubted that I was either stylish or cute.

I wanted a real breakfast with real meat and real eggs and she wanted to eat in the hotel breakfast nook and have fruit.

I had strawberries and toast.

While we ate, we discussed Pastor Chuck, Matt and Bess. She wasn’t too happy with Pastor Chuckles, as she called him. “I think that guy is leading Matt around by the nose and now he wants to see if he can get Bess to leave the group too. I know she’ll never leave as long as you are around, but still, we’ve got to tell him to bug off. I’ll do it if you want.”

She sounded like she was looking forward to having a little chat with the good Pastor. “No,” I said. “Leave it to me. I’ll talk to Allen this morning and then probably have a little talk with Matt. I think I want to give him a chance to call off his own dog.”

We drove to the hangar and took the outside elevator up to the office where we were conducting our audit. April greeted us warmly and got us signed in and gave us our ID badges and hard hats that we had to wear. We planned on taking a tour of the place today and we needed those to be able to walk around without escorts. We’d had our pictures taken yesterday. Mine looked like a mug shot and Jane’s looked like Jane.

Jerry Wu rushed in and asked if it was okay if we did our tour at ten. “We’re starting to replace some parts in the vertical stabilizer and rudder and I need to help Jed get started.”

He must have seen a puzzled look. “Oh, that’s the tall vertical fin in the back of the plane. It allows the plane to fly straight and level and keeps the back end in sync with the front end.” Jane probably needed that explanation. It was nice of Jerry to give it to her.

As his team got to work somewhere in the hangar, April got Jane and I coffee and we continued the audit. Jane tried to object to her fussing over us - especially her fussing over me - but April would have none of it. Besides, she really seemed to enjoy getting us whatever we needed. Whenever we asked for a file, she found it instantly, just where it should have been. This lady was a marvel of organization. So far, every single thing we had looked at, every account, every purchase order, every disbursement, had been not only correct, but perfect. At this pace, we could finish the audit today.

But the company thought it should take four days and four days it would take even if we had to spend a good bit of our time at pool parties and touring the facility.

We took a break after a while and I got on my cell and called Allen. He answered on the first ring and didn’t wait for a greeting. “I was going to call that preacher Chuck and tell him to pound sand, but Bess told me to wait until I heard from you. You want me to take care of him?”

My whole group was chomping at the bit to take on this guy, but so far everyone was deferring to me. I didn’t know if that felt good or not.

“No, let me talk to Matt first. I think it would be better if Matt told Pastor Chuck to back off. It would probably mean more to both of them.” I had thought this through and was convinced this was the right approach.

“Did they contact you and ask to meet, or was it just Bess?”

Allen chuckled, “Yeah, I got my own little love note. They are afraid Bess is going to get hurt and they want her to just quit and not look back. But they want me to stay on and feed them the Revelation as it comes out.”

Now that was strange. Why would Matt want to keep reading my ravings if that was what had caused him so many problems? My guess was that Pastor Chuck was behind this little move and probably a few more.

“Thanks Allen. You just ignore the email for the moment and I’ll call Matt and see what I can do.”

I hung up and pressed the voice dial button on my phone. “Call Matt,” I said.

This time the phone rang several times. I thought it was going to voicemail when Matt finally answered. “Hi Roger,” he said. He didn’t sound good.

“Matt, I thought we had things worked out yesterday and now Bess and Allen are getting emails from your Pastor basically telling them to quit the group. Did you know he asked Allen to stay, but then to secretly send Chuck more of the Revelation as it comes out?”

Matt was quiet for a while. “Roger, I didn’t know that until this morning when I saw that Chuck had copied me on his emails. I’ve been trying to call him, but haven’t made contact yet. I had no idea he was going to do what he did. He probably thinks he’s helping them the way he helped me, but it’s just not right. I just can’t believe he did this and I’m sorry.

“I know he wants to meet you and I told him you were away on a trip. Let me take care of this mess on my end. I’ll apologize to Allen and Bess and ask Pastor Chuck to back off. I’ll tell him that you’ll decide if you want to meet with him or not when you return.”

That was about what I had wanted, so I thanked him and hung up. I hoped that I wouldn’t hear any more from Pastor Chuckles, but I wasn’t going to bet on it.

When I got back to the desk I was using, I dashed off a quick note to everyone telling them what Matt had said. Within thirty seconds, I got a reply from Bess, “Thanks so much for the update. I feel a lot better. I’m working on the transcript. Oh my, the latest part is just amazing. How do you do it? I’ll call you later.”

Jane was about ten feet away from me and couldn’t see my screen. She got my message and read it. “Five to one you get a reply from Bessy-Belle in the next thirty seconds.” She walked over to check and before I could close the laptop she saw the reply. “Ha,” she said. “Looks like I was right again. How do I do it?”

And with that she went off on some errand. I felt my face turn warm. Why was I embarrassed? I hadn’t done anything wrong, but Jane had a way of making me feel guilty regardless. Darn that girl.

Ten o’clock rolled around and we met with Jerry Wu for our tour. In a facility this large and complex there were a constant stream of visitors and so there was a tour that happened just about every day. The folks who worked there took turns giving the tour and today was Jerry’s turn. There would be about ten of us on the tour.

We started out in a little classroom where we watched a PowerPoint presentation on the hangar. We learned that it was still called a hangar, even though it was one of the largest buildings in the world. It was built several years ago in order to provide a world class maintenance facility that could be used for many different kinds of aircraft from many airlines.

The building was one hundred fourteen feet high and covered over two million square feet on the hangar floor. The doors were eighty one feet high and almost three hundred feet wide. Each door was about the size of a football field and there were four of them.

There were a quarter million lights and there were over a mile of pedestrian tunnels under the floor.

The hangar could hold several aircraft in for maintenance at one time. Right now, it had two 747s and one Airbus A-320, along with a few smaller corporate jets.

Teams like the one Jerry Wu headed were constantly trained on new aircraft and they rotated jobs as needed, but the teams all stayed together.

It sounded amazing and when it was time to have our first look, I was feeling a strong sense of anticipation. For some reason, when I am exposed to some monumental achievement, it tends to make me feel small and at the same time proud. Proud, I guess, to be a member of a race of beings that could do such things. I was not one to quote Shakespeare, but whenever I was in awe of some human achievement, I always thought of “Oh what a wonderful new world to have such people in it.”

We crowded into an elevator and Jerry pushed the Up button. “When we walk out of the elevator, we’ll be at our observation deck. It’s an overhang right at the very top of the facility. You’ll be able to look down and see the whole thing.”

It didn’t take long before we stopped and the doors opened. Jane and I were in the back and it took a while before we were able to move. In front of us, people gasped and said, “Oh my God.”

As we walked onto the observation deck, the vastness of the building became apparent. There was a waist high railing all around the area and so with every step we saw more and more of the hangar open up before and below us. It wasn’t until we found a place against the rail that we were able to take in the whole thing.

It was overwhelming. Thousands of super bright lights were hung from the ceiling and shone like ten thousand suns. Below, the shiny grey floor was dominated by three absolutely beautiful and giant planes. The two 747s, with their enlarged front ends dominated our view, but there was still plenty of room for the A-320. The light gleamed off the silver skins of the planes. All around, cranes and lifts and trolleys were moving, busily performing their assigned tasks. Humans, made small by the distance, were running these machines and performing any number of other chores. It was impossible to know what they were all doing, but I knew that each of their actions would bring these planes one step closer to returning to the skies.

One of the 747s looked like it had either just arrived or was almost done. It looked complete. The other one, I guessed ours, was being slowly taken apart. Not all the way, of course, but the seats were all neatly lined up beside it. The engines were nowhere to be seen and all the doors had been removed. The internal parts of the wings had been exposed and the vertical stabilizer on the tail was indeed being worked on. I thought I saw Jed way up there, but couldn’t be sure.

In the distance, the massive hangar doors were partly open and I could feel a breeze coming through. The only thing I could see outside the doors was concrete.

There were almost too much to take in. The vastness of the place made me feel small, but at the same time I felt such pride that my fellow humans, working together, were capable of the miracle I saw below me. Emotion swelled within me. It was so beautiful in the same way that a symphony, performed by a hundred skilled musicians all in perfect synchronization with each other, was beautiful. It was beautiful in the same way a baseball stadium, with its amazing green grass, straight white lines and 40,000 people screaming as the batter puts down a critical bunt, is beautiful. I felt awe at what we were capable of. “Such people . . ,” I thought.

I reached out and put my arm around Jane’s waist and I could feel myself connect to her. She felt it too, of course. Her dominant emotion was initially surprise, because this connection was stronger this time than before. Once she became comfortable with what was happening between us, I could tell she was feeling much of the same degree of awe and wonder about what we were seeing that I was.

I opened my mouth, but all I said was, “I swear.”

“Me too,” said Jane.

Jerry finally herded us back into the elevator to continue the tour. The sharing of feelings with Jane was broken now, but right before it did, I detected that she felt a slight sadness in leaving that all-seeing perch. I felt the same way.

Our next stop was the walkway under the hangar floor. As we walked, Jane pulled me aside from the group. “Did you notice how easily we were able to do the mind meld thing back there? I knew what you were feeling and I knew you could sense my feelings too. Is this getting easier to do? BP wasn’t around to make it happen was he?”

I had felt no pressure on my shoulder. BP probably didn’t do it.

“No, it wasn’t him as far as I know. It seems like we can do this when there is some heightened emotional state. Maybe it is getting easier, I don’t know.” I stopped and turned to her. “Can’t we call it something other than mind melding? That’s just wrong. And before you ask, no, I don’t want to call it probing either.”

Jane loved this kind of challenge. She got that far away look in her eye, but it lasted less than ten seconds. “We’re connecting,” she said. “That’s it. When we have one of these episodes we are ‘connected’ to each other. And we can’t call our little group the Office Buddies any more. Let’s call it “The Connection.” The next person who wants to join, will be joining the Connection. It’ll be for people who help bring BP’s Revelation to the world.”

I liked the idea and added, “And it’ll be for those who help do whatever the Revelation leads humanity to do. They’ll be members of the Connection too.”

The tour took a full two hours, but the time just flew by. It seemed that every time we turned another corner, there was a new sight to astound us. I asked Jerry how many people were normally here and he guessed about fifteen hundred at any given time. That was a lot, but it wasn’t that many more than the number of people who were toiling away at our foreign factory. I wondered if the destiny that BP has in mind for mankind would be more like what was going on here or over there. Maybe we’d need both. I was getting anxious to see how this would end.

We had lunch with Jerry and Jed and April. The cafeteria had none of the French chefs or other indulgences of our place back home, but they did make a good burger.

Jed was the life of the party. He was always coming up with funny stories that it seemed that no one had heard. Most were about Yankees and since I was the only true Yankee there, most had me in them one way or another. Jane grew up in the south, so she’d never be a Yankee no matter how long she was away. Jed kept calling me “Little Buddy” even though I was the second tallest one at the table.

Jerry brought up the pool party that was going to start at six that night. “Did y’all bring your suits with you?” Of course we didn’t. Why would you bring a bathing suit to an audit?

“I’ve got mine,” said Jane. Her bag was no bigger than mine and was considerably smaller than was needed for a full sized kitchen sink. How had she managed to bring so many clothes? I momentarily wondered if she had a floor length gown with her just in case we happened to get invited to the Governor’s Ball tomorrow night.

They all looked at me and my silence told them I had stupidly not brought my swimming trunks. Jed came to the rescue, “That’s okay. I’ve got a spare one that’ll do in a pinch for ya. The waist’ll be about right and I’ve never worn ‘em because they’re a little short for my taste, so they’ll probably be about right for you, Little Buddy. They got ducks on them. Really draws the chicks. Gotta beat’em off with a stick.”

Jane jumped in before I could politely decline, “That sounds great. Thanks for the hospitality.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I thought. April smiled at me and I was pretty sure she knew what had just happened.

Chapter Eight

Jane and I worked slowly on the audit that afternoon so that we’d leave enough to at least have something to do tomorrow. We left early and drove back to the hotel to get ready. The GPS said it would only take about twenty minutes to get to Jerry’s place, so we had plenty of time to relax a bit at the hotel before we left to go to the party.

I had been looking forward to the pool party, but now I wasn’t so sure. “Let’s find a place where I can buy swimming trunks,” I said.

“Nah, we don’t have time to be running all over looking for fashions for you, Little Buddy. Besides, I’m a chick. I want to see how much I’m drawn to those ducks.”

So that was how it was going to be. I didn’t say a word the rest of the short trip.

When we got back, I changed into the jeans and a t-shirt that I had planned to wear on the plane trip back. I decided that I wouldn’t swim at all at the party. I’d tell them I was allergic to water or something.

Just as I was about to turn on the TV, my phone whistled at me. Bess had typed up the next part of the Revelation and sent it to the team. She said she didn’t send it to Matt. She apologized for taking so long, but she’d been busy at school and at work today. She said Matt had come by and they were back on friendly terms. She was having dinner with her Dad tonight. She was texting me from the bus and asked if she could call in about twenty minutes when she got back to her dorm. I wouldn’t mind talking to her so I texted back, “Sure!”

I was wondering what they would have to drink at the barbeque tonight when I felt a pressure on my shoulder. BP had arrived. After a few seconds, I felt his presence in my head. His greeting was abrupt, like he was running late for something. He said, “Please get that young lady. I have the next part of the Revelation for you.”

Great. So now it seemed that he wanted Jane on the party line full time. I was still a bit peeved at her and I started to tell him that she wasn’t available, but that would have been childish. What he was causing to happen was certainly strange and possibly important, so if he wanted her to hear the latest part of the Revelation direct from him and through me, then that’s the way it would be.

“Jane,” I called out. Things had really changed since my first encounter with BP. During those early sessions, it was like I was under some type of light anesthesia - what the doctors called a Twilight state. I was aware of my surroundings and could respond physically if I had wanted to, but was also totally relaxed and on the border of being asleep.

Now, I could feel the presence of BP just like before, but I was much more alert and aware. I could see my surroundings like normal if I wanted to, but my normal habit was to focus totally on what was going on in my head. I was able to call out for Jane, but I wasn’t sure just how loud my call had been.

It must have been loud enough, because she answered with her exasperated voice, “Just wait. I’m doing my nails in here.”

At that point, I could have called out for her again, but instead I searched for her - that is, I searched for the connection to her.

And I found it. Her naming of this state as a “connection” was a perfect description. She was probably ten feet away in her room and we were separated by a wall and a partially closed door, but I was able to connect with her. I could tell she felt the connection because she came into my room without another word.

BP must have been in a good mood, because he sounded impressed. “It appears you are expanding your abilities. I am pleased.” Before I could register any sensible response, he started to speak.

“I am prepared to give you the next part of the Revelation. I see no need to spend time explaining the correctness of this part since what you have experienced today will provide all the proof that may be necessary.

“Life is very much different from non-life. We have discussed that. But we have not yet discussed one of the most important characteristics of life that is the final proof that life was never meant to exist in this Universe.

“But before we discuss that, you should first understand that humans have a trait that sets them apart, not only from all non-life, but also from all other types of life. Humans are unique in this way.”

I could feel Jane’s curiosity. “Well, what is it?” She had become much more comfortable in these sessions and so she spoke up. She was connected to BP only through me, but he heard her question loud and clear.

I doubt that BP could smile, but his voice betrayed a hint of one. “Today I spent some time examining that structure in which you are working. I hope you got a chance to see just how massive and intricate it is. Even I felt awe at the scope of the achievement of creating such a thing. But consider that it is made totally of non-life. The steel that forms its skeleton was made from materials mined from nonliving dirt by humans. The lights shone due to chemicals and gasses that have been identified and put to use by humans. The electricity used to create that light comes from the energy of running water, and that energy was captured and used by humans.

“Soon, we will discuss additional characteristics of non-life and of life, but for now, here is the next part of my Revelation:

“Humans have the unique ability among living things to change their environment based on their own will. Certainly other creatures can change their environment - ants can make anthills and birds can construct nests, for example. But only humans can make a desert bloom with agriculture. Only humans can level mountains or build mountains. Only humans can control the flow of rivers, capture and use the energy in wind, or store and share knowledge on an unprecedented scale. Only humans can band together and organize themselves to perform such a near miracle as in the construction of that building you have been in today.

“And only humans can manipulate, control and transform their environment based simply on their willing it to be so. Even though they are living in a hostile non-life universe that life was never meant to inhabit, humans have, at their very core, the ability to join together and mold that Universe based on their own desires. That is the next portion of my Revelation.”

And with that he was gone. I felt him leave, but I was still connected to Jane. Neither of us was in any hurry to break the connection. As before, we didn’t exchange thoughts, only feelings. And we were both feeling puzzled. BP had taken his Revelation to a new and unexpected level. Sure, man could build a giant building; sure he could convert hundreds of thousands of square miles into farmland that fed billions. He could create planes and rocket ships and fly in them. He could change nonliving dirt into metal and control the heat from decaying atoms. But did that mean we somehow would be able to “mold the Universe” as he had just said? If that was the job he had in mind for us after he completed his Revelation, then he may have given us more credit than we were due.

Another emotion bubbled to the surface for both Jane and me. It was a feeling of pride. To be part of a race that could split the atom and save a panda was an amazing thing. Humans had made their share of mistakes, but we seemed to have an inbuilt desire to try and learn from those mistakes as well. At least most of us did.

I felt the connection with Jane fade. I might have been able to maintain it, but it was time to return to “normal” and consider what had just happened.

My vision swam back into focus and I saw the room before me with Jane standing right beside me. I looked at her and smiled and she reached out and touched my arm. This was the first time that we’d connected without physically touching. I guessed that our powers were developing as BP had said they would.

But that touch brought reality into sharp focus and for the first time, I realized that Jane was standing there in a neon pink bikini.

My eyes must have gotten big and maybe my mouth dropped open. My lizard brain took over and I just stared in surprise. In truth, her suit was a two piece, but you would see smaller ones during any trip to the beach; some smaller ones, at least. Hers was not a string bikini and most of the fabric pieces were at least an inch in size, so while it showed a lot of skin, it didn’t do it in a vampish kind of way. Still, Jane was taller than average, so there was quite a lot of skin to go around.

Jane stood up straight and threw her shoulders back while placing her hands on her hips. That didn’t lessen the effect. “What are you staring at?” she barked. Her words were a challenge. I saw the skin on her chest redden slightly.

I was starting to enjoy her discomfort. “Well, I guess I’m staring at what the person who bought that suit wanted to be stared at.” I grinned at her. After what we had just been through with BP, it felt good to come up with that.

She opened her mouth, ready to let loose with some cutting remark designed to put me in my place, but apparently couldn’t think of one. “Ah!” is all she said as she turned on her heels and left my room. She closed the door on her side, none too quietly.

But she wasn’t gone long since it was almost time to leave for the barbeque. A few minutes later, she opened the door and came back wearing a swimsuit cover-up that was like a short dress or a long shirt. It came to about mid thigh on her and matched her flip flops. All of her nails were the same shade of pink, as was her suit.

I whistled at her and all I got for it was a withering look. “Let’s go you perv. You drive.” I guess she wanted my attention to be on the road.

Just at that moment, my phone rang. It was sitting on the dresser and we both saw the caller ID. It said BESS.

That perked her up. “Go ahead,” she said. “Take the call. I’ll just wait for you.” She sat down and crossed her legs.

I didn’t know what else to do, so I answered. Bess started right in. “Oh Roger, I’m so glad to talk to you. I have so many questions about the Revelation that I think I’m just going to burst. Can we talk now?”

Jane couldn’t hear Bess, but she stared at me like she was reading my mind. I didn’t want to talk to Bess with her sitting there, grinning at me.

“I’m sorry, Bess, but we’re just on our way to a dinner so I’ve only got a couple of minutes. We were invited to the home of one of the folks we are auditing. I don’t want to keep them waiting. Can I call you back later?”

Jane stood up and came over to me so that her face was inches from mine. “Roger, aren’t you planning on swimming at the party? Where are you trunks?” she said.

Bess heard that of course. There was silence on the other end of the phone. I had to put a stop to this.

“Bess, that’s Jane trying to be funny. One day she may succeed but I doubt it. The guy who runs the team we are here to audit is named Jerry Wu and he invited us and his team to a little southern barbeque at his house. He’s got a pool and Jane has dolled herself all up in the hopes of trapping a man or two, but I’m not sure any of them are old enough. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Is it alright to call you then? We could talk for hours then if you want.” I stuck my tongue out a Jane.

Bess understood the casual nature of the ribbing Jane and I were involved in and I felt her smile through the phone. Perhaps I still had a little connection with her? Anyway, she told me she’d be glad to get my call and she wished us a good time. “Tell Jane, I’m rooting for her,” she said as she hung up.

I relayed the message and Jane snorted in response. It wasn’t very ladylike.

We arrived right on time and were introduced to Jerry’s wife and his two adorable kids. His wife was named Shannon and she had long reddish hair and freckles. I found it funny that her name was Shannon Wu, but I didn’t say anything. Their smiles made us feel welcome.

April was in the kitchen helping to get the meal ready. When she saw us, she wiped her hands on a towel and said, “Y’all come on in. I hope you’re hungry.” Both Jane and I grinned at her. You couldn’t help liking that lady.

The backyard pool was small, but the water looked really inviting since it was still hot. As we walked toward it, I heard Jed call out, “There’s my Little Buddy. Here’s those trunks I promised you.”

He handed them to me folded into a neat square. I looked at Jane and from her expression I could tell she was enjoying this way too much. Okay, I thought, why not?

I unfolded the trunks and held them in place. They went about to my knees; not outlandishly long and probably a pretty normal length for today. And, as promised, they had ducks on them. The ducks started on the lower left and flew, wings outspread, to the upper right. Each duck had its beak open with a red tongue out and trailing behind like they were tired from a long flight. They were quite colorful.

Before I went to change, we said hello to the other members of Jerry’s team. Jerry introduced us to Marina Gonzalez who had been off for the last few days, but would be back at work tomorrow. She was a bit below average in height, but that was the only area where she had been shortchanged when it came to handing out the body parts. I could tell, because her suit was just a tad smaller than Jane’s. I tried not to stare. Jed put his arm around my shoulders and said, “Watch out for her, Little Buddy. She likes ducks.”

Jerry showed me to a room to change and I put on the duck trunks. They were starting to grow on me and actually fit fairly well. When I came back out, Jane was in the pool giving one of the kids a ride on her shoulders. The smoke from the grill smelled wonderful.

As I walked to the edge of the pool, Jane saw me and called out, “Look at those ducks. Be still my beating heart.”

“I told you so,” said Jed. “They’re a chick magnet. They surely are.”

I jumped in and made sure Jane got a good splash. Everyone laughed and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Jerry wore a full cook’s apron and was in charge of the meat. It was cooked to perfection and had some kind of peppery sauce on it. I wouldn’t have thought that would be good, but it was simply delicious. The kids ran around jumping into the water and having a great time. April clucked like a mother hen, jumping up whenever she saw that anyone needed anything. She made some of the best potato salad that I had ever had. We all complimented her on it and she promised to send Jane the recipe. I wondered momentarily if Jane could cook.

After dinner, Jane spent time talking to three or four admirers including Jed, and I spent some time talking to Marina. She was an inspector for Airframe and Powerplant repairs. I had no idea what that was, so she explained that she was basically a “wrench turner”. I looked up this job later and it required a lot of training, verbal and written tests and certification from the FAA. A lot of people’s lives depended on Jerry’s team doing their job right.

She also told me she had her pilot’s license since she was eighteen and that her uncle was a flight instructor so she was able to train almost for free. She told me that while she liked working on planes, she liked flying them a lot better.

We got to talking about our jobs and she told me how much she enjoyed working with Jerry Wu’s team. “My last job was my first right out of college. I knew I could be good at fixing planes, but they didn’t take me seriously; always hitting on me and stuff.”

I couldn’t help myself. I looked down at her skimpy suit. She saw me and I felt her temperature rise a few degrees. She understood that my unspoken question was “so why wear that suit?” She had an exasperated tone in her voice, “Look,” she said while staring right at me, “I’m a woman, okay? I’m proud of that. But I’m also an Airframe and Powerplant expert and an Inspector and a pilot. I’m proud of that too. I’m not giving up any of the things I’m proud of just to make it easier for some close minded jerks to take me seriously. They can just learn to live with it or I don’t need them around.”

When she finished, she had a defiant look on her face. I’m sure she’d made that little speech more than once either in her mind or in real life. But that look quickly dissolved into one of slight embarrassment as she realized I hadn’t really done anything to disrespect any of the things she was proud of.

She grinned kind of sheepishly and said, “I think you’re one that actually could learn to live with it, couldn’t you?”

It was an olive branch and I took it. “Sure I could.” And I gave her my most sincere smile. It helped that it was totally for real.

The evening went quickly, but we all had to work tomorrow and so we said our goodbyes at about ten p.m. I had changed back into my jeans and I gave Jed his duck trunks back. I realized I was going to miss them.

As we were leaving, Marina came up to me and I reached out to shake her hand and say goodbye. She took it and then rose up on tiptoe and kissed me on the cheek. She handed me a card. It was her business card. She had written her cell number on it.

Jane drove back to the hotel. She’d had only sweet iced tea and I’d had a couple of beers. They didn’t have scotch.

“Got a pen?” she asked. Why would I have a pen? “No, why do you need one?”

She didn’t take her eyes off the road. “Oh, mine ran dry from writing my number so many times for all my beaus.”

“Very funny,” I said.

“You should have been a sailor. You’d have a girlfriend in every port, especially with those duck pants. That Marina is quite the looker too. I’m surprised she didn’t hug you. Oh, that’s right; she kissed you instead. Maybe next time you’ll get both.”

And so that’s how it went all the way back.

When we got back to the hotel, I called Bess and we talked for at least an hour. I don’t know if Jane could hear me through the wall between us, but I used my sweetest, most huggable voice just in case.

Chapter Nine

The next morning, I got up and dictated the latest part of the Revelation and sent it out to Bess. I knew she’d get it transcribed and sent to the team almost instantly. Earlier, BP had taken a break, but now it was coming quickly. I wondered for the millionth time where it was heading, but that was a waste of time. I’d know when he was ready to tell me, so there was nothing I could do but wait.

Jane threw open the interconnecting door between our rooms and came right in before I could say anything. I was up and dressed and she had on hip hugging slacks and a fitted shirt. She looked young.

She didn’t bother with a greeting. “Have you thought about how we are going to tell Allen and Bess about what’s really going on? Don’t you think it’s time they knew?”

Actually I had been thinking about that. I told Jane that my best idea was to just get the four of us together and just tell them the truth and give them a demonstration by trying to connect to them. If BP would make an appearance, that would be pretty powerful.

Just at that time, my phone whistled and it was a message from Bess. Jane sat down and said, “I doubt you’ll have any problem connecting with her.”

The message was sent to both of us and to Allen. Matt had been maintaining a summary of the main points of the Revelation, adding to it as new items were revealed by BP. With him out of the picture, Bess had taken it upon herself to take charge of the list and update it. She had even put in the last Revelation that I’d only sent her this morning.

The universe is made up of two things: life and non-life

These are very different things.

Non-life is far more common. Life is rare.

Life did not start by itself, but was placed on Earth by a Creator.

In the Universe, life exists only on the Earth. It is nowhere else.

Life evolved on Earth, not driven by the concept of Survival of the Fittest, but was directed so as to create Man.

The Universe is too big and the speed limits are too low for Man to ever venture into space much beyond his own solar system.

Other than the surface of the Earth, the Universe is very hostile to life. Life exists only on Earth and cannot exist anywhere else.

The Universe was never meant to have life in it at all. It was put here for a reason and it must fulfill its destiny on the one spot in the Universe where it can exist and even flourish - Earth.

Humans are unique among life because of their ability to effect great changes to their environment based on their own wishes.

“She’s sure on the ball,” I said mostly to myself. The end of the message was, “I can’t wait to see you when you get back tomorrow. Can we get together as a team? I miss you all so much!!!”

I halfway expected a snort from Jane because of that last part, but instead she put her phone away and said, “Actually, that’s a pretty good idea. We can do it at your place this time and we can formally initiate them into The Connection. That will give us four members, including you. I’ll call her later and set things up.”

After that, it was off to the hangar for our last day of auditing. Our flight left the next day at mid-morning. I hoped that we’d get to see inside the plane today. Working quickly, we finished up the audit in about an hour and, like before, everything was accounted for to the penny. I’m sure April had a lot to do with that. She sure seemed like an organizational wiz.

Jerry Wu and Jed and Marina were working on inspecting the parts of the rudder for the airplane and Jane had to attend a meeting of the other audit team heads. The rudder is a vertical wing that could move left and right on the vertical tail of the plane. It did the job of steering the plane. At least that’s what Jerry told me. It had been removed and Jerry and Jed were working inside the opening, way up high where the rudder normally was. They were checking for cracks and replacing parts.

We had all agreed to meet on the hanger floor at about noon. My badge let me walk around and marvel at the work that was going on, but Jerry warned me to be careful and not get in anyone’s way. I had to wear a hard hat.

There was a small snack bar a hundred yards or so from our plane. I sat there and had some coffee and texted Bess about this and that. I told her about the nice folks we had met and how our new plane made me feel like an ant.

As noon approached, I told her I’d talk to her later as I saw Jane walking over to me. She looked cute wearing her hard hat. We walked together towards the work area at the tail of the plane. Marina was making notes in some type of thick book and Jerry was busy putting away the tools he had used. Marina gave us a big smile and I thought about that card I had in my wallet. They were all wearing coveralls and hard hats. Jerry told us that they were using a device that did ultrasonic inspections and that they were looking for cracks. “We replace some parts and other gets inspected with this gadget. If there’s the tiniest crack, Jed’ll find it. Marina is our inspector today and has to sign off on everything we do.”

When he mentioned Jed, we all looked up to see him. He was about fifty feet in the air in one of those long-armed lift buckets. He was about ready to break for lunch and waved down to us. “Hey Janie,” he called out to her. She smiled and waved. “Hey, yourself,” she yelled with an extra helping of southern accent. I guessed that he was allowed to call her Janie.

Right at that time, I felt a raindrop hit my arm. Actually, it felt like a raindrop just because it was wet, but when I looked at it, it was red. Not deep red like blood, but more like reddish oil.

I looked up just in time to hear a loud “POP” and see a hose of some type fly around on the lift like it had a life of its own. It was spraying that red fluid as it danced and spun.

Jerry saw it too. “Hydraulic line busted,” he called up to Jed. I began to get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Jerry went over to the base of the lifting machine and Marina came over and stood beside me, looking up. “It’ll just settle slowly to the floor. These things are designed to drop slowly if they lose hydraulic fluid.” She didn’t seem worried and that made me feel better. “Also, see that harness Jed is wearing? There’s a six foot long super strong strap that connects his harness to the bucket. That makes sure he can’t fall.”

Sure enough, the bucket started to descend. And it was indeed coming down slowly. I realized I had been holding my breath. I looked over at Jane and her eyes were locked on Jed. Her face had worry lines that I’d never seen before. And then I recognized something unexpected in her expression - fear. I looked back up at Jed and I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing.

Jed was being slowly lifted out of the bucket like some super strong hand had reached down and grabbed him by the collar. It took me almost no time to realize what was happening. The safety strap that was supposed to keep him from falling was caught somehow inside the tail fin of the plane. One end was hooked to the bucket and as the bucket slowly came down, Jed was being lifted back up to the opening in the tail by his harness.

That bucket must have weighed hundreds of pounds. Jed struggled with the strap as the bucket continued to descend. But it was under too much pressure to come free and so he continued to be pulled upward. I heard Jerry cry out “NO!!” and then, “Hit the release Jed! The release!”

By this time, it seemed like my field of vision has narrowed dramatically. In this giant hangar, with this giant plane, I only saw Jed being pulled into the slit where the rudder of the plane would have been and that slit was smaller than he was. It was like I was watching Jed through a telescope - I was focused totally on him. It seemed that I could see what was happening in slow motion. Jerry had called out to him to hit a release to disconnect the safety harness. If Jed had done it right then, with no hesitation, he would likely have dropped back into the bucket.

But he hesitated for just a second and by then his feet had cleared the bucket and his shoulders were at the opening. He was facing out and I could see surprise and then pain in his face. He had contacted the opening and was being pulled in by the weight of that bucket. Something was going to give. I prayed I wouldn’t hear bones break.

I saw his left arm come up and he lifted the latch to release the safety strap. There was instant relief in his expression as the pressure was gone. He looked down and I think he saw me.

And then he fell. He hit the bucket right on the edge and for a moment seemed to hang there, balanced precariously with his legs over the bucket’s interior and his torso hanging over the edge.

Just at that moment, the bucket shifted and Jed fell again, this time to the smooth as glass concrete floor almost fifty feet below. I was still seeing with great clarity and it looked to me like he was falling in slow motion.

He fell facing up and he didn’t seem to fight it. His arms weren’t flailing and he wasn’t kicking his legs. He just fell in an almost horizontal position. His face, if anything, registered what looked like surprise. “Please God,” I thought. “Don’t let me see him bounce.” I knew I’d never get that picture out of my head.

And when he hit, he didn’t bounce at all. That may have been worse. I still see that in my dreams.

Marina and Jerry ran to him. She felt his neck and Jerry felt his wrist for a pulse. I saw a single tear run down her cheek, but she didn’t make a sound.

I think I was in shock, but I was still in a hyper aware state when I felt the pressure on my shoulder that signaled BP’s presence. I ignored him and rushed to where Jed lay. I was blocked by Marina and Jerry. “Let me help him,” I said. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t said loud or even with any great emotion, but my voice must have been compelling, because they both moved away.

I knelt by Jed. There was a thin line of blood leaking from his nose. There was more blood that had seeped out in a little pool below his head. It was dark and oily looking. I could smell it. I put my left hand under his head and my right hand on his chest. I could feel a flat spot on the back of his head and it was warm and mushy with the warm liquid that I knew was his blood.

Without consciously trying to, I connected to him. When I previously connected to Jane and Beth, I could feel their feelings and also sense the essence of what they were. With Jed, I felt almost nothing. I felt like I was in a dim enclosure and I had to struggle to see. The light was fading. “He’s dying,” I thought.

In the poor light, I could see that all around me were cracks. Physical cracks that I knew didn’t belong inside him. In some areas, the cracks were numerous, while in others there were only a few - but I could see more forming by the second. The cracks expanded slowly but surely as the light dimmed.

I didn’t know what else to do, so I willed those cracks to close. I looked at them and strained as I forced the fissures to heal. Slowly at first, and then more rapidly, they did. Soon, I could see better and I felt the essence or - soul? - of Jed return. I felt his generosity and his good nature and his funny spirit.

I also felt something else. It was a mixture of thanks and wonder.

Within a few seconds, I heard the paramedics arrive and order everyone to “give them room.” I did just as they said.

They quickly took over and checked his heartbeat with a stethoscope. One said to the other, “He’s alive.” Since he’d obviously taken a terrible fall, they immobilized his neck, head and back and put him on a stretcher and rushed him into an ambulance that was apparently always ready on the work floor. As they did, he said something in a weak voice. I’m sure no one else knew what it was, but I was positive he said, “Little Buddy.” The ambulance took off with him, sirens blaring.

Jane ran to me and threw her arms around me. She burst into tears with her head on my shoulder. I’d seen her tear up before, but now she was crying with a deep sorrow that broke my heart. Her body convulsed with sobs. I connected with her effortlessly and I felt a sorrow so deep that I thought it could have no bottom. I willed her to feel my calm and I whispered in her ear that Jed was fine.

She looked up at me and gazed deep into my eyes. She knew I was telling the truth. “You did it, didn’t you?” she said and went back to crying just as hard as before. But now the tears were not tears of sorrow.

Once she gained a bit of control, she lifted her head and I guided her over to our new friends. Marina was sitting cross-legged and Jerry was on his knees with his hands on the floor. It was the exact same position he’d been in when he was bent over Jed. Jerry had tears streaming down both cheeks and was making sounds that no human should ever make. Marina just started into space. He face was normally beautiful but not now; on it was written an encyclopedia of sorrow.

I had learned that in highly emotional states, it was easier for me to connect with people. Jane stood back and I put a hand on Marina’s head and on Jerry’s shoulder. I was able to connect to them almost instantly. Perhaps I was getting better at it.

I saw the deep despair and guilt that Jerry felt. I realized that Jerry blamed himself since he’d told Jed to hit the release on the safety strap. Left alone, that was a ghost that would always haunt him.

And I saw the wall that Marina had built to shield herself from the sorrow. It was a rock hard dam that would probably last a long, long time and would allow the foul liquid of despair to fester inside of her.

Somehow, I knew that if I could feel them, they could also feel me. I let them feel my certainty that all was well and told them out loud that Jed was fine, just shaken up but otherwise fine. I felt their sorrow lessen; Jerry’s guilt diminished and Marina let her emotions flow. They would both be okay now as soon as they heard confirmation from Jed.

I offered my hand to each of my new friends and I pulled them up to help them stand. We had another hug started by Jane, but this time with all four of us. Marina cried and that was good.

Chapter Ten

We walked back to the office in silence. No one knew what to say. I felt Jane take my hand and she connected to me. This was the first time she’d done that on her own without me initiating it. It seemed that we could only actually exchange words when BP was involved, but for now, she felt my certainty and I felt her relief. That was enough.

Marina and Jerry Wu walked in front of us. I sensed that they were still in shock. That wasn’t a surprise, but at least they had a sure and certain hope that their friend would be okay.

When we arrived back at the office area, April stood up just as we entered. She reached for a tissue and touched each eye with it. “I’ve got a van waiting to take us to the hospital. I just talked to them. He’s being examined and they don’t know anything yet. They’re doing a CAT scan.”

The tissue was used again. She tossed it in the trash can. I saw that there were a lot of them in there. When they saw her, tears started flowing again for both Marina and Jerry. I had helped them feel Jed would make it, but they wouldn’t actually know for sure until we got to the hospital and they saw him with their own eyes.

Instinctively, I went to April and took out a tissue and handed it to her. She reached for it and our hands touched. Instantly I was connected to her and felt her sorrow, but also her resolve. She felt that there were things that needed to be done and felt disappointed that she was crying when she should have been acting. She hadn’t actually seen Jed suffer that awful fall like we had, with the blood slowly seeping out from under his head, but she felt the same level of fear and confusion that the others had.

And like I had done with Jerry and Marina, I shared a sense of calm that was meant to let her know that everything would be fine. She was surprised, but that almost immediately changed into relief. She had faith that Jed would survive. Jerry and Marina must have felt something too, because they both walked over and touched both April and me. Jane joined in as well.

This was the first time that I had been connected to such a group. All five of us shared the connection and I shared with them again my certainty that things would be okay.

We stayed in that state for only a few seconds and the connection was over. Jane said, “Let’s go”.

Marina said to herself, “This is too weird.”

Even though the hospital was only a few miles away, it seemed like it took forever for us to get there. After we arrived, we had to wait almost an hour until we could talk to a doctor. Everyone was on pins and needles and few words were spoken. Eventually, a tall man in a lab coat walked over to us. He had grey hair and a long, handlebar moustache. His nametag said, “Dr. Conts,” and he smiled at us and said, “Are you with Mr. Cunningham?”

Five heads nodded as one. “He’s fine. There is no external damage at all and the scan shows no swelling or other internal problems. I understand he fell at least thirty feet. Something must have broken his fall and perhaps saved his life because you can’t fall that far without suffering at least some type of damage. He doesn’t even have a bruise on him. I can’t think of anything to call it but a miracle.”

I saw relief flow over the faces of April, Marina and Jerry. Jane squeezed my hand and said, “I think that’s probably about right.” They all turned to look at me.

The Doctor continued, “You can see him now. He wants to go home, but I’d like to keep him overnight just in case there are some problems that haven’t shown up yet. I don’t anticipate anything, but it’s best to be sure. The way he’s been joking with the nurses, they’d be happy to have him stay a few hours too.”

I’d only known him for a few days, but I knew that Jed would be the life of the party, even if the party was in a hospital.

The doctor walked with us to the room where they had Jed. He knocked on the door, and then opened it without waiting for an answer. We saw Jed sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a hospital gown. “Feel like some company?” Dr. Conts asked.

Jed saw us in the hallway. “Well, only if there’s at least three foxy ladies that are coming to call. Well, lookie there - seems like there’s a whole bunch of ‘em right at my door. Let’m in if you think they can handle ole Jed in this here gown without getting’ all light headed or something.”

The Doctor looked at us and said, “See what I mean?” and then left. Marina, Jerry and April ran to him with hugs and handshakes. There were a few more tears, but they were the good kind.

“Janie,” he said, “you look fresher’n two daisies. I was lookin’ forward to havin’ lunch with you, but I guess I messed that up.”

“I’ll give you a rain check,” she said and then she leaned in and gave him a kiss on each cheek. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Her smile was as radiant as I’d ever seen it.

“Well, me too for sure. Come on over here, Little Buddy. I’ve got to really thank you something special.”

I walked over and he extended his hand toward me. I took it. His grip was strong. “Janie, can you close that door? I rather have just a bit of privacy right now.” She went over and closed it. I wondered what was going on.

It only took a second and when I looked down we were still shaking hands. I felt BP land on my shoulder again. I’d last felt him just as Jed was falling and then forgot all about him.

“So Little Buddy, what did you do to me today?”

Marina blurted out, “And to us too.” It wasn’t said in a challenging way, but in a respectful manner. I wasn’t used to that. They just wanted to know what was going on.

I looked at Jane for help as my mind had gone blank. It didn’t take her long to decide on a course of action. “Folks, Roger and I need to have a little talk out in the hallway. Please give us a couple of minutes.”

We went out and talked in hushed tones. The first thing I told her was that BP was here. She thought for a few seconds. “Good, let’s just tell them the truth. We’re going to do that with Allen and Bess and we’ve connected more than once with these people already. Let’s see if they want to join the group. I’ll tell the story and then you connect with them and then BP can make an appearance so they won’t think we’re totally nuts. Of course, they may think they are nuts themselves after he shows up, but what else can we do? They deserve to know what really happened.”

She seemed to make perfect sense. I felt BP enter my head and I asked, “Will you do that?” He said simply, “Yes” and then he was gone out of my head. I could still feel him on my shoulder.

I looked at Jane for support, as a squirt of apprehension entered my stomach. “Okay,” I said, “Ladies first.”

We went back inside and she took charge. They all found a place to sit and she told them the whole story. She told them about Allen and about Bess and about what had happened today. She told them about BP as well, of course. She told them that we were receiving a Revelation and that, according to BP, we would soon know why life was on Earth and what it was here to do. She summarized the Revelation so far.

When she paused, no one said a word or asked a question. I didn’t know what to think.

Jane went on, “Today, you all experienced something we call a connection. We’re just learning about it ourselves, but in this state, we are able to become really intimate with each other. We can feel each other’s presence, and can kind of sense each other’s feelings. Roger has an ability that no one else does as far as we know. He can soothe us if we are having an emotional upheaval, as we all experienced today. You all felt that and you know it was from him.

“I know that he also has been able to heal one of our other members of a burden she had been carrying around for years. Today, Roger went further and it looks like he actually healed Jed or perhaps BP did it; we haven’t asked him yet, but we will. It’s the first time that has happened and so it’s new ground for us too.”

She went on to tell them that the ability to connect seemed to get stronger as we used it more and that I would now, with their permission, get us all connected again and then we would invite BP to join us.

She told everyone that they were free to leave if they wanted to. No one moved a muscle.

I started by taking Marina’s hand, who was to my left. She looked at me and I felt the connection immediately. She did too. “Oh,” she said. I willed her to take the hand of Jerry, who was sitting next to her. As soon as she did, I felt him as well. He was a bit startled, but otherwise fine.

Jerry took April’s hand and we all felt her join us. Her main emotion was wonder. Jed knew what was next and he reached out and took her hand to add one more person to the chain. All of us smiled inside as we felt Jed.

He then reached out and took Jane’s hand and then she took mine. We had completed the circle. We weren’t exchanging thoughts, and we were still the individuals that we had been a few minutes earlier, but somehow I knew we now represented something more than the sum of our individual parts. Jane had said it felt good and for the first time, I felt that too. It felt warm.

And this, of course, was the cue for BP. I felt him come to me and the others felt him through me, but not directly.

“I must say I am very pleased.” He was using a voice that would have been suitable for Mount Olympus. I swear that he had somehow added reverb to his voice. He had an audience and he was showing off.

“When I started the Revelation with Roger, I placed a large burden on him. I knew that the words he wrote would have an impact on people and that he would face serious challenges as his name became identified with my Revelation. But I didn’t foresee that he would be able to attract such a group of people, both here and back at his home, to help him carry this burden, especially before my Revelation was even complete.

“I have explained to Roger how life advanced toward the goal of creating humanity by moving forward in an unpredictable way. It appears that the sharing of my Revelation had also started out in a similarly unpredictable way with all of you seemingly destined to play important roles.

“I cannot see the future, of course. No one can. But I do believe that your role will be a supportive one before the release of the entire Revelation and will then expand dramatically after that. I believe that you have been called upon by Roger to form the leadership group needed to help humanity take its first fledgling steps towards fulfilling its destiny. A destiny that was decided on before the first living thing was put on the Earth.

“Take your instructions from Roger, who I love as a son, and Jane, who I love as a daughter. They will not steer you wrong and will not ask from you more than you can give.”

And with that he was gone. I thought that he really needed to work on his exits.

We were still connected and I could feel a wash of emotion from everyone when BP was done. The group had one feeling in common: a resolve to do whatever was needed.

Before we broke the connection, I felt I had to give them a chance to formally join or not. It had to be their choice. None of us was under any kind of trance, so I spoke up, “I can sense you all now and I hope you can feel the confidence that I have in each of you. BP has implied that you all will play a part in what is to come, but I want to make sure that this is what you want.

“It’s your choice. It’s your individual decision. Jane has named our little group “The Connection” after the experience we are having now. If you want to be a member, you can make that choice now. If you don’t, she and I will completely understand.”

Marina spoke up with zero hesitation, “I will,” she said. Jerry and Jed agreed too and both smiled broadly. I could feel that April’s main emotion had changed to gratitude. “Oh, thank you,” is all she said and then she fainted.

Jed caught her and gently held her until she regained consciousness. We had dropped the connection by that time and when we were certain she was fine, we all had a group hug. I was starting to be a hugger too, I guess.

We spent the next couple of hours in the hospital room talking about today and the things that had happened until the nurses tossed us out. Jed didn’t want us to leave, “Aw, come on. The party is just startin’. You gals are welcome to stay.” The nurses giggled, but we still got tossed.

We all said our goodbyes to him since Jane and I had to leave in the morning. It seemed that one effect of connecting the way we had was to make us very close even when we were not connected. I felt like I belonged with them and they felt the same about Jane and me. The result is that we were all a little sad that our time together was over and we were facing an uncertain future.

Jane had thought that through. “I’ll add you all to our internal group email, video conference and IM list so that we can keep in close touch.” She looked at me to see if I had any problem with that. Of course I didn’t.

“When we get back, we are planning on meeting with Bess and her father, Allen. We’ll explain everything to them just as we did with you and give them a chance to formally join the group as well.”

Jane paused again. We hadn’t discussed this in detail, so she wanted to make sure she was doing things that I approved of. I spoke up, “That is, if no one has any problem with some new people in the group.”

April blurted out, “We’d love to have those new folks!” and then realized she had spoken for everyone. She looked embarrassed and everyone laughed and agreed with her.

Finally, we reluctantly left, and as Jane drove back to the hotel, I thought I could still sense a tiny bit of the connection with them. The ride back was kind of somber as I felt an emotional letdown after all the things that had happened today. We’d been jerked around like puppets on a string as we went from abject terror, to the deepest despair, to the greatest joy. Jane said “good night” from the hallway and went right to her room. I could hear her moving around as she packed. I thought I heard a sniffle.

I couldn’t blame her for needing an emotional release after what she’d been through. She was just human, after all.

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, we were up bright and early. Jane knocked for a half second and then barged into my room through the connecting door. As usual, she didn’t wait for an invitation. She was pulling her bag along behind her.

“Ready?” she asked. She was wearing shorts and a tank top with horizontal stripes and the same sneakers she’d worn before. They were the only thing I saw her wear twice during the whole trip. I guessed that it was customary to wear business clothes on the way to somewhere, but casual on the way back. It would be late afternoon before we got back to town, so we weren’t expected back at the office today.

I greeted her with an exaggerated Texan accent, “You sure are looking as good as a cool glass on a hot day there Little Lady.”

She stared at me as if she was trying to decide if I was crazy or just trying to be funny. I guess funny won. “And good morning to you, Mr. Smart Mouth,” she said with a tiny smile. “Now get the lead out and let’s go. You drive.”

At least she was still treating me the same way she had before all this craziness started. I was thankful for that.

It took a little longer than normal to drop off the rental. There was a cute girl inspecting the vehicles as people dropped them off. It was her first day on the job, so it took her a little longer than normal to get our receipt from the little printer she wore on her waist. I made a point of flirting with her a bit and Jane spent that extra couple of minutes shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

Still, we arrived at the terminal early and were on our way to security when I heard, “Hey, Little Buddy, wait up.” And there was Jed along with April, Marina, Jerry Wu and his wife Shannon. I had already been missing them a bit and so was very glad to see them. There were handshakes and hugs all around. I got an extra hug from Marina.

Jerry spoke up, “I’m sorry if I did something wrong, but I told Shannon all about yesterday.”

Shannon stepped in front of him and set her chin, “It’s not his fault. I knew something had happened. I heard about the accident and I made him tell me everything. At first, he didn’t want to tell me all of it, but I made him. It’s not his fault.

“And I know I don’t deserve it, but I do want to ask a favor.” She paused and looked at Jerry and he nodded his head to encourage her to go on. “Will you allow me to become a member of The Connection?”

I saw her chin quiver just slightly as she asked that question. Her skin was pale and the summer sun had made freckles stand out on her cheeks. They were almost the same color as her hair. I noticed she was a couple of inches taller than her husband. She looked unafraid and determined.

I looked at Jane and she smiled at me. I knew that she was happy with the idea. The others all beamed their approval as well.

Almost instinctively, I said, “Give me your hand.” Without hesitation she offered it and I took it in mine. She felt warm, but strong.

The connection to her happened smoothly. I felt her love for her husband and for her children. I also felt her awe. I felt Jane take my other hand and, one by one, I felt the others connect. Now, she could feel all our love.

“Shannon, if you would like to join The Connection, we would invite you with open arms. But this joining must be your choice, made of your own free will. If you have any hesitation, we will understand and you will still be our friend. Will you accept our invitation?”

We all felt a rush of emotion from her. It was an almost physical wave of gratitude and wonder. “Yes,” she said. “Oh yes.”

And with that, we dropped hands along with the connection as she flung herself into the arms of her husband. Jerry Wu had tears streaming down his cheeks for the second time in two days. He was a smart and strong man, and no one blamed him for getting emotional. I heard a couple of other sniffles from my friends and maybe one from me too.

Too soon, it was time to leave. This time everyone said their goodbyes to Jane and me individually. April said to Jane, “You watch out for him now.” Jerry and Shannon held each other like they were one person and thanked us. We were invited to their home anytime. Marina looked at both of us and said something in Spanish. It sounded like “Vaya con Dios.”

Finally Jed came up and handed me a gift wrapped box. It was the right shape for a scotch bottle. He gave Jane an envelope that looked like a greeting card. He hugged us both. “Thank you for my life,” he said, as they all turned to go. Jane and I watched them until they were out of sight.

We passed through security without incident. Jane put her envelope in her purse and I put Jeb’s gift in my carryon. It made it through the x-ray without problem. Once again I had a middle seat, but this time Jane shot me one of her looks before I could complain. I knew complaining about it would be futile, so I just sighed and got seated.

I had put my bag with the gift from Jed under the seat and decided I would have a look. Jane took out her card and opened it and was reading. She held it in such a way that I couldn’t see what it said.

When I opened the package, I didn’t find a scotch bottle at all. Instead I pulled out a cardboard tube which contained the duck pants. I was surprised as I held them up to make sure they were real. Just at that time a Flight Attendant came by and stopped dead in her tracks. She put her hand on Jane’s seat back and leaned over to me, “Oh, duck trunks. I had a boyfriend who had a pair just like that. I really liked them a lot.”

I didn’t know what to say and she just smiled her brightest smile as she remembered those pants and then went on to check seat belts.

Jane said to me “Get your wallet out.” Now why would I need my wallet? It wasn’t time to eat. I asked her why I should do that. “So you’ll have a place to put her card with her number on it. That is, if it isn’t already too bulging with them to fit in one more.”

“Hardy har har,” I said in my most sarcastic voice. It was time to turn the tables. “What did Jed have to say?” Whatever it was, I was going to kid her about it.

“None of your business,” she said. And that was that. I wasn’t even allowed to see the card. Whatever it was, it must have been something.

Going back, we had headwinds and so the flight took slightly longer. But thankfully, we had no turbulence of note and so Jane and I were able to relax.

“Come closer,” she said. “I want to talk to you.” We had reclined our seats a couple of notches and we both leaned toward each other so we could talk without being overheard.

“I loved being connected to our new friends back there. I felt so close to them and, of course, they could feel you and me as well. But other than that, what use is this connection thing? I can feel your emotions if you are connected to me, that is if they are strong enough and on the surface. But I can’t tell what you are thinking and I’m pretty sure I could hide my true emotions from you if I tried. I know my life is now intertwined with the other members of The Connection, but other than that, what good is it? What purpose does it serve?”

It was a good question. It really did serve to bind the member of our group together, but what else? I had known Marina and Jed and the others for only a few days, but we were bound together in a way that was very special. I told Jane that I didn’t know, but it was possible that the whole purpose was to create that bond. Maybe we’d need it in the future?

She wasn’t finished, “And how about this healing of Jed. I saw all the blood that came from his skull. It was crushed where it struck the concrete. I can still see how flat the back of his head was. He had blood coming from his mouth and nose which I’m pretty sure indicates severe injuries. You and Marina had his blood on your hands. I had to help her clean it off, she was so upset.

“So how did you heal his physical injuries or did you bring him back from the dead?”

I had been awake for a good part of the night wondering about this. BP had not been around where I could ask him, but I told Jane it was the first thing on my list. I also wanted to know where this healing came from. BP had appeared right about when Jed fell, so I was pretty sure he did it, but I wanted to hear him say it.

Jane had considered it as well. “Didn’t BP tell us that he can’t affect physical objects in our Universe? If so, how is he healing people? It must be you. Or at least he’s working through you.”

She was right, of course. I felt the weight of what had happened to me in just a few weeks push down like lead. I felt distinctly sorry for myself at that moment. I looked her in the eye and said, “I wish he had chosen you for this task. You’d be so much better at it.” I meant that too and she knew it.

She smiled at me and shook her head to signify she didn’t agree. “You are doing what you were meant to do and I believe I am too. Somehow we all have our roles in this drama and we’ve got to each play our own part. I’m here to help you and keep you on track and listen to you when you need to talk. I’ll always be there to give you a hug if you need it or a kick in the rear if you need that. But BP chose you to play the lead role for a reason. I don’t think he’s ever told you the real truth about that, but maybe one day he will.”

She made so much sense. I had no argument with her.

“I’ve just got one more question. BP said he loved you like a son and me like a daughter. Does that make us brother and sister?”

I smiled at that. She had said just the right thing to make me feel better. And I had actually thought the same thing. “I think BP was just being dramatic in that little speech. He was showing off using his most annoying voice. I doubt he’s even capable of loving any of his puppets, but you never know.” I paused and looked her right in the eye, “I would, however, be proud to have you for a sister.”

She smiled at that and I saw happiness on her face and it was beautiful. I did have something else to say though. I leaned even closer to her so my lips touched the hair over her ears as I talked. “What should we call the other people who join? Do they become our brothers and sisters? Are they members or friends or groupies or connectees?”

She laughed and turned to face me. Our noses were almost touching. “I think we all become brothers and sisters in The Connection just like you and I are now.”

And then the announcement came that we had to return our seats backs to the upright position to get ready for landing. My sister and I did just that.

The plane was full meaning there was a full complement of kitchen sinks to be wrestled out of the overheads, so it took a while to get off. As I waited, hunched over in my seat, I thought about my talk with Jane. It was wonderful to have someone who I could simply confide in. I realized that I’d needed that for a long time, much longer than I had known BP. I also realized how much I had come to rely on her. When it was time to make a big decision, she always seemed to be able to see a path that would end up helping me and everyone else involved.

I also realized something else which stunned me when I thought of it. Jane was deferring to me on all these decisions. I relived the moment at the hospital when Jed and Marina asked what was going on. She asked them to excuse us and we went outside in the hallway where she told me what she thought and then she waited for my decision. It was stunning and humbling to think that I, a lowly junior financial analyst slacker, had to make all the decisions. It helped to know she was there, giving me her wise counsel, but ultimately it was my call. I shuddered a bit when I realized this because the responsibility seemed to weigh heavily on me. I prayed I was up to it.

We had almost no wait for a cab and, for once, traffic was light in the city. We got to my apartment at around five. Jane had set up our meeting with Bess and Allen at six, so there was no reason for her to go back to her place.

As soon as we got inside, she took charge and inventoried what I had to offer guests. She said it was slim pickings. Basically, I had breakfast food, water and scotch. That sounded about right, but she ordered me to have a pizza delivered. We hadn’t eaten much, and Allen and Bess would be coming directly from the office. I asked her about making a trip downstairs to get some wine or something and she said not to bother - she was in the mood for a scotch. I started to give her a thumbs up when she put my bottle of forty year old, super expensive single malt on the counter. She also put my run of the mill, every day, blended scotch out as well. I wondered which one she would pick to drink.

For the next half hour or so she had me lighting a candle (“this place smells”), putting away all my favorite things and even cleaning the toilet. We opened the patio door and the sounds of the city wafted through and I thought my little apartment looked pretty good. The pizza came and my mouth watered from the smell, but Jane wouldn’t let me even have a taste. She might defer to me on decisions affecting the universe, but not in entertaining in my own apartment.

At a couple of minutes before six, the buzzer rang to signal someone was downstairs. I didn’t bother to check on who was asking for entry, I just pushed the button to unlock the door. I looked at Jane and she was all smiles. We had both missed our friends back home. She went to the door and opened it. At first, all I saw was her back filling the doorway, but then she turned around and she had become two people. Bess had leaped up and was hugging her. I think Jane hugged back.

“Oh, I couldn’t wait for you to get back,” Bess said from cloud nine. She let go of Jane and I was next. Bess was an athletic girl who was actually in a boxing club at college and she came at me like she was going to deck me. But instead she leapt into my arms and hugged me so tight I started to feel light headed. Actually, I was happy to see her too, so the hug was probably mutual.

Allen came in and gave Jane a kiss on her cheek. He looked over at me while I was still holding Bess. I don’t think I’ve ever been seen so much pride in a man’s face as I did his.

I extracted myself and shook his hand. It was firm and I got the fleeting impression that he was completely happy and fulfilled at that moment. Bess looked at him with unreserved love in her eyes.

“Oh Roger and Jane, I missed you so much. Tell us all about your trip. How did the audit go? Was the plane cool? How was the party? Did you wear the duck pants?”

I looked at Jane. I hadn’t told Bess about the duck pants, so she must have. I imagined both of them on the phone having a good laugh. Jane grinned and looked proud of herself.

I continued to look at Jane, “Sure I wore them. Jane couldn’t keep her eyes off them. Jed even gave them to me as a gift. I’ll model them for you sometime.”

Allen must have decided it was time to step in and restore order. He spoke up, “Matt called me today and wanted to come by tonight. I told him to give you the weekend to unwind from the trip. He’ll be wanting to talk to you on Monday though.”

I sighed and thanked Allen. I had been thinking about Matt and Pastor Chuck, but I guess I had simply hoped that they wouldn’t be a problem. I was good friends with Matt like I was with all my Office Buddy friends, but The Connection was more important to me now and I didn’t want a distraction from that. Strange things were happening and I wanted to be done with this Revelation and finally be able to understand the mystery of why life was on Earth. At least I had a couple of days before I had to deal with Matt thanks to Allen.

Jane had gone behind the counter in my kitchen and had taken out four glasses. “Let’s have a drink and then we need to have a little talk.” Having a “little talk” is seldom a good thing and both Allen and Bess looked puzzled, but they were also used to Jane calling the shots, so we ended up having a scotch.

Jane picked up my everyday scotch and started to pour, but put it down and poured a couple of ounces in each glass of my expensive scotch. She added a couple of ice cubes. I managed to keep my mouth shut. She took the glasses to my dining table and we all sat down. She passed them out and we all sniffed the smoky liquid in the glasses. That scotch smelled great. “I’ve never had this,” said Bess. “Don’t you mix it with Coke or something?” Jane smiled and showed her how it was done. Bess followed her lead without hesitation.

After a couple of minutes of anticipation, Jane started, “I want you to remember some things that happened to us not too long ago. Allen, think back to that Office Buddy lunch where you thought for sure you were going to get canned. Someone walked up to you and you almost instantly felt better even before you knew you were getting those sales. Do you remember who it was?”

Allen looked at her and then turned his gaze to me. “Of course I do,” he said.

Jane changed her focus to Bess. “And Bess, do you remember the call that you received telling you that your father still loved you? Do you remember how you were going to blow off the call, but something made you listen just for a short while? Do you remember the feelings you had for your dad before that call? Do you remember what happened during it?”

Bess looked down at her empty glass. “I do remember and I’ll never forget what Roger did for me.”

“In both these instances, our friend Roger here connected with you. He connected with Allen to help him understand that all was not lost. And Bess, he connected with you even over the phone, to help remove something that was causing you so much pain whenever the subject of your father came up.

“This connection between us is a special gift that we now know that Roger has. I’m going to ask him now to connect to all of us.”

Jane reached out her hand to me and I took it. We had become so accustomed to doing this that the connection happened instantly. I felt her warmth and her strength.

Allen and Bess saw this and knew what to do. I held out my hand to Bess. At first, I wasn’t sure she was going to take it, but I saw her make up her mind and she reached out and slipped her hand into mine. I had connected to her in a very intimate way when I had broken up that horrible thing that was living in her, so the connection again happened easily. She felt wonder. Jane and I felt close to her.

Bess now knew the next step as she held out her hand for her Dad. He would have taken it anytime and anywhere, so he didn’t hesitate. Jane reached out and took his other hand. Having him connect to the person he had loved the most in his entire life made the connection to the group much easier. We felt his devotion to Bess and his loyalty to all of us.

Jane then went on to tell them everything about BP being real, about what he was doing, and about what it might mean to us. She also described in detail what had happened during our trip. Like before with our Texas friends, anyone could speak and ask questions, but also like before, no one said a word. I could feel shifting emotions from Bess and Allen while Jane was talking. There was some initial surprise and then acceptance and, at the end, almost an eagerness.

While Jane was talking, I began to wonder about BP. He knew we had this meeting, but I hadn’t felt him on my shoulder. I was counting on him to confirm what Bess and Allen were hearing, but I could tell they weren’t skeptical, so maybe he wouldn’t even be needed.

When Jane was done, everyone turned to me. I started to speak, but hadn’t said anything when I felt BP on my shoulder. So he had either been around or had arrived just in time. Once again I briefly wondered exactly how much he watched over me.

I announced his presence. “Bess and Allen, I know what Jane has told you is almost unbelievable, but since you are experiencing a connection with us right now, I think you know it’s true. BP has just arrived and will soon connect to me. You will be able to hear and feel him through me.”

I felt him enter my head in the same way he normally did. This addition to our group connection caused both Bess and Allen to experience a moment of surprise. Bess squeezed my hand and I squeezed hers back to let her know everything was okay.

BP started talking and again he sounded like he was speaking from a mountaintop. Now he was definitely showing off. “My friends, Roger was just about to invite you to join his group that Jane has named The Connection. The members of this group will be the first humans to receive my Revelation and I hope will play a large role in acting on it. I wonder, before he issues this invitation, if you would like to connect with the other members? They are having a meeting right now to discuss all that happened over the last few days. I believe they would like to be a part of the ceremony.”

So he’d been over a thousand miles away eavesdropping on a meeting of our new members.

I felt a surge of anticipation from Jane. She would certainly like to include our new friends. Bess and Allen seemed uncertain for a moment, but then Bess raised her head in determination and said, “That sounds grand.” She was totally unafraid and totally trusting that I wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen. Allen was still having trouble accepting that BP was talking through me, but if Bess was game, then so was he.

BP was pleased. “Then I will help Roger make the connection this time. His abilities in this area seem to get stronger on a daily basis, but this is a bit more than he is ready for now. By the way, I do believe that as you connect with Roger, each of you will also develop the ability to connect to others to a greater or lesser degree.”

With his help, I felt the Connection happen with only a slight delay. I could feel the presence of Jerry Wu and Shannon, of April, and Jed and Marina. I felt delighted to be connected to them. They were surprised, but that emotion was quickly replaced by one of delight when they realized what was happening.

It was my turn. “I know we all want to get to know each other, but first, I would like to invite our friend Bess and our friend Allen, to join our group. Joining the Connection is always a matter of choice as no one will ever be forced to join. Bess and Allen, if you decide to join us, we will welcome you as our new brother and sister. If you have any doubts, we will completely understand and you’ll always be our friends. Will you accept our invitation to join The Connection?”

There was utter silence, but I could feel a sense of anticipation from all of us - even BP.

Allen spoke first, “Roger, you have done more for me that any man has a right to even hope for. I will follow you and do anything that I can. I would be proud to be a member.”

Bess smiled her most dazzling smile. She had a wide mouth and it seemed her entire face erupted into that smile. “I knew all along that you had helped my Dad with his job, but what you did for me was give me a new life. You saved me from becoming a bitter person eaten up with hate and guilt. I’ll never forget that and I’ll never forget the debt I owe you. I’ll join and I’ll take my place beside my new brothers and sisters and I’ll wake up every day thankful for the opportunity.”

Bess’s little speech was so mature and completely heartfelt that we were stunned at the passion of it. She uplifted all of us with it and we were silent for a few seconds.

Right then, at that moment, I felt closer to these eight people than I had ever felt with anyone else. A wave of happiness passed over the group as Bess and Allen were welcomed.

And then BP spoke up. He’d had the good sense to keep quiet until we had formally accepted Bess and Allen, but now he said, “Would the Connection like to hear the next part of my Revelation now?”

Chapter Twelve

I would have been glad to postpone his pontificating until some other time since I was hungry and the pizza and scotch were waiting. But I felt a surge of appreciation and expectation from the group. Only Jane and I had ever heard BP give his Revelation in real time and she’d only experienced it once, so I kept silent and waited for him to start.

He let the sense of excitement develop before he spoke. He was really enjoying this.

“Roger, do you play pool?” he asked. I was used to his habit of asking crazy questions and the group had read about it in his Revelation, but this was the first time they heard him perform live.

“Well, I’ve played some. I had a buddy in college whose parents had a table in their home and we played quite a few times, but I haven’t played since then.”

“That’s fine. Indulge me in a thought experiment if you will. Imagine that you are trying to make a pool shot and it’s a difficult one. You have to hit the cue ball at one end of the table and your target ball is at the other end against the rail but near the corner pocket. Not only do you have a long shot, but you have to precisely hit the ball right on its edge so that it travels at an almost ninety degree angle and then falls into the corner pocket.”

Everyone had either played pool or seen it on TV, so I could feel that all the group members understood the situation as he had set it up.

“You study the shot and finally hit the cue ball. It travels almost exactly where you aim and it strikes the target ball almost exactly where you want it to. The target travels sideways toward the hole, but it’s going a bit slow. It arrives at the hole and seems to pause as there is a tiny lip that needs to be overcome before it can drop into the pocket.

“The ball seems to balance there for a split second until its momentum takes it just far enough over the lip for gravity to take over and the ball drops into the hole. You have made an excellent shot.”

I felt a sense of relief from the group. BP could tell a compelling tale.

“Now,” he said, “Suppose you need to make exactly the same shot again. Can you do it?”

Honesty was almost always the best policy with BP. “No, probably not. It was a hard shot and it barely made it in the hole. If I did it again, I’d probably not get lucky and I would miss.”

“But suppose I replaced your flesh and blood with a pool shooting robot, programmed to exactly duplicate your last shot to infinite precision.”

I had to think about this one for a minute. “Then it would probably drop like it did before, but not with 100% certainty. The surface of the pool table might have been changed slightly due to the earlier ball rolling on it or the air pressure in the room might be slightly different or any number of things might have changed just ever so slightly. Any of them could make a close shot miss, I guess.”

BP sound impressed, “I am constantly surprised at your innate understanding of these issues. I should not be, as you have demonstrated your ability time and again, but nevertheless, I am.”

I felt a sense of pride from Bess. The others were enthralled with what they were experiencing, but she was actively rooting for me.

“So let us take your perfectly reasonable objection into account. Now, in our thought experiment, our robot can exactly duplicate your shot and all the other variables are unchanged. The table is exactly the same, as is the air pressure, temperature and everything else. Now what will happen when the ball is struck?”

“It will go in the hole exactly as it did before with the pause right before it drops and everything.”

“And if you repeated this experiment 1000 times under exactly the same conditions?” BP sounded patient.

“As long as all the conditions remained unchanged, it would drop exactly the same way it originally did every time.”

“Indeed it would. Now here is my next question - why will it do that?”

I paused for a few seconds to think it out. I could feel Bess starting to get concerned for me. So far I had done pretty well in this public game of twenty questions, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself now. I also didn’t want to disappoint her.

“The ball will always drop because it must obey the laws of friction, momentum and gravity. The laws of physics, I guess you would call it.”

I felt BP smile though I didn’t know if he had a face to smile with. “That is precisely correct. Here is another part of my Revelation: Non-life makes up almost the entire Universe. And the activity of non-life is always 100% predictable. It must follow the rules of the universe and therefore, if you know what those rules are, you can always predict what non-life will do.”

Sometimes I immediately understand what BP says and other times it can take a while for it to sink in. I was busy studying this thing about the rules of the universe, trying to make sense of it. I felt puzzlement from the others, too.

Jane spoke up and asked a good question, “So what does non-life do that makes it so important that it follow these rules? Most of the non-life on earth is just dirt; doesn’t it mostly just lay there?”

BP started his reply with, “An excellent question.” It actually was a pretty good question, but if I had asked it, he would have probably been a bit snarky in his answer. He seemed to really like Jane. “There are two main areas where the laws of the universe really matter when it comes to non-life.

“First, it matters because humans depend on the fact that non-life acts in a predictable way. Humans depend on the fact that iron can be changed into steel by the correct application of heat. They depend on the fact that that steel can be strengthened by the addition of alloys. They depend on their understanding of the laws of architecture when they build a building with that steel. They depend on those laws to help them design a building that doesn’t collapse.

“It’s difficult to imagine living in a world where non-life is not required to fully adhere to the laws of the universe. Imagine if one batch of steel was strong and another was weak and whether it was one or the other was simply a matter of chance with no way to predict the quality of steel ahead of time. That would make it very hard for humans to use non-life to make their lives better and to change their environment based on their will. But that is not the case and non-life must adhere to these rules and humans are able to take advantage of that fact.

“Now as to the second area where adherence to these rules is important. Right now, at a distance of a few hundred million miles, an asteroid named 2002 NT7 is hurtling towards Earth. This rock is over one mile in diameter. A collision of any type with this planet would cause catastrophic damage – perhaps the end of all life here. When it was first spotted in 2002, it was quickly determined that it would either hit the Earth, or pass close by on January 13, 2019. Further observations and careful measurements over time led to the conclusion that it would not hit the Earth, but would pass by on that date. It is now known that it will miss the Earth by thirty eight million miles, which is still very close. Astronomers can determine that NT7 will miss the planet because they understand the laws of gravity and momentum and they are able to measure the course and speed of NT7. As long as scientists know the rules, and can measure with sufficient accuracy, they can predict that the asteroid, being non-life, will obey the rules of the universe and will not suddenly and randomly change direction.

“And so it is with the almost limitless number of bodies in the universe. Planets revolve around their suns performing precisely as the rules dictate. Solar systems revolve inside galaxies, galaxies themselves move through space, and they all obey the same set of rules. All non-life is in motion, and all its motions are predictable. There is no randomness in non-life.”

I felt a distinct degree of discomfort from that last statement by BP and it was coming from Bess. BP felt it too. “Speak up, my child. Ask your question.”

So Jane was his daughter, and now Bess was his child. He was really laying it on thick today.

It took her a moment to get started, but when she did, it was just fine. “Ah . . . well . . . I’m taking a physics class right now in college and they teach that at the quantum level, the very tiniest building blocks of everything - they teach that random, unpredictable things happen there all the time. They say it’s one of the big mysteries of science.”

BP answered with a gentle tone to his voice, “I can agree with two of the three things that your professor is teaching. First, I’m sure to him it is mysterious. And second, to him, events at the quantum level are unpredictable, but that does not mean they are random. It only means that he doesn’t understand the rules under which those events occur. Thus he is simply wrong about the third point. Those events are not random.

“Do you remember the example we used in an earlier part of the Revelation about the priests who tried to explain why droughts occurred? There is a knowledge boundary for scientists. You can think of it as a line. On one side of the line, they have discovered the rules of the universe and they can use their ingenuity to apply those rules. However, on the other side of that line, their knowledge is lacking, and so when they observe what is to them unpredictable behavior of non-life in the quantum realm, they make a guess to explain what they see.

“But they don’t always guess very well. They just don’t know enough yet, and so their speculations can be so far wrong as to be almost comical. At least our priests who lived over two thousand years ago came up with a guess that made sense - that gods were in charge of rain. Modern scientists have not achieved even that result in this area.

“And while I can forgive ignorance, it is harder to overlook self-delusion. These same scientists who teach that non-life can exhibit randomness sleep like babies every night knowing that NT7 is going to miss the Earth by precisely thirty eight million miles on January 13, 2019. They may write papers and secure funding to assert that this asteroid, and all non-life, is brimming with randomness at its most basic level, but they never doubt for even one second that it’s going to behave exactly as they have predicted it will.

“What do you think would happen if we inserted these quantum physicists into our little thought experiment with playing pool? What if we offered them a bet that randomness will assert itself and our pool ball will exhibit some new and unexpected behavior when it is struck exactly the same way and under exactly the same conditions time and again? How many times do you think they would bet one dollar with a billion to one payout that something different will happen? Few, if any, would play this game for long as they would quickly learn a very valuable lesson: non-life only follows the rules of the universe. There is no element of randomness to it.”

I felt everyone consider this. To me, it sounded reasonable. How could the building blocks of matter exhibit all kinds of random actions, but the matter itself be 100% predictable - at least if you knew the rules and could measure things accurately enough.

This took a few seconds and I was starting to think that BP had taken his leave, when Shannon Wu asked a question. Or, more precisely, made a statement.

“So, I take that to mean then that life is the only thing in the universe that is capable of randomness and that the actions of people, and all life, are unpredictable.”

BP responded immediately. “This young lady has stated the next part of my Revelation in an admirably succinct and satisfactory manner. I congratulate you.”

Wow, that was high praise from BP. We all felt Jerry beam with pride from hundreds of miles away. Shannon suddenly felt slightly embarrassed at having taken center stage, but that quickly faded as a mass feeling of support and approval came from all of us.

At that, BP spoke up again, “I think that is enough for one session. I would like this group to schedule the next one and Roger will let me know. We are preparing to come to the end of my Revelation now, but there is still much I have to reveal to you. Before we move on, however, I would like to complete our discussion of randomness and further our overall discussion of science. As you may have noticed, much of my Revelation has been designed to alert humanity to areas where science has either been mistaken or where it has deliberately failed to acknowledge that their theories are without merit.”

And with that I felt him take his leave. Without him, we could no longer hear any words from any of the members of The Connection who weren’t in the room. So after a few seconds with general feelings of curiosity and also of warmth towards each other, this session was over.

We sat in my apartment in silence, each of us contemplating what had just happened. I marveled at just how different non-life was from life. I knew this was BP’s point, but I felt, for the first time, kind of like an alien in my own universe. According to him, I was.

And then a cell phone rang. The ringtone was “Princes of the Universe” by Queen. Probably only one person in the universe used that song as their ringtone and I knew who it was.

Jane.

She got up and went to the far corner of my apartment. I could hear her talking, but couldn’t make out any of the words. There was a smile on her face. In a flash of innate inspiration, I knew that Jed was on the other end of that call.

Actually, that was a good idea. Jane had passed out all our contact info to our new friends down south when we left them. I looked up Jerry Wu’s Skype name, went to my PC and clicked on “Video Call.”

In less than a minute, Jerry and Shannon were being shown on my laptop screen. He had his arm around her and they were both grinning from ear to ear. They could see me and we greeted each other. I then called over Bess and Allen and Jane and we all crowded in from of the camera as our other members did on the other end of the call.

Since most of us had never met, at least physically, each of them introduced ourselves to the others and said something about how happy they were to be involved in such a monumental happening, or how close they felt to the other members of the Connection. There was a lot of love between all the new brothers and sisters.

For the next couple of hours, we left the video call going and people and groups used it to get to know each other better. Marina and Bess seemed to really hit it off and April gushed when she talked to each of us. I saw Allen talking to her on video and then he got a call on his cell. It didn’t take any innate ability to know that April had called him.

Jed spent some time talking to Bess and Allen, but as far I know, never hung up the phone and soon Jane was back over in the corner talking him. I took her a scotch made from the cheap stuff. She smiled at me and in a few minutes her glass was empty. It must have tasted all right.

Eventually, the four of us managed to finish off the pizza and a good part of the scotch. It had been a very long day and an emotional one for all of us. I sat on my couch and closed my eyes for just a minute until I got my second wind. I was probably sound asleep within ten seconds.

Chapter Thirteen

I awoke slowly to the smell of coffee and bacon. It had been four days since I’d had a decent breakfast, so I guess I was particularly sensitive to those delicious smells. I must have slept like a rock, because I had to fight to break through into full consciousness. I finally even managed to open my eyes.

I was still sitting on my couch, but on my right, Jane had pulled up my easy chair and was fast asleep in it. Here feet were propped up on the couch touching my leg. Her nails were still pink.

On my left, Bess had taken a pillow and rested it against my thigh and was also asleep. At least she had been able to lie down on the couch. Her chest rose rhythmically and I thought I could hear a gentle snore. I didn’t know whether it was exhaustion or scotch, but they had both slept over. I was glad they were here.

I stood up as carefully as I could. There was no reason to wake them. Jane may have opened one eye ever so slightly to see what I was up to, but I couldn’t be sure.

I tiptoed into my little kitchen to find Allen standing over a pan turning strips of bacon. They looked great. I put my finger up to my mouth and talked in a whisper, “Shhh … they’re still asleep.”

Allen grinned, “Yeah, they had quite a night. I don’t think either Bess or Jane is used to having a few glasses of scotch. I offered to take them home, but I told them that it would be better if we all just stayed and I think they were too tired to argue. I know you were. I hope you don’t mind but I slept in your bed and slept pretty well.”

I felt slightly embarrassed. I pictured myself asleep with my mouth open and drooling as my friends discussed things right in front of me.

Allen poured a cup of coffee and slid it across the counter. He wasn’t looking directly at me and that was unusual for him. “I’ve got an eleven a.m. flight this morning. I talked to April for quite a while last night and I want to go down and meet her in person. I can take a day off from work on Monday and I’m going to do it.” He paused and continued to look at the coffee cup. “That is, if you are okay with it.”

Allen and April? They were both older people without spouses and I’m sure both were at some level, lonely. Even though Allen’s heart was bursting with love for Bess, I sensed there was still a void that perhaps April could fill. I was just about to tell him how delighted I was when I realized the implications of the second thing he had said.

He had basically asked my permission to go see April. First Jane and now Allen were assuming that I was the leader of this little band and that I would need to give my blessing before they made any significant move. I started to tell Allen that he didn’t need to ask me about anything, but decided to hold back. BP had made me the leader for some reason and had reinforced that idea with the other members of the Connection. Ready or not, they saw me as their leader, so perhaps it was time I started to act like one.

“Allen, I couldn’t be happier for you to do that. April is about the nicest, most thoughtful and sweetest person on the planet. Jane and I liked her a lot from the minute we met her and I couldn’t be happier to have her in the group. So go on and have fun. You’ll love the rest of the team down there too.”

Then something else occurred to me. I was still in a bit of a fog as I needed to get down a cup of coffee. “Does Bess know about this?”

Allen laughed, “Does she? She’s the one who made the flight arrangements and wants to help me pack and is offering all kinds of advice on dating. I understand Marina Gonzalez is doing the same thing for April, probably at Bess’s suggestion. Next thing you know, she’ll want to have a little talk with April about her intentions if she hasn’t already.

“You know, Roger, this connection is a powerful thing. It allows you to really know someone in a very special way and it happens so quickly. As soon as I was able to connect to April though you, I felt drawn to her. Actually, I’ve never been closer to any group of people that I am to the members of your group. I feel like I know them all as brothers and sisters. Whatever BP has to say, and whatever lies ahead, it’ll be worth it because of this experience.”

I hoped he was right on that last point.

And that’s when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Jane coming into my little kitchen. She sat down on a stool at the counter beside me. “Coffee,” she said. Allen chuckled and reached for a cup. “And aspirin.” She was barefooted and her hair was a mess and hung down over her left eye. I looked at the scotch bottles. The good stuff was down to a couple of ounces and the cheap stuff was half gone. I understood why she felt a little under the weather.

I went to the medicine cabinet and got a bottle of aspirin and returned to Jane. She shook out four of them and swallowed them in one gulp.

I grinned at her, “What time did you drop off, Sleeping Beauty?” I remember looking at my watch and seeing 1:15AM. Lord knows how late she was up talking on her cell phone. Before she could think of a suitable remark, I added, “It’s totally my fault you know - the way you’re feeling, I mean. After all, I’m the one who got you to start drinking scotch and now you stay up to all hours gulping it down, all the while giggling as you talk to tall men.”

“I don’t giggle,” is all she said. And then she lashed out with her foot and kicked me right in the thigh. She kicked hard and it hurt.

Allen laughed, “I’ve never seen Janie this early in the morning. She’s a lioness.” He made sure he was out of range for a kick. “What’ll you have to eat?”

She paused for second to check how her stomach was feeling and answered, “Wheat toast and fruit.”

Allen was really having a good time, “If by ‘wheat toast and fruit’ you mean ‘bacon and eggs’, then you’ve come to the right cantina. How do you want your eggs?”

She looked at me like she was deciding whether she had the strength for another kick. She did my food inventory last night, but she’d forgotten just how little I had on hand. “Scrambled, I guess,” she said. Allen got to work.

“I’ll have it ready in a couple of minutes. Can you wake up Bess and I’ll put the plates on the table.” Four people in my kitchen would have been a tight fit.

Jane and I went out and stood over Bess. I realized I didn’t know the correct way to wake her up. Should I shake her shoulders, or squeeze her hand, or say something in her ear?

Instead I sat down on the couch and rubbed her hair gently and said, “Bess, oh Bess,” in kind of a singsong voice. Jane said, “Now I know I’m going to throw up.”

It worked though. Bess opened her eyes and saw me and smiled. In a flash she sat up and flung her arms around me and this time gave me a kiss right on the lips.

“Oh Roger, I had such a good time last night. Aren’t our new brothers and sisters just grand? I just love them all. Did Dad tell you about his trip? Oh I slept so well. I feel wonderful!”

Jane rolled her eyes. “Good Lord,” she said and went back to the kitchen to help Allen.

We ate breakfast and it was good. Jane was still obviously hurting and Bess did her best to cheer her up, telling her that drinking a lot of liquids would help and that the aspirin would kick in soon. Jane smiled at her weakly and otherwise suffered in silence.

Allen kept looking at his watch since he had a plane to catch and he wanted to make sure Bess and Jane got home alright before he left. I called a cab for the three of them.

As they left, Allen and Bess both told me they were so proud to be part of the Connection. Bess hugged me again with a bit of extra squeeze and I shook hands with Allen. Jane felt much better after she ate. She had combed her hair and looked good. She was the last one out the door and leaned close to me. I thought she was going to say goodbye when I felt her connect to me. It was the second time she had done that on her own. I was surprised, but I sensed that she felt excited and satisfied. She whispered in my ear, “I’ll never forget the trip we took together, my brother.” And then she broke the connection and strode off after Allen and Bess. I was sure I’d never forget that trip either.

And so, for the first time in almost a week, I was totally and completely alone. It felt good. I had the whole weekend to myself to do whatever I wanted.

I looked around my little apartment and it didn’t look as good as it had last night when Jane and I had cleaned it up. I saw my carryon bag, waiting to be unpacked. I saw the breakfast dishes ready to be put into the dishwasher. Jane’s still had some of her eggs on it, uneaten. The candle I had lit had burned to a waxy residue and there were glasses here and there with small amounts of liquid in them from the melted ice. The corner where Jane had spent so much time on her phone had a few of them. I picked them up to put them in the dishwasher and knew why she was feeling poorly this morning.

All of a sudden I was lonely and I’d only been alone for about fifteen minutes. I missed my new brothers and sisters. I remember marveling at how I had changed; before I looked forward to being alone in my place after work and now it seemed to be just empty. I would never have guessed that I would be so close to a group of my fellow creatures, but I was and it had happened in what seemed like an instant.

I went ahead and loaded the dishes and was staring at my bag, willing it to unpack itself, when my phone rang. I looked down and smiled a wide smile. It was Jed. I was very glad he called.

“Hey there Little Buddy,” he said. “How’s those gals feeling this morning? About two a.m. last night Janie started to giggle. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t spend a lot of time giggling, so I tol’ her to get some beauty sleep. She tol’ me she’d sleep when she was darn well ready and that she didn’t need beauty sleep and that I should do something to myself. Man, that filly’s got an independent streak in her a mile wide.

“Allen tol’ me he’d corral ‘em and make sure they were okay and that you were conked out.”

Great. There were probably pictures of me, sound asleep on my couch in the middle of a party, floating around right now.

It was best not to dwell on that thought. “I may have closed my eyes for a minute or two. Janie was feeling a bit rough this morning, but Bess seemed to be on top of the world. She’s got a lot of energy.

“Allen just bundled them all into a cab to see them home and then he’s off to see you guys.”

I paused for a minute and saw myself getting on the plane with Allen, but that dream evaporated in an instant.

Jed laughed, “Well, Little Buddy, he’s come to see one of us fer sure. Marina’s been helping April get ready. They been runnin’ around like chickens with their heads cut off, getting her all dolled up and stuff. This might be the first romance in the Connection.”

“It also might not be the last,” I thought to myself.

“So, I called to tell you about an idea that Shannon had. She’s too shy to call you herself with it, but it’s a darn good idea.”

Jed had gotten serious and had lost most of that Texas accent. I knew he had a mechanical engineering degree from Embry-Riddle so he was a smart guy. I guessed that it tickled him to sound like a rube.

“So Bess is keeping a master copy of the Revelation as you dictate it and she’s sending out copies to everyone. Shannon thinks that it might be a good idea for the other members to also write down what we see and think about what’s happening and include that in the record too. We all know something special is going on and the more we document it, the better. I just finished writing a piece about falling from that bucket. We all know what you did, but I know what it felt like to fall and be dying.”

I heard his voice catch at that and I gave him time to continue. When he spoke again, the accent was back. “So, that’s what I called fer Little Buddy. What ‘ya think?”

I liked the idea instantly. “I think Shannon Wu is a very smart cookie and I wish I had thought of this idea.” I wondered fleetingly if Shannon might turn out to be the Jane of our Texas group. She’d shown backbone the other day in asking to join; stood up to BP during one of his speeches, and now she demonstrated her creative side.

“I’ll send out an email later giving her credit for this idea. I’ll also invite everyone to submit their thoughts and accounts to Bess. I’ll add one thing though - each of these eye witness reports should be kept and organized by Bess, but not distributed by her. If you want your account of your fall to be read by everyone, then you can send it out to all of us. But if you only send it to Bess, it’ll just stay in her files as part of the record. Like you say, it’s possible these records will be useful someday. What a good idea.”

We said our goodbyes and I sat at my computer to compose a message to Bess. I would have preferred to call and talk to her, mostly so I could hear her voice, but I knew she was either busy with her Dad or was dead tired from last night. An email would do.

I told her about Shannon’s idea and asked that she keep it to herself until I announced it. I asked her to think about how she would like to organize these reports and to tell me how she’d like our friends to submit them. I copied Jane on my email.

I finally unpacked my bag by tossing all the contents into my clothes hamper. They’d get washed sooner or later. I was just putting away the last debris from the party when I noticed I had a reply from Bess which was also copied to Jane. That girl was fast.

Roger, I love the idea! I think we can all add something to the record of what has been happening to us. I know I can for sure.

Please ask everyone to just send me an attachment to an email with their contribution in a word processor file. Start the message subject with their name and then the date. An example would be BESS Feb. 31, 1999.

Shortly after I started my internship, Matt helped me set up my email and he created an encrypted folder for me to store my stuff. I’ll just create a new folder for each of us in that one and back it up every day to a cloud drive and a local thumb drive.

I won’t read any of it unless the writer indicates they sent it to be read. Does that sound okay?

One more thing, I just saw Dad off to the airport. I don’t think he’ll even need a plane since he’s already flying high with anticipation.

Thanks again for him from the bottom of my heart.

Bess.

I had just finished reading when I also got an email from Jane. It seemed like the whole team was hard at work on a Saturday.

That is a really good idea. Make sure you give Shannon credit. I think she’s got a lot on the ball. And thanks for keeping my glass filled last night.

From the bottom of my heart,

Jane

I had the feeling I may hear about this episode again. I decided to go ahead and send the message to the whole team.

To My Brothers and Sisters of the Connection,

One of our members, Shannon Wu, had a wonderful idea yesterday that I want to share with you. She realized that, while I am receiving the Revelation itself, all of us have experienced it in our own way. Her idea is to encourage all of you to document your experiences in your own words. We are all living through something that is unique and perhaps important, so Shannon’s idea makes a lot of sense.

If you want to describe some part of the Revelation that you witnessed, or how it has affected you, just send your word processing file in an email to Bess with your name and the date as the subject line. Bess will NOT read your writings, nor will she share them without your permission. She’ll organize them for the historic record only. You can, of course, send them on your own to any of the members that you wish to have them.

Great job, Shannon!

Roger

I read it a couple of times. It sounded okay I guess, and so I clicked Send.

I was starting to think about going out to grab some lunch when my buzzer rang in the apartment. My building didn’t have a doorman, so someone was pushing the button in the lobby so that I could open the door for them to come into the building. We had a video hookup instead of the old fashioned audio one, so I could see who wanted to enter.

It was a middle aged man with longish white hair, a black shirt and jeans. He looked familiar.

It took me a few seconds, but I recognized him from his appearances on TV and in the paper. It was Pastor Chuck.

Chapter Fourteen

I had used the Magic Answer Box to do a bit of research on him after Matt had introduced Pastor Chuck Cleimer into our lives. He was the main minister of what was being called a Mega church. This meant it was one of the largest churches out in one of the suburbs. One article said that over ten thousand people each week attended a worship service there, or an exercise class, or dropped by to hang out at the coffee bar.

He also sat on the board and supported several charities by raising money for them, mostly by getting large companies to focus their giving towards a specific area. Last week he was on TV presenting a check for over a million dollars to an organization dedicated to stamping out Muscular Dystrophy. An oil company provided the money. I didn’t find any hint of scandal in my research.

He was obviously a successful and busy guy and I wondered how he found the time to provide personal counseling to Matt and his wife - and how he found the motivation to be nosing around in the private lives of the members of my team.

All this passed through my mind in an instant and I realized I hadn’t decided if I would buzz him up. I could just pretend to not be home and he’d have to leave sooner or later, but I didn’t want to hide from this guy. I wished Jane was here to back me up.

However, I decided that if I was the leader of this band, I had to lead, so I hit the button. He smiled and said “Thanks!” into thin air and disappeared into the lobby. He’d be here in a couple of minutes. For a second, I wondered if I had time for a scotch.

That was silly. Instead, I put away a few final things to get ready to receive company. I decided that we would sit at my little dining table and talk there. At that moment, there was a loud knock on my door and I jumped at the sound. That knock was assertive. It said, “Open up and be quick about it.”

He was starting to annoy me with his loud knocking which made me forget about my earlier timidity. If he thought I’d be intimidated by his knock, he’d find he was messing with the wrong Hombre.

I walked over, and with as much confidence as I could muster, flung open the door. Pastor Chuck was at least 6’3” and well over two hundred pounds. He said, “Roger Seaton?” in a questioning voice and stuck out his hand. He was ready to shake my hand regardless of who I was.

I put mine out. What else could I do? We shook and damned if he didn’t try to connect to me.

It was a feeble attempt compared to what I had become used to, but it was there and it was unmistakable. I was easily able to block it and he didn’t seem to notice or mind. It occurred to me that he likely didn’t even know he had this ability. To him, it probably seemed like he was able to sometimes have insights into people and their problems. That could be a handy ability to have for a minister.

My mind was racing because I had a second realization while I was still shaking his hand. If he had the ability to connect to others in some basic way, then this skill that was shared by the members of the Connection might not be unique after all. Perhaps it was present but dormant in many people, with a few being able to use it without even being aware of what they were doing.

“I’d like to talk to you if you don’t mind,” he said. The time for handshaking was over so I opened the door for him and led him to my table. Just a few hours ago, Jane, Allen, Bess and I had shared a meal at this very spot. I wished they were here now.

He took charge. “First, we’ve never met and so I appreciate you taking the time to see me this morning. I had planned on waiting until Monday to contact you, but I just felt a calling to come today, so I did. In my business, when you feel one of these callings, it’s a good idea to heed it without delay.”

He smiled to indicate he’d made a joke.

“I do feel like I know you at least a little bit through my work with our mutual friend, Matt, and his wife. I’m aware that he’s told you about the rough spot in his life that he’s been in and how I’ve been trying to help him.”

He stopped for a moment to consider what to say next, staring at a point above my head. When he spoke, he seemed to be picking his words carefully.

“Counseling is seldom easy, especially marriage counseling. You have two people to be concerned with and sometimes their problems just can’t be reconciled no matter how hard the counselor works.” He paused and sighed, “And sometimes the counselor makes a mistake and things get worse instead of better.

“I think I made that kind of mistake with Matt. When he told me about this Revelation you are writing, and about how close the members of the team were to each other, and finally, how you had added a new member to the team, I thought I had found the answer to at least some of his problems. You see, he’d been very agitated in some of our later sessions and I knew something was bothering him that he hadn’t told me about.

“When he finally confessed to me what had been going on, I immediately told him to cut his ties to your project - this book thing. That was almost a week ago. He did as I suggested and I now realize I made a significant error. Since then, Matt has gotten worse and not better. He’s lost the anchor in his life that was the close relationship he had with you and the others there at work. While you were gone last week, he told me that the two who remained behind were nice to him, but that they was no longer close in the way they had been before. He told me you didn’t have time to talk to him until next week. He was in tears.”

I felt a double shot of guilt juice squirt into my gut. Matt had been a source of friction for me ever since this thing with BP started; always wanting to know where it was heading and never being able to simply wait to find out. So when he said he wanted to quit the group, I felt kind of relieved. That was the source of the guilt; he was my friend and I should have continued to treat him that way. Instead I had held him up as a problem to all the members of the team when I should have encouraged them to be patient with him. At that moment, I didn’t know if I could ever make things right with him, but I knew I would try.

I turned my attention back to Pastor Chuck. “So why did you tell Bess to quit and ask Allen to spy on us?” It was a blunt question delivered in a blunt way.

His gaze moved downwards and he appeared to be studying his hands. “That was my second mistake. Here, take this.”

He opened a golden card case and took out a business card and handed it to me. As I touched it I felt him try to connect again. Like before, it was so weak that most people could have deflected it without even noticing. I noticed and rejected the attempt a second time. I realized again that this was an unconscious habit for him.

The card had his name in embossed script and below it, “Founder, CAAN.” Below that it said “Cult Awareness Action Network.”

He saw the expression on my face and spoke up, “So many people are seeking spirituality today. Ministers, priests and rabbis all try their best to serve these people, but sometimes it’s just not enough. That’s when some charlatan can come along and start a cult with promises that he can’t keep and people end up following him.

“The results aren’t often pretty, Roger. I’ve known many who have given away everything they worked for all their lives to some charismatic fraud. Sometimes it goes beyond just losing their money. Do you remember the Hale Bopp cult?”

That only sounded vaguely familiar. I shook my head “no.”

“Hale Bopp was an extremely bright comet that passed by the Earth and was visible in the late 1990s. A pair of cult leaders decided that the comet had a spacecraft following it and that the Earth was going to be destroyed. Those in the know, the cult members of course, had to escape to the safety of that ship before the destruction took place. The leaders actively recruited new members to the cult and they were amazingly successful.

“On March 26, 1997, thirty nine members of the cult left the planet by drinking a lethal cocktail of phenobarbital and vodka. They were found lying in their beds, dressed for travel with their belongings carefully packed for a journey.

“The Hale Bopp comet began its journey away from the sun and no spacecraft was detected. The cult members had escaped life, but that’s all.” Once again, he paused to let this sink in.

“Roger, this type of thing springs up all the time. You wouldn’t believe it. I started this organization to bring together Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious leaders to identify and speak out against these destructive cults. The idea is to shine the light of truth on them before they destroy lives. So far, we’ve outed over twenty frauds who were masquerading as spiritual leaders.

“So I hope you can understand how Matt’s description of you and your group set alarm bells ringing for me. You’re writing a book about a Revelation. You have followers who are intensely dedicated to you and there’s a hint of supernatural happenings. That’s the formula for a classic cult right there.”

I know he expected me to have a chuckle over him jumping to such ridiculous conclusions, but instead I wondered to myself, “Am I leading a cult?” Probably by his definition I actually was; but I wasn’t going to allow my brothers and sisters to get hurt by leading them towards some suicidal goal. Or was I? BP was the one with the plan; I had no idea where this was heading at all.

“I feel silly now about sending that email to Allen and Bess Olman. Now that I’ve met you, I hope you won’t mind me saying that you aren’t the type to be leading a cult. You don’t have a fancy apartment and you aren’t asking your followers to give you money. You still go to your job every day. That’s not the way a cult leader behaves. I’ll apologize to Allen and Bess if they’ll let me and I’ll apologize to you now.”

I felt myself warm to him. Anyone could make a mistake after all. I’d sure made my share and a few more.

I was ready to forgive him when he noticed that I had let my guard down. He took that as an opportunity. “By the way, do you know Evan Miller?”

If I had been a basset hound, my ears would have stood straight up in shock. What did Evan Miller have to do with anything?

My mind raced trying to make sense of his question. All of a sudden, in a flash of insight, I thought I understood. This had nothing to do with my ability to connect; it was just normal human intuition.

I knew he was affiliated with at least several charities, had his Pastor gig, and now had founded this CAAN group. Each of these would pay him some amount; probably something surprisingly modest. But if you added up all those modest payments from all those organizations, you might end up with something decidedly immodest.

But in order to make those payments to Pastor Chuck, even modest ones, money had to be raised. And wasn’t it a lot easier to get it in large donations from rich companies and rich company owners? Why work you fingers to the bone trying to get five dollar donations from the masses, when a guy like Evan Miller could write a five million dollar check and not miss it at all? What a win/win that would be - you help get a big donation for a worthy cause and you get a little taste for yourself.

That would explain his interest in personally helping Matt and now his interest in me. I wondered if this was a method he had perfected over the years - identify someone that works for a rich person and develop a relationship with them and then use that relationship to get to the big guy with the money. I wondered how many other people who worked at the company were getting Pastor Chuck’s personal attention the way Matt, and now I, were.

All this flashed through my mind in a second. But time was passing and I had to decide how to answer his question. “Yeah, I’ve met him. He was at our lunch table a few days ago.” That was totally true, of course.

“With Matt and Jane Mitchell?” he asked. Matt would have told him who the members of the team were.

“Allen and Bess Olman were there too,” I said. For some reason, it amused me to let him think that all of us were in tight with Evan Miller.

He paused to consider this. “You’re lucky then. I’d love to meet him myself, but he’s such a private guy. I never run into him at any events or anything. Maybe one day I’ll have the pleasure.”

By befriending me I was sure he thought he was one step closer to that pleasure.

He stood up. “Well, I’ve taken enough of your time. I’m glad to have met you in person and I hope we can be friends. If you need anything, just call me. And, oh yes, I’d love to have you visit our little church. No pressure, you understand, but it’s kind of my job to ask.”

He smiled widely at his cleverness and I managed one back. We walked to the door and he stuck out his hand to shake. I knew what was going to happen; he was going to again try to connect to me again in his weak way. By then, I knew it was automatic for him.

I took his hand and felt the tickle that was his effort at connecting. Before I had just deflected his attempts in such a gentle way that he didn’t even notice. To him, I was just one of those people who he couldn’t “read”. I’m sure there were many such people so it didn’t seem unusual to him.

But this time I did something stupid. I didn’t deflect him, but gave him the equivalent of a mental elbow to the ribs. I connected to him, fast and hard. I let it last for only a half second and then dropped it.

“Oh,” he said as if he had lost the ability to breath. “I . . . I . . .” He was literally speechless for a second.

He regained his senses in an instant and realized he was still shaking my hand. He dropped it quickly and stammered, “G…God Bless,” and turned and walked away.

I’d take a blessing from anyone. Even from him.

I was almost immediately ashamed of myself. Pastor Chuck certainly deserved the little mental kick I’d given him, but I shouldn’t have done it. Hopefully, he’d just wonder what had happened for a couple of minutes and then forget about it. I looked at the clock and wondered if Jane was asleep. I decided that I needed to tell her what had happened and I called her. She answered on the first ring, so obviously she was up. She didn’t sound fully recovered because she answered with “What?”

I used my sweetest voice, “How’re you feeling? Did you take a nap?”

“No, if I do that then I won’t sleep tonight. I’m alright. I was just writing a report on the first time we connected. Bess has gotten a couple of items already from various people. That was a really good idea and I called Shannon and told her so. I could tell she was blushing over the phone. She loved your email, but said you didn’t have to go to that trouble.”

“Thanks for doing that. I should have called her myself, but I just spent the last hour with Pastor Chuck. He just showed up downstairs and rang the bell.”

I then went on to tell her all about what we had said. I used my new found reporting skills that had been honed by BP to give her an almost verbatim account of our meeting.

When I was finished, Jane paused for a moment. I could feel her thinking this through the way she does, looking at it from all angles. “You shouldn’t have done that thing at the end,” she said.

Leave it to her to be brutally honest with me. I was thankful for that.

“But I think you’re exactly right in your guess as to why he’s doing this stuff with Matt and now with us. He must not realize that we’re small fry in the company and are highly unlikely to provide any kind of opportunity for him to worm his way into a meeting with Evan Miller.

“Now that we know what he’s up to, Pastor Chuckles can just continue his little plan, but we won’t be helping him because we can’t. We’ll be just another dead end for him.

“I think that Allen and Bess need to know what he’s up to since they got those messages from him and will probably get his ‘apology’ soon. I also think it would probably be a good idea to tell the entire Connection what just happened here. I could leave out the part at the end where you probed him.” It was said as a statement, but sounded like a question. She was giving me the easy way out.

I hated it when she used that word. “No,” I said. “I don’t want to get into the habit of leaving out information to the other members just because it embarrasses me. I screwed up and it probably won’t be the last time. They need to know that too.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll write’er up and get’er out to everyone as soon as I can.” I had done the right thing and now Ms. Southern Belle was giving me her approval.

“So what do’ya want to do about Matt?”

I still felt guilty about him. “Let’s make sure to have lunch with him on Monday and make it clear that he can still count on us as his best buds.”

She was totally fine with that. I think she felt we’d let Matt down a bit too.

I had something else to discuss with her. “We need to let BP know about the next Revelation. He said we could set the time. What do you think?”

She seemed ready for this so I guessed she had already considered it. “Today’s Saturday and Allen’s still in the air and when he gets there he’ll still be floating above the ground. I talked to Marina and April’s as nervous as a schoolgirl. Monday is probably bad since Allen is supposed to fly back. That leaves tomorrow. Everyone can do it at five if that’s okay with you. Let’s do it at my place. The others will be a Jerry Wu’s again.”

So she had not only thought about it, but had it already scheduled.

I couldn’t help myself. “You are indeed a wonder,” I said with admiration in my voice.

“You’re being cute again.” She paused, “It’s Jed on the other line. Gotta go. Bye.”

And with that I was dismissed and she was gone. I would have liked to talk to her a bit more, but I understood.

I touched the contacts icon on my phone and then selected “M”. There were a few entries, but the first one was “Marina.” Her picture came up; the one that Marina sent to me showed her in a hard hat, work overalls over a sleeveless T-shirt and steel toed boots. She had a pony tail coming out the back of the hard hat that was draped over her shoulder. She was turned about one third of the way to her right and was looking left right at the lens of the camera. She had a long wrench resting on her shoulders and behind her neck held up with both hands, like she was going to lift a barbell.

She looked amazingly beautiful. I pressed the Call button.

Chapter Fifteen

I didn’t do much else for the rest of the day except talk to various members of the team. We were still getting to know each other and it seemed that we were burning up the phone lines with calls back and forth.

Allen arrived and all the local members went in Shannon Wu’s van to pick him up at the airport. It was apparently quite a scene and I wished I could have been there.

I had one chore I wasn’t looking forward to and that was to contact BP and let him know that we’d be assembled and ready to hear the next part of the Revelation tomorrow at five. I started to ask him to dial down the over-the-top voice, but I figured it would be futile. If he wanted to show off, then why not? I called out for him and made contact and we were done in two minutes. It went a lot better than I thought it might. I still wanted to talk to him about what had happened with Jed, but I just wasn’t up to it right now after the long days I’d had yesterday and today.

Night came and Bess called and wanted to know if I’d like to see a movie with her. All of a sudden I wasn’t so tired after all. We had a great time and it was late when I finally got back to my place, so I slept like a log and didn’t stir until almost nine the next morning. That was unusual for me. I woke from a dream about trains, but couldn’t remember the details.

Jane called about noon and told me to get to her place early to help her get ready. After all that had gone on, my apartment seemed empty so I was happy to go be with her and got there about 3:30.

When I arrived I could hear voices from inside. I knocked softly. Jane opened the door almost immediately and put her finger to her lips to indicate I should be quiet. Bess was there and was now listening intently to her phone. Something was up.

Jane took my arm and led me inside and then stood up on her toes and put her cheek to mine. She whispered in my ear, “It’s Pastor Chuckles. I guess he’s apologizing, but she hasn’t said much so it’s hard to tell.” She gave me a squeeze since she was already in hugging position and then we moved aside and silently watched Bess.

Jane took my hand and I felt her connect to me, just for a second. It was getting to be second nature for us. I sensed that she was concerned for Bess. I was too.

“No, I don’t think so,” Bess said into her phone. “Not now or not at least without permission.” She looked up at me with a wan smile. She wasn’t enjoying this. “Ok then, I’ll put you down for sure. Okay, I do. Goodbye.”

She pushed the end button on her phone and continued to stare at it. Jane and I waited for her silently.

“Holy cow!” she said. “That guy seriously creeps me out.”

“So tell us about it,” said Jane. I wanted to know what had happened too.

“Well, he started out apologizing for that email he sent me. His voice was just as smooth as honey. Then he asked if Roger had told me why he’d done it, that thing with the CAAN group and all. I didn’t know if I should tell him anything that Roger had told me, but it seemed okay and so I told him I knew about the meeting you’d had with him.”

Her face showed distress. “Did I make a mistake?” she asked.

Jane looked at me and I answered, “Absolutely not. You did just fine. Trust me. He knew that I’d report our little encounter to the group. That was no surprise to him at all.”

She seemed very relieved. “And he asked that since it was going to be a book that anyone could read, could I send him the latest parts of the Revelation as they come out. I told him not without permission and then he asked if he could buy the book when it comes out. I told him that would be fine.”

“Did he ask about Evan Miller,” said Jane.

“No, not a word about him. After I told him he couldn’t get the latest parts of the Revelation he just said that he hoped I’d accept his apology. I told him I would and we hung up.

“I’m so glad that’s over. And thanks so much for thinking of me.” She walked over to Jane and gave her a hug. I raised my eyebrows to Jane since I hadn’t had a hug from her yet and that was unusual. Jane blushed and explained, “I just thought he might call today, so I invited Bess over in case he did and in case she needed someone in her corner.” Once again, Jane had anticipated an event and had taken charge. “And anyway, we had a nice girls-only day. Until now that is.”

“Oh we did have such a nice day! It was just grand.” said Bess. She was getting back to normal. I felt a hug coming on.

The rest of the time before BP arrived was spent in communicating with our team down south. Jane had set up a Skype feed just like I’d done and we could see and hear whoever got in front of the camera. There was anticipation in the air as the time approached for BP to continue the Revelation.

During our last session, Shannon had speculated that only life could exhibit true randomness and we all wondered where this would lead. Right on time, I felt the pressure on my shoulder that indicated BP was in the house. I told everyone to get ready. Bess, Jane and I sat on her couch and I took one of their hands in each of mine. Our southern brothers and sisters sat at a dining room table and created a circle of hand holding.

The connection between Bess, Jane and I happened almost instantly. It took another few seconds and then I felt the whole team. There was the usual amazement, but also expectation. It was time for BP to talk.

I felt him enter my head and he started. The others weren’t connected to him, only to me, but they could all hear him through me.

“I am once again glad and thankful that Roger has gathered such a group,” he said. He still sounded impressive, but not over the top the way he had before. “Last time we discussed the fact that non-life cannot exhibit randomness in its behavior. All non-life in the universe must obey the laws of the universe and no deviation is possible.

“But, as was so aptly pointed out last time, life does exhibit randomness. That fact is one of the final proofs that life was never meant to be in this universe. It’s so different and so foreign, it just could not have sprung up here and survived had its arrival not been planned for and its growth nurtured.

“However, even though the actions of life are random, they can be directed as we saw with the creation of humanity after four billion years of evolution. No one knew exactly what a sentient species, capable of modifying its own environment would look like, or exactly how long it would take to appear. But life was destined to result in the appearance of humanity and now it has.

“And this randomness has serious ramifications for humanity. It drives human achievement. Without it, that giant building you were in last week wouldn’t be in existence, for example.”

I admit I was puzzled by this. I had bought into the point that only life could behave in a truly random manner, but how that made human achievement possible was beyond me. I could feel the same confusion in the others.

BP must have felt it too. “Roger, if I gave you unlimited funds, could you cover forty percent of the Earth’s surface in Astroturf?”

Of all the crazy questions he’d asked me in our sessions, this one was probably the most far out and ridiculous. I could see no way that he could make any kind of point with this one.

But I knew that somehow he would. I was struggling to answer and needed more time, so I asked a question instead. “How big is the surface of the Earth?” It was a reasonable question after all, and it gave me a few seconds to think.

I heard Jed speak up. While connected to BP through me the way we were, we could hear each other and BP could hear us too. He said, “I think it’s a bit less than two hundred million square miles and about seventy percent of that is water.” Jed was a smart guy. I had a mental flash in which I saw him as a contestant on Jeopardy.

“That is almost precisely correct,” said BP. I felt Jane beam and her grip on my hand got a bit tighter.

I could do simple math in my head. Forty percent% of the Earth’s land surface would be about twenty four million square miles.

I’d used up all the time I could, so I spoke up. “No, I don’t think it could be done with any amount of money. First, I’m not sure that it’s even possible to make that much Astroturf. The chemicals that are used to make it might not even exist in those quantities.

“Next, moving that stuff around and installing it in all kinds of inhospitable places might require the labor of every human being on the planet. It might even require more than that.

“And lastly, you wouldn’t have the labor of all the humans and you probably wouldn’t have the labor of any significant number of them. Even if you paid really, really well, lots of people wouldn’t want the land covered in Astroturf and wouldn’t participate in any such effort. Many of them might actively fight to keep it from happening.

“So, no, I couldn’t do it and I don’t think it could be done at all.”

I was reasonably happy with that answer and figured I had escaped having to wear the dunce cap today. I could feel that my brothers and sisters all had positive reactions too. Bess slid a bit closer to me so that our shoulders touched.

“I concur with your assessment,” said BP. It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but it was close enough. “But did you know that forty percent of the Earth’s surface is presently being manipulated by humans in a far more complex way than simply laying down Astroturf on it? And did you know that it’s being done again and again?”

I didn’t know any of those things and I struggled to make sense of it until Allen said one word, “farms.” Of course, that made sense.

“Correct,” said BP. Forty percent of the land surface of the Earth is covered in farms. It is one of the most monumental achievements of humanity, for without it, there would be far fewer humans.

“But consider just how this was done. Exactly how did humans turn twenty four million square miles of the Earth into farmland? You see it when you fly over in an airplane; the seemingly endless regularly shaped green areas that demonstrate the effects of the mind and will of humans.

“It happened because at the core of the human mind and at the core of life itself is randomness. No master plan led those individual farmers to take control of their own little patch of land. No edict from on high forced them to convert acre after acre of raw land into productive land for the cultivation of life.

“But humans need to eat and so it had to be done. And because it had to be done, it was done. The way it happened was totally random. No one could have predicted ahead of time which human would be a farmer and which plot he would farm and what crop he would produce. That’s all random and it is the reason you have food on your plates today. In fact, if some higher power had tried to force humans into this activity by assigning who would farm, what they would farm, and how much they would produce, it almost certainly would not have worked and there would be far fewer humans today.

“And it is the reason that humans have the ability to do monumental things when the need exists.

“And as we get near the end of my Revelation, you will soon learn that the need for even more monumental achievements from humanity does most certainly exist. And like the miracle of all those farms, human survival depends on it. In fact, as you will see, the survival of life itself is what is at stake.”

I was so caught up in what he had just said that I didn’t even feel him leave. Like before, the group remained connected to each other. I think the main feeling was of slight melancholy. This part of the Revelation wasn’t so inspiring with its promise that hard things were likely waiting ahead for us. And we all knew that the heavy lifting to come would have to at least start with those of us in the Connection. It was a sobering moment.

There was no party that night immediately after we broke the connection. It seemed that each of us wanted to be alone for a few minutes with our thoughts about what might lie ahead.

We didn’t all leave, however. Soon, cell phones rang and people gathered around Jane’s laptop to see and talk to each other via video connection. I drank some coffee since Jane had no scotch bottle in sight.

After a few minutes of fellowship, Bess took a seat at the camera and also took charge. She asked everyone to gather around. I could see all our friends and they could see us on the video call. “First, I want to thank all of you for sending me your own personal stories about what has happened to you. The last time I checked about an hour ago, I had received five of these and everyone has promised at least one. The amazing thing is that no one has asked to keep any of these accounts private. I guess we’re all so close now that there is really nothing to hide from each other.

“I’ll zip them up as a group and send them out to all of you tomorrow if that’s all right.” No one said anything. She was doing fine.

I looked at Jane and she smiled at me. I could tell she was proud of Bess. I was pretty sure she had put her up to this. Well, good for her and good for Bess.

“Does anyone else have something to report to the group?”

Jerry Wu stepped to the front. “I got a call this afternoon from an OSHA investigator about the accident at the hangar. They’ll interview me and Jed and Marina and write up a report about what happened and might make recommendations to keep it from happening again.

“We’ll tell ‘em exactly what happened but leave out the reason that a miracle occurred. If that’s okay, that is.”

I thought about it for a second but it didn’t take long. They could either marvel at the miraculous fact that Jed had come out of it unscathed and say no more, or they could tell them that someone in touch with an alien entity had used his power to bring Jed back from death’s door. It was an easy choice.

I nodded at Bess and she turned back to the camera. “Roger says that’s fine, Jerry.” He stepped back beside Shannon and Marina and Jed smiled. They were the ones on a bit of a hot seat and now they knew how to handle it. It shouldn’t be a big deal, I thought.

“Anyone else have anything for all of us?” She waited for five seconds while no one stepped forward. I thought she was going to end this little formal meeting, but instead she said, “Well, I’ve got something. Dad, I’m dying to know. I just know we all are. Tell us how it’s going. April, can you put up with him? Oh, I know we’re all so curious, so fill us in!”

Even though we were no longer connected, I felt the warmth and approval of the whole group.

No one said anything. Allen was sitting beside April and he turned to her and took her hand. Every eye was on them.

“April, I’ve lived most of my life without love and, to make it worse, I knew all the time what I was missing. I had little hope that anything would change until a short while ago when I was given my sweet daughter back. My love for Bess is so great that it seems to fill my heart. But I’ve also learned something else about the heart; there is always room in it for more love.

“Right now it’s also filled with love for you. I can’t imagine not being with you and want to spend every moment I have left as your husband. April, will you marry me?”

Now you could have heard a pin drop. April looked at Allen and said, “Yes, yes, yes. I will.” They embraced and kissed and it was beautiful.

I tore my eyes from the screen and looked at Bess. Her smile seemed to go from ear to ear and tears streamed down her cheeks from both eyes. Jane gave her a tissue that somehow she had handy, and put her arm around her as a show of support. She looked up at me and gave me a little smile as Bess dabbed at her eyes. I thought I detected just a hint of sadness in it.

After that, there were handshakes, hugs and congratulations all around for the happy couple. I don’t think it occurred to any of us to question why two people who had only just met were going to get married. After experiencing the connection and the degree of intimacy it provided, Allen and April knew they were meant for each other, and the rest of us did too.

Since tomorrow was a work day, we broke up pretty early. I had promised Allen that I’d see Bess safely home, so she and I got our things and prepared to go. At the door, Jane came up to us and Bess gave her one of her chest crushing hugs. “I can’t thank you enough, my sister.” I was glad they had become such good friends.

Jane gave me a peck on the cheek and we had one of our momentary connections. I realized I was right, as I felt a slight sadness from her. I didn’t think too much of it since we’d all been through an emotional roller coaster for the last week. Next week would likely be a letdown as things returned to normal. I could understand her feeling a bit of sadness about that.

Except that I was wrong. The next week, all of our lives changed forever.

Chapter Sixteen

I arrived at work the next day right on time. I could hear sounds from the cubicle next door, so I knew Jane was already there. I stuck my head in her cubicle and saw that she was reading the latest part of the Revelation. I was once again impressed with how seriously Bess took her work. I had dictated and sent out my recording at 6:30 this morning and by 7:30 a perfectly transcribed version was in all our inboxes. Didn’t that girl sleep?

“Did you get the thing about randomness being responsible for the ability of life to do great things?” I asked Jane.

“I think so,” she said. “I believe it means that all life is unpredictable and therefore random in its nature - think of the goats. So maybe the human mind has to ability to randomly come up with a totally unique approach to a problem. I’ve had that happen when I working on something. Sometimes a new solution just comes to me out of the blue.”

I had seen her do that more than once - she certainly was good at thinking outside the box. While non-life might be stuck blindly following the rules, and lower forms of life like pandas might rely on luck, humans could try dozens or millions of different approaches to a problem until they found one that worked. Let enough humans try enough things and they could find a way to cover twenty four million square miles in farms and maybe even in Astroturf.

I asked her, “Are you okay? I felt that you were a little down last night.” This would not be a surprise to her since her feelings would have been exposed to me when we connected at the end of the evening.

“Oh, I’m fine. Seeing Allen and April get together and be so happy just made me a little jealous, I guess. It made me wonder if I will ever love anyone like that.” Her voice was quiet, gentle and wistful. I felt a tug at my heart.

She must have seen surprise on my face. She’d never confided in me that she was lonely. It didn’t seem possible; she was too self-reliant, too capable, too strong.

She quickly returned to her normal self, “Forget I said that. It’s just crazy talk. We’ve all experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows in the last couple of weeks. One minute I’m laughing like a loon and the next the tears won’t stop. I’ll be okay, so don’t worry. If I need a shoulder to cry on, I’ll let you know.”

I didn’t know what to say. My shoulder was always there for her, of course, but I didn’t want her to have to use it.

She let out one more sigh and then went back to business. “I tried to call Matt over the weekend and didn’t get him, and now he’s not in today. He called in sick.”

We had both agreed that we needed to make amends with our friend. We’d planned on starting by having a talk with him today. I suspected that Jane felt a little guilty about Matt and didn’t want to wait to talk to him, so she’d called him earlier than we had planned.

That sounded about right to me, because I’d also tried calling him on both Saturday and Sunday for the same reason. I told her that and she grinned.

“Well, at least I beat you to it today. I hope nothing’s really wrong with him.”

The last time I talked to Matt was when Jane and I had been on our trip. He was distressed about what Pastor Chuck had done in asking Bess and Allen to quit the group. For a second, I wondered how he’d feel knowing that the group now had more than doubled in size.

I certainly wasn’t going to tell him that; I just wanted to reassure him of my friendship and offer to help him if there was anything I could do for him. But now he wasn’t available and I felt a knot of worry begin to form.

I looked at Jane, “I’m sure he’s alright. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s probably gone on a little trip with his wife or something.” That would be good, since it might mean that they were overcoming their marital problems.

Neither of us believed he was sick. Sick people can normally still answer calls from friends.

Jane shrugged, “Well, I expect we’ll find out what he’s been up to soon.”

I was used to Jane being right about things, but neither of us knew at that moment, just how right she was.

The first part of the week passed without any obvious drama. I was glad of that since I think we all needed some time to come to grips with all that had happened.

Allen returned Monday night and Jane, Bess and I had him over at my apartment. He told us all about his time with April and how happy they both were. Jane and Bess couldn’t get enough. They wanted every detail.

“When is the big date? Did you write your proposal ahead of time? Did she know you were going to pop the question right there? Was it sad for you to come back here? Where will you live? Who’ll perform the ceremony?”- and on and on.

Allen patiently answered every question and told some funny stories about things that had happened. Jed had started calling them “Mom and Pop.” I laughed and Bess and Jane giggled.

Eventually, they drained him dry of information about his trip, so I asked, ‘Have you heard from Matt?” Jane, Bess and I still hadn’t heard from him.

“No, and I never heard from Pastor Chuck either. After he called Bess, I thought I’d hear from him with his offer of an apology, but nothing.”

He paused for a second as he wondered about Matt. We’d been very close as friends so that almost three days with no word was highly unusual. But there wasn’t anything any of us could do about it right now, so he continued, “Say, did you see all the messages about Jane’s contribution?”

He was referring to the documents that all the members of the Connection were writing about their experiences. Shannon had originally suggested this and it had gone over big. Reading the personal accounts of Marina, Jerry Wu and Jed about what happened when he fell was totally amazing. Seeing these events through their eyes, and hearing how it personally affected them was very powerful stuff.

It had become awkward to refer to them as just “documents.” Shannon came to the rescue again and suggested we call them “contributions.” She thought about calling them “testimonials” or “exhibits”, but “contributions” sounded just right.

Jane had done something different today. She’s written not just a factual account of the first time the two of us connected, but also she discussed what might be the meaning of the connection itself. She and I had talked about this a bit; wondering if the connection just served to bring us closer together as individuals, or if it served some other unknown purpose as well.

In her contribution, she speculated that there might be something more to this phenomenon. She pointed out that the more we connected with each other, the easier it became. She argued that this might mean we were indeed being changed by it in some way and that the change might be ongoing. BP had implied exactly that. She speculated that as we grew stronger, we might be able to connect to each other without me being in the loop.

That was something I hadn’t thought about. I could connect to any of them or all of them. It was becoming easy to do. I even felt like I would soon be able to connect over the distance between our two groups without BP being with me to provide assistance. But I hadn’t really considered that the others might be able to connect without my help.

Jane reported that she and Bess had tried to connect for a couple of hours and that they thought they were close, but that it hadn’t happened yet. She asked the other members to report any experiences they had along this line. She also asked them to immediately report any negative effects caused by connecting.

This had caused the email, text and IM wires to light up. She’d only sent her contribution to Bess a few hours ago, and once it was distributed to all of us, the discussion among the Connection was ongoing and, I thought, healthy. If we were changing in some way, we needed to be watchful.

We spent the next couple of hours just enjoying ourselves and our worries seemed distant. Too soon it was time to go. Jane walked out the door talking to Jed without even saying goodbye. Allen was on the phone with April and he did at least wave. Bess gave me a hug and called me within five minutes of leaving to thank me for having them over. Her Dad was taking her to her dorm and we talked until she got there.

Tuesday passed without any strange happenings and Wednesday started out fine. I thought about our next session with BP and sent out a message to the Connection suggesting Thursday at eight p.m. That would give us a couple more days to think about all that was happening to us.

When I arrived at work, I found Jane sitting in my chair. I had a flashback to the last time this had happened and immediately looked to see if she was wearing one of her skirts. She had on a grey suit with a white blouse. It had a jacket and pants. She had on very high spiked heels that made her taller than me.

“Come with me,” she said. Something was up.

We walked to a corner of our office that overlooked the street below. There weren’t any cubicles within twenty feet, so we could talk there without being overheard. We’d never worried about that before.

“I wanted to grab you before you logged in. I just got a call from Jerry Wu. The OSHA guy came by yesterday to get their take on Jed’s fall. He talked to Jerry, Marina and Jed for about ten minutes, typed a few notes and that was it. He then went off to look into the maintenance of that lift bucket thing. They think their part of it is over.”

“That sounds about right,” I said. “It was that bucket that failed, after all. They were just witnesses and I’m sure they told the OSHA people what they saw.”

Jane nodded her head to indicate she agreed. “Yep, but a few minutes ago I got an email wanting you and me to attend a meeting to discuss this incident. They want us to come up to the security office at ten. I’ve just got a strange feeling about this, so I thought I’d catch you and give you a chance to call in sick if you want. That way, I can let you know what they ask about.”

I didn’t see why that was necessary. “What kind of feeling are you talking about?” I trusted her gut instinct, but I felt nothing strange about this request to meet - we were witnesses, after all, and they probably just wanted to know what we saw.

“I don’t know. I’m sure they are just worried about a lawsuit and want to have everyone’s story written down while it’s reasonably fresh, but still I don’t know. Maybe it was the tone of the message. They requested a meeting with both of us, and suggested a time and place - that’s normal. But this was more than a suggestion; it was almost like an order. You’ll see. Maybe I’m just imagining things, but it sounded like they wanted us there even if we had something else already planned.”

I walked with her back to my cubicle and logged in. Sure enough, I had the same message she did. And she was right. The tone was just a shade more abrupt and demanding than was normal.

Still, there didn’t seem to be a problem. I looked an unspoken question to her and she shrugged her shoulders. I replied and told them we’d both be there. Hopefully it would be a quick meeting as I wanted to spend some time studying last night’s games.

At 9:55 she came over and got me and we left for the meeting together. We rode the elevator up five floors. For once, we were the only ones in our car, but neither of us said a word.

We found where we were supposed to be. As we entered, we saw a desk that was positioned facing the entrance. Behind it, closed doors suggested a suite of offices. The nameplate said Juliet Morgan. I told her who we were.

“Oh yes,” she said. “I think I’ve got everything ready. Please come with me.”

We followed her, but it wasn’t far. If you looked up Executive Assistant in the dictionary, you’d find her picture there. She was probably north of forty, but wouldn’t look it for a while yet. Her makeup was perfect with just the right amount of lip color. Her hair was pulled back and held with a clasp. I could not see one strand out of place. She wore glasses that were obviously expensive and they certainly worked for her as they showed off her eyes. Her clothes were also not your normal off the rack items; perhaps they were by some famous designer. I didn’t know much about such things, but I knew her skirt was just the right length, her heels just the right height and her necklace and earrings just the right colors.

She opened the door to a conference room and asked us to be seated. There was a table in the center that could seat twelve people. I sat in the middle and Jane sat at the head of the table. The room was situated so that the glass windows that lined the outer wall provided an amazing view of the city.

Juliet Morgan saw that we got seated and then left us. She was gone for just a couple of minutes and returned with a little cart. She filled a table with coffee and some cookies and strawberries. Being up here in the clouds had its privileges.

“The Colonel asked me to apologize, but he’s going to be a few minutes late. I’ll be glad to get you anything you need while you wait. I’m sure he won’t be long. He’s most anxious to meet you.”

She smiled at both of us and left, closing the door behind her. I looked at Jane. I had no idea who this Colonel was, but maybe she did.

She knew what I was thinking. “He’s the head of the Security Department. I think his last name is Stout and that he’s retired from the military. I know he’s good friends with Evan Miller, but that’s about all I know. A couple of years ago, I had to audit a warehouse where there had been a pretty big theft and he seemed to be on top of things. I presented the numbers on the theft at one of his meetings. I think he’s probably okay.”

For a company executive, that was high praise from Jane.

The minutes ticked by as we sat in silence, until I heard some noise from outside the room and the door burst open. A fireplug of a man came striding into the room and immediately went over to Jane. He wasn’t tall, probably about 5’8”, but he seemed to be one size from the shoulders to the waist - strong. He had to be over fifty, but it wasn’t easy for me to know if he was a little or a lot over that milestone. His hair and beard were short and uniformly grey, as were his eyes.

“Jane, so nice to see you again.” He reached over and shook her hand. “And Mr. Seaton, I’m glad to meet you.”

We shook. “Call me Roger,” I said. If he was going to call Jane by her first, name, then I’d go by mine as well.

“Great. I hope you won’t mind calling me Colonel. My real first name is John, but for so many years in the Army I was called Colonel Stout that I feel like my first name really is Colonel. I hope you don’t mind.”

I didn’t mind at all. He seemed like a nice guy.

“Good then. Let’s get started.” He went to the door, “Juliet, can you join us please?”

She came in and took a seat at the table. She had a notepad and a digital recorder with her that she put on the table. I remembered seeing some cop show where they explained that anytime you questioned a female suspect, you had to have another female in the room. I had a momentary vision of the Colonel reading us our rights: “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court . . .” I got myself under control. I convinced myself she was here just to take notes.

“Now then,” he said. “I want to ask you about that incident where Jed Cunningham took a very bad fall while working on our plane. Jane, can you start? Just describe what happened in your own words.”

Jane was staring at that recorder. “Is this a deposition? Why the recorder?”

The Colonel smiled at her. “I can ask Juliet to remove it if that makes you more comfortable. It’s just to make sure we have an accurate record. That’s all.”

Jane thought about it for a few seconds and then just told the story simply and truthfully. She related how she and I were meeting with Jerry, Marina and Jed for lunch. How Jerry and Marina were on the floor and Jed was just finishing up in the bucket lift. How she heard the hose on the lift let go and saw it slowly start to come down. She told how Jerry had gone over to the lift to check it out. She mentioned how she was relieved when Marina told us about how the bucket would not fall.

She then paused as if it was hard to relive the rest of the events. She told us how she saw Jed being lifted out of the bucket. She described her confusion and then her fright. She reported hearing Jerry scream for Jed to hit the release on the safety latch.

I had a flash of insight. This was what they were worried about. They were concerned that some attorney would argue that Jerry caused the fall by telling Jed to unbuckle. That wasn’t true, of course. Jed would have certainly been crushed if he had been pulled into that opening. He would likely never have fallen if he hadn’t been confused and frightened and had done what Jerry said immediately.

Jane finished up, “And he fell and I heard him hit. Jerry and Marina rushed to him and the paramedics arrived and took him away.” I could see she was struggling with her composure as she stared in the distance, reliving that moment. “I’ll never forget that sound. It’s a miracle that he wasn’t hurt.”

The Colonel said “Thank you, Jane,” and then was quiet for some time to allow her to collect herself. Juliet Morgan touched her finger to the corner of her eye.

“Now Roger, please tell us in your own words what happened.”

I told essentially the same story as Jane. I only added that Jed had to unlatch the safety strap or be pulled into that place that was too small for him. I wanted them to understand that both Jerry and Jed had done what they had to do.

When I was done, the Colonel thanked me and then said to both of us, “I do appreciate you taking the time to come and tell us what you saw. It confirms what we knew, but we need to be careful so this type of thing doesn’t happen again.”

And with that he looked at Juliet Morgan and made a cutting movement with his hand across his throat. She nodded, picked up the tape recorder and seemed to turn it off. She rose, smiled at me, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

I looked at Jane and could see she was glad that this meeting was over. In unison, we started to stand when the Colonel said, “I’ve got a couple of questions, if you don’t mind.”

We slumped back into our chairs. What could this be about? We’d already told them everything.

“Roger, after Mr. Cunningham fell, Marina Gonzalez and Jerry Wu ran to his side and were trying to see how badly he was hurt. You and Jane were several feet away from them, but you almost immediately walked up and said something to Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Wu. They then moved away from Mr. Cunningham and you knelt beside him.

“Can you tell me what you said to them?”

I hadn’t expected this line of questioning at all. I remembered exactly that I had said to them, but why in the world would he want to know about that? I looked over at Juliet Morgan’s empty seat and then at the empty spot on the table where the recorder had been earlier.

“Why do you care about that?” I asked. “I just walked over due to instinct, I guess. I liked Jed and if I could have helped him, I would have. The paramedics arrived almost immediately and that’s all there is to it.”

The Colonel paused as if he needed a moment to dissect my sentences. In truth, I hadn’t answered his question. “Well, it’s strange, that’s all. All the people who work on that floor are trained in safety and all have at least basic first aid training. Jerry Wu had taken an advanced course. Marina and Jerry knew how to check for a pulse and see if he was breathing and do CPR if they thought that would help. I just wonder what you said that convinced them to almost instantly stop what they were doing and turn it over to you.”

I felt my level of nervousness go from mild concern to fearful confusion. I looked at Jane for help. She leaned forward in her chair and said, “Maybe we should take a break or something.”

I didn’t think that was going to get me out of this, and it didn’t. “Oh, we’re almost done. Just a couple more things.” I had a sudden mental picture of the detective Colombo grilling me.

“When you knelt beside Mr. Cunningham, did you touch him in any way?”

This was going from bad to worse. “Ah, I don’t really remember. I guess I might have. I just don’t know.” As always, my lying was done very poorly.

“How did you get blood on your hands?” I know I had a shocked expression on my face. How could he know that? He answered my unspoken question. “The paramedics saw the blood on your hands. But that’s another strange thing. They didn’t find any on the floor and Mr. Cunningham didn’t have any bleeding wounds.”

I felt a little like a trapped animal and I mentally cast about for some reasonable explanation. “They were just wrong. It must have been that hydraulic fluid. It had a red color.”

He stopped again as if to consider what I’d just said. He reached for a remote control that was sitting on the table and pointed it to large monitor that was mounted on the wall of the meeting room.

The monitor came to life and it showed a picture of the inside of the hangar where Jed had fallen.

“We have several cameras that record everything that goes on in that hangar. It’s full of expensive tools that could tempt thieves, so we always have a record if we need one. Here’s what was recorded on that day.”

He pressed a button and the video sprang to life. The camera was obviously a long way away from us as we were all very tiny figures on the screen. I saw Jed fall and I saw my reaction, but we were far away so no details were visible. There was no sound.

“I can’t tell much from that,” I said.

The Colonel didn’t hesitate. “This is a new hangar so it’s got the newest equipment in it. These are high def cameras.”

He pushed yet another button and now we looked at a nice close-up; Marina and Jerry were clearly shocked and distraught. Jane mouthed the word “NO!” I walked to them and said something and they instantly left me with Jed. The video then showed me put my left hand under his head and my right on his chest. I bowed my head and remained in that position for almost a minute. Jane turned as she heard the paramedics arrive.

They took over as Jane ran to embrace me. Even in the video, you could see she was crying deeply over what had happened.

The Colonel rewound to right after the fall and pushed some more buttons. The video was blown up even more so that my head filled the screen as I spoke to Marina and Jerry. I had said, “Let me help him,” and they had instantly moved out of my way.

That two second close-up played three more times at various speeds. Each time, I read my lips. “Let me help him,” said the Colonel. He had read them too.

Now the video moved away from a close-up of my face, to a close-up of Jed’s. It caught him just as he hit the floor. Jane gasped and looked away. It was terrible.

The back of his head was actually flat against the floor. It had obviously been crushed. A trickle of almost black blood seeped along the floor from the wound and a smaller one ran from his nose and down his chin. The blood was all the more shocking because of the bright, bluish lights in the hangar which made it seem almost alive as it left Jed. My left hand entered the picture and gently slid under his head. I remembered feeling how mushy it was. My right hand appeared on the screen and gently touched his chest. I bowed my head. The video showed that my eyes were closed.

After about a minute, I raised my head because I’d heard the paramedics arrive. I moved out of their way and momentarily blocked the camera. They quickly took my place as I moved aside, out of the shot. They were now blocking the camera from seeing Jed, but as they worked, we got a momentary look at him. The video paused there so we could see him.

There was no blood on the floor or his face. The back of his head was not flat, but was resting normally on the floor as if he’d lain down to take a nap.

The next shot was of Jane. She had flung herself to me and her face was against my chest. She was obviously crying and in the deepest despair. I put my hand on her head, and almost immediately she raised her head and looked right into my eyes. Her expression changed in an instant from the deepest grief to hope, and then something else. She continued to cry, but it was no longer a cry of pain, but of relief.

The Colonel froze the display with that look on her face and then turned off the monitor.

He put down the remote and turned to face us. “I’m sorry to ambush you like this. We just couldn’t think of any other way to let you know what we know. We’re running out of time and this seemed like the best way.” He sounded wistful.

“The best way for what?” said Jane. “So, you’ve got a video of us. It doesn’t show squat. All you see is exactly what we’ve said all along. The machine failed and spewed red fluid all over the place, Jed fell, the paramedics came, and he was found to be fine. Nothing else matters beyond that.”

The Colonel looked at her and nodded his head, “You’re right, Jane. That video only shows what you know happened already. The reason for me to show it to you is so you can see that we know a bit about it too.”

He touched a button on the phone that was on the table and Juliet Morgan answered, “Yes,” she said. “We’re ready,” is all he said.

We waited. I looked at Jane and shrugged. I really had no idea what was going on. Maybe there were setting me up to be the fall guy. But for what reason? I knew that Jed wasn’t going to sue anyone, so there was no reason to need a patsy. Were they so paranoid about a suit that they wanted to pin the blame on me before it even happened? I struggled with it, but couldn’t think of any reasonable answer. From the look on Jane’s face, she couldn’t either.

He could see we were concerned, so the Colonel said, “Don’t worry, my friends. We’re on the same side here.”

I just didn’t know what side that was.

At that time there was a commotion outside and the door to the conference room swung open. Evan Miller strode in like he owned the place which, of course, he did.

He looked like he had lost some weight since I’d seen him before. But he put on a smile when he saw Jane and went over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then shook her hand.

Without a word, he turned to me and walked around the table. I stood up to meet him. “Roger, thank you for coming,” he said. We shook and I felt sadness about him. He sat down and put a thick folder on the table in front of him.

The Colonel started. “They’ve seen the video. They’ve not been anxious to talk about anything beyond the fact that Jed Cunningham wasn’t injured in the fall.”

Evan Miller nodded his head to indicate he understood. His eyes were sunken and it took him a minute to seemingly gather his strength before he started.

“I know you are probably confused. Well, so are we.”

He stopped again like he’d forgotten why he was here. “I think I’ll just tell you the story and we’ll see where it takes us.”

He sighed deeply and then started. “I haven’t been spending a lot of time in the office lately, but I came in Monday morning because I needed to concentrate on something besides my personal problems.

“When I got here, my admin told me that an employee was waiting to see me. I’ve always had an open door policy, but normally when employees come to see me, one of my staff takes care of whatever they came for and I don’t personally see them. But this time, I was the only one he’d talk to. He said there was a big problem in the company and that it could cause us real damage. He said he absolutely had to talk to me personally.

“That sounded serious and my first thought was that someone was planning on blackmailing us. We’re a good and ethical company, but there are always things that can be seen the wrong way. I called the Colonel and asked him to be in the meeting. I’ve known him almost all my life and trust his judgment completely. If someone was going to try and extort money, I knew the Colonel would put them in their place and maybe get them arrested and charged with a crime.

“I think you know the employee who was asking to see me. It was Matt Shively.”

At first, I wondered if I had heard correctly. Matt? Our Matt? I looked at Jane and her eyes had narrowed. I think we’d both thought something was up with him, but I had no idea why that would lead him to Evan Miller.

“And he wasn’t alone. He had a minister with him, a Pastor Chuck Cleimer.”

It must have been my day for surprises.

“They had a very interesting story to tell. Pastor Chuck - that’s what he asked that we call him - claimed that our company had become the home for a new and possibly dangerous pseudo-religious cult. He’s the founder of a group that tracks and exposes these things. According to him, it happens often and usually ends badly for those who get caught up in them. There’s always a charismatic leader that is out for himself at the expense of his flock.

“Roger, Matt Shively named you as that leader and Jane as your second in command.

“Now I don’t know you very well Roger, but I’ve talked to Jane before and she doesn’t seem like the type to blindly follow some false prophet. Actually, she doesn’t seem like much of the following type at all.” He smiled at her. He obviously meant that as a compliment.

“I started to simply give them the boot, when Matt Shively said that you had the ability to get inside people’s heads and that you’d actually done it to him and others in the company. Now as crazy as that sounds, that could be some actual trouble. If Matt kept repeating that story, we might end up with dozens of employees that want to be put on some type of mental disability or want to sue. We’ve got thousands of people in the company; most are normal, decent folks, but we likely have some that are dishonest and are looking for a handout. Or we may have some that are so suggestible that they actually believe they’ve been harmed by their contact with Roger.

“I can tell you that I had no doubt that he was sincere and he actually thinks that you were doing something that is, at best, unnatural.

“But they weren’t done. Matt asked what we had found out about the accident with Jed Cunningham. Now that was a surprise. We knew all about it, of course, but I had no idea why they would bring it up at our meeting. As far as we knew, it was an accident that had luckily turned out very well with no one being hurt. We had already looked at the first video you saw and it just confirmed what everyone had said. So to us, this was a closed subject and it was a shock to hear it brought up by them.

“I told them basically that we were satisfied that we had lucked out and Matt smiled and laid this stack of documents in front of me. He told me I’d better read it before I got too comfortable with that belief. He explained that this was proof of everything he’d told me.

“Here’s what he gave me.”

He opened a folder and removed two reasonably thick stacks of documents. He gave one to me and one to Jane. On the first page was printed, “The Revelation of Brian A. Pearlmitter.”

I was shocked to say the least. Inside was the complete Revelation as we had it up to now. There were some of my notes. There were even the contributions that had been written by the members of the Connection. I saw the ones where Jed and Marina and Jerry gave their detailed descriptions of what had happened after the fall and how I had connected to them. There was one expressing wonder at the first time we all connected across hundreds of miles. It was all there. Everything.

Jane and I probably took a full five minutes to look through the stack of pages. We didn’t have time to read each one, but I had no doubt that everything that had been put on paper since the first visit of BP was there. The last entry was Jane’s speculation on the larger meaning of the act of connecting. The only thing missing was my own, private full narrative version of the Revelation.

I finished my scan and looked up at Jane. I was too shocked for words, but she said, “That email box that Matt set up for Bess. He stole this out of it.”

She said it in a sad way. I felt it too. Matt would never again be a friend that we could trust, and that loss hurt.

Evan Miller had made his point, so he continued his story, “After they gave me this large stack of paper, I told them I’d have to have some time to look at it and told them that I’d call them in a day or two.

“I really didn’t plan on doing that, but I wanted to get them out of my office. If there really was some cult operating in the company, the Colonel would handle it. I thought it all sounded totally crazy. That Pastor Chuck had hardly said a word, but he said goodbye to me like we were old friends and implied that he’d done me a favor. He made sure to exchange numbers with the Colonel.

“When they left, I looked through the documents. The first document I turned to was written by a woman named Marina Gonzalez. It told about seeing the blood coming from the crushed skull of Jed Cunningham after the fall. It told of her connecting to you in some manner and being assured that everything would be fine. She described how the blood disappeared when you, Roger, healed Jed and perhaps brought him back from the dead.”

He was getting to the end of his story now and he seemed to be losing his strength. The Colonel poured him a glass of water and put it in front of him and gave his shoulder a squeeze as if that would transfer some of his energy to his friend.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve not slept much the last few days.”

He gathered himself and went on, “Once I started, I couldn’t stop reading the document. It was such an amazing story and - from what I could tell - it seemed that you and Jane and the others all believed it to be true.

“That’s when I had an inspiration. I had one of our people enhance and zoom in on that video. We saw the crushed skull, the unbelievable horror of the scene. We’d never studied it in that detail before because there was no reason to.

“And that’s when we saw the miracle happen. Jed went from seriously hurt or dead, to being healed in seconds. There were eyewitnesses to this miracle, and with this video, I became one them. Those witnesses went on to join your group and become members of the Connection

He paused and took a deep breath. He looked from me to Jane and back to me again. Finally he spoke, “I want to do that too.”

He gazed at me unblinking for only a few seconds. Then his face seemed to dissolve into agony as he turned from us and wept.

His shoulders heaved and we could hear the depths of the sadness that was in him. It was an awful sound to hear coming from a living creature.

The Colonel kept his hand on his shoulder for support and looked to us, “It’s his ten year old son. He’s dying and probably has a few days, at most.”

Chapter Seventeen

I knew immediately what was happening to us. It all made sense now. Evan Miller loved his son and would probably do literally anything to help him; even grasp at the straw of asking me to heal him.

But it wasn’t such a flimsy straw, was it? He’d seen that video where Jed had gone from having a crushed skull to being healed in less than a minute. That was pretty powerful evidence that such healing was possible. So, I knew without a doubt what it was he wanted.

I just had no idea whether I could, or even should, do such a thing. It could be argued that I had “healed” Bess, and certainly it looked like I had done that with Jed in a much more dramatic fashion - and in full view of a high definition camera to boot.

But I still didn’t know how these things happened. Perhaps BP did it or maybe we all had to be connected just so and in some specific emotional state before it would happen. One thing I knew for sure, I needed to talk to BP and the rest of the Connection. But first I wanted to talk to Jane.

“We need a moment to talk,” I said to the Colonel. Without waiting for an answer, I stood and walked to a far corner of the room. Jane followed.

She didn’t need me to spell it out for her, “We’ve got to bring in the rest of the team on this. It’s too big. If you do this and succeed, our lives will likely never be the same again. If you do it and you fail, I think there’s a good likelihood of the same thing. If you don’t even try, then lord knows what the ramifications will be. I can’t see any way we can just return to our lives as if nothing had happened.”

I knew she was right. “You call them all and tell them what’s happened. I’ll try to find a private spot and then I’ll try and contact BP. Let’s meet after that.”

When we returned to the table, Evan Miller had himself back under control, but he didn’t look good at all. He seemed to have shrunk since he had come into the room. Before I could tell him what we wanted, he said, “Roger, I’m so sorry about ambushing you like this. It’s just that time is so short and we couldn’t spend precious hours trying to convince you that we believed you saved Jed Cunningham.

“And don’t think that I am assuming you’ll do this for me, even if you can. I read the testimony of those who were there. They all agree that you weren’t sure how it happened because it’s as new to you as it was to them. I know that it might not have been only you that worked that miracle, perhaps you were helped by that, that thing that talks to you - that BP.

“But I will ask; I’ll beg if I have to without hesitation. Jacob is my son and I would beg on my knees and give everything I have in this world if you could help him. I’d give everything if you’d just try.”

He paused and I thought for a moment he was going to lose it again, but he called on some inner reservoir of strength and continued, “And I . . . I’d give everything I have, if you’d just help me . . . so I could tell him goodbye.” His tears flowed freely again, but there was no sound.

I think I had cried more since BP came into my life than I had in the last ten years. But I couldn’t blame myself for how I felt now. His speech had to be the most heart wrenching thing I’d ever heard. I felt tears well up.

Jane took my hand and I looked at her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks from both eyes. At least I wasn’t the only one.

I reached out with my hand to put it on Evan Miller’s shoulder. The Colonel had been providing that support, but now he removed his hand and I took his place.

I felt myself connect to Jane in an instant. It took a moment longer for Evan Miller.

His level of sorrow and pain were so high that there was a shock when we made the connection. I felt it and so did Jane. I also knew that little Jacob was not only dying, but was dying in a painful and horrible way. It was tearing Evan Miller’s soul to shreds. I could feel it.

When Jed had fallen, I had felt a bit of this animal agony from Jane. Instinctively, I’d connected and helped her feel better almost instantly. But that was because I knew Jed would be alright. I didn’t know that about Jacob at all. I didn’t want to plant any false hope into him, so I let him feel that we cared about him and simply said, “I’ll do what I can do. It’s all I can promise right now.”

We were connected, so he knew what I meant. He knew I’d try, but that I had no idea what, if anything, I could do. It wasn’t much, but it was at least some hope to cling to. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude from him.

I broke the connection and looked at the Colonel. “Jane and I need private spots to make calls.” Evan Miller said to no one in particular, “My God.”

I didn’t have to say any more. He turned us over to Juliet Morgan and within a couple of minutes I was in an office and Jane was in one next door.

“BP, please come.” Calling him had become something of a habit that I had never expected to develop. BP’s visits tended to be impositions and yet here I was once again, calling for him to make an appearance.

Somehow he heard me, because in a matter of seconds I felt his presence in my head.

Before he could ask me if I was ready to receive the next part of his Revelation, I blurted out what I had to say. “You told me that the members of the Connection would likely be the people who would begin to fulfill the destiny of humanity. I think we all believed you when you said that, but we’re only nine normal people and that’s not a lot. Well, one of the richest and most powerful human beings on the planet is less than fifty feet from us right now and he wants to become a member of the group.”

For once, BP seemed to be the one who was stunned at what he heard. “Tell me what has happened,” was all he said.

I gave him a complete report. I told him about being questioned about the fall; about the camera and what it showed, and about Matt’s betrayal. I told him that Evan Miller was desperate for help and that he believed what he saw on that recording and read in the Revelation.

I gave him the whole story and it took a while. When I was done with the telling, I asked him the question that had been bothering me since it happened:

“When Jed was healed, did you do that? Or was it a combination of you and me?”

BP answered this immediately. “Roger, you know I have no ability to physically alter things in this universe. Even when I released the first life on this planet, I did it by making sure it was compatible with the planet. I didn’t change the planet to be compatible with the life.

“I didn’t heal Jed or relieve Bess of her anger or make you love the other members of the group. You have done all those things as your abilities have increased. True, your contacts with me may have helped you capabilities blossom, but they are your abilities, not mine.

“You have asked me several times why I chose you and I couldn’t answer fully because you didn’t know enough for my answer to make sense. But I chose you after a frightfully long search because you had the ability to connect with me and hear me. I can implant a wish or a basic desire in humans like I did to get those orders for Allen. Or I can make them feel calm like I did with you on that first night. But that kind of primitive connecting isn’t nearly sufficient for me to impart my Revelation to a human. Most humans have that type of primitive ability, but I had to find someone advanced enough to make an actual connection that would allow real and complex communications.

“I searched for millennia for someone who could receive my Revelation and act on it. Over the last few thousand years, I did find a very few people that I could connect with, but they could not understand my message. They tried to understand what I revealed to them, but it was through the prism of their own ignorance and it just did not work. They could understand my words, but the concepts were just too advanced for their level of knowledge. I could explain, for example, how other planets in the Universe are barren, lifeless, and inhospitable with burning or freezing temperatures, but they could only picture their own planet reduced to a frozen or burning state. It was quite frustrating and so I continued to search.

“Eventually, I did find you. It almost came too late, but you have been more than I could have ever dreamed you would be. You have accepted every challenge and I think you are prepared to move on.

“The first part of my Revelation has been about you - about humanity and its place in the universe. The next part will be about me. It will help explain many things and will make it clear what I can do and what I cannot.

“Roger, I cannot heal that child and I don’t know if you can. But I will gladly accept your decision and will be there when you try. If there is some type of amplifying effect when we are connected, then I will be glad to help if you want it. I don’t think there is though. I think you are doing these things on your own.”

I had to give it to him. He hadn’t said one word about Evan Miller even though he could easily be a big help in whatever lay ahead for us. Instead, he finally explained why he’d chosen me, a nobody, living an anonymous life. So I was special and I was the one who was responsible for the strange things that were happening to us. It made sense. He always said he could only connect to me and me alone. And that any of the others could only connect to him through me. I suddenly saw the truth. He was only giving me his Revelation and was responsible for nothing else. I had put together the Connection, healed people, and lead this group to the point we were at now. That was all me, not him.

I felt very much alone even with him in my head.

“Thank you,” I said. I meant it. I understood much more now. It was up to me.

“I will do what I can for Jacob.” I had made the decision. I prayed it was the right one.

I felt him leave my head and settle on my shoulder. For once I was happy to have him around. I left the office and found Jane already back in the meeting room. Neither Evan Miller nor the Colonel was there. I looked at question at her. Lately it seemed we often didn’t have to speak to know what the other was thinking.

“He is asleep on a couch in another office. Roger, I can’t believe what happened. I touched him and connected. I didn’t plan on it or even try. I think it was because he was so emotionally distraught and somehow that makes it easier. I took his hand to give him some strength and, well, it just happened. I felt his extreme fragility and weakness. It was just like when you connect to me. He felt me and I suggested he rest. The Colonel said Evan’s had someone with him at all times since Monday and that he’s not slept. It was like he just realized that sleep was needed when I suggested it. The Colonel took him and before the connection was broken, I could tell he felt genuine gratitude to us.

“I thought I might be able to connect without you at some point, but it’s both exciting and terrifying at the same time. I don’t know what to think about it.”

“Well, you can join the club on that point,” I said as I took her hand. I needed some of that strength too. I told her all about what BP had said. I held nothing back. I was long past that with her.

When I was done, I asked her how the other members of the Connection had reacted to our news.

“They were confused, of course. I lived it and still can’t believe what’s happened. Anyway, Bess is on her way over here and all the others support you in whatever you decide. April had a personal message for you. She said, “You tell Roger to do whatever he can do for that poor child. Tell him to forget about anything else.”

It was such simple, human and good advice. “Such people,” I thought.

Just at that time, the Colonel returned. “He needs some rest,” is all he said. He collapsed into a chair. He looked like he could use some too.

Jane looked at me and I nodded. “Tell us about Jacob,” she said.

For the first time, I saw the Colonel struggle with his composure as that question seemed to make him almost physically flinch.

He went over to the coffee pot and poured a cup. I wondered how many he’d had in the last few days. He started to talk.

“Three years ago, Jacob was a normal second grade boy. He loved to be outside and loved to play baseball. He did well in school and was smart - real smart like his dad. His mother died when he was a little over a year old, so he really didn’t remember her. But his dad made up for it. He made sure that Jacob was going to grow up ‘normal’ as Evan called it. He didn’t have a nanny or anything and Evan packed his lunch in the morning and picked him up at school most afternoons. He played catch with him on many days. He stopped almost all traveling with the company and turned over most of his responsibilities to his people.

“One day, Evan was playing catch with him. They hadn’t played in a few days. Jacob was good at catching the ball, even at seven. And he could return it with some zip. But that day, something was different. He missed a whole bunch of balls and his return throws barely covered the distance between them.

“Evan asked him what was wrong as it was obvious the boy wasn’t normal. He said, “I don’t feel right, Dad.” He took a step towards his father and fell down.

“Evan called 911 and Jacob was taken to the emergency room. By the time they arrived, he seemed more like himself. He walked and moved normally. All the tests they did were normal. The doctor in charge wasn’t satisfied and so admitted him for more tests.

“They did an MRI to look for lesions on the brain. They checked for muscular dystrophy. They did test after test and eliminated problem after problem. Eventually, they did a blood test that came back abnormal. That test measured the amount of activity of an enzyme called GAA in the body. In Jacob’s case, it was only about five percent of normal. That led to a real diagnosis of the problem; he had Pompe Disease.

“I can see you have never heard of it. Thankfully few people have. About thirty kids are born with it a year in the US. It’s a genetic disease.

“And it’s an awful one. Most infants live less than a year without treatment and often die very young even with it. Others, like Jacob, who are diagnosed with it at a later age, may live longer, but the disease, once it starts, is relentlessly progressive and frequently leads to an early death.

“The disease interferes with the muscles so that they stop working in the correct way. Kids with it often lose the ability to walk, control their limbs and even use of their muscles to breathe. It can affect the heart muscle too, but that hasn’t happened with Jacob.”

He paused to take another sip of coffee and gather his strength

“Evan Miller is a man of action. He contacted every expert in the world on this disease. He flew in a few to examine Jacob. He built a complete clinic in his home equipped with anything that might possibly be needed to treat Jacob.

“There was a relatively new drug that was on the market that had helped people with this disease. It costs $300,000 per year. All the doctors recommended Jacob start on it immediately and, of course, he did. It seemed to really help - so much so that he went back to school and was able to resume an almost normal life.

“By the way, no one knows this but me. Evan made a deal with the company that makes this drug. Anytime there is child who needs it and can’t get it because of money, Evan pays the company for it. I know because I arrange the payments so they can’t be traced back to him. Last year, it was over fifteen million dollars.

“A couple of months ago, Jacob got worse, much worse. When this disease goes on the attack, it is quite devastating. The best doctors available tried everything they could think of, but they only managed to slow it down. Over time, Jacob lost the ability to walk and his speech was affected. His scapula bones started to protrude from his back like wings. His spinal column was no longer straight. But he was in no pain and mentally he was normal, so we could still communicate with him. I think he knew his time was short and he always put on a brave face for his dad.

“Monday afternoon, his doctors gave us awful news. His problems had become painful and you could see it in his eyes. It broke my heart as I saw that brave little guy trying to hold on just a little longer, hoping his dad could do something. Then he could no longer breathe and they put him on a ventilator.

“The doctors started giving him pain medication which made him sleep. They told Evan that the time had come - that the disease was in its final stage and that he should prepare himself to ‘discontinue treatment.’

“But just that morning he had read your document. We looked at the video and he was convinced you had healed Mr. Cunningham. I guess I was convinced too.”

Again he stopped, but this time he just looked at us. I pictured that poor little boy in his bed, unconscious and ready to die. It was almost too much. I realized I was squeezing Jane’s hand hard. She hadn’t complained at all.

The Colonel was a man of action too. “What would you like to do?” he said.

I thought in my mind, “What would I like to do? Why, I’d like to go back to my little cubicle and surf the net. I’d like to release myself from the responsibility for the futures of all my friends. I’d like to not have the life of Jacob Miller resting on my shoulders. I’d like to give this burden to someone else. That’s what I’d like to do.”

But I didn’t say that out loud. I knew I was whining and that, ready or not, I had to do what was right. At that moment, I wondered at how I had matured from the lazy, selfish, unthinking guy I’d been just a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure it was an improvement.

“When can I see him?” I said.

Chapter Eighteen

The Colonel looked at the ceiling as he seemed to consider how to answer my question, “Let’s give Evan a chance to rest for a few hours. I just talked to the doctors and Jacob is stable and likely to be that way for a day or a week. They just don’t know. They’ve got him connected to so many machines; they could probably keep him alive for some time.”

That didn’t sound like some great medical miracle. It sounded more like torture. “If we wanted to see Jacob now, how long would it take to get there?”

The Colonel wasn’t expecting that question. I could see him doing the mental calculation, “It would only take about ten minutes to get there if traffic cooperates. But it would be best to wait for Evan, wouldn’t it?”

I looked at Jane. “What do you think?”

She understood exactly what I was thinking. “Roger is concerned about what would happen if he can’t do anything for the boy. It might be better to know that ahead of time. We have no idea how or even if this might work and Evan seems pretty fragile right now. If we could see Jacob, we might know enough to help Evan get through whatever lies ahead.”

She said it in a gentle voice, but her words carried a lot truth. I didn’t want to have to look up with Evan right there in the room with his son and try to explain to him what I could or couldn’t do. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see Jacob before his dad woke up. I felt BP enter my head again and he said only one word, “Yes.” That finalized my decision.

“Come on Colonel, let’s go,” I said. I knew I was putting him in a bad position of having to choose between doing what his friend would probably want and what I was demanding, but somehow I knew this was the right thing to do. A couple of days ago, he hadn’t known me from Adam, but now he’d seen me heal a horribly injured fellow human being. He’d seen the effect I’d had on Evan Miller. He’d read the Revelation. He chose to go along with my decision. I wondered at the fact that powerful people were following my wishes.

He stood up and led us back to the hall. He asked Juliet Morgan to tell Evan that we would be back shortly if he woke up. He suggested that she let him sleep as long as he could. There was a man sitting in a chair outside the room where Evan Miller was sleeping and the Colonel gave him the same instructions in whispered tones.

We went downstairs and a large black SUV was waiting. The Colonel talked to the driver as we slipped into the back seat. There was dark glass separating us from the front. Jane got in first and I slid in beside her. I was getting really worried about what we’d find when we got there. The Colonel joined us and we took off.

We almost literally did that as the driver must have been told to really punch it. Taxis sometimes drove like this, as he was really whipping this three ton behemoth around. We screeched to a stop about six minutes later.

The driver double parked while we got out and then drove away. We were in a residential block made up of apartment buildings and what were probably private homes. All the buildings were old, but they looked like they had all been updated with fully modern windows and doors. It was definitely an expensive neighborhood.

The Colonel led us to a six story building. It was one of the smallest buildings on the block and was connected to an eight story building on one side and an even taller one on the other. It was typical of a city apartment building that would have cost at least a few million and perhaps a lot more. He pushed some numbers on a shiny brass keypad and the door clicked open. He led us inside. It had a nicely decorated entranceway with a long hallway and doors on both sides. It looked normal inside except that there was a small desk where a guard sat surrounded by several video monitors. Evan Miller was a billionaire, so even though the house had fancy locks and probably had a state of the art security system, there were live human guards looking over him and whoever else lived there.

The Colonel nodded to the guard and led us down a flight of steps so that we entered an area that appeared to be new construction. It was modern and spare. The Colonel held his hand up for us to wait and opened a door. I could see a nurse sitting at a small desk inside. She was reading a book. The Colonel quietly spoke to her for a few seconds until she rose and left the room. He motioned for us to enter.

It was then that I got my first look at Jacob Miller. It was a shock. He was a small boy, probably no more than fifty pounds, lying on a hospital bed surrounded by machines of every type. The room was kept very warm by those machines. He wasn’t covered by a blanket and wore only a hospital gown which allowed me to see the full ravages of his disease. I could see his legs were bent and his arms too. His chest rose and fell in rhythm with a machine that provided air through a tube that was inserted in his throat. His fingers had curled into claws and his back was curved as he lay on his side. His scapula bones did look like wings as they thrust out of his back.

Various IV bottles hung from a spider web of supports all around bed. Tubes ran from them to sites on his arms and legs that were covered in tape. Cables ran from sensors on his skin to machines that displayed text or graphics or both. Everything about this poor child was being monitored. There was a series of sounds; all coming from the machines. There was the thump of the ventilator that provided Jacob breath. There was the whirring of some other machine I couldn’t identify and there was a high pitched electronic sound. I imagined that this would be what it sounded like if you lived inside a computer.

I heard Jane catch her breath and reach for my arm for support. We connected. She was feeling shock combined with a small measure of anger.

I wasn’t feeling that at all. In fact, I was feeling calm. If I could help this boy, I wanted to do it. I wanted to help him in the worst way.

I felt the pressure on my shoulder go away as BP entered my brain. Jane felt it too.

“It’s time, my son,” he said.

I reached out and touched the hand of Jacob Miller. It felt thin and weak, as if the bones inside would snap if I wasn’t careful.

BP, Jane and I connected to him almost before my hand touched his. I was a bit surprised, but I guessed that his condition and my emotional state made it easy.

At first, I was disoriented. I couldn’t really make out much of anything due to the darkness. Actually, I could see something, but everything was the same everywhere I looked. It was like being in a featureless, heavily shadowed room.

And then I found Jacob. He was a long way away, but he was there. I could feel his uncertainly, but I could also feel his curiosity, his questioning spirit, his strength. I looked all around him and saw that he was surrounded by dark things that were close by, but not touching him. They were everywhere. I willed them to move away from him and they did, but when I stopped, they started to slowly creep back towards him.

I realized at that moment that I couldn’t save him. This disease was genetic. It wasn’t something that was broken that I could perhaps repair. It wasn’t an outside influence that had taken up residence inside him. It was part of him; part of every cell in his body.

I could push it away, but I knew that it would return in a few hours or a few days. I was pretty sure that Jacob would improve enough to talk and at least say goodbye. But I knew it wouldn’t last long. It just wasn’t enough.

I had failed. I felt Jane’s concern for him but now also for me. She wanted me to be able to help Jacob, but she knew I might not be able to. Now, her concern was directed at me. I felt her support and her love.

I heard BP speak, “Push those things away from him just a bit more. He’s close to the end. That will help him and then we need to talk.”

I did as he suggested. I pushed those things away so that they weren’t so close to Jacob. I was certain that his doctors would notice some improvement. I was also certain that it wouldn’t last long.

When I was about to break the connection with him, I felt Jacob rest more comfortably. It was all I could do.

BP spoke up again, “He will be better for a least a couple of days. I would suggest you get the rest of the Connection here and that we have the next part of the Revelation in this room; all of us, including Evan Miller.”

I felt a surge of hope from Jane. Was he about to perform a miracle?

BP felt it too and was quick to let us know not to expect such a thing. “No one can save this child by curing him or healing him. But the next part of my Revelation will offer some hope for him. Please make the arrangements and let’s do it in the next two days. This child needs us.”

And then he was gone.

On the way back to the office, neither Jane nor I felt like talking, but the Colonel was insistent that we tell him what happened. He knew from our demeanor that the news wasn’t going to be good, but he wanted to know anyway.

Thankfully Jane told him everything. I was just too mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“Roger can’t heal him the way he did Jed. This is not an injury; it’s a disease that’s just too much a part of him. The best Roger could do is push it back. He did that, but it will return soon. He made Jacob a bit better just now, and that will probably help him to return to consciousness and be comfortable for a short while without the need for a respirator, but the improvement won’t last long. The disease will return and in the end, it will win.”

She paused to let that sink in, and then she told him about what BP had said about having the next part of the Revelation in the same room with Jacob and about having it with all the members of the Connection physically present.

The Colonel sat in silence as he processed all that Jane had told him. When he spoke, it wasn’t about his disappointment; it was about a much more practical matter, “Are you planning on bringing up the others?”

After what BP had said, there was no question about that. “Yes, I think we need to make that happen. I’ll call down there and ask them all to fly up here. It’ll probably take a day or so to make the arrangements.” I had just thought of their jobs. “Can you arrange time off for them? They probably just can’t drop everything on this short notice.” I knew my brothers and sisters would all come if I asked, but they had lives and livelihoods to consider as well. I sure didn’t want to get them fired.

The Colonel didn’t have to think about this one. “I’d suggest you call and tell them to get ready. I’ll have a company jet pick them up later tonight if I can. We’ll have to see what’s available and find out how long it’ll take to get down there.

“And tell them to not worry about their jobs. As of now, they’re on special assignment. I’m not sure if they are company employees or if they work for some subcontractor, but it doesn’t matter. It’ll be taken care of.”

By that time, the SUV had returned us to the company building and we went back up to the executive floor with the Colonel leading the way. Evan Miller was still asleep and I was relieved at that. After all I’d been through today, my nerves were in shreds and I wanted some time to come to grips with all that had happened before I had to tell him that I couldn’t heal his son.

We went back into the meeting room and The Colonel motioned for Juliet Morgan to join us. When we entered, we found Allen and Bess there waiting for us. I was so glad to see them and I know Jane was too because she beat me to them. We hugged and I think they could tell from our demeanor that things hadn’t gone well. I was sure that Juliet had filled them in on what we had been doing. She introduced them to the Colonel. I knew they had questions, but I asked them to wait until the Colonel was done.

Juliet was the last to take a seat at the table. She flipped open her notepad. She crossed her legs and waited for the Colonel to explain what he wanted. “We need to get a plane down there to pick up the rest of the team. You know who they are from the Revelation. See if we can get one of our jets, but if there’s not one available by first thing tomorrow at the latest, then just charter one.

“Also, find out who those people work for. If they work for us, then put them on special assignment here. If they work for some other company, talk to them and get them released to us temporarily. I don’t care what it costs.”

The Colonel looked at Jane and me as if to say, “anything else?” Jane spoke up, “Shannon and Jerry Wu have two kids. I don’t know if they have anyone to leave them with.” Even though we had experienced the most amazing closeness with all the members of the team, we had only known then for a short while and we didn’t know about their childcare arrangements.

The Colonel was decisive, “When you talk to them, let them know they can bring the kids if they want. All expenses are on us and we’ll make sure they are taken care of. If they have grandparents or someone down there to leave them with, that’s up to them. If they don’t want to bring them, I can have a security crew watch over them with male and female operatives in . . . how long?” He paused and looked at Juliet.

“Two hours,” she said.

After that, we sat in silence waiting for someone to think of something else. Juliet Morgan closed her note pad and looked at me. She had been all business until now. I was amazed at the confidence the Colonel showed in her. After all, he’d just asked her to get a plane dispatched and to find a way to get people released from their jobs. These had to be complex tasks and yet he seemed completely confident that he only had to tell her what was needed and that she’d get it done. She had no questions about what she was to do.

But she had also been aware of our somber mood and now worry showed on her face. She said, “Does this mean we can’t help Jacob?” She had large eyes, spaced wide apart. A single tear ran down her cheek from one of them. She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes.

I felt a stab of guilt as if the failure was solely mine. Jane took my hand and sniffled. My eyes got watery too as I pictured that poor little boy lying in that awful bed. The tears seemed to be contagious.

“I . . . I can’t cure him,” I said. “But BP was there and he asked that we continue the Revelation in that room as soon as possible. He implied that it would offer some hope for Jacob, but he also said not to expect a cure. I don’t know what he meant, but hope is hope, and it’s all we’ve got right now. That’s why we need everyone here and quickly. I was able to make him slightly better, but it won’t last.”

That single tear on her face was joined by a twin from the other eye. I heard her sob but I didn’t see her lips move. That was because it wasn’t her that had sobbed.

I looked up and saw Evan Miller. He had been standing at the door and had heard what I just told Juliet. He was holding onto the door jamb for support as I saw his knees buckle. The Colonel raced to him, but Juliet beat him to Evan. They embraced as they wept together.

I started to get up and connect with them to provide them with some comfort, but Jane took my arm and leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Leave them alone to grieve. You can’t keep them from it forever. Give them a few minutes.”

It was good advice. I suspected that Evan Miller’s reservoir of tears was running low right now, so he regained control in only a couple of minutes. Juliet sat him down in a chair at the table and got him a coffee. She leaned over and whispered something into his ear. He nodded his head, “Yes.” I didn’t hear what she said to him.

She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes again and said, “I’ve got some work to do,” as she strode off to her desk. Evan Miller took a couple of sips of the coffee and it seemed to give him some strength.

“Tell me about this hope,” he said.

We spent the next half hour talking about what BP had said. We dissected it from every angle we could think of. But in the end it became clear that none of us knew what BP meant by “hope.” Evan asked me several different ways what I thought and then turned to Jane as if she might know something more, but just didn’t feel like talking about it. He was desperate and we all understood.

The Colonel listened carefully as our discussion wandered without result and finally took charge, “We’re not getting anywhere here. The best thing is to get your friends up here and have that next session with that BP creature. By the way, did you try and contact this BP - I just can’t get used to calling him that - did you make contact with him again?”

I actually had tried, but without success. “He’s not answering. He might be around or he might not, but he will never discuss the Revelation except when he wants to, and especially will never talk about any part of it out of order. But you’re right, the sooner we get our friends here, the sooner we’ll know what he meant.”

I looked at my phone for the time. “It’s afternoon already. Do you think we should go ahead and call them?” My question was directed at Jane.

She looked at her phone as if she was trying to decide. “I’ve been waiting to see what the arrangements are. I wanted to tell them where to meet the plane, what time it would leave, you know. And I wanted to let them know that their jobs are secure. I’m sure I’ll be able to get them quickly. I just texted all of them and got replies, so they’re on standby right now. I told them something was up and that we’d fill them in as soon as we could. They know about Jacob and about how important this is, so there’s no need to worry about them. They’ll come as soon as we let them know they’re needed.”

She was on top of things as usual. There wasn’t anything else to do but wait. We sat in silence. Bess was holding her dad’s hand. Allen stared at the table.

We didn’t have to wait long. Juliet Morgan opened the door and took a seat at the table. She flipped up her notepad and adjusted her glasses. “I couldn’t get any plane for tonight. It’s just too late. Our planes are all too far away. I checked charters and all of them are booked or their planes are returning with pilots who have used up their allotted amount of time that they can fly today. The best I can do is get one of our G450s in there early tomorrow. They would be able to leave at about nine and be here after noon. It seats eleven and I told them to expect five or seven. I’ll arrange to have your friends picked up about eight and taken to the correct area of the airport.”

“I also got them assigned to us here. The company they work for is a subsidiary of ours, but it still took a bit of pushing to get them to understand what I was telling them. Anyway, I managed to persuade them that it would be best to listen to me and so your friends don’t have to worry about reporting for work.”

She looked at Jane, “I know you need to call them. I can set up a conference call if you’ll provide the numbers. You can talk to them privately or on the speakerphone in here.”

Jane went with Juliet to give her the numbers. She returned in only a couple of minutes. “She’s getting them all conferenced in,” she said. Jane had decided to put them on the speaker.

Soon, the phone in the center of the conference table rang and before anyone answered it, Juliet came in and pressed the button on it herself. She sat down. “Mr. and Mrs. Wu, Ms. Gonzalez, Mr. Cunningham, and Ms. Johnson, you are conferenced with Mr. Miller, Colonel Stout, Ms. Mitchell, Ms. Morgan, Mr. Olman, Ms. Bess Olman, and Mr. Seaton.

She did it all from memory, without a stutter or pause.

Jane took over and explained our plan. She told them what we knew about Jacob and what BP had said about meeting here for the next part of the Revelation. She told them that Juliet had arranged for a private jet to bring them up here in the morning and that their jobs had been taken care of. She told Jerry and Shannon that they were welcome to bring the kids or that we’d make arrangements for them.

When she finished, she paused and simply asked, “So, can you come?”

Shannon Wu spoke for the group, “Everyone here will come of course, and we’d like to have the kids with us. But where will we stay and how long will we be there? We need to know how much to pack.”

It was a good point. Juliet spoke up, “This is Juliet Morgan. We have an apartment building where Jane and Roger went today. We bought it to offer housing for people visiting the company from overseas, but it’s largely empty now. It has twelve fully furnished apartments including a three bedroom unit for the Wu family. We would like to invite you to stay there.

“As for packing, I would suggest you bring enough for only a couple of days. I don’t want you to stress with packing on such short notice. Whatever you need, I will arrange to have delivered to you here. Please don’t worry about these details; I’ll take care of everything to make your stay as pleasant as it can be.

“I will text each of you a confirmation of the trip tomorrow. A vehicle will pick each of you up in the morning. I don’t know what time it will be yet, but I’ll make it as late as I can so that you arrive at the airport around nine a.m. I’ll need the addresses where you want to be picked up, so please text them to me.

“Is there anything else you require for the trip? Any special meals? Any allergies or medical issues? Any commitments at home I can help you with?

I looked at Jane. She smiled in appreciation of the job Juliet had done.

We waited in silence for a few seconds, but no one spoke up with any issues. Evan Miller had been staring at the same part of the table as Allen, but now he raised his head and spoke.

“This is Evan Miller,” he said. He choked on his last name and Juliet took his hand to give him strength. I had a sudden inspiration; Juliet and Evan were married or were at least a committed couple. I looked my surprise at Jane and she rolled her eyes at me as if to say, “Yeah, dummy. That was obvious hours ago.”

Well, it wasn’t obvious to me.

“I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for dropping everything and making the trip up here. Juliet and I and Colonel Stout appreciate it more than you can possibly know.

“The last couple of months have been, to say the least, stressful for us all. But during all that time, Jacob smiled and did his best to make all of us feel better. Looking back, I’m sure he knew his time was short, but he never showed fear or seemed to feel sorry for himself. He always had a brave word for us as if he felt a responsibility to make our sadness more bearable.

“This morning, I told Roger that I would give everything I had in order to be able to tell my son goodbye. Because of you, as members of the Connection, I now feel I’ll be able to do that and I will be eternally grateful for the chance. But I want you to know that regardless of how things turn out, Juliet and I have talked about it and we would like to join your group - if you will have us. What is happening here with all of you is important. I feel that in my bones. And I feel that we will have some role to play in what is to come - at least I hope we will.”

I looked around the table. Allen, Bess and Jane all signaled that they would be glad to have Evan and Juliet join the Connection. I spoke to the speakerphone, “All of us here are in favor of welcoming Evan and Juliet as our newest brother and sister. How do the rest of you feel?”

It only took a second before Shannon spoke, “Everyone here is smiling and wiping their eyes at the same time. We’d love to have them.”

Bess reached out and took Evan’s hand and we all reached for each other. All except the Colonel, who was at the end of the table. I connected to them all without difficulty; even Juliet, who had never experienced it before.

I had the idea to try and connect to our friends down south. I knew how to do it by this time, but try as I might, I couldn’t quite make the connection. I knew I was close, but I just wasn’t accomplished enough yet.

But I could feel each and every member on this end and they could feel each other. It felt good to not be alone. “Evan and Juliet,” I said, “Welcome to the Connection.”

Chapter Nineteen

The last time we had added members, it had been a joyous occasion. We were happy to have Juliet and Evan, but all of us were also subdued since we knew what lay ahead of us.

Still, we enjoyed a rare moment of at least calm in what had been a very stressful day as Juliet and Evan got handshakes and hugs.

Allen asked the question that was on all our minds. “Colonel, why didn’t you join?”

He looked at Evan and then said, “We talked about it and maybe one day I will if you’ll have me. But for now, I think that it might be good to have someone on the outside who has never been connected to any of you. I don’t know exactly how that might be helpful, but I just have a gut feeling that it might be. I’ll still be available to do whatever needs to be done, but as an outsider, not one of the group, at least until we know more about where this is heading.”

That made sense, but I had the distinct impression that there was more to it than that. As an outsider, his allegiance was most certainly to Evan Miller first. If he saw that we were some weird cult bent on self destruction, he could use his initiative, unclouded by having been connected to us, to rescue Evan from our clutches. I realized that the Colonel was a very smart man. I also realized that Even and Juliet knew nothing of this; I would have felt it when we connected.

Or I could be wrong. Still, I promised myself that I’d keep an eye on the Colonel.

Juliet looked at her phone. “I have all their addresses. I need to make the arrangements to have them picked up in the morning.”

She stood up and went to the door, but paused. “I know it’s been a long and trying day, but I wonder if you all would like to spend the night in the apartment building? There are plenty of units available. Maybe I’m still feeling the effects of that amazing connection thing, but I’d really love to spend some time together and the prospect of us going back to our house alone just seems like a burden right now.”

I thought of spending the night alone in my apartment and that didn’t sound so good either. I knew I’d just toss and turn with worry over what might happen tomorrow. I looked at Jane, Bess and Allen, “I’m game if you are.”

“We’ll have to go to our places and pack some stuff. That’ll take a while.” I didn’t get the impression that Jane was against the idea, she just wanted to think it through.

Juliet said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll have a car take you all to your places and pick you up a short while later.”

And so that’s what we did. Allen and Bess were dispatched in one car and Jane and I in another. We were on the way to her place when her phone rang. She looked at the display and shielded it from me, but I caught a glimpse and knew it was from Jed. She only said a few words and then she hung up. I looked a question at her and she snapped, “Mind your own business” and turned away to stare out the window.

Just then my phone rang and that picture of Marina came up. Jane looked over and I made sure she could see it. I don’t know why I did that; I guess I was a little mad at her for snapping at me. After all we’d been through today, we were both on edge.

“Hi,” I said in my most huggable voice. Jane could hear me, but she couldn’t hear Marina.

I don’t think Marina noticed how huggable I sounded since she was all business, “Roger, I’m looking forward to seeing you, but I just wish it was under some other circumstances. With all that’s happened, we forgot to ask if you were planning our session with BP for tomorrow night? Everyone here is on pins and needles and would like to know.”

I replied, “Yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Okay, then. I’ve got to go pack. I’ll let the others know. See you soon.”

“You too,” I said and hung up. Jane stared daggers at me.

I was a bit peeved with Jane, so I said, “She just wanted to know what to wear.”

“Tell her to wear that bathing suit. You seemed to like it before.” She turned and looked out the glass again. I could feel the frost all the way over to my side of the car. I realized we were having a fight.

When we got to her apartment building, she opened the door and got out. “Want me to come up?” I asked.

“No,” she snapped and slammed the door. I watched her as she strode into the building. I caught the eyes of the driver looking at me in the rearview mirror. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “Women. Who understands them?”

Not me, for sure.

We waited for twenty minutes until she came back down. She had changed into a jeans skirt and tank top. It was hot outside and she was dressed for it. Normally, I would have complimented her, but now I thought better of it. She tossed a smallish bag into the car and slid in with it between her and me. She crossed her legs and looked straight ahead.

We rode in silence to my place. It was cool enough in the car to need a sweater, but not because of the temperature.

I looked straight ahead too. It was unfair for her to be mad at me. I was getting more steamed by the minute. It took several of them to get to my place and when we did, I didn’t say a word. I just got out, gave the car door an extra hard slam and walked to my building. Two could play this game.

Just as I got to the entrance to the building, I heard a car door close behind me. I didn’t turn around, but I knew Jane had decided to join me. I didn’t care. If she thought she could give me the cold shoulder, then she’d learn how cold ice really could be.

I heard the sound of flip flops coming up behind me as I waited for the elevator. Why couldn’t that machine ever just be waiting? By the time the door opened to the elevator, she had caught up with me and we entered together.

I pressed “16” and the door closed. I turned to look at her. If she could shoot daggers with her eyes, then I could shoot sparks from mine. I prepared to turn on the spark machine. That would show her.

But when I looked at her my heart melted in about a half second. I couldn’t remember why I was mad at her. I could only remember how much I loved and respected my sister. I reached for her and she flung herself into my arms.

Just at that time the elevator door opened and one of my neighbors was waiting to go down. “At least wait until you’re in your apartment,” he said as he got on and we got off, arm in arm.

We did wait until we got inside. We sat on my couch and turned to look at each other.

“Jane, what’s the matter? I know something is bothering you. You hate it when I’m too embarrassed or just too stubborn to tell you everything. You finally got me to understand that it’s best to be totally honest with you. But now you’re holding something back. I know you are. So stop being cute and tell me what it is. I’ll help if I can.”

She smiled when I said she was being cute. She’d accused me of that sin at least a hundred times and now she was the guilty party.

The smile didn’t last long. She had made up her mind to go ahead and level with me. “It’s Jed. He asked me to marry him and I haven’t given him an answer. I love him - I know that for certain - but I’m just not sure if I want to be married to him. I love you and Allen and I loved Matt too. I even love Bess and Marina and April. I just bubbling over with love, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of love that Jed expects and deserves.”

I felt for her, “So that’s why you’ve been down lately. Good lord, Jane, anyone would be down with all we’ve been through and with what lies ahead. Jed will understand that. Just tell him the truth. I’m sure he’ll wait for you long enough for you to make up your mind. He doesn’t seem like the type to propose to every filly that catches his eye.” I said that in my Texas accent and it made her smile.

Without saying a word, she reached into her purse and handed me a folded card. I recognized it as the card that Jed had given her when we left them. I’d seen it on the plane, but she had made sure I couldn’t read it. Now she wanted me to read what it said. I unfolded it. There was writing in a surprisingly good script.

My dearest Jane.

I realize something special happened while you were down here. I know that you and Roger somehow saved me from dying. That was amazing, and I’m grateful for it; but that wasn’t the really special thing.

What was special was connecting with you and realizing almost instantly just how much you and I are alike and also realizing almost instantly that I will love you forever and that I want to marry you and spend my life with you.

I know you can’t give me an answer now and that you may never give me the answer that I want, but that’s okay. I’ll bet that not one in a million people find their perfect match even if they look for a lifetime. I consider myself beyond lucky to have found my “one in a million” on a hangar floor only a couple of days ago.

So, if one day you wake up and want old Jed to hold you and love you for the rest of our lives, I’ll be here. I’ll be here if you decide next week, or next year, or ten years from now.

I love you Jane Mitchell. I always will, and I will wait for you as long as it takes, even if it takes forever.

It took me a minute to fully appreciate the beauty of what I had just read. I handed her the card back and she put it away. It was touching beyond words and I could understand how it could make her both happy and sad at the same time.

She looked at me, and perhaps for the first time in all my experience with her, she seemed lost and in need of someone to help her. “What should I do?” she said. Her eyes glistened. “He’ll be here tomorrow and half of me wants to throw myself in his arms, and the other half wants to see this thing with you and BP through to the end with no distractions.”

I thought she was going to continue, but instead she paused and seemed lost in thought. It only took a second.

“No, that’s not the real truth. I should just tell the truth, shouldn’t I? I’m not hesitant because of you and BP - that’s just an excuse. I think it’s because I’m afraid of giving up my independence.

“I’ve always been like that. I’ve dated lots of guys, but every single one suffered from some flaw that, sooner or later, made me push them away. Some were really good people, but I searched until I found a reason to keep my distance from each and every one. There’s always a reason if you look hard enough.”

She paused and looked into space as if she was remembering some painful event from long ago.

“And now I’m on the verge of doing the same thing to Jed. Except now, I’ve been connected to him and I know him like I’ve never known anyone before all this started to happen. I love him; I know that too. He’s good looking and strong and smart and he’s so kind. Yet I feel myself searching for that flaw. God, Roger, I’m so confused. Tell me what I should do.

“I’m sorry to be so bitchy with you, but this has been worrying me a lot. And tomorrow with them all coming and with what we saw with poor Jacob, it’s almost more than I can bear. I know you’ve had a lot to carry the last few weeks and now I can see how hard it was for you. BP seems to think I’ll play some key role, but I don’t know if I’m up to the challenge the way you are.”

My God, if Jane was doubting herself, then I had no chance at all to lead this group towards wherever it was going. I needed her as my rock, my island of sanity in an insane world. I had to do something, so I put my arm around her and pulled her close.

“I’d like to tell you what I think, but it’s your decision and I really wouldn’t know what to suggest anyway. I’m sure not used to giving you advice; I’m used to leaning on your strength and having you lift me up when I’m down.

“But I do have an opinion. I think your problem is not worry that Jed isn’t perfect - that, as you say, he has some flaws. Everyone has flaws, we just have to learn to live with them, or if we’re lucky, we learn to appreciate them.

“No, I think your problem is that you’re worried that you aren’t perfect; that Jane Jackie Mitchell, the Strongest Girl in the World, might actually have a flaw somewhere deep inside her. I think you’re worried that if you get too close to someone, they’ll find that flaw and realize, horror of horrors, that you are human. Or, perhaps more importantly, you will be forced to realize that you are as human as the rest of us with an ability to screw up royally, but also with an ability to perform wondrous feats; with the ability to love, but also the ability to be loved.

“So it’s your choice with Jed. But don’t expect him to be perfect and I guarantee he won’t expect it of you. Give it some time and give him a chance and give yourself a chance too.”

I don’t know where that speech came from, other than from my heart.

At that moment, I felt her connect to me. She was getting stronger and better at it by the day.

The degree of closeness between us was off the charts. Normally, we would shield at least some of our feelings from each other even when we were connected, but not now. Now I knew her and she knew me at every level.

She reached up and kissed me. It wasn’t a kiss of passion, but of pure love. It only lasted a couple of seconds.

She broke the connection. Our faces were still almost touching. “Thank you,” she said. It was more than enough.

We sat back on my couch, side by side, and stared out my patio window in silence. The sun was setting and lights had come on in the hive across the street.

I guess she was thinking things through the way she does, but it took quite awhile so that when she spoke, it almost startled me. “I’m going to tell him that I do love him, but that I don’t think we should get married until we know where this Revelation is heading and what it’ll mean for us in the future.

“And I’m going to do my best to take what you said to heart and allow myself to love him, and you, and all the others, without worrying so much about their flaws or about mine.

“Does that sound alright?” It was a simple question and I gave her a simple answer, “Oh yes, it sounds grand, just grand.”

She laughed at my impression of Bess and the sound of her laughter was wonderful. It had been some time since I’d heard that from her.

“Rog, I feel so a much better. It’s like a stone has been lifted from my soul. You may have missed your calling. You should have been a psychologist.”

Now I was the one laughing. It felt good.

It was time to go, so I packed a few things and we returned to the waiting car. We’d been inside for almost an hour, but the car was waiting patiently for us. We slid in the back seat, side by side this time, and driver looked at us and smiled.

Without a word, he started off back to the apartment building.

Chapter Twenty

By now it was rush hour and the traffic was bad, so it took almost thirty minutes to return to the apartment building. Jane and I spent the time talking about anything but what lay ahead of us. We laughed at the thought of our bosses receiving a call from Juliet Morgan informing them that Jane and I would be on assignment directly to Evan Miller and wouldn’t be back to our jobs until further notice. I asked her if she thought we’d ever return to those jobs and she said she didn’t know. I think we both felt just a hint of sadness about that.

When we finally arrived, the driver opened the door for us and said, “They’re waiting for you on six.” He entered a code into the keypad beside the door and opened it for us and escorted us to the elevator. He didn’t say a word to the guard who was seated behind the bank of video monitors. He told us to just enter when we got upstairs - there was no need to knock.

I pressed “six,” which was the top button. There was only a single elevator, but it was modern and lifted us quickly. The door opened and we stepped out into a small hallway. On the right was a window looking out over the street and on the left was a partly open door.

I hesitated for a moment, but Jane pushed the door open and started inside. We walked into a large living room. It had ceilings that were at least twelve feet in height, and walls of a light green color that held several striking works of art. There were two full sized couches and several chairs scattered around. The center of the room was dominated by a grand piano that looked incredibly heavy. There was a fireplace, but no fire.

All the local members of the Connection were there, staring at us.

I knew immediately that something was up.

Bess and Juliet took Jane by her arms and said, “Let’s go powder our noses.” Did girls really still say things like that? They whisked her away.

Allen came over to me and handed me a glass with some brown liquid and ice cubes in it. He put his arm around my shoulder and led me over to where Evan Miller was sitting in a red leather chair. I sat on a couch beside Allen.

“So,” he said, “Are you two okay?”

I didn’t know what he meant. He must have gathered as much from the puzzled look on my face.

“You and Jane,” he said. “Your driver called Juliet and told her that you and Jane had a big argument and that both of you had disappeared into your apartment. He was getting concerned and then so were we.”

I laughed out loud. “Sure we had a little tiff. With what we’ve been through, all our nerves are on edge. So she snapped at me for no reason and I snapped back. But we made up in my apartment in about two seconds. She even kissed me.” Everyone in the room smiled in relief.

Just then, Bess, Juliet and Jane came back in. I couldn’t see that any extra powder had been applied. Bess came over and gave me one of her hugs. It felt good.

“Jane told us all about it, Roger. We were worried, that’s all. Any of us could snap the way you did, but I’m glad you apologized and made up so quickly. Jane said you even kissed her - in a brotherly way, of course.”

What! I looked at Jane and she smiled devilishly. I started to say, “That’s not the way it happened at all,” but then decided to just keep my mouth shut and let this fade away. I couldn’t win this little battle for sure. I took a sip of my scotch.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Juliet opened the door and in came a burly guy who was also probably on the security detail. He had several packages with him.

“I hope you all like oriental food. I ordered several different types from Chinese to Japanese to Thai. There’s a lot here, so I hope you’re hungry.”

I hadn’t even thought about food all day, but now I realized I was starved. The smells from those bags were wonderful. Allen, Evan and I opened them up and removed all the individual cartons of food. We arranged what must have been twenty different dishes on a big table in the corner. Bess, Jane and Juliet returned with plates, knives, forks and chopsticks.

The food was great and for the next couple of hours, we mostly managed to act like normal people going about our normal lives. Juliet told us that the sixth floor was their city home and she gave us a tour. It was an amazing place, decorated beautifully. Evan told us that Juliet had done it all. He said it with a lot of pride.

Eventually, the mood became a bit more somber as we realized that tomorrow was approaching. Juliet told us that we could stay in any apartment from the second to the fifth floor. Each floor had four apartments and all were furnished. The first floor was reserved for security and staff and the sixth was the home of Juliet and Evan. She didn’t say it, but I knew Jacob was in the clinic that had been built in the basement. I had a momentary vision of him covered with wires and tubes.

Jane said, “Let’s try the second floor” and we all nodded in agreement. We wanted to be close to each other. We said our goodbyes and Juliet invited us to meet on the sixth floor for breakfast at nine a.m.

We traveled down in silence, each of us thinking about the fact that tomorrow would probably be another amazing and likely painful day. When we got to the second floor, there were hugs all around and then we went into our apartments. They all had the same layout, but Juliet had told us they had different furnishings. None of us cared at that point and just went to one or the other randomly. I thought of BP and his Revelation about the random nature of life. Here was an example, for sure.

I got ready for bed. I normally sleep in my shorts and a t-shirt and saw no reason to change my habits now. I pulled down the covers and sat on the side of the bed, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie down. My mind just wasn’t ready for sleep yet even though I was dead tired.

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually I realized what was bothering me. I got up and put my pants and shoes on and slipped out to the hallway and walked down the steps to the basement where Jacob was. A camera was in the stairwell, but no one appeared to question why I was out and about.

I walked into the room and could see Jacob in his bed much like I’d done earlier in the day. Standing beside the bed on one side were Evan and Juliet. The Colonel was on the other side. Evan had his arm around Juliet’s shoulders and they were just looking down at poor Jacob. I walked up beside them and I took Juliet’s hand. They looked at me and smiled bravely, but said nothing. I didn’t try to connect to him, but Jacob looked more peaceful than he had just a few hours ago. I felt thankful for that.

Then I felt Jane take my hand. I looked over at her. She was dressed in a robe and had on slippers that must have silenced her steps. I guessed that she couldn’t sleep either.

Next, we heard the elevator arrive and both Bess and Allen walked in. They looked surprised to see us, but Bess quickly took Evan’s hand and Allen took hers. Allen was wearing just what he’d had on earlier, but Bess had changed into pink PJ’s with large purple flowers. She had on bunny slippers.

At any other time, I’d have made some kind of comment, but not now. Instead, we all stood quietly and thought about Jacob and what was ahead for him. I’m not much of a praying type, but I said a prayer for that little guy right then and I meant every word of it. I think my friends did too.

In a few minutes, we broke apart to return to our beds and our thoughts. Evan, Juliet and the Colonel were still there when we left. The Colonel watched us go.

The next morning arrived with no help from me. Once I hit the hay, I was sound asleep in seconds and stayed that way until I got a seven o’clock wakeup call from someone I didn’t know on the house phone. I don’t normally sleep so deeply, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Yesterday, I started my day as a Junior Financial Analyst looking forward to surfing the web for a good part of my work time, but today I was a special assistant to the CEO and the leader of a group that was supposed to play a big part in the future activities of mankind. And the other members of that group were flying in so that I could lead them in some type of ceremony that we all hoped would help a dying child.

Things had sure changed quickly. I yawned and got up and scratched where it itched.

I showered and got dressed quickly. There was a pod coffee maker in the kitchen with a good selection of coffees, so I made myself a cup. I could have gone up to the sixth floor to see Evan Miller and Juliet, but that would officially start the day with all its unknowns. I decided to just relax here until I had to make an appearance.

I had just sat down at the dining table, when there was a knock on the door. I got up to answer it and Jane was standing outside. She didn’t wait for an invitation; just walked past me and asked, “You have coffee?”

I told her that I did and I made her a cup. I knew she liked it black. She was dressed in normal work clothes and so was I. She had on a pair of pinstriped grey loose fitting pants and a blue blouse. I’d seen her wear this outfit before. We sat and sipped our coffee without talking until it started to kick in and wake us up.

“Have you thought about why we all ended up down there last night?” she said. I hadn’t, but I figured she had since she brought it up.

She didn’t wait for an answer, “I was in bed but something was nagging at me. It was like I needed to go down and see Jacob, so I got up and put on a robe. But when I got to his bedside, you were already there. And then Bess and Allen showed up too.

“What are the odds we’d all decide to go down to stand vigil beside a dying little boy at the same time?”

I saw her point. “It doesn’t seem likely that it would be a coincidence. So what was it?” Last night it had seemed normal and natural, but she was right; in the light of day it was strange.

She had obviously been thinking about this. I had a vision of her waking up early this morning and staring into space like she does, weighing all the possibilities and discarding them, one by one, until she came to a conclusion.

“When you first connected to me, it was with BP’s help and it was strange and in some ways wonderful. Later, when we tried it without him, we managed only a very short connection.

“Since then, it seems that our abilities have increased rather dramatically. BP said something like this might happen. Now I can connect to you at will without you having to help at all. I tried to connect to Bess a few days ago and failed, but we were close. I think I could probably do it today. We’re growing in this ability day by day.

“But you’re ahead of all of us by a good bit. I wonder if you’ve now reached some new level and can actually connect to us with your thoughts and wishes without us even knowing about it. BP must have done something like that when he got those orders for Allen.

“So is it possible that you wanted to see Jacob, and you wanted us there with you, so you asked us to come in some unknown way? It’s kind of creepy, but it might be the next step in connecting.”

She was right about one thing, for sure. It was creepy. I told her that I just wanted to see him again and when I got there, she, Allen and Bess showed up. I told her that I had prayed for Jacob.

She took a sip of her coffee and said, “Yeah, I did too. Well, who knows? So much weird stuff has happened to us I guess I’m just overly sensitive about it.”

Just then, the doorbell rang again. It was one of those annoying buzzing type of sounds. I went to the door and Allen was in the hall.

“Mind if I come in?” he said. I was glad to see him and he breezed right by me. He saw Jane and gave her a peck on the cheek as a hello greeting, saw her coffee, and then started to make himself a cup.

He looked at his watch. “They won’t be picking them up for a while yet.” He was focused on the arrival of the rest of the Connection. Actually, he was focused on the arrival of April.

Jane gave him time for a single sip before she questioned him, “How did you and Bess decide to go downstairs last night?”

And the bell rang again. I knew who it was this time.

Bess bounced in with a moderate hug for me, a greeting for Jane and a kiss for her dad. He said to her, “Jane asked how we all happened to end up downstairs last night.”

“Oh, I called Dad and asked him to go with me. I hadn’t seen Jacob, but I felt like I knew him after you told us about what happened and all. I just had to pay my respects, but I was afraid to go alone.

“And I don’t mind telling you that I cried when I got back to my apartment. It was so sad to see him like that. I just hope that BP can help him.”

Jane seemed satisfied. I was glad she didn’t say anything about her theory that I somehow was responsible for everyone wandering around last night.

After that, we all sat in silence. It didn’t seem forced or awkward in any way. I knew these people about as well as I knew myself, so there was no need to prattle every second. We were simply comfortable with each other, though I could tell we were all somewhat apprehensive about the day that lay ahead for us.

This peaceful interlude continued for a while, but was broken when my cell phone rang. I looked at the display. It was Juliet calling. I showed her number to my friends.

I answered. “Roger, I just got a call from the pilot of the plane bringing our friends up here. Everyone is on board and accounted for. The weather is good and they plan to arrive right on time. I had some food stocked in the plane so I think everything is taken care of. Oh yes, the pilot says Ms. Gonzalez wanted to sit in the jump seat in the cockpit. Apparently she’s got a private pilot’s license and is only about twenty hours short of getting her commercial license, so they let her.”

Marina had told me she was a pilot the first time we met at the pool party. That seemed like so long ago, but it had only been about a week.

I hadn’t known that part about her being close to getting a commercial license. I had pictured her flying little single engine planes, but maybe she’d continued her training after she got her pilot’s license. I made a mental note to ask her about it.

Chapter Twenty One

We eventually went up to the sixth floor and had breakfast with Juliet and Evan. Juliet cooked everyone a made to order breakfast. Apparently Evan and Juliet didn’t have a cook or housekeeper - I wondered if that was because they were trying to provide Jacob with a “normal” childhood. Bess pitched in as Juliet’s assistant saying she’d always wanted to know how to cook. She had a great teacher because Juliet made a super breakfast and we all enjoyed the meal. But everyone was aware of the time. We didn’t know exactly how, be we all thought that today would be memorable and probably very sad.

Just after noon, we got a call that the plane had landed and that our friends would be here shortly. It was strange that we were so close to each other, while some of us had never actually met in person. I didn’t think that would matter. When you’ve connected the way we had, you knew the other people in a very intimate way.

When they finally arrived, it was happy pandemonium. They stood in the doorway all grins until April burst through and was met by Allen. Marina was coming over to me, but was intercepted by Bess who had a hug for her. Jerry and Shannon Wu beamed and each held the hand of one of their kids. They clung to their parents, but smiled when they saw Jane and me. They remembered that we had played with them at the pool party.

Jed was the last to enter. He had a cowboy hat in his hand. He walked over to Jane and stopped about two feet from her. For two seconds, they stood there and just looked each over until she moved slowly towards him and turned up her face to invite a kiss. Her invitation was accepted and it wasn’t the brotherly kiss she’d given me the day before.

I tore my eyes away and they settled on Marina who had her arms opened for me. I hugged her. It was so good to see her again. The last time we’d seen each other had been as we left to come home and she’d given me a kiss. I guess that was now our standard greeting because she did it again. My head swum slightly. When I lifted it, I saw Bess standing there watching. She seemed to be smiling.

I also saw Juliet and Evan standing by themselves to the side. I got everyone’s attention and introduced our newest members. There was a new round of handshakes and hugs all around as they were welcomed into the Connection. There were also a few tears. I initiated a connection with everyone so that we all felt the common bond that we shared. It was a bittersweet moment because of what lay ahead for all of us.

A few minutes after their arrival, I felt that pressure on my shoulder that told me BP was here. It didn’t take long for him to enter my head.

“Jacob has taken a turn for the worse. Please arrange to have our meeting downstairs at four.”

And with that he was gone as quickly as he appeared. I looked up and my eyes found Jane’s. She could tell from my expression something was wrong. “What is it?” she said. The others all heard her and looked over as, one by one, they all fell silent.

I had to tell them the truth. “BP just came to me and said that Jacob had taken a turn for the worse and that we should plan on meeting at four.” I struggled to think of something else to say, but that was all I knew.

Just then Evan and Juliet’s phones rang almost in unison. They both answered and listened and said almost nothing. As she hung up, a tear escaped and ran down Juliet’s cheek.

“It’s one of the doctors. They had to put Jacob back on the respirator,” said Evan. His voice was full of sadness, bordering on agony.

The Colonel had been in the apartment with Juliet and Evan before any of us arrived. Now he took charge.

He announced that all the luggage had been delivered to the apartments and gave each of our new arrivals keys. He told them that they had an hour or so to freshen up or change if they wanted to. He had a babysitter waiting in the apartment for Jerry and Shannon. They all left except Jed. Allen went with April and Bess put her arm around Juliet and took her into a bedroom to console her and probably to give her a shoulder to cry on.

Jed, Jane and I sat with the Colonel and Evan. The Colonel spoke first while looking right at me. “Are you going to make him better again the way you did yesterday?”

I didn’t know the answer to that, of course. “I don’t know. BP said there might be some hope, but I got the impression that it’s not going to be like that at all. What I did yesterday helped, but it didn’t help for long. The more you push this disease, the more it pushes back. It’ll win in the end. I think we all know that.”

I was too blunt and Evan let out a very quiet gasp of pain. Jane was sitting between him and Jed and took his hand.

The Colonel wasn’t satisfied. “But if you can do it once, you can do it again. Even if you can help him for only a few days, that’s time in which the doctors might come up with a cure. They’re looking. We’ve got them working on it all over the world. A couple of them say they are close.”

It wasn’t that I wouldn’t try and push back the disease inside Jacob like I’d done yesterday. It’s just that I knew it wouldn’t really help. But if Evan and Juliet wanted it, I would do it, even though it would likely only prolong his suffering. I was trying to think of what to say. Evan was squeezing Jane’s hand and staring down at the floor.

He looked up at the Colonel. “A cure? You still think that the medical community might come up with a cure? We’ve been funding this research for what, three years now and as far as I can see, they’ve made almost no progress.

“But three years is a short time. I always thought that even if a cure didn’t come in time for Jacob, at least it would eventually come for all those other kids who will have this horrible disease in the future.”

His voice was getting stronger as he spoke. The man in charge of a multi-billion dollar company had made his appearance. “But Colonel, I no longer think that. I’ve been looking into other medical charities to give money to and you know what I realized? I found out that they are all old. They’ve all been in the business of getting donations and investing in research for a long time.

“Take the Muscular Dystrophy Association for example. They were founded in 1950 and you’ll know them by their yearly telethons with Jerry Lewis. During their peak years, they raised over $150 million a year to fund their activities. And during a lot of that time they happily talked about how much closer they were to finding a cure.

“Colonel, when they do find that cure, what will happen? I mean, when they hold a press conference to announce their cure, will you read about it in the next day’s newspaper?”

The Colonel wasn’t one to wilt. He said, “Sure, it’ll be the biggest headline on the front page.”

Evan sat up straighter, but didn’t let go of Jane’s hand. “Correct. And it would be the same for Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s, Crohn's disease, cancer and any number of other diseases.

“So tell me this, Colonel. When is the last time you saw those blazing headlines announcing a cure of some dread disease? Exactly when was it?”

It was said like a question, but it sounded more like an accusation.

Now the Colonel stuttered, “I . . . I . . . I don’t think I’ve ever seen those headlines. I’ve seen a bunch of them where they made some breakthrough that they think might lead to a cure.”

Evan continued, “But you’ve never seen the announcement of any actual cure of any disease. You’d certainly think that with all the years spent researching, and all that money raised, that scientists would have cured something, wouldn’t you?

“People have worked hard to fund that research. They danced for the cure, run for the cure, walked for the cure. They’ve done every kind of fundraiser imaginable for the cure. They’ve worn every color ribbon there is for the cure. But still there have been no cures. None. Zero. With all those thousands of researchers spending all those billions of dollars, they’ve managed to find a real and permanent cure for a grand total of zero diseases.

“So no Colonel, I don’t think those scientists will find a cure in time. I do think they’ll talk happy talk and try to dangle the hope that a cure is just around the corner as long as that makes the money continue to flow.”

He stopped now and returned to staring at the floor. It was a cynical speech, but I could tell he’d put some thought into this. He had lost any faith that medical science would come through for Jacob. He had a least some hope that BP would.

“I just think Roger and this BP creature should try again, that’s all,” and then the Colonel fell silent.

Jane looked at me for a minute, but I didn’t have anything to say. She knew it would be hopeless to try and push the disease back again. She gently let go of Evan’s hand. I don’t think he noticed. Then she leaned her head on Jed chest and I saw her chest heave as she cried silently. God, I hated to see her cry. Jed stroked her hair and whispered something to her.

Just about then, there was a commotion as our friends returned. I looked at my watch and it said 3:55. It was time to gather ourselves and go downstairs.

I stood up and went and touched each of my brothers and sisters, one at a time, and connected to them just momentarily. I wanted to reassure them to the best of my ability. I started with Jane and ended with Juliet. I felt a full range of emotions from them from fear to resignation to sadness. From Juliet, I felt gratitude.

We left to go to Jacob’s room.

Chapter Twenty Two

We walked in a group with Jane and me in the lead. Evan spoke to the nurse that was on duty and she then left the room. He shut the door behind her and we gathered around Jacobs’s bed.

This was my third time in this high tech hospital type room, and as always, the first thing I noticed was the sound of all the machines. There were the thumps of the respirator, the beeps of the various monitors and a generalized high pitched sound of expensive high tech medical equipment hard at work.

He did look worse than last night. For one thing, they had that tube back down his throat. His skin looked grey and he seemed just a bit more physically “twisted” than he had before. It was a terrible sight.

Jed stood beside Evan to provide support if he needed it. Evan held Juliet’s hand and Shannon stood shoulder to shoulder with her for the same reason. Then came Bess, Jerry, Marina, Jane and me. Allen and April stood side by side. Altogether, we just about encircled the bed. The Colonel stood right behind Evan and Juliet just in case.

I hadn’t felt BP on my shoulder, but I knew he was nearby. We all joined hands and connected. The sudden flood of all our emotions, freely shared with each other, was almost shocking in its intensity. I heard Bess sniff loudly. We waited.

We didn’t have to wait for long as BP appeared in my head almost immediately. As always, he spoke to me, but the others could hear him through me.

“I want to thank you all for agreeing to meet today. I realize that travel for you can be difficult and I do appreciate your sacrifice. I would also like to express my strong approval of this group. I am amazed at what Roger has managed to accomplish is so short a time. He and Jane have exceeded my wildest expectations and I’m confident that my Revelation will be acted on by them and by all of you.

“I told Roger recently that the Revelation is nearing its completion and that while the first part dealt with you, the next part will deal with me and others like me.

“As I have already revealed, this is a universe not designed for life. In fact, it is devoid of life except for what is on this small planet. I know all about the life on this planet, because I put it here. I brought it with me and seeded it on the Earth almost four billion years ago.

“As you might surmise, I do not come from this universe. Instead, I come from a universe that is both nearby and far away. I know that does not make much sense, but I have to tell you things in terms that you can understand. In some ways, you are like those priests back in 1300 BCE and I am like a weather scientist of today trying to explain concepts that would make no sense to you if I used my normal scientific language. So I have to try and explain my Revelation to you in a way that will make it as clear as possible, but may also make it sound somewhat imprecise, or even just strange.

“This universe is a non-life universe. It’s actively hostile to life. My universe is the opposite; it’s a life universe and has life on billions of its planets. My universe is vast, but travel within it is safe. We can travel inside it with great speed and we don’t die from lack of oxygen or get burned by radiation or get crushed by our own body pressures if we leave one planet to travel to another. We don’t need to worry about starving or drowning or asphyxiation or disease or even old age. These things just don’t happen in a universe that is life oriented.

“And in your sense of the word, we don’t die. There is no need to in our universe.

“As has happened on Earth, there are many types of life in my home universe. And also like Earth, one species of life has developed sentience and has the ability to change its environment. Like here, that species is curious and strives to learn as much as it can. Like here, that species wonders where it came from.

“I am a member of the sentient life in that other universe. There are many similarities between the sentient life here and that in my home universe. This is no surprise, since you are us. You are our sons and daughters. Life was started in this universe with a goal of creating you in our image. Our essence, expressed in your DNA, is at the core of what makes you who you are. You, and all life in this universe, are the result of a directed act of creation - an act intended to populate this planet with beings just like us. Given enough time, it will happen.

“But we don’t have that much time. In fact, we have very little. But I think you are advanced enough to do what is needed. Whenever I connect to you, as you call it, I can feel that you are a part of us. I know it and I know you are capable of doing what must be done.

“And so this is the next part of my Revelation to you. Life was put here on this planet, in this hostile universe, by my species; native to another universe. You are the offspring of that species and are our sons and daughters. You are us.”

“We had a need to be in this universe, but it was impossible for us to do it except for a single individual, which was me. And even though I am here, I can’t directly manipulate things here. I can’t drive a car or build a factory, but you can. Therefore, I brought the raw seed that would eventually result in my people - you - multiplying and appearing here.”

He stopped talking at that point, but we could all still feel his presence. It was stunning news. BP and his buddies in some other universe needed to come here in large numbers for some reason, but couldn’t. Instead, they sent him with the seeds of life that, over time, would result in the creation of their own kind here on Earth.

And we were their own kind. All humans were literally BP’s sons and daughters.

I could feel a sense of shock at this Revelation from the whole group, but it didn’t last long. They were getting to the point where they were used to strange things and they didn’t shock so easily. Juliet was the first to wonder what this had to do with Jacob. Evan quickly followed and the whole group was soon wondering. We had received the next part of the Revelation and would have time to think about it later- but right now, everyone felt that Jacob was more important.

BP felt it too, and he spoke up. “My poor son,” he said, referring to Jacob. “Please Roger, connect to him now.” I didn’t often hear emotion in his voice, but he sounded wistful now.

I did as he suggested and led the group to connect to Jacob.

What I felt was not good. His essence was weak, almost like it was out of focus. The drugs had dulled him to the point that he was almost not himself. I saw the black things surrounding him. They were so close. I allowed everyone to see what I was seeing.

I heard Juliet sob and Evan started to collapse. Jed held him up. Shannon held Juliet around her waist. The rest of the group recoiled in horror. It was almost too much to bear.

BP said in a strong voice, “Roger, help him just a little if you please.”

I didn’t need another invitation. I tried my best to move those black things away from him, but they were stronger than before and the best I could do was move them just a bit. I also managed to nullify the effects of the drugs and bring him back to us. I could feel Jacob now. He was, for the moment, in no pain.

We could all feel him now and everyone had tears streaming down their cheeks. Evan gasped in pain tinged with anger. Juliet leaned on Shannon for strength.

“My son,” said BP. For the first time, I was sure I heard emotion in his voice. It was love.

He then addressed us. “In my universe, we have physical bodies or we don’t. It’s our choice and it’s also why we don’t die. If our body becomes defective in some way, we can leave it and simply exist the way I exist with you now. The thing that makes us who we are is not our body; it is what you would likely call our soul. It’s the essence of who we are and it’s not a physical thing. You are the same way.

“In my universe, Jacob could leave this body and exist outside of it until he made the choice to again have a body. It’s entirely optional and would be his decision. But here, it is more complicated because you have not evolved to my level yet.

“Still, Jacob is my son as he is Evan’s and Juliet’s. I would mourn him as they would.

“What you call ‘connecting’ here is normal and natural in my universe. You can do it because you are us, but you have not evolved yet to the point where you are born with an advanced ability to connect to each other. Instead, like Roger, you have to practice until you get good at it.

“Roger has gotten very good at it and I think he can help Jacob. If he can connect to him at a very deep level, he can help him leave this defective body and join me. I will keep him close to me until I return to my universe and then I’ll help him find a body if he wants one.

“While he waits, it will be like he is asleep, but you will be able to sense him when you connect to me.

“When I leave to return to my own universe, it will be not only with Jacob, but with all who have connected to me through Roger or Jane. You will all have new bodies and will all be reunited at that time.”

He fell silent and I realized he was waiting for me. I hesitated and finally asked the question that was on my mind, “How do we know this is what he wants?”

BP answered in the way he often did when I was being dense. “Ask him.”

That seemed like good advice so I took it. “Jacob, do you want to go to . . .” I paused, trying to think of the right words. “Do you want to go to a new home and where one day you will be with your Dad and Juliet again?”

He heard my question, but he could feel all of us since we were connected. He felt his father nearby and spoke to him instead of me. “Dad, will we be able to play ball again?”

My heart broke at the beauty of that simple question. I don’t think I could have choked out an answer, but Evan Miller found some reservoir of strength deep down inside and answered his son. “Yes, my son, I believe we’ll be able to do that. I believe we’ll be a family again and that you’ll be happy and we’ll be there with you.”

I felt a rush of pure joy from Jacob. He knew that his suffering, which had gone on for so long, was about to end. “I’m ready,” he said to all of us.

It was time for me to act, though I really had no idea as to exactly what I was supposed to do. I wished for help from BP or Jane or anyone.

And then I acted. It may have been instinct or maybe BP did help, but I eased Jacob into a peaceful sleep. We could all still feel him, but there was no longer any anxiety, or pain, or fear from him. He just rested as any ten year old should, without dreams of tubes and beeping machines and needles.

I felt BP say, “I will take him now,” and he did. It was actually easy as we all felt Jacob leave his body and rest with BP. There was no resistance.

“I will take good care of him and you will see him again.” Somehow, I felt better. I guessed it was because I knew BP was telling the truth.

And with that, BP left.

This session was over, but we all continued to hold hands in silence as we tried to come to grips with what had just happened.

Until a piercing scream occurred. That awful sound didn’t come from any of us, but from one of the machines that was connected to Jacob’s body. It had detected some life threatening change in Jacob and was sounding the alarm. Another machine started beeping incessantly and with increasing loudness.

One by one, the machines that had monitored and sustained Jacob were crying out that he was gone. For once, we were ahead of them. We already knew that.

I didn’t know what to do. I looked to Jane for help, but I could tell she was as confused as I was.

Just then, Evan stood up straight and walked to the machine that was screaming the loudest. He pushed a button and turned a knob and it fell silent. He continued down the line and turned off each of the machines that had been artificially supporting Jacob for so long. They were no longer needed.

At last there was silence. We filed out of the room, led by Evan and Juliet. Bess came to my side and I put my arm around her. I didn’t know who was holding up whom.

I looked back one last time and saw that only one person remained at Jacob’s bedside - the Colonel.

Book Three: The Combining

Foreword to Book Three

The Colonel was on the phone with Pastor Chuck Cleimer and my friend Matt Shively. I should say that Matt was my former friend. I was sad about that, but he had stolen a good part of the text of the Revelation and had given it to Pastor Chuck. If he couldn’t be trusted, I couldn’t consider him a friend - and that hurt.

Earlier, I had been angry with him, but my feelings had changed to sadness at what he had done. Matt was high strung and moody, but he was also a really good guy who happened to be devoutly religious. All the strange stuff with BP and the Revelation and connecting had just been too much for him. He’d gone to Pastor Chuck for help and I was sure it was that snake who had really caused Matt to betray us.

As the Colonel talked, I thought about what had happened two days ago, when Evan Miller’s son Jacob had died after a long battle with a terrible disease. At least his body had died.

The Colonel had spent the last two days making funeral arrangements, and helping Evan and Juliet Morgan manage calls from people who wanted to pay their respects. Evan and Juliet took calls from family or from people they were close to, while the Colonel took dozens of calls from business associates, and other people who knew Evan, but weren’t really in his inner circle.

Just a few days ago, I was just about as far outside that circle as anyone could be. I was a low level financial analyst for Evan’s multibillion dollar company. He certainly would not have remembered me from the one time I met him. But a lot had happened since then, and this evening the Colonel, Evan Miller and I sat in his living room and sipped some superb scotch. The rest of the members of the Connection were all out on some errand or another, so it was just the three of us.

This was the first time the Colonel had been able to relax in the last few days. He was just about to ask me something when his phone rang and he looked up to tell us it was Pastor Cleimer. “I’m not here,” said Evan.

I didn’t blame Evan for ducking Pastor Chuck, as he liked to be called. He and Matt had met with Evan and the Colonel just last Monday and had told him that Jane Mitchell and I were leading a cult right inside his company and that we could be dangerous. As proof, he left behind a copy of the Revelation as we knew it at that time, and that led directly to Evan and Juliet Morgan joining our group - and it led directly to what happened to Jacob. It had worked out as well as it could, but Pastor Chuck had tried to get us fired or worse. That kind of game playing didn’t sit well with Evan or with me - and especially with my co-worker and best friend, Jane Mitchell.

The Colonel nodded his head in understanding and answered. We could only hear his side of the conversation and he didn’t say much. It was mostly, “Yes” and “I understand” and “I’m sure they’ll be pleased to hear that.” After no more than two minutes, he said, “I’ll let him know about your offer,” and then he ended the call.

We didn’t have to ask the Colonel what had happened. “He called to express his condolences and wants you to know that if he can help in any way, you need only ask. He said that if you need a clergyman, he’ll be glad to make the referral. He said that you are in his prayers and so is Jacob.”

I couldn’t find any fault with any of those sentiments. Perhaps he wasn’t the pompous schemer that I had thought he was. And then the Colonel continued, “He also asked if he and Matt Shively could have another meeting at some point when you are up to it.”

Well, there you go. Hidden behind all that honey was some venom after all. I was pretty sure that Pastor Chuck’s plan was to bleed a few hundred thousand dollars out of Evan to help his organization's fight against cults - and his personal fight against poverty. The death of Jacob Miller might delay the unfolding of that plan, but it certainly wouldn’t stop it. I felt a squirt of disgust enter my system. Jane had been so right about this guy.

I didn’t express my opinion of him since I knew that Evan felt the same way that I did. Once you enter the Connection and experience the incredibly intimate nature of it, you get to know the other members quickly and in a very deep way, so I knew how he felt about Pastor Chuck.

I looked back at the Colonel. He had made the conscious decision to remain outside the group. I had my own ideas as to why he did that, but it hadn’t been a problem to this point. If someone joined our group, it had to be by their own free will. The Colonel was certainly on the inside of all that was happening with BP and the Revelation and our group, but he wasn’t a member yet. I hoped he’d eventually make a decision to join.

The interruption handled, he returned to the question he was going to ask. “Roger, I saw what happened two days ago in that room with Jacob. But I don’t know what happened there. Everyone else seemed to be in this connection thing and experienced things that I didn’t. I want to know. Tell me what really happened.”

The Colonel had worked hard the last two days because Evan and Juliet, and yes, Jane and I, were just exhausted and wiped out by what had happened. We had to have time to mourn in our own way. I hadn’t thought until now how alone the Colonel must have felt. We knew what had really happened and he didn’t. I should have filled him in sooner. I had become the leader of this group, even over a multi-billionaire like Evan Miller and someone like Jane Mitchell. But I wasn’t perfect as a leader, and I was making my share of mistakes. This was one of them. I should have made sure the Colonel was up to speed.

I was learning that, as a leader, I had to correct my mistakes as soon as I could. I did it now and told the Colonel everything about how we held hands and connected around the hospital bed of Jacob Miller. I related how BP entered my mind almost at once and how the others could hear his words through me. I described the awful black objects that represented his illness and explained that it took all my strength to move them back ever so slightly so that Jacob could recover just enough to make his own decision about his future.

I told the Colonel what Jacob had said to his Dad and watched as Evan momentarily teared up again. It was happening less frequently now, but we had all wept often for that brave little boy. It only took some chance remembrance to set us off. I guessed that this was normal for us as humans. We’d miss Jacob and it hurt to not have him with us, but we all had faith that we would see him again.

And then I told the Colonel of BP’s latest Revelation; about BP’s description of his own universe and how connecting was normal there. I told him that all humans were the offspring of the sentient life that populated that universe and that it was a place meant to nurture life, while our universe was not meant to have any life in it at all.

I let that sink in for a moment and then I described how Jacob now rested with BP until we’d all meet him again in our New Home. I had used that term with Jacob and it had caught on with the other members of the Connection. Once we were done with whatever it was we had to do in this universe, we’d go with BP to the New Home and would be reunited with Jacob and with any other members who fell during our time here.

I told the Colonel everything. I held nothing back.

But there was something I didn’t cover. It wasn’t because I was trying to conceal it from him; it was because it didn’t seem all that important.

The Colonel studied everything I’d said and asked, “So why did Evan turn off all the machines?” He sounded skeptical; like all I’d told him was unbelievable. He wanted to focus on something he’d actually seen and experienced.

I looked at Evan and he answered. “I felt Jacob leave his body and become part of BP. When that happened, his body was without life and the machines set off their alarms. I just silenced them.”

The Colonel looked again at Evan, “And you experienced all this just like Roger said? You saw it all?” He obviously wanted confirmation and Evan supplied it.

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened. It’s still almost like a dream, but Juliet and I know, without any reservations, that we’ll be together with Jacob again. Everyone in the Connection knows that too.”

He said that with strength and conviction. He was recovering from his loss. He then asked the Colonel if he was ready to join. “I know we had some concerns and you were going to remain outside to make sure everything was okay, but Juliet and I are in now and we know, without doubt, that we’ll always be part of this . . . this important thing that is happening. We’d all like to have you join.”

The Colonel put his drink down and sat up a bit straighter. He answered Evan, but he looked at me. “I’ve read the Revelation that Roger and his team have put on paper. It’s an amazing document, but my mind keeps going to back to the first time BP connected with Jane through Roger.

“After BP revealed what it was he wanted to be known, Jane thought about the experience and came up with a question that Roger had never considered. The question was simple and I think quite profound. She basically wondered if all that was happening was for good. She recognized that the serpent can be quite persuasive and so she wanted to be careful that she and Roger were not helping something spring forth that would be harmful or even evil.

“Neither of them could think of anything that seemed harmful in the Revelation at that point, but they both vowed to be watchful just in case.

“And so, it seems to me that we are still at that same point. Nothing about the Revelation seems to be destructive or dangerous, but we haven’t heard it all yet. When we reach the end, my understanding is that BP will reveal why we are here and that we’ll then know some task that we must perform.

“Until we reach that point, I’m still not certain about BP or his Revelation or this ability to connect or anything else. I want to remain outside until I know for sure where this is heading.

“And I’d also like to remain on the inside so that I can be aware of all that is going on - just not as a member. That is, if you’ll allow it, Evan.”

He addressed Evan with that last sentence. “Colonel, that’s Roger’s call and Jane’s too. He’s the leader of the group because he was chosen by BP and because he’s the one who is receiving the Revelation. Jane was chosen by BP to be his second in command probably because her level of talent is off the charts. Every member has something to contribute and I’ll contribute what I have and that’s money. But that money doesn’t buy me any special place in the group. Juliet and I are members, just like Bess and Shannon and Allen and all the others. I’ll contribute whatever I have just like everyone else. And like the others, I’ll look to Roger and Jane for guidance.”

I certainly hadn’t expected this type of declaration of support from Evan Miller. But I appreciated it. I still had no idea where BP was going with his Revelation, but I had the strong impression that our lives were in danger of starting anew once we knew the whole thing. I’d do what I could do and lead this group as best I could - I only hoped it was good enough.

We heard some commotion at the door and turned to see some of our brothers and sisters returning. Evan stood up and went over to greet Juliet and I looked for Jane. As I turned, I saw the Colonel out of the corner of my eye. He was frowning.

Chapter One

The funeral of Jacob Miller was going to be a grim affair. Anytime a child dies, especially if he leaves behind two loving parents, you can expect that emotions will run deep.

It was decided by Evan and Juliet that it would be a small, private funeral. Only close family and friends were to attend. Of all the members of the Connection, only Jane and I were going. Everyone had been there when Jacob died, and everyone had shed more than a few tears for him, but we thought that it would be hard to explain why this large group of strangers was there when dozens or hundreds who wanted to pay their respects were not included.

When it was time, I went to Jane’s apartment to get her. We were still living in Evan Miller’s apartment building. No one knew how long we’d stay, but everyone just assumed we’d be there at least until BP finished with the Revelation. I didn’t think we were far from that point.

I knocked on her door and Jed answered. Since our friends from down south had arrived, they had been practically inseparable. I thought that they would soon announce their engagement, but with Jane, you could never be sure.

If you could look good going to a funeral, she did. She had on a white blouse that had just a bit of frill around its high neckline. Over that she had a dark blue jacket along with a matching skirt that hit her at exactly mid knee. When she wore a skirt, it was normally short or long, but not today. She had on medium heels and had on more makeup than she normally wore to work. She smelled like flowers. She was ready.

Jed gave her a goodbye kiss and she took my hand and we left. We were on the second floor. “Let’s take the stairs,” she said. I could tell she’d come up with some idea since I knew she didn’t want to take the stairs for exercise. Once we were alone in the stairwell, she stopped and turned to me. “This is going to be really hard for Juliet and Evan. I think you should call BP and have him connect to us so we can feel that Jacob is still with him - and with us.”

That was not only a good idea; it was a very thoughtful one too. We all knew that we’d see Jacob again someday, but that day might be a long way away and who knew what might happen between now and then.

I stopped on the stairs and was about to call out for BP when I had an idea of my own. “You call him,” I said. “You’re getting better and better at connecting every day. See if he’ll answer when you call.”

She hadn’t been expecting this, but I could also have a good idea once in a while and she realized that this was one of those times. BP had always connected to Jane and everyone else through me, but perhaps she was strong enough now to be able to talk to him directly.

At first she quietly called his name out loud. There was an echo in the stairwell. We waited for thirty seconds and nothing happened. Next she took both my hands in hers and connected to me. It was immediate and deep. I felt her anticipation. She called out for him again.

Just then her eyes got wide and her lips made an “O” in surprise. “I can feel him! On my shoulder just like you do!” I was still connected to her and could feel her surprise. I couldn’t help myself, I looked at her shoulder, but of course there was nothing there.

Next her eyes became unfocused and I put my hands on her waist to steady her. “My daughter,” said BP in his most gentle voice. “I am surprised that you have developed your abilities so quickly and I am very pleased.”

I could hear BP, but it was not like I’d ever heard him before. I heard him through her. She struggled with the strange sensation of having him in her head. Connecting with BP was not exactly like connecting with our brothers and sisters. It was much more intense.

But she was not one to swoon, and I soon felt her will herself to ask him the question about Jacob. “Thank you for this,” she said. She meant for connecting to her directly and not just through me. I could feel that it meant a lot to her. “I would like to ask you to connect to us again and allow us all to feel the living presence of Jacob. His funeral starts soon and I think some reassurance will be helpful to Evan and Juliet . . . and me too.”

My lord. She was admitting she was human. Things certainly had changed.

BP simply said, “I shall. Touch your shoulder when you would like it to happen and I will do as you say.” And with that he was gone. It was a good thing that I had a firm grip on Jane’s waist as I think she might have fallen down the stairs if I hadn’t been holding her when he left. I hated the way he just abruptly flew away, but that was BP.

She collected herself, and we continued our walk downstairs in silence. Jane was coming to grips with what had just happened and so was I. For the first time ever for us, BP had someone else he could torment other than just me.

When we got to the door that opened to the lobby, Jane stopped and faced me directly. She inspected me from the waist up with an intense eye and brushed off some microscopic piece of dust on the shoulder of my suit. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small pack of tissues. “Here,” she said. “Put these in your pocket.” The packet was opened and one tissue was sticking out, ready to be removed.

I did as she said. I would never have thought of taking tissues, but she did. I was sure Juliet had some for her and Evan too. Maybe even the Colonel would have some. I wasn’t embarrassed. With all that we had been through, Jane had probably seen me cry more than anyone on the planet except for my mother and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the funeral of a child might cause a tear or two to well up. She was ready, and now so was I.

We went outside and joined a sizeable crowd on the sidewalk.

Evan and Juliet were surrounded by a group of 10 or 15 people that I assumed were relatives. The Colonel saw us and rushed over to usher us into the first car. As soon as we got in, the driver took off. I suspected that the Colonel wanted us on our way before family members started noticing us. We’d decided, if we were asked, to tell them that we were just good friends of Evan and Juliet and that we were representing all the people from the company.

The funeral was being held in a nearby funeral home so it only took about 10 minutes to get there. It was quite an impressive stone structure with male and female attendants wearing suits of an identical dark grey color waiting outside to guide us in. We were quickly moved to seats in the third row.

Others started to arrive almost immediately. People came into the room and were seated to the sound of music being played on an organ. The casket was at the center of the front area and was not open. Thank God for that.

The last to enter were Evan and Juliet. The Colonel was at Evan’s side and someone I didn’t know was beside Juliet.

A minister whose name I missed took the podium and spoke. He talked about how hard it is to lose a child. He talked about love and how it is eternal. He talked about little Jacob and how he liked to play ball. That’s when I needed the tissues. I heard sniffling all around me and saw Juliet take off her glasses and wipe her eyes. Evan pulled her closer to him.

Jane had been holding my hand, but now let go and touched her shoulder. She reached for me again and my hand found hers. She connected to me and the two of us connected to Evan and Juliet. They hadn’t known this was going to happen and I instantly felt an almost bottomless sorrow from them. At that moment, BP connected to Jane. This time she didn’t have any reaction. We could all feel BP through her.

And we all could feel the presence of Jacob. He was there, in the care of BP. It was him, alive but seemingly asleep. Now we all felt the sure and certain hope that we would see him again.

The tears continued to flow from Evan and Juliet, but I could feel their appreciation that BP had taken this time to reassure them. Their hearts were broken, but I knew they would heal. I made a mental note to let them know that it was Jane who had arranged for BP to show up when he did.

A few minutes later, the minister finished with a prayer. We all stood as the casket was wheeled out. It would be flown to one of Evan’s properties for burial in a family cemetery.

Jane and I got into the same vehicle that had brought us here and it took us back to the apartment building. The traffic was worse now and it took longer.

During the trip, Jane connected to me. I could tell she felt better. I guessed that was natural after something like this. A funeral ceremony was supposed to help you say goodbye and allow you to start to heal. She laid her head on my shoulder and we remained silently connected until we arrived.

Everyone was waiting for us in Jane’s apartment. When we went inside, she ran to Jed and kissed and hugged him. She was glad to be back among her friends. I was too.

Jerry Wu led me to a couch and handed me a glass. It was iced tea. I looked at my watch. It was too early for a scotch. Bess, Marina, Shannon, Allen and April all gathered around, sitting on chairs or on the floor. Jed and Jane came over to join us, arm in arm.

Jerry said simply, “Tell us about it.” And I did. Or at least Jane and I did.

I told them about the service, how the minister talked about Jacob and his love of playing ball. April sniffed and took a tissue from a package she had handy. Bess reached up and she gave her one too. It seemed that all our tears weren’t dried.

I then told them about Jane’s idea and how BP had been able to connect to her for the first time. And I explained how we had been able to sense Jacob safely under the protection of BP during the service. I explained how that had helped Evan and Juliet and me too.

Jane was asked by everyone about the connection to BP. “What did it feel like? Was his voice the same? Could Roger hear what BP said through you?” She answered them all and they all congratulated her on what had happened. I smiled at Jane and gave her a look of good natured pity because I suspected that her new found abilities would come with some cost. She understood and nodded at me.

It was Shannon who asked the next question, “So what now?” It was a good one. Everyone had dropped everything to come together to do what we could for Jacob, but now what? I knew everyone had lives outside our group, but I suspected that the importance of the Connection had grown a lot compared to the rest of the things that made up our lives.

“Well, I’ve thought about it a bit. It seems to me that BP is coming to the end of the Revelation. Soon, we’ll know what this has all been about. I think that once we learn why life exists in this universe, we’ll have many of our questions answered and we’ll know why humans were put here. With any luck that knowledge will help us decide what to do next.”

I paused as I remembered something that I’d hadn’t thought about in what seemed like forever. “Let me tell you a little story about our sister Janie here.” Everyone looked at her and grinned since they all knew she didn’t like that name. “Back before anyone knew that BP was real except for me and Jane, we discussed this point in time and wondered what BP would reveal to us. Jane was always the skeptic and she said, “I just hope it isn’t something lame like ‘we’re all here to learn to love each other.’ Well, I think we can be certain that the Revelation won’t be that since that prediction has been fulfilled already. But I swear, even when we are this close to knowing the whole thing, I still have no idea what it could be.

“I do have the feeling that BP will give us the next part shortly - probably in two or three days or even sooner. I think we all need to have a break until then. If I don’t hear from him soon, I’ll try calling him. I suspect he’ll be ready since he’s been waiting almost four billion years for this.”

It wasn’t a great answer to Shannon’s question, but it was all I could do.

The rest of the evening was spent socializing and enjoying each other’s company. Eventually, the scotch came out and everyone had at least a sip, even April. It had become our drink. Juliet and Evan came by after their families had left and everyone offered their support to them. They were our brother and sister and they were welcomed and loved just like everyone else.

I spent the next couple of hours talking to Marina and Bess and Jerry. Evan and Juliet had a group of Allen and April and Jerry and Shannon around them most of the time. I looked at some point, but I didn’t see Jane and Jed.

Chapter Two

The next morning I was up bright and early as was my habit. I was working on the Revelation full narrative. I still wrote just about every day and I think it helped me cope with all that was going on. I detailed everything BP said, of course, but I also found some pleasure in reporting all that was happening to us. I saved my work most days on a thumb drive. We had learned our lesson in using email. It wasn’t the best system, but it worked for now.

Today, I detailed the aftermath of the funeral and was just about done when the phone rang. It was quite a long piece and I was happy for the break. It was Juliet calling.

“Hi Roger, I didn’t know if you were up. Is it a good time to talk?”

I said, “Sure, I’m wide awake, but how are you feeling this morning?” I was suddenly worried about her. She’d been through more than most of us. I had learned that she and Evan had been together for the last five years and that they’d been married most of that time, so she was Jacob’s stepmother. He didn’t remember his real mother so he called her Mom. It had to have been really hard on her.

“Oh, I’m fine. I actually feel a slight bit guilty. The last week has been so trying and stressful that now that it’s over, and now that we know without any doubt that we’ll see Jacob again, I actually feel relieved. I wonder if I should be crying my eyes out. I was yesterday and I’ll probably be again later, but for now, I feel pretty good. Roger, is that wrong?”

She was asking the wrong guy that question, but I thought I knew a good answer. “No. It’s not wrong. All of us will have ups and downs for quite a while I’m sure. I’m glad you’re feeling better. There’s nothing at all wrong with that.”

I hoped my words would put her mind at ease. She paused for a moment and then went on with why she’d called. “I just heard from Shannon. She wanted to know if there was a park nearby where she could take the kids. I felt embarrassed at being such a bad host. I got them a babysitter, but it never occurred to me to help them get around the city. They don’t know it, after all.

“So here’s why I called; if you agree, maybe we should all have a day off today. Everyone can be on their own or in groups. They can go to lunch or explore or do whatever they want. I think it would be good for us. I’ve already arranged a car for Jerry and Shannon and the kids, if you are okay with it, and I can arrange whatever else is needed. Should we turn them loose for today?”

I was totally in favor of it, but I asked, “How about you and Evan?”

“Oh, we’ll stick around here. I’ll play the piano and drive him nuts. I don’t think it would look good for us to be out this soon.” I understood her point and figured she was probably right.

“And the Colonel?” I asked.

“He’s got some meetings and won’t be around today either,” she answered.

“I love it,” I said. I could hear a smile in her voice as she continued. It was great to hear. “I do have a couple of other things. First, I’d like to let everyone know about their day off, but I’ve either got to call them or text them or email them. I really don’t know who can get messages which way. And, while this message is not earth shattering, don’t you think we should have some way to communicate that’s secure and private? I could get someone in the company to set up something, but I’m not sure if that’s a good plan after what happened with Matt Shively.”

It was a good point. “I’ll see to it. I’ve got an idea.”

“Great,” she said. “Now this next point requires a bit more diplomacy.” She paused and I began to wonder what she was going to say. Eventually, she found the words.

“Roger, you’ve brought this team together for the first time. I don’t know how long we’ll stay in one building like we are now, but I’ll bet it won’t be forever. None of us know what BP will reveal or what it will mean for us, but he seems awfully pleased that you’ve put this group together. If the group wasn’t needed and wasn’t going to play some role in the future, then I doubt he’d be so happy with it.

“Evan and I think there’s a good chance that we’ll have to do something big once we understand the Revelation and that will likely take money. Most of our brothers and sisters aren’t rich and we want to make sure that they also aren’t worried about any financial details and can act as needed. Roger, when you or the team needs something, anything, please just let us know.”

Evan Miller had said that he would give everything he had if he could only say goodbye to his son. I knew he meant it, but having Juliet basically offer me - anything - was still a bit of a shock.

“Juliet, I don’t know what to say. I have no idea if anyone needs any funds right now. We’ve been drawing a paycheck, so I doubt it, but if I find that anyone needs anything I will certainly let you know. There is one thing I’d like to ask for however. You know that Marina is close to being a commercial pilot. I would not be surprised that having a pilot on the team might be helpful in the future. I’d like for her to be able to finish whatever training she needs. I have no idea how long that will take or how much it will cost, but I can ask her to look into it.”

I could hear Juliet tapping on a keyboard. “Don’t bother. I’ll find out and let you know. I probably wouldn’t promise her anything until you’re sure what is involved, but it might be good to feel her out and see if she really wants to do this.” After she made her notes, she said, “Okay, if you don’t have anything else, I’m going to call the team and tell them to take the day off.”

She hung up and I thought about what I wanted to do. I pressed the button to call Bess. I got her voicemail, but in about five seconds she knocked on my door. She had been talking to Juliet about our day off when I called. Her smile seemed to go from ear to ear.

“Oh Roger, I’m so glad. Dad will be with April, of course. Can I pal around with you?”

“Sure, I thought I’d ask Marina too since Shannon will be with Jerry and Jane will almost certainly be with Jed. I guess we’re the odd ones out.”

She paused for just as second as if she was studying her response. “Yep, it seems that way,” she said.

I called Marina and she was game, so the three of us left the building. This was the first time we hadn’t had something stressful hanging over our heads for quite a while and it was a beautiful day. On the way out, we passed Jed and Jane. “Whoa there Little Buddy,” he said. “How come you get two foxy gals and I only get one?”

Jane elbowed him in the ribs. “I guess we get what we can handle,” I said and as they walked off, Jed looked back, “I sure hope you’re right about that, Little Buddy.”

We had a great day. At least I did. The two of them seemed to be a bit cross with each other. They looked great and both had shown up wearing shorts and T-shirts and sandals. It was still warm outside. I think they didn’t like it that they had dressed somewhat alike, even if their clothes were totally different, so I didn’t tease them about it. I admired my self-restraint.

At lunch, I asked Bess if she would set up some type of cell phone system that would be reasonably secure. I told her we wanted to be able to email or text with decent security. She was a computer science major, so I figured she’d know about such things.

“Sure, I can do that, but secure voice is a much more complicated thing. I couldn’t get that set up nearly as quickly and it would cost a lot more, but I could do it.” She looked at Marina and smiled.

Marina said, “I think that’s a great idea. It’ll keep Bess busy for a while I’m sure.”

I then asked Marina about her pilot’s license. She lit up. “That plane was just amazing coming up here. I wanted so much to move up to a pilot’s seat. I’m pretty close to getting my commercial license. I don’t think it’d take long if I worked at it and could afford it.”

Bess listened intently, “It’s got to be a lot of fun flying around up there in the clouds all by yourself with no one else around,” she said as she smiled sweetly.

“Well, a licensed pilot can have passengers. I could take Roger wherever he wants to go - anywhere at all.” Marina smiled back just as sweet.

Bess replied, “But you’d need fuel to do that, and I don’t think your plane would have enough. Not nearly enough.”

And so we talked about planes and secure communications just as I had planned. I thought we accomplished a lot at lunch.

Later, we went to a movie about an alien invasion and then decided to walk back to the apartment. It was a couple of miles, but no one seemed to mind. It was late summer and the shadows were getting long by the time we started walking. I was in a really good mood. I’d been able to escape the heavy burden of being the leader and had just had a very pleasant day with people that I respected and loved. We walked for quite a while in silence.

We only had one more block to go when we stopped at a corner, waiting for the “walk” signal from a traffic light. Marina looked over at Bess and broke our long silence, “My sister,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

Bess got a tearful look on her face and answered, “Me too,” and gave Marina a giant hug. They embraced as I looked on, totally forgotten. I had no idea what was going on here, but soon they turned on me and the hug turned into a three way one. I didn’t mind that at all.

We finished our walk arm in arm.

That night, just as I was thinking about turning in, Jane called. She and Jed had a great day and she’d come up with some ideas she wanted to run by me. We discussed them and decided that a meeting in the morning would be a good idea. Her idea was to have a breakfast meeting at Juliet and Evan’s place.

“Well,” I said, “it’s getting late and it might be rude to call them now and spring this on them.”

Jane had already taken care of it. “I talked to them earlier and they are all set to have a meeting at nine. Bess is ready to text everyone about the meeting if you agree.”

I told her to go ahead and within thirty seconds had a text message from Bess alerting me to the meeting. She sent it to the entire group and to the Colonel.

We talked for a while longer about nothing and I asked her how things were going with Jed. “Don’t be cute,” is all she said about that.

I had a good night’s sleep for the first time in several days.

Chapter Three

The next morning, I got engrossed in my dictating and left for our meeting a couple of minutes late. I was the last one to arrive, so I was the center of attention. Great.

Juliet and April were in the kitchen along with Jane. April looked up and said to me, “Bacon, eggs and hash browns okay?” I smiled my approval and she smiled back. I sat down beside Jed.

He called out to Jane, “That’s what I’ll have too, Darlin’. I like my bacon crisp if you don’t mind.” Jane looked momentarily surprised. I thought she was going to let loose with some type of scathing remark, but instead she broke out her most dazzling smile.

Jed turned to me and said in a voice loud enough for her to hear, “Little Buddy, don’t you just love to see the Lassies in the kitchen? I’m can’t wait to get a good breakfast.” Jane continued to smile at as she worked. I guessed she was actually making his meal. Would wonders never cease?

Jed leaned over to me and said in a quiet voice without a hint of Texas drawl, “I think something is bothering the Colonel. He’s hardly said a word since he got here. He talked to Evan for a couple of minutes but that’s it.”

I glanced at him. He was sitting on the piano bench with a cup of coffee. He seemed okay to me. “I think he’s just feeling like an outsider. And I think that feeling might even get stronger with what Jane’s got in mind this morning.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I hope he decides to join soon. It’s kind of awkward the way things are.”

I understood his point and agreed with it, but there wasn’t much we could do. You had to make your own personal decision to join the Connection and the Colonel was putting it off.

Just then April came over with a plate. It looked super - eggs over medium, hash browns just the right shade of brown and two thick slices of bacon, not fried too crisp. The plate was hot.

Jane followed with a plate for Jed. She stood above him and curtsied as she reached down with the plate. “Here you are, your highness,” she said. On it was a small muffin that looked like it might have been made from ground up sticks and twigs, and a little bowl of fruit. It was what Jane called health food.

Jed’s eyes got big with surprise and I couldn’t help but laugh. Allen and Evan and everyone else must have been on to the joke, because they laughed too. Jed was left with his breakfast and he muttered to me, “I swear. I’m not sure if I can tame that filly before she tames me.”

“Now you’re beginning to get it,” I said. My breakfast was great.

After everyone finished, Jed, Allen, Evan, Jerry and I cleaned up and put the dishes away. The girls kept making what they thought were smart remarks about putting on aprons, and when I dropped a plate and it broke, they all howled. I’m glad we were such great entertainment for them.

When we were done, everyone found seats and Jane called the meeting to order.

“First, Roger told me that Juliet had the idea for the day off yesterday. It was wonderful and much needed and I think we all owe her thanks.” Bess started clapping and everyone joined in. Evan gave Juliet a quick kiss as she beamed.

“But today it’s back to business. I want to ask what you think about getting BP to go ahead with the next part of the Revelation. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to hear this thing, good or bad. If you’re all game, I’d like to ask him to give us the next part of the Revelation this afternoon. What do you think?”

A couple of them looked at me, but the question asked for their thoughts, not mine. “I’m ready,” said Allen, “Let’s get it done.”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

Jane continued, “Okay, so we’ll see if we can make that happen.” She looked over and found Bess. “Next, Bess has been looking into secure phones for the group.”

I was surprised. I wondered how she had time to do this as I’d kept her out until at least seven last night.

Bess had her hair in a pony tail and was wearing her normal outfit - gym pants and a t-shirt. She stood up. “I’ve found some phones that I think will be good for us. I’ll set them up so that all our contact info is in each phone. You’ll be able to text or email to any or all of us with a push of a button. They’ll be voice activated so you can speak as well as type your messages. I’ll have a 2048 bit public/private key encryption utility installed. That just means that only we will be able to read our messages. And I’ll install a VPN setup and a spoofed GPS app so that no one will know where we are based on our IP address.

“But the phones are still vulnerable if they are lost or stolen. These will be rooted so I can install some low level software to help with this. The phone will require a fingerprint or voice sample or both to be unlocked for use. If it isn’t used in 48 hours, I’ll have it erase everything in it and I mean a real erase where every memory location is overwritten with junk. I’ll also install software that will allow us to disable and erase any phone remotely at any time.

“If we get them, these phones will not initially have voice encryption. That will come a few days later in all likelihood. So, until then, keep voice calls to things you don’t mind being overheard.”

“Now as to the cost. These aren’t cheap. They are $949 each and the extra software and stuff will cost another $200 or so. I haven’t decided yet on the voice encryption, but it’s likely to add another $500 or so per phone if we do it right.”

She had been speaking without looking at the notepad she held in her hand, but now she checked it. “I guess that’s it.” She seemed to realize she was talking to the whole group for the first time and her voice took on a timid sound, “Any questions?”

There was a pause for at least five seconds. April spoke up, “Why do we need this? These things sound like they belong on a spaceship with all the 2048 bits and VNPs and stuff. Why would anyone be snooping on us anyway?”

I took that one. “We’ve already had information stolen. That Pastor Chuck guy has a complete copy of the Revelation that’s fairly up to date. I see these phones as a good and easy way for us to stay in touch, which we certainly need, and I trust Bess to make the security features as transparent as possible.”

Juliet then spoke up. “If there are no objections, I’ll ask Bess to order them today. I’ll work with her on that.”

Bess sat down. I smiled my approval at her and Marina gave her arm a squeeze.

Jane took over again. “I want to talk to you now about the process of connecting to each other. Of all the changes we’ve gone through since this whole thing with BP started, nothing’s been more profound that the ability for us to somehow experience each other in this way. It’s almost supernatural, but BP tells us that we inherited this ability from our ancestors in his universe.

“You all know that we’re getting better at this. The more we do it, the stronger we get. At first, Roger could only connect if there were incredibly strong emotions involved, but now that’s not required. A few days ago, I wasn’t quite able to connect directly to someone I am quite close to - Bess - but now I’m sure I can. So here’s what I’d like to do. Try to connect, on your own, with someone else. You may have to touch the other person; that seems to help. I want to see where our skills are in this area. Go ahead, give it a try.”

Jane looked at me and smiled. There was no question about our ability to connect with each other. She walked over to Bess and took her hand. They both concentrated for only a second and then they broke out in smiles. Bess squeaked a sound of delight. Obviously, they succeeded. Jane then went over to Jed and I could tell it took almost no effort for them. They’d obviously done it before.

One by one, pairs of my brothers and sisters managed to make the connection with each other. It was wonderful and awesome to see. The only people to have any problems were Juliet and Evan. They were the newest and had experienced the fewest number of connections. They struggled to connect to each other until I touched Juliet on her shoulder and then all three of us were instantly aware of each other. I dropped my connection to them, but I could tell it remained between the two of them. A bit of practice and they’d be as good at it as the rest of us.

After everyone connected with someone else, they spontaneously started connecting in larger groups. Marina, Bess, Shannon and Jerry all connected together. Jed, Jane, Allen, April and Juliet and Evan did too. Eventually, I bridged the two groups and we were all connected again. I felt so close to these people.

I guess you could call this “exercise” as this practice made it easier for us to connect, so Jane let it go on for a while. Eventually, she stood and everyone returned to our individual selves. There was a slight letdown.

Shannon spoke up, “Can I say something?”

Jane answered, “Sure, my sister.” She was feeling close to them too.

“I . . . I don’t really know how to say this. But I seem to experience connecting in at least a somewhat different way. I’ve been practicing with Jerry ever since I joined the group and we connect easily now. I can feel him just like I can feel all of you when we are connected.

“But if I push just a little more, I can actually see things. I mean like Roger does. I think I can see things inside people. I used to be a nurse before I got married and started having kids, and I know that I can see inside people. I think Roger sees things as representations of internal parts, but to me, they look more like organs - in other words they look like they actually are. I don’t know if that’s because I was a nurse, but that is the way it works for me.”

She looked down at Jerry and he nodded his encouragement. “I also think I can affect some of these things. Today, Jerry cut himself shaving. It was a tiny cut, but I saw it as we connected. It looked like a very slow leak of shining liquid. I willed it to close. After the connection was ended, Jerry’s cut wasn’t there anymore.” She stuttered, “I. . . I . . . I think I healed it.”

Now that was astonishing news. I looked at Jane and she shrugged. Neither of us had expected this.

Shannon sat down and Jane took over again. “There are many things we don’t know about this whole connecting thing. It seems that we may have three or more different types of connecting skills. One is the common everyday way we’ve learned to connect with each other. Two is the ability to, I guess, heal. So far Roger has been the only one to do that, but it looks like Shannon might be able to do it as well. And third is something that I think only BP has done and that’s to connect to someone and plant a suggestion in their minds in such a way that they don’t even know it has happened.

“And there’s a fourth way too, now that I think of it. That’s the ability to connect and share thoughts nonverbally. BP communicates with us that way, but as far as I know, none of us can share actual thoughts if he’s not in the loop.”

She stopped talking and let this sink it. Her summary seemed to make sense to me. “Okay, that’s all we had for now. I’ll let you know when and if we hear from BP. Try to stick around the building until then.”

And with that the meeting broke up, but no one left. People immediately started connecting again. Bess found she could connect to Juliet and then to Evan. She was pleased because that meant she’d gotten stronger. She went over to the Colonel who was still seated at the piano bench and said, “Hey, Colonel, want to give it a whirl?” She reached out to touch him and he said “NO!” in a loud voice and pulled away from her. There had been a background noise of conversation that we’d gotten used to, but it stopped instantly when he spoke and the room became ultra quiet. All eyes turned to the Colonel.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” he said. I’m just not . . . it’s too . . . I think I don’t want to do that. Not yet anyway.”

Bess looked crestfallen. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I never meant . . . .” She looked like she was going to cry.

The Colonel realized everyone was staring and he stood up and broke into a big smile like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Don’t worry, Bess. There’s nothing to be sorry about. I envy your closeness and one day I think I’ll be a part of this group, if you’ll have me.” He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed with a big smile on his face. She smiled too and that defused the situation.

After that, people wandered off. I was momentarily left alone with Jane. “You did good,” I said. She didn’t acknowledge my compliment, but I could tell she was pleased with the way things had gone. “You want to try and contact BP or should I?”

She said she’d try in a little while. She and Jed left together.

The Colonel and Evan approached me. He said, “Roger, I’m so sorry about that. This whole thing is strange to say the least and it’s hard to be on the outside when you guys are connecting and doing whatever it is you do. From my perspective, I just see people holding hands and smiling. I didn’t mean to freak out on Bess, but I wasn’t expecting her to try and connect with me.”

Evan looked at me to see if I accepted the Colonel’s apology. Of course I did and I told them so. It wasn’t a big deal. Both of them relaxed and the Colonel continued, “The idea about the phones is a very good one, but we could have some engineers in the company set this up for you.”

It was an attractive offer. I decided to ask Bess about it. It would be her call. “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll let you know.”

Everyone wandered around and formed groups, waiting to see what BP said about our request to get on with it. I was talking to Jerry Wu about ten minutes later when I got a call from Jane. I answered and she said, “I finally got BP. I didn’t want to try to contact him there with everyone looking at me since I didn’t even know if I could do it totally on my own. Anyway, I managed to get him and he doesn’t want to have the next part of the Revelation today. He doesn’t even want to do it here.

“He wants us all to assemble tomorrow night at 11 p.m. and he wants us to be at the GPS coordinates he gave me. Get this - he wants to have this session outside and he said the weather will be clear tomorrow. I tried to ask him what this was all about, but he just left. Rog, you got any idea what’s up with this?”

I didn’t and told her so. BP would never share information until he was good and ready. “I’m on my way,” she said.

She arrived in only a couple of minutes. I heard her in the hall and opened the door as she strode to the center of the room. Jed walked over to me. Every eye was on her as they waited to hear what she had to say.

She looked at Bess. “Can you use your phone to look up a set of GPS coordinates?”

“Sure I can,” she said. She didn’t ask any questions about this strange request - she just brought up her phone and she tapped it a few times. Jane gave her the coordinates. She typed them in.

Jane spoke to the whole group, “BP wants to have our next session wherever those coordinates are. He wants to do it at 11 p.m. tomorrow night. He wants to do it outside and he says the weather will be clear. Neither Roger nor I know what he is planning.”

Bess and Jane were looking at the phone display as it found and displayed the location.

Bess said to the group, “It’s near a little town called Appleton. I think it’s way out in the country.”

Evan walked over for a better look and spoke up, “I know that spot. In fact, it’s on land that Juliet and I own. It’s at the peak of a mountain - about 1800 feet up. There’s a big clearing and a kind of rustic main cabin and a groundskeeper residence. We haven’t been up there in . . .” He struggled and looked at Juliet. “About fourteen months,” she said. “It’s a beautiful spot, but way in the middle of nowhere. It takes about three hours to get there.”

It appeared that we were going on a road trip.

Chapter Four

The rest of the day was one of lots of little things, but no big things. The forecast said that the temperatures overnight in the mountains would hit the fifties for tomorrow night, so a bunch of our friends from the south went shopping for sweaters and jackets. They hadn’t planned on being outside in the middle of the night. I went to my apartment to get a few things and I think Jane did the same.

Bess met with Juliet and got the phones ordered. She planned to pick them up at a local store later in the day. It ended up being quite an expensive purchase, but Juliet didn’t even seem to notice as she paid for them with her credit card. Bess was busy downloading software from the net for the phones when I told her about the Colonel’s and Evan’s offer to have some engineer set up the phones.

She frowned and looked at me as she considered what I had said. “I actually thought about that. The company probably has hundreds or thousands of technical people who know more and are more experienced than me.

“I suggested I do it because then I’ll be the only one who will then know exactly how it was done. I might screw it all up, but at least we’ll know everything was done by a member of the group. I’m sure those engineers wouldn’t build in a back door or somehow compromise the security, but I know for sure that if I set them up, the security will be the best we can make it.

“But I’ll understand if you want someone else to do it. After all, I haven’t even graduated yet and this is an important job.”

She stood up slightly straighter, ready to receive my decision.

“Okay, I agree with you 100%,” I said. She seemed confused. What was I agreeing with? “I agree that you’re absolutely the best one to take this ball and run with it. Having one of us handle this chore is a very good idea and I’m glad we’ve got someone with the skills to do it. We sure don’t want a repeat of what Matt did. So, make it happen when you can and if you need anything, just ask.”

He face lit up with happiness. She was actually a very good looking girl. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t - she gave me a hug.

I went back to my apartment on the second floor and worked on editing the Revelation some more. About seven, I got a call from Jane. “Can you come over here?” she said.

I told her that I’d be right there. Her apartment was right across the hall from mine. When I got there, the door was slightly open so I went in and closed it behind me.

“Come on in and sit yourself down,” she called from the bedroom. I sat on the couch facing a little hallway that ended in her bedroom. This place was beautifully decorated, but it was different from mine. I could see her bed since the door was open. “I’m changing for dinner. Be with you in a minute,” she said. Just then a pair of jeans flew past the door opening and landed on the bed. She’d been wearing them earlier. My lizard brain woke up from its slumber, trying to decide if there was any danger about.

“Where’s Jed?” I asked. It seemed like a good question.

“Oh, he’s still out shopping. I talked to him a few minutes ago and he’s about done, but Marina is buying out the place. He’s carrying her packages for her.”

Just then a shirt or blouse or something landed on top of the jeans. I felt my lizard brain supply a squirt of nervous juice into my system.

“I’m going to show you something now. Tell me what you think, okay?” My lizard brain wanted to react, but it didn’t have time as Jane appeared in the doorway. I don’t know what my brain expected, but it took a full two seconds before I realized she was wearing a dress. It took a few more seconds for me to realize how beautiful she was in it. I was used to seeing her either in her business clothes or in her casual/jeans look, but this dress screamed out, “I’m a girl. Look at me.” It was a very feminine look. And it sure had my attention.

She wasn’t wearing shoes, so she lifted on her toes and spun so I could see her from every angle. The skirt flared slightly. She seemed excited. “I’ve never paid this much for any outfit, Roger, but I saw it at Saks and I just couldn’t resist. It a Burberry. It’s supposed to be a casual dress, but I just love it. It’s going to be my wedding dress.”

It looked nothing like a wedding dress to me though it was very, very white. It had half sleeves and a neckline that showed just a little skin. Her small waist was highlighted by a black leather belt, which also made her legs look very long. The skirt part looked short, but it was only a few inches above her knees. Jane wasn’t a voluptuous girl, but this dress showed off her curves in the best way.

I liked it, but as a wedding dress? I didn’t even know for sure that she was getting married. She was staring at me, waiting for me to say something as I struggled to find the right words. Instead, I started to stutter again. “I . . . I . . . It’s . . .”

She ignored my efforts at making a coherent sentence. “Do you think it’s too short or too young for me? And it’s also dazzlingly white - do you think that’s okay?”

It would be hard for me to imagine a dress that was too short. I finally got myself under control. “Jane, it’s beautiful. It’s not too young and the length is just right. White is perfect with your dark hair. I love it. You look sensational.”

She smiled from ear to ear. I guessed I had said the right thing. Fortunately, it was also true.

“I know it’s not at all like a wedding dress, but that’s what I like about it. It’s so simple and that’s the kind of wedding I want - one with just my friends there.”

I started to ask when she planned for the happy event to happen, but before I could get out my question, she moved closer to me and a serious look appeared on her face.

“Rog, I’m going to ask you something else now. I want you to promise to be totally honest with me - none of your cute stuff or anything, okay?”

“Well, er . . . sure,” I said. It was getting hot in this room.

She moved even closer. She was standing and I was seated, but she was so close our legs were touching. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at me. “If I asked you to marry me, would you?”

Now my lizard brain took over, shooting every kind of juice it had in its arsenal. My mind reeled as I thought of my recent date with Meredith and how she’d wanted to lasso me. I thought of my last girlfriend and how that had worked out. I thought about how much I liked going out with various girls and how I liked Bess and Marina. I thought about how Jane and I were leading this group and how it might cause many complications. I thought about losing my freedom.

I thought about all that and opened my mouth to put it in words.

“Of course I would.” is what came out.

She sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck. Crazily, the only thought I had was that now I’d have to buy a ring.

“Thank you,” she said. “I just needed to be sure, but we’ll never get married. You don’t want to and neither do I. I think we’re too close for that and we’d end up fighting all the time. Though, the making up might not be too bad.” She paused and looked into the distance. I could tell she was imagining something.

“I asked you that question because I really want a favor and it’s a big one. I figured that if you’d marry me when I knew you didn’t want to, then you’d probably do what I’m going to ask.”

My lizard brain found a new supply of nervous juice and started squirting it to and fro.

“I’m going to tell you a few things. I wouldn’t share all this with anyone but you, because you are truly my brother and I love you. First, I’m going to marry Jed. I love him as a wife should love a husband. And he won’t take my crap the way you would and he needs me. These last couple of days have been amazing and I don’t want it to stop.”

Okay, there was nothing wrong with any of that. I was happy for her. I felt myself calm a bit.

“Roger, I also want to have a baby. I feel the need deep down inside.”

This was bordering on too much information. I’d congratulate her on having a baby, but telling me all about it before the fact was uncomfortable to say the least.

“But that’s not going to be easy to do, because Jed has a low sperm count.”

Now that was certainly too much information. I felt a drop of sweat on my forehead.

“He caught the mumps when he was sixteen. A doctor told him that any baby he fathered would be a miracle child.”

Way, way, too much information. I had a vision that I stood up and dumped her on the floor and ran. But I stayed put because she was sitting on me.

“I’ve started to keep track and I think I’m ovulating today. It’s just about the height of my cycle.”

Way, way, way, way too much information. My lizard brain was crying for me to flee.

“I want you to do something for me now.”

I wondered how much she’d be hurt when I dumped her on the floor.

Instead, I felt her connect to me. “I want you to look inside me and find my egg.”

My head was spinning so much that I couldn’t think of any argument against this, so I did what she said. At first, I couldn’t see anything but reddish walls that seemed to be rich with healthy blood. I looked closer and found a little bump, almost like a pimple. It was redder than the surrounding area and appeared to be very warm. I could feel the heat coming from it.

At the top was a white spot, embedded in the mound, but showing through just enough to be seen. I knew it was the egg and that it was ready for fertilization.

Like I had done with Jacob, I let her see what I was seeing.

Somehow, I knew that all I had to do was touch that egg and that act would transfer some of my DNA to it. I knew that would make her pregnant. I don’t know how I knew, but I just did in the same way that I’d reacted by instinct when I looked inside Bess. I reached to touch . . .

She broke the connection and pulled away. She was breathing quickly. I didn’t feel like running now.

“Wow,” she said. “My God Rog, you really could do that. Holy crap . . . oh my.”

She got up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Do you think that Jed will ever get to the point where he could do that? I mean, we could have kids then, right?”

Why would I know the answer to that? “Jane, I don’t know. You know as much about this as I do. Maybe he should work with Shannon. She seems to also have the ability to see inside people in the same way I can. Maybe she can teach him how. I’d be glad to help, but I don’t know if that type of connecting can even be taught. It may be that you either have it or you don’t.”

She seemed very thoughtful and I realized she was doing that thing where she thinks about a problem from all angles.

It didn’t take long. She smiled and said, “Well, I’ve always got you. One way or another, it looks like I’ll be able to have my miracle baby.” She seemed to be very happy.

Just then, her phone made a sound that indicated she had a text. She picked it up from the end table and looked at it and smiled. “It’s Jed. He’s carrying up Marina’s bags and he’ll be here soon.”

She stood up and straightened her dress. “I’ve got to change. I don’t want him to see this. You run on now and go see some of your girlfriends or something.” She left the room.

So she had what she wanted from me and now I was dismissed. I started to feel a bit put out, but it didn’t last long. That was just Jane.

I shook my head in wonder and grinned as I left to see what Marina had bought.

Chapter Five

Marina’s apartment was on the third floor, so I took the stairs. I thought about what had just happened with Jane. I’d never seriously considered what it would be like to be a father, but I guess to the extent that I’d thought about it at all, I had pictured myself playing with little Roger Jr. or sweet Rogerlina and having a great time with them. But now I had the mental image of Jane and Jed as proud parents of a kid that had my DNA. I could love the kid and I could probably be its favorite uncle, but it would always be theirs and not mine. That thought made me kind of sad. Of course, if Jane needed me to provide the DNA, I would, but I hoped that I wouldn’t have to be in that uncomfortable position.

So I was thinking about kids when I stepped into the hallway on the third floor and a pair of them came flying towards me at rocket speed. Marina was hot on their trail.

“Hold on there partner,” I said as I caught a giggling, squealing three year old in mid stride. She was named Kari and was about the cutest thing you’ll ever hope to see. Marina finally reeled in 5 year old Kevin and we carried them into Jerry and Shannon’s place. “They’re out getting a bite to eat and I volunteered to babysit,” explained Marina. “It’s bedtime and these little monkeys want to play instead of getting to sleep like good kids.” She looked at them, “Well, Uncle Roger and Aunt Marina will read you a story and then it’s off to sleep.”

I’d met the kids before and Kari seemed happy to have a story from me. I put her in her bed and asked which one she wanted. Even though she was away from home, there were a few books scattered around. She asked for one called Bunnies and People. I read it to her and when a little bunny laughed in the story, she did too. When I was done, she said, “Again!” It only took a couple of minutes to read, so I read it to her again. I wondered if all kids liked to hear the same stories over and over.

When I was just finished, Marina came in quietly. She touched my hand and pointed to something in the bed that had been set up for little Kari. She pointed to a little stuffed bunny. I gave it to Kari and she hugged it and smiled and closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.

Marina led me out of the room and we sat on the couch, side by side. She was wearing shorts and she crossed her legs which made them even shorter. “I’ve never seen that side of you before,” she said. “You’re really good with kids. I think you might make a fine father.”

Now that was twice in one night that a woman had brought up fatherhood to me. Were they all talking to each other about my suitability as a father? I hoped it was just a coincidence.

“Roger, I feel like we’ve been friends forever, but we’ve only known each other a short while. Did you know that this is the first time we’ve ever been alone?”

She turned to me and leaned closer. I was again amazed at how beautiful she was. I once read an article where scientists claimed that were two things that made women attractive in any culture. They were youth and health. But I could add one more as I looked at Marina and that was beauty. She had large eyes, set wide apart with naturally thick lashes. I don’t think she was wearing any makeup. I didn’t miss it at all.

She leaned even closer and gave me a kiss. She’d kissed me before, but that had been in public. This was a private kiss; soft and gentle and lingering. It felt good and I saw no reason for it to stop. I ran my fingers through her hair and pulled her closer. I didn’t have to pull hard.

Just then, there was the sound of the door being unlocked. Marina sat back quickly beside me and tried to smooth her clothes with her hands. Shannon walked in and said, “How did . . .” She stopped in mid sentence because she noticed the two of us sitting side by side with startled looks on our faces. “Oh, I didn’t mean . . . sorry, I should have knocked.” She grinned from ear to ear.

“We were just talking,” Marina sounded a bit flustered as she tugged down her shorts, but her voice quickly returned to normal. “The kids are asleep and they were great. Roger read Kari a story and she went right down.”

Shannon walked to their rooms to check on them and as she left she laughed and said, “Yeah, I know all about that kind of talking. I’ve had two kids. Jerry’s downstairs and will be up in a couple of minutes. You might want to check your hair.” Her chuckles continued to get quieter as she didn’t want to wake the kids.

Marina stood up and went to a mirror that was mounted on the wall. I broke out in laughter myself. A clump of her hair was sticking straight up on the right side. That was okay, because it was balanced by the left side where it was sticking straight out, almost horizontal.

She stared at herself and then shot me a Jane-like look designed to melt lead. Then she dissolved into laughter too. She smoothed her hair back to near normal with her fingers and when Jerry arrived, he saw us laughing and he joined in without even knowing why.

We didn’t tell him and I don’t think Shannon did either.

We said goodnight and in the hallway I briefly thought about asking if I could come into her apartment. I suspected that she was thinking the same thing.

But in the end, she gave me a peck on the check and went inside, alone. I watched the door close.

Chapter Six

It was road trip time! We’d only been in the apartment building together for a few days, but it felt like much longer. The chance to get out of the city and into the fresh air suddenly seemed like an attractive idea and everyone appeared to be in a good mood when we met the next morning.

Juliet had arranged for a full size bus to pick us up. It wasn’t the kind that took tourists to casinos, but instead was a custom job like a rock star might have for his entourage as they traveled from city to city. I wondered how she managed to find such a thing on short notice. Probably some rock star was riding around in a minivan or more likely was getting to his next gig in one of the company jets.

Inside, it was outfitted with couches and reclining seats that were very comfortable. There was a master bedroom suite with its own bathroom and another bath and shower in the main area. It had a full kitchen with a fully stocked bar and fridge.

There were only thirteen of us, plus the driver, so there was plenty of room. Last night Jane had called and we decided to tell everyone to pack a bag for an overnight stay. We really had no idea what to expect from BP, so it seemed like a good idea. She’d texted or called everyone to let them know. Jerry and Shannon decided to take the kids along. I didn’t blame them for not wanting to leave their children with a strange babysitter for that long. They went to the master bedroom where they could play and watch TV. I looked forward to reading them a story at some point if I had time.

The Colonel rode in one of two SUVs that were traveling before and after the bus. Each had a fit looking man and woman inside that I guessed were part of the security detail that normally went along with Evan and Juliet on trips. It seemed strange to me, but with kidnappings and other kinds of violence around, it made sense for your average billionaire to have some protection. Evan said these were his best people and that they’d be glad to look after Kari and Kevin while BP was hopefully completing the Revelation.

Traffic was heavy, so we moved slowly for the first few minutes as we twisted and turned our way out of the city.

Bess had brought two large bags on board with her. I knew that they contained the phones, chargers, cables and other stuff that went along with our new, secure communication system. Jane told me that she’d had a call from Bess at 3 a.m. looking for a picture of April that she could load into the phones. That way, you could tell who was calling by the picture that would come up. She must have worked all night setting these things up - loading software and making them work they way she wanted. Jane was impressed and so was I.

“Should I go ahead and hand them out?” she asked Jane.

She replied, “Sure,” and so Bess walked down the center aisle and handed everyone a box that had their name on it. She then had everyone gather around as she walked us through unpacking and starting up our new phones. She demonstrated how to login with a fingerprint and gave everyone a spoken pass code and then had them change it to something else.

She showed everyone how to call and conference and text. She had set up groups so that we could easily send messages to the whole Connection. She stood in the aisle and trained everyone as the bus made its way out of the city and picked up speed. She answered questions and was perfectly patient as she explained everything. These phones were amazing, but she’d made them easy to use. There was no security evident, but she said we should be safe from any prying eyes or ears except if they belonged to a government. She warned us that voice calls weren’t secure yet, but that she would upgrade everyone shortly.

I was so impressed with what she’d accomplished in such a short period of time. She stood there and fielded questions with perfect ease. She was confident and poised and perfectly competent. Her dad had a look of pride on his face the whole time.

Soon, the questions dried up and people started to really check out their phones. Bess was getting ready to sit down when we all got a text on our brand new phones. It was from Jane. It said, “Way to go Bess! Great Job!” And then Marina sent, “Thanks, my sister.” And then the messages really flew with everyone sending her a message of thanks or congratulations.

Bess was surprised and happy with all the attention of course, but it also made her turn several shades of red. I got up and escorted her to her seat and gave her a hug. She deserved it. I connected to her and whispered in her ear, “No company engineer could have possibly done better.”

She felt my pride in her and I felt her gratitude and the combination was a perfect match. It only lasted a moment because as she was sitting down, a look of surprise came on her face. “Oh, I forgot. I’ve got these for everyone too.” She pulled a stack of papers out of her bag. I saw that they were a summary of the Revelation as we knew it at this point. She’d updated it with the latest.

I told her to relax and I’d hand them out. She smiled at me in thanks. Everyone was happy to get a copy and we all started reading.

The universe is made up of two things: life and non-life

These are very different things.

Non-Life is far more common. Life is rare.

Life did not start by itself, but was placed on Earth by a Creator.

In the Universe, life exists only on the Earth. It is nowhere else.

Life evolved on Earth, not driven by the concept of Survival of the Fittest, but was directed so as to create Man.

The Universe is too big and the speed limits are too low for Man to ever venture into space much beyond his own solar system.

Other than the surface of the Earth, the Universe is very hostile to life. Life exists only on Earth and cannot exist anywhere else.

The Universe was never meant to have life in it at all. It was put here for a reason and it must fulfill its destiny on the one spot in the Universe where it can exist and even flourish: the Earth.

Humans are unique among life because of their ability to effect great changes to their environment based on their own will.

Only life can exhibit randomness in this universe. Non-life is totally determinate.

All life originated in another universe which is both near and far away. Our universe is a non-life universe and the other one is a life universe.

Humans have evolved to be sentient beings in a random but directed manner and are the true offspring of the inhabitants of that other universe.

Humans have evolved enough to begin to connect to each other.

The list of Revelations had certainly grown. Once again, I marveled at how Bess must have worked all night to get this stuff done.

I was studying my copy when Jane took my arm and led me to a pair of seats. “I just want to ask you something,” she said. “When this whole thing started, I came to the realization that BP was real because you knew that he was real and I trusted you. But I never believed any of his Revelation - all that stuff about this being a life/non-life universe and how life didn’t just happen here on its own. And him claiming that he put it here.

“But now, after hearing almost the whole thing, I think I’ve changed my mind. I think I believe that the Revelation is true. After all, what’s more reasonable, that life was put here or that it managed to assemble itself in all its complexity? Is it easier to believe that humans are the result of mindless evolutionary chance or that we are the result of a directed act of creation? Are we here for an instant for no reason at all? Or do our lives have meaning because we have a purpose to fulfill?

“I always accepted what science said before because I really never actually thought about it. But now that I have, and now that I’ve read the Revelation of BP, I think I believe him and not those scientists.”

I considered what she had just said. I think I had started to believe that the Revelation might be true right after BP saved Allen’s job. “I feel the same way, Jane. I think we’ll know without doubt soon, but for right now, I’ve got faith that this is all true.” I held up the paper that Bess has printed out.

She nodded and changed the subject. She wanted to make sure we were in agreement, and we were. She pointed to the front of the bus, “Bess went way above and beyond. Let’s go see if she’s still on cloud nine.”

We were rolling along now in a much more rural area. As we moved to the front, I could see fields of crops through the large windows in the bus. We drove past a large orchard with trees full of fruit, preparing to ripen as the seasons changed. I thought of all the farmers and all the hordes of people who planted and harvested and processed and delivered that fruit for all of us. I had that feeling of awe at what my fellow creatures could accomplish. I looked around the inside of the bus at my brothers and sisters. I had a mental picture of Bess, working alone all night for us. “Such people,” I thought.

Jane reached Bess’s seat and then turned around to face me and touched her finger to her lips. Bess had reclined the seat and was sound asleep. She had on a T-shirt covered by a jacket that had her school logo on it. Her pants ended at mid calf and she wore platform sandals that had to be three inches high. Her hair was in a ponytail and she clutched her phone to her chest. It moved up and down as she breathed. She looked younger than her twenty one years.

Jane looked at me and smiled. She didn’t say a word, but I understood exactly what she meant. She reached up and took a blanket from the overhead area and gently covered Bess with it.

The rest of the trip passed quickly. Someone made a pot of coffee and we talked and admired the scenery as we passed from flat land to foothills. Eventually, our convoy turned down a small paved road that had a gate across it just out of sight of the main road. The Colonel got out of the lead vehicle and then unlocked and opened the gate. We drove through and then stopped again to wait as he relocked it.

The road became fairly steep and there were several switchbacks as we climbed. On each side was dense forest, only broken occasionally so that we could see into the distance and realize just how high we were. When the driver slowed at the top, I could see a mown field of grass about the size of a football field. It was surrounded by dense forest. The road ran between this field and the trees. At the other end of the field, we saw what Evan had called a rustic cabin. It may have been rustic, but my mental picture had been of a small, one room affair. Instead, this cabin was the size of a normal home. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was a log home and so it looked like it belonged on top of this mountain. Beyond it was the much smaller caretaker’s house. Evan said no caretaker lived there, and that it was more or less a guest house. He said he had someone come up every week to do the grounds keeping and check on things. This morning someone had mowed the field and delivered groceries. The Colonel took over the guest house as his “headquarters.” His people would stay there unless needed. He got them all together for a final briefing.

We stopped beside the main cabin and everyone got out, led by Bess who looked like she’d just awakened. The air was warm and the sun shone brightly. I’d brought along a jacket, but short sleeves would be great for right now at least. The driver unloaded all our bags into a pile on the porch of the cabin and then drove away. Juliet explained that he would be waiting for our call at a motel in a town a few miles away.

As the bus disappeared from sight, the silence immediately commanded my attention. It was quiet up here - a kind of quiet you can’t find in the city. I felt a small stab of apprehension. What in the world did BP have planned that required this kind of setup?

All the women went inside as Juliet announced she’d make us some lunch. The cabin had a nice big porch with several rocking chairs. The guys sat down and just took in the clean air.

I was still thinking about BP when I felt the pressure on my shoulder that signaled he was there. I figured he would have something to say, so I just waited for him to enter my head. It took less than five seconds. “I am glad you arrived early,” he said. “I have some instructions.”

That rubbed me the wrong way. I started to tell him that I’d be glad to receive his suggestions, but that he could keep his instructions to himself. But I decided not to bother - trying to educate BP on how to be a bit more human was a waste of time. Besides, if his instructions made any kind of sense, we’d follow them anyway.

“Go ahead,” I said, and he did.

The first thing he wanted was for us to stack wood into a pile at the center of the mowed field. He was very specific that it must be at least three feet high and that the base must be made of small twigs and leaves and such. It was obvious that he had a bonfire in mind, but I had no idea why.

I told Allen, Jerry, Evan and Jed that BP had arrived and I told them what he wanted. They went with me into the trees and we brought back armloads of dry stuff from the forest floor. When we got back to the field, Marina was there wondering why we were carrying all those sticks. I told her about BP and what he wanted and she took charge of stacking the wood. “I’ve done this in girl scouts many times. You men folk go hunt and gather and I’ll make us a good stack that’ll start easily and burn right.”

And she did. It took at least 4 trips to the woods to bring back enough material, but each time she had everything added to the pile by the time we came back with the next load. The stack was at least 6 feet in diameter at the base, rising to an apex of about three feet high. The base had all small stuff, followed by medium sticks and some bigger ones on top.

When we returned with the last armloads of wood, the Colonel had apparently finished his briefing and was waiting with Marina. He had the good sense to let her finish the pile on her own, but he studied it carefully like he thought maybe some creature might be hiding inside. “Looks like that’ll make for a good fire,” he said. “Who’s going to light it?”

I told him we had no idea because BP had told us to do this chore and we didn’t know why. “I see,” he said in a thoughtful way. “I guess we’ll find out tonight.”

Just then April came out and called everyone in to lunch. I walked with Marina back to the cabin and thanked her and the others for all the help. She smiled from ear to ear but didn’t say a word. I didn’t connect with her then, but I could tell she was feeling contentment.

We had a great meal and a wonderful afternoon. Everyone spent time outside in the sunshine and warmth. The kids played and laughed until they were totally worn out and had to take a nap. I wanted to read them a story, but they conked out before I could. Someone had brought a Frisbee and Jane, Jed, Bess and Marina were tossing it around while the rest of us sat on the porch and thought our thoughts. I looked up just in time to see Bess make a through the legs catch that made everyone laugh. I saw that stack of wood behind them, waiting.

Chapter Seven

It was late summer so the sun was setting earlier. By a bit after seven it was dusk and the full moon became visible over the horizon. This time April took the lead on making a meal with Jane and Evan as her helpers. Juliet got to take a break. The food was good and I think Jane blushed when Jed complimented her on her cooking.

After we ate, the kids ran and played on the grass one last time until Jerry and Shannon took them to the main bedroom and put them to bed. The Colonel assigned two of the security people to watch them. He told the other two to stay in the guest house unless he called them. Lord knows what they thought we were doing up here.

After that, everyone gathered on the porch. There were a few quiet conversations, but the time had come to face what was ahead of us. All of us had speculated that tonight we might finally receive the part of the Revelation that explained why humans lived in this universe. I was looking forward to it, but I also felt a nagging sense of dread at the same time. I think the others shared that feeling and that explained the kind of somber mood we were in.

The air started to get cool and people left to get sweaters, jackets and even blankets to wrap up in. We didn’t know how long we’d be outside tonight, and while it wasn’t going to be cold by any means, it would be chilly.

I had my jacket and was sitting waiting with Bess when I felt BP enter my head. He didn’t waste any time. “I would like to have everyone start by circling the pile of wood, getting as close as they can to it. Then I want them to turn around with their backs to the pile and walk twelve paces at full stride. This should cause them to end up in a circle with each person being a good distance away from the wood pile. This will be the place where you will receive the next part of my Revelation. Exact precision is not necessary. They will sit, so have them take something to sit on.”

And just like that, he was gone. I looked up and found Jane. She saw immediately that something had happened and she came straight over to me. I told her what BP had said and I asked her what she thought of it.

“I have no idea, Rog. It’s certainly different though, isn’t it?” Well, that it was. Usually our sessions just kind of happened. This time BP had set this up with some fairly complex choreography. But it was his game and it looked like we had to play it his way. I started to go back into the house to get a blanket. We had fifteen minutes to go and I assumed BP still wanted to start at eleven. Bess guessed what I was up to and said, “You just talk to Jane. I’ll get your blanket for you and be back in a half a jiffy.”

Jane smiled at me. I remembered a time - it seemed like a lifetime ago - when Bess ran to get me a fork for my lunch. Jane and Allen and Matt had all snickered and my face turned red with embarrassment. Jane’s smile then was one of mischievous glee, but this time, as she watched Bess disappear into the house, her face showed something else. I couldn’t help myself; I connected to her and felt both love and concern. “You know that girl loves you, right?” Jane said. “And Marina too, for that matter. You’ll have to do something about that one of these days.”

Just then Bess returned - right in the nick of time. I was always glad to talk to Jane, but it was very uncomfortable for me to talk about my love life with her. I don’t know why since we were so very close, but it was.

“You want to make the announcement?” I asked her. She didn’t bother to answer, just walked to the center of the porch and asked for everyone’s attention. She laid out the scenario exactly as BP wanted. Everyone was puzzled as to why he wanted it this way, but we all understood what was required.

After a few last minute preparations, we walked into the field and met at the pile of wood that Marina had built earlier. Along the way, the Colonel handed me a lighter. “You never know,” he said. It seemed obvious that we’d light the stack sooner or later, but when and for what, I didn’t know. It had never occurred to me to have something to light it with.

When we got to the pile, we all circled it and then turned outward. The Colonel was off to the side, but I could see him in the bright moonlight. I started to take my first step, but I didn’t. The night was beautiful with what looked like thousands of stars in the clear sky. A beautiful, oversized full moon hung low on the horizon. I had looked it up and the moon would set today at 11:18.

Instead of stepping, I reached out and took Marina’s hand. She was standing beside me. She took Jerry’s and, one by one, each of us took the hand of the one beside us. Instantly, we connected to each other.

I could feel their anticipation and also their closeness. I started to take that first step again, but this time I stopped because Jane spoke up.

“Brothers and sisters, after tonight, there is a good chance that our lives will be changed. Either we will know what the Revelation is about and we will need to start working on . . . something. Or we’ll find that our part in this drama is over. I don’t know exactly why I believe that, but I do.

“Either way, I’d like us to consider how we all got to this point. In every case, you are here because you experienced a deep physical or mental anguish. We all know how Jed, April, Marina and Jerry were brought to us. We know that Shannon felt Jerry’s profound sense of agony at what had happened to Jed and we are so happy to have her with us.

“We know how Allen was saved at the company, and how Bess was saved from a lifetime of pain. We all experienced the agony of Juliet and Evan and felt the wonder of little Jacob as he waits to reunite with us.

“There is another person here who I have not mentioned. She was a stubborn and cranky know-it-all who had real trouble making real friends. She would never admit it, even to herself, but she was lonely. That is until Roger did for me what he’s done for all of you. He healed me. I may still be a stubborn and cranky know-it-all, but I’m no longer lonely because he has welcomed me, and all of us, into this very, very special group. I would never have been able to say this before, but I can now. I love you, my brothers and sisters.”

She paused just for a few seconds. My heart swelled with love for her. “As we take this next step, I’d like to thank Roger from the bottom of my heart.”

She took the first step and we all followed her lead. One after another, as we moved away from the pile of wood, our hands dropped and as they did, each person thanked me. I felt at that moment that this was certainly the highlight of my life. I could not imagine any moment that could possibly top it. I struggled to think of a way to express my feelings, but I couldn’t make the words come. Then I realized that I didn’t have to say anything - they all knew what I was feeling.

We counted off our twelve steps and turned back to face the wood pile as we spread out blankets to sit on. Before I sat, I felt BP enter my head, right on time. “I would like to thank you too, Roger. You have accomplished far more than I could ever have imagined.” Everyone heard him through me as before. It was certainly the biggest compliment he’d ever paid me.

I sat and then he spoke to all of us. The time had finally come to hear the rest of the Revelation. “Before I get started, I would like to tell you that there will be a demonstration using that pile of wood. Do not be alarmed. You will be in no danger. However, there are people in the vicinity who are not part of your group who will be able to see this demonstration. I plan on making them relaxed and even sleepy during the few minutes that my demonstration will take - much like I did with Roger in our first session together. The rest of the time, they will simply see you sitting in a circle. It will then be up to you to tell them what you would like them to know.”

So he was going to make it so that the Colonel didn’t see the fire. I wondered why. I also felt strong approval from Bess. Something about the Colonel rubbed her the wrong way.

BP felt no objection to this plan, so he continued, “As I told you before, you are the children of our universe. You are us, and we are you. You are growing and maturing and are becoming more like us every day. We share so much and will share more in the future.

“Like you, we were a curious people. Like you, we wondered how our universe worked. Like you, we developed science that helped us understand it.

“A very long time ago, we discovered this non-life universe. And we discovered that there was a duality with our own life universe. Our scientists found that one universe balanced the other and that this balance made our life universe stable and allowed life to flourish and grow there.

“It also made this universe profoundly hostile to life, so hostile that this universe engages in a cyclical round of expansion and then contraction. Fourteen billion years ago, this universe started with what you call the big bang. It has done this many, many times in the past. This explosion creates the matter that makes up this universe, which is expelled outward until gravity slows down the expansion to the point where everything literally stops and then starts contracting back to a point of almost infinitely small size - a singularity. Then the cycle starts again.

“Imagine yourself throwing a ball into the air as hard as you can. The instant it leaves your fingers, it starts to slow as gravity tries to pull it back to earth. It continues to slow until it stops - just for an instant - and then it falls back to earth; its speed increasing as it does. That is what happens after the big bang.

“Now, do not be frightened. Look up.” I didn’t like the sound of that, but as one we all raised our eyes to the sky. It had been fairly light as the moon was full, but now the moon was just slipping below the crest of the mountains in the distance. The sky grew darker by the instant and what had looked like thousands of stars suddenly looked like millions. The beauty of it was almost too much to bear.

And that’s when it appeared we left the planet. “I am providing a vision for you. Just as you can hear my voice, you can now see what I want you to see.”

Somehow, I knew we were all seeing the exact same thing. Turning my head made no difference in the vision. I still saw it exactly the same regardless of where I looked. We appeared to be climbing faster and faster. Below, the Earth was fully visible but was rapidly decreasing in size. In seconds, we passed outside the solar system. At first, we could see individual stars and soon we could see individual galaxies.

Eventually, we seemed to pass outside the limits of the universe altogether. The stars disappeared and we saw only the black nothingness of space. Ahead was a tiny green light.

“This is how I arrived here. I will now show you my universe, the universe that provided you life and the one you were meant to live in.”

We hurtled through the green light and came to an abrupt stop in a large room. It was set with a large table. I was sitting at the end.

“Please understand that this is a representation of my universe presented in a way that you can comprehend.”

I felt peace and warmth. There were others at the table - several of them. Were they my friends in the Connection? I wasn’t sure since there was a cloudy mist obscuring my vision, but I sensed a deep closeness to them and a complete trust. I sensed other people here too - children. There were several of them.

I had no discomfort, no fear, no uncertainty. This was where I belonged. It was home. I knew I would be happy here.

BP continued at that point, “When we are done in this non-life universe, I will bring all of you here to live. This is where Jacob will live again.”

It was too wonderful to put into words. I felt a rush of desire from Evan and Juliet. We were still connected in the normal way so these strong feelings came through loud and clear. They wanted to stay here, in our new home. I longed to as well.

But it was not to be. Before any of us were ready, we saw ourselves leave the table and soon we were again on the other side, in the non-life universe. We could see the small green spot in the black void. I longed to return there.

“That portal is the connection between these two separate universes, Travel from one to the other is forbidden, except that I am allowed to return and bring back the life I brought with me when I arrived here.”

Now our vision changed as we all seemed to have returned to a spot very near Earth. We could see the small moon off to the side. The sun was blazing, but BP was showing us a very empty part of space. Suddenly, that area of emptiness started to glow. A reddish substance seemed to almost fill all the space between earth and the other planets. We moved further away, outside the solar system, and the same reddish glow was everywhere.

“Fourteen billion years ago, our scientists brought what you would probably call a spaceship through that portal. The next big bang was going to happen and they wanted to study this event. Getting life from our universe physically into this one is very difficult and it took a gigantic amount of energy to insulate our vessel from the harmful effects of this non-life universe.

“But they were successful in making the trip and prepared themselves to witness the explosion. There were over two thousand of my fellow beings on that ship. They had planned this trip for a very long time and I know they felt a strong sense of anticipation.

“However, somehow, a mistake was made. We have done an extensive analysis of everything we could find about what happened and we believe that the ship was simply too close to the spot where the big bang explosion would occur. That sounds like a basic mistake, and it was, but by that time the gravity field of the singularity was so strong it may have interfered with their ability to position themselves accurately.

“Still, they should have been a safe distance away, but they weren’t. When the explosion happened, it tore the ship apart and the massive energy carried inside that ship - energy necessary for its return home - was released into the plasma just at the moment where matter was being created. The energy from our ship changed that creation; not much, but just enough so that the big bang created less matter than it should have and left this universe infused with excess energy. This is what you see in your vision as the red glow.

“It was not supposed to have been here. There should have been even more matter than there is, but instead, space is filled with this low level energy.

“Since this is a non-life universe, you are probably wondering why it matters if there is less matter than there should be. It is because of the energy you are seeing now. It is this energy that is causing a problem. It is this energy that will destroy your universe - and mine.

“This energy is pushing your universe apart. Imagine throwing that imaginary ball into the air and instead of having it slow down and fall, it speeds up, going faster and faster until it leaves the solar system and then the galaxy and eventually the universe itself.

“That is what is happening to your universe. You scientists have discovered that the entire universe is not only moving apart, but is moving apart at an increasing speed. Galaxies are right now moving further away from each other, stars inside those galaxies are moving away from each other too. Eventually, everything - every bit of matter in this universe will break its bonds with every other bit of matter as this energy pushes relentlessly. In a few billion years, all the matter in this universe will have been torn to single atoms that will then continue to move away from each other. Long before that, this universe will go dark.

“Your scientists only recently discovered that this is happening. What they have not discovered is that this change in this non-life universe also causes changes in my life universe. While it appears that this universe will now expand forever, my universe has started to contract. Eventually, it will be reduced in size to a point of singularity. It may then have its own big bang and start its own cycle, but long before that, all life in my universe will be gone. As far as we know, all life everywhere will have been extinguished.”

He paused for a moment to let this sink it. My God, of all the possible things he might have told us, this was something I had never even come close to considering. I had thought the Revelation might have something to do with the planet itself, but he just said it affected two complete universes and all the life that exists anywhere. The scale of it all was almost incomprehensible.

We were all still sharing his vision and all saw the same thing. The red faded and the stars shone brightly. We again started to move and could see a small blue ball ahead that I knew was the Earth. But first, we passed by the moon. BP took us, in his vision, to the surface. It was lifeless, but beautiful in a cold way. The cold sunlight shone brightly on the surface where we were.

Now we moved over the horizon and saw something that was obviously not native to the moon. It was a spacecraft - or at least the remains of one. Beside it was a small American flag on a thin rod. It was in the ground at a slight angle.

“This is what you are capable of. It was hard for humans to do this and it was very dangerous. But they did it. Earlier, I implied that this trip to the moon had little value and my daughter Jane pointed out that humans don’t always act simply because the value of those actions can be added like a stack of coins. You are lucky to live in a world with such people in it.”

I felt a strong sense of pride in what he said. That flag, covered in dust, was the perfect example of how humans could do difficult things if they wanted to. But I still had a question. It was the one that every human had asked himself since we became sentient. It was the one that millions searched to answer every day.

“So why are we here?” I asked.

BP’s voice was strong, “Your scientists are even now struggling to explain why your universe is moving apart at an increasing speed. They don’t know the answer to that question, but you now do. It happened because my people, from my universe, made a mistake.

“When we realized that mistake, a planet was found that could sustain life and I journeyed here to implant it. It was planned that this life would flourish and evolve until you, our sons and daughters in the absolute truest sense, were created.

“We put you here in this damaged and hostile universe for a reason.

“We want you to fix it.”

I felt something from my brothers and sisters that I’d never felt when we were connected. I felt shock. It was like a real electric shock as it traveled through each of us. Fix it? Fix it? We were a group of eleven people and we were supposed to stop galaxies from flying apart?

At first I suspected that BP had lost his mind, but then I thought back to all the parts of the Revelation, and all that we’d gone through to reach this point. BP had spent billions of years on this project away from the beauty and peace of his home universe. It didn’t make sense that all this would have happened if it required us to do something that could not be done.

I felt myself calm and shared that with my brothers and sisters. I could have expressed my doubt that we were capable of doing what he wanted, but instead I said one word, “How?”

BP paid me his second compliment of the day. That had never happened before. “Thank you Roger, my son.” It was sincere. He was thanking me for having faith in him.

Just then, the vision we had been sharing disappeared and we returned to normal. We were all back in the dark grassy field, but the stars shone brightly. I could see the outline of Marina to my left and Evan to my right. Everyone looked around as they reoriented themselves to being back on Earth.

BP spoke after giving us a minute. “Roger, I am going to teach you a new aspect of what you call Connecting. I want you to find a spot on that pile of wood that would catch fire easily. Find it now and concentrate on it.”

I did. “Now I want you to ignite that spot using the power of your own mind. It’s the same power you use to connect to the others, so I know you have it. Try now.”

Of course I was doomed to fail. I had no idea how to do this, however I tried without success. I could feel the others wishing they could help as I struggled.

“You need their help. Let me show you how to do it.” And with that, he showed me. It was actually simple, almost like finding a new doorway in my mind. It had been there, but I’d never noticed it before. I showed the others and they all were as astonished as I was. I heard April say out loud, “Oh my.”

BP continued, “Imagine you are trying to lift a weight that is far too heavy for you. Your strength alone will never be enough, but if you combine it with the strength of your friends, then you will be able to lift the weight.”

I had a vision of a large barbell, lying at my feet. Perhaps he implanted this into me or maybe I imagined it myself. I bent and tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge. I opened that door - that combining door. Instantly Jane was with me. It wasn’t like I just sensed her presence; instead it was like she was physically there. She put her hands beside mine on the weight. I saw her muscles swell with the strain. Soon, Jed, Bess and all the others arrived and added their strength. They all joined in and we lifted as one and the weight moved.

“Now,” said BP with urgency in his voice, “Now Roger, light the fire!” The vision of the barbell disappeared and I turned my attention to that spot on the wood. This time, it wasn’t just me; it was the energy of all of us, combined as one.

I saw a small spot brighten at the base of the pile of wood. It grew slowly until a small flame erupted. I smelled smoke. We had done it. I knew without asking her what Jane would call this. She’d call it Combining.

I watched the flame slowly grow at the center of the pile of wood. I realized I felt a hint of disappointment. Sure, we’d lit this fire with our combined energy, but it wasn’t really all that impressive. I could have simply used the Colonel’s lighter and done the same thing.

But BP wasn’t done. “Notice you can control how much of this energy you provide.” He must have done something because now I did notice just what he described. I realized we could increase the power of our combined energy. Everyone saw this at the same time I did. Everyone realized that we were using only the smallest part of this ability. “Now Roger, increase the amount. Not much - just a little. Do it now, Roger.”

I did as he said. We all did. I turned up the wattage just a small amount. Everyone followed my lead.

The results were frightening. That large pile of wood had been slowly starting to burn. The initial flame had grown in size, but it was still small. Given enough time, it would have eventually consumed the pile, but our new burst of combined energy consumed it in a millisecond. As soon as our higher level of energy hit the wood, it no longer burned. It exploded with a bright fireball that rose twenty feet into the air. The glowing ball seemed to hang there for several seconds until the cooler air from below caused it to collapse on itself. It disappeared and darkness returned. I still felt the warmth on my face from the literal explosion of the wood pile. The sound of the explosion echoed through the hills beyond us.

BP had provided his demonstration. “My children, it is common in this universe to convert matter to energy. This happens in every star and in every nuclear power plant. But the big bang accomplished something that your scientists have only just started to dream about - it converted energy into matter. That matter became all the planets and stars and dust in this non-life universe.

“However, since we interfered with that process, it didn’t complete and the universe is suffused with energy that should have been matter. We need to finish that conversion and convert all that extra energy you saw as a reddish mist, into matter - mostly dust in space. Then, instead of energy pushing apart everything there is in this universe, there will be dust which has mass and gravitation effects. This will slow the expansion and eventually stop it so that the contraction can begin.

“What you have just done to light that fire will provide the spark that will fix our mistake. First, I will instruct you on the creation of a mechanism - a machine. This will need to be sent into space so that it is in contact with the dark energy that is pushing this universe apart. You can think of this device as a concentrator. Once it is in place, you and others here on Earth will combine your energies and direct them at that trigger device. This will power it so that it will start the conversion of the nearby energy into matter. It will then become a continuing chain reaction process that will proceed further and further onward like lighting a fuse. Once the reaction starts, it will continue until all the dark energy in this universe is converted to matter.

“That will fix the problem. Once this universe starts to contract, ours will stop and will return to stability.

“This is why we put you here. This is what we ask you to do.”

So he did have a method in mind after all. It still sounded farfetched, but I had just seen us combine our mental power to do something pretty spectacular. And that was only using a fraction of what I now knew we were capable of. I wondered if he had any idea how many would be required to start that conversion reaction way up somewhere in space.

“You say that we who are here and others will combine to start this reaction. How many do you think it will take? Do you know?”

BP answered, “Yes, I do. It will take the combined efforts of three hundred forty of you.”

I didn’t know what to think about that - it was a large number, but not too large. It could be possible, but I had no idea how it might be done. I thought about all that had happened so that this small group could be together. That had come about mostly by chance, but I knew we’d need a real plan to add that many new members to the Connection.

I felt Jane start to object, but BP cut her off. “It does seem like a large task, my daughter, doesn’t it? But it is not beyond your abilities. I have every faith in that. As I look around at the members of this group, I not only have faith, I feel certain that you will be able to do this.

“This is one reason that I asked Roger to carefully write down my Revelation. My words, combined with his and yours, will ring true to many of your fellow humans and will pull them to you. You will be able to use these words to gather the required number. I know you can.

“And do not forget that I will also be available to help in this task. I will provide the information needed to construct the device and I will continue to help you understand the nature of the task before you.”

He paused and I thought perhaps he was done, so I asked a question, “At one point, you said your time here was running short. How long do we have to do this . . .” I paused because I couldn’t even think of a name for what it was he was asking us to do. “. . . this fix.” It was what he had called it, but it sounded weak.

“There is a tipping point coming. This is a point where this universe has increased its speed of expansion so much that no force can return it to normal. At that point, my universe - your future home - will also be doomed. That point is seven years away. However, if you are able to fix it sooner, then that would be excellent. I miss my home.”

I missed it too. He had allowed us to see a vision of his universe, teeming with life and welcoming to us. It was so beautiful that I longed once again to be there. I knew that I would never again feel like I truly belonged on Earth - my home was out there, waiting for me to arrive. I could feel everyone else react to his mention of his home in the same way I did.

I wasn’t done with the questions, “And when we have done this, this thing, you will take all of us with you when you return?”

“Yes, my children. You, and all who have connected to me through you, will be taken as Jacob has been, to be reunited with each other in your new home. I will take back with me all the life that I brought here.”

I felt a hint of alarm. “You say that you’ll take us if we’ve connected. How about people who choose not to connect to any of us, or don’t even know we exist? Will they be taken so that they can live in the new home?”

“Their life energy will be taken back to where it came from. That is as it should be. If I have never known them by a connection to them, it is not within my power to take them as they are - only as the life energy that is part of them.”

Now it was Jane’s turn. “We’ve got eleven members now, so you are saying that if we somehow manage to get three hundred twenty nine more to join the Connection and fix the problem your people caused, that you will simply remove the life from all the other people when you leave this universe?”

I think BP was surprised at this turn of events. “Life does not belong in this universe. Whether or not you succeed in the task I ask of you, all life will disappear from here eventually. It doesn’t matter if the life is extinguished because the universe is expanding or because it is contracting. It doesn’t matter if it’s because your sun goes nova or because an asteroid hits the Earth. The reason doesn’t matter because all life will leave this universe whether I take it with me or not. It does not belong here, but it does belong where it came from - my universe and, hopefully, your new home.”

Everyone was silent as they struggled to understand what they had just heard. Only when BP was part of the connection could we hear the others speak without talking out loud. Jane expressed her feelings loud and clear, “If doing what you want results in the death of all life on Earth, except for us chosen ones, then you can count me out. I can feel a deep longing to go to the new home, as you call it, but not at that price. If you want my help, leave everyone else alone when we leave. Offer them the choice to return with us. For those who don’t, maybe they’ll figure out how to survive here. Maybe they’ll come visit us one day. I don’t know what they might do, but I know that I won’t go along with a plan that takes away their choice of how to live their lives.”

It was a simple statement, but she expressed it with total conviction. I immediately felt that everyone else agreed.

It was a strange turn of events. During the whole period of the Revelation, BP had persuaded me to do what he wanted. But now, he had asked for too much so he had a mutiny on his hands. Since we were connected, I felt confusion from him for the very first time.

He came to the only decision he could, “I will do as you say, my daughter Jane. I have no other choice. I will take back with me only those who choose to do so. I will leave all other life intact on the Earth. I would rather return with all that I brought, but I see now that I cannot.” He sounded sad as he left without another word.

I stood up and walked towards the place the wood pile had been. All that remained was a blackened roughly circular area on the ground. In the starlight, it looked like a black hole, surrounded by the dimly green grass. I hadn’t yet fully digested this last part of the Revelation and was deep in thought so that I didn’t notice when everyone else followed my lead and gathered around. I felt Marina take my hand as I broke the connection. I looked at my watch from the light of the stars. It said 2:15. This was probably the longest session we’d ever had with BP. Everyone waited for me to say something.

“He’s telling the truth about this expanding universe thing. I read about it while I was looking up some stuff to use in my arguments with him. Scientists discovered just a few years ago that the universe was not only expanding, but that this expansion was speeding up. One explanation they suggested was that there was too little matter and too much energy in the universe. They called it dark energy because they couldn’t see it. Three scientists even won the Nobel prize in physics for this discovery in 2011.”

I felt overwhelmed by all that I’d learned. Now a new thought came to me, “But how in the world can we recruit such a group of people? We’ve only got a handful now and we came together mostly by chance. It won’t be easy to get hundreds more.”

I really had no idea, but Evan Miller spoke up. “In terms of big business, you plan your production based on your forecasted sales. The number of sales you plan to make depends on the product. In our company, for a mass market product, we’d want to make and sell millions of units at a minimum, which would involve the efforts of likely thousands of employees. But for a company that makes expensive airplanes, a total production of three hundred forty planes could be all the market would need and that goal might also require thousands of people. Right now, we don’t have any way to gauge just how hard this might be. It might take the efforts of thousands or it might not. It sounds do-able since we've got resources, but we won’t know for sure until we actually come up with a plan and try it out.”

I looked at Jane and she had that far away look in her eye. She was working on the problem. I held up my hand to let everyone know to be quiet for a few moments. In truth, I didn’t know if she could even hear anything when she did this, but I always let her work in silence.

This time, she finished very quickly. She looked around at all of us. “Evan is right. We have no idea how hard it would be to get three hundred forty members. That’s because we don’t know how hard it would be to get one new recruit. Let’s start there. Let’s recruit a new member and see what it takes.”

The idea seemed obvious in its simplicity, but she was right. The only way to get started was to start. Finding one new member would likely give us a much better understanding of how to go about getting more.

I suggested we get a few hours sleep here tonight and then discuss it on the bus ride tomorrow morning. Everyone agreed and I was about to break up the meeting when Bess spoke up, “One more thing, please. This thing that BP is asking us to do isn’t like developing a new product that simply appeals to people’s vanity - it’s more like what that Pastor Chuck accused us of being - a cult. I suggest we keep this part of the Revelation to ourselves.” She looked over to where the Colonel was standing, well out of earshot. “Let’s just tell him that BP spent the time describing how nice it was in his universe. That’s true, of course.”

Bess hadn’t gotten over the fact that her email was hacked. She was now very security conscious. I was glad she was.

And so we finally knew why BP had come here. We knew why we were here. We just didn’t know if we could or would act on that knowledge. Everyone went their own way with their own thoughts. I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor in front of the fireplace. It was warm and I dreamed of that red mist in space.

Chapter Eight

So how do you go about recruiting a new member for a group like ours? That was the question we struggled with on the ride home and over the next few days.

At first, I thought we’d come up with an idea quickly, but the problem was more difficult than I anticipated. We couldn’t very well just walk up to some stranger on the street and see if he wanted us to connect to him so we could share his emotions. That would sound more than a bit strange. Allen thought we needed to seek out people who were in some type of pain - either physical or mental - and offer to help them. Since almost all of our members arrived in that state, it made sense. But this just led to other questions - how do you find these people and how do we know we could help them even if we could identify likely candidates?

Everyone had ideas and suggestions, but the amazing thing to me was that we were having this discussion at all. No one quit the group because the task of getting a total of three hundred forty members seemed impossible. No one suggested that we should not try to fix the problem with our universe. In fact, once it was clear that Jane and I were actually going to try to accomplish the task BP had outlined for us, everyone just assumed that we’d find some way to succeed. After all, BP had said that we were capable and somehow, we all believed him.

But after days of back and forth messaging and meetings, we still didn’t have what seemed like a workable plan on getting that first new member. It was getting frustrating and since we spent so much time in the apartment building together, we started to get on each other’s nerves just a bit. It wasn’t anything serious, but I knew I had to do something.

I went to Evan Miller and asked if we could just have a freewheeling brainstorming session. He was happy to do it and asked if Juliet or Jane or anyone else should join us. I told him I’d rather it be just the two of us since we’d tried group meetings and had gotten nowhere. I had an opening question in mind. It was why I chose him to talk to. “When you need a new employee for some new task, how do you find them?” I asked.

Evan didn’t hesitate, “We write up a list of qualifications that we think are needed to perform well in the job and then we advertise the opening.”

That seemed obvious enough. “Where do you advertise?”

“Online at various job sites if it’s a specialized opening. And on our web page. On our Facebook page too. We don’t do much print advertising anymore for job openings. You get too many replies and doing it online allows us to gather the same information from each applicant so we can compare them easier.”

I had another question, “How about lower level jobs, like people who pack boxes for shipment - that type of thing?”

“Those we normally just post on Craigslist in the local area where we have the need. It’s works well to fill those openings.”

This was interesting, but I didn’t see it getting us any closer to finding that new member. “If you get fifty applicants for a single job, how do you decide which one to hire?” I felt a little like BP in his twenty questions mode.

“Most of the time a lot of them will disqualify themselves - if we discover an arrest record, drug use, a record of getting fired often. Some obviously can’t write or spell, others come to interviews without having showered for a few days. I sat in on these interview sessions when we were first getting started and it wasn’t pretty. I understand it’s even worse now and harder to find good people for lower skilled jobs.”

We were just letting the conversation take its own course hoping that it would lead somewhere. I turned it in a new direction.

“Allen thinks we need people who are hurting. I agree that would be the most likely candidates, but would they be the best people to add to our group? We’ve got some great people here and we’re lucky for it, but what if we ask someone to join who simply doesn’t fit in? You just told me how you don’t hire people who wouldn’t be good members of your team, and I don’t think we want to either. So how can we identify hurting and needy people we’d love to have as a part of the Connection?”

I meant that as a rhetorical question, but Evan thought of a real answer. “Well, they’d have to be hurting either because of something that was no fault of their own, or because they made some bad decision that they have since learned from. Also, we’d want them to be striving to help themselves. We all make mistakes and we often have to pay for them, but I’d think we would want people who aren’t satisfied to just accept their lot in life.

“Think of it this way, Roger - you physically healed Jed, but for most of the rest of us, you simply saw that we were hurting. That led you and Jane and all the others to do what they could to help with the pain. You offered us inclusion and closeness and a bond that’s new to humans, and you did it without asking anything from us. But once we felt that bond via connecting, we all wanted to join and be part of the Connection. Come to think of it, there was something else we all had in common - we weren’t totally responsible for the pain. We didn’t ask for it and we were willing to do what we could to make it go away.”

I could see where he was heading. All of us were glad to work for the good of the team. Focusing on people who were drug addicts might get us brothers or sisters, but they might be too selfish or damaged to be good members.

“The other thing is that I don’t think you should personally recruit this new member - at least by yourself. We all can connect and we’re getting better at it every day. Once we get started really setting this thing up, we’ll need everyone to be out connecting to people and welcoming them to the group in some manner. That’s how Juliet and I joined and most of the others too. It’s the connection that does it.”

This was a useful line of thinking and it gave me an idea. “How about we attend a meeting of some support group like single dads or single moms or families of alcoholics - you see what I mean? These are people who have a problem and are seeking out others who share it - they’re actively looking for help, not accepting their lot, as you said. I’d guess that if we just attended a meeting or two, we could maybe pick out a likely candidate. We’d find some way to connect to them and see how it goes from there. What do you think?”

Evan was nodding his head, “Yeah, I think it’s the best idea we’ve had so far. And we could give it a try without much risk of any bad consequences if we fail. I like it.”

And so that very night, Jerry, Allen, Jed and I attended a meeting of Husbands of Alcoholics. Evan wanted to come, but he was a public figure and someone might recognize him. Even though he’d maintained his privacy as much as possible, there had still been many pictures taken of him that had been published in newspapers and magazines.

I had studied the Husbands of Alcoholics website so I knew this would be a session where anyone could speak and share their story or ask for advice. There would also be a volunteer moderator to lead the meeting. None of us planned on saying a word.

The meeting was in a church basement and when we got there a middle aged man with a severe case of male pattern baldness greeted us. “First time to a meeting of HOA?” he said, smiling. He seemed friendly.

We had decided that Allen would do most of the talking. “Yeah,” he said. “We’d like to just sit and take it in if you don’t mind. We’ve all had some ups and downs and we work in the same salt mine, so we thought it might help to be able to meet some other folks who were going through some tough times.”

We hadn’t planned on exactly what to say, but Allen did it just right. Nothing he said was a lie, but neither did it expose our real reason for being there.

“Of course, you’re welcome. I’m Clay and I’ll be the moderator tonight. We’ll be getting started soon and you can speak up or not as you please. Sometimes people come here a dozen or more times and never say a word to the group. Feel free to share though if the spirit moves you.”

We got a coffee and sat. It looked like about fifteen people would be attending. Most of the men appeared to be in their late twenties to early forties. I guessed that this was the age that allowed them to have been married to their wives for a while, so that they could be in real pain. It might also make them mature enough to regret what had happened and seek solace or answers from a group like this.

Clay called the meeting to order. He didn’t ask anyone to stand and introduce themselves. I appreciated that. He simply asked if anyone had anything to say.

It took a full two minutes and the silence started to get uncomfortable before someone spoke up and said that his wife had asked for more money again. “What did you say to her?” said Clay.

“I . . . I told her I was tapped out. The well was dry. The gravy train had jumped the tracks.”

Clay’s face had no judgment on it. “What did she say to that?”

“She told me that she’d have to get some money any way she could. I knew what she meant. I’m sure she said it to punish me.”

I thought Clay was going to make some comment about what he said to his wife, but instead several people spoke their support for him. I guessed that they knew more about his wife than I did.

And that’s how it went. Someone would speak up with a problem and they all would listen intently. Sometimes someone would offer advice, and sometimes criticism. I didn’t really see how this could help much, but I also wasn’t in their shoes, so maybe it was actually somehow therapeutic.

This went on for an hour and I began to think we’d wasted our time. None of us could give these people their lives back or offer them a second chance. They just seemed too damaged; too needy.

And then Clay asked if there was a last person who wanted to be heard. Again, there was silence, but just as he was going to end the meeting, another voice spoke up. It was from a well dressed man who had not said a word all evening - kind of like us. But he spoke now. “I’m Luke. This is my fourth time here and I wasn’t going to come back, but something told me to at least share my story, so here goes. I got divorced a while ago. My wife was - is - a lawyer; she got caught by the bottle. She was one of those functioning drunks until she wasn’t. I tried my best to get her into some type of treatment, but I think I pushed too hard and she divorced me. We’d wanted kids when we first got married, but we put it off. Thank God for that. After she left me, she hit rock bottom. She showed up in court drunk and the judge removed her from the case and her firm fired her. She’s lived on savings since then because she was disciplined by the Bar and couldn’t find another job. About a month ago, she disappeared. That’s when I started coming here.

“I’ve worried myself sick. I’ve called treatment centers and cops and everything looking for her. I was at my wits end today when I got a call from my former mother in law. She said my wife had moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and that she was enrolled in a treatment program and had a job in an estate planning office. She thought she was showing signs of progress in her life.

“I called her cell just before this meeting and she actually spoke to me, but she said it was too soon for us to talk. I guess I’ll have to wait. I don’t want to push her any more. I tried that and it didn’t work. When she’s sober, she’s a very strong woman and she was a good wife.” He said that in a wistful manner.

After that, many people offered him support and advice, but he was right, there was nothing much he could do right now.

But we could do something. He seemed like the perfect candidate. He was hurting largely because his wife became an alcoholic. He didn’t hate her or want to harm her - he just wanted her to be okay again.

I thought about waiting until we could talk it over with Jane and the others, but we didn’t know anything about him other than his first name. I made the decision that we’d try to recruit him tonight. During the socializing after the meeting, I filled in Allen and Jed and Jerry. They all agreed we should try.

Again, I choose Allen to take the lead. He was very concerned about this part since he’d never connected to a “civilian” before and didn’t know if he could do it right. I told him we’d all connect together before he tried to connect to Luke, and we’d all be able to offer support and help. He was still worried, but he agreed to “give it a shot.”

Shortly afterwards, we saw Luke get his coat and prepare to leave. This was the tricky part. If he happened to walk to the curb and hop into a cab, we might never see him again. Jerry and Allen left before he did so that they could talk to him just in case that happened. Jed and I planned to follow Luke out. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it seemed to be the best we could do.

He didn’t hail a cab, but instead walked into a park across the street from the church. It was a small park, but it was now dark, so it wasn’t easy to see exactly where he was heading. We followed him slowly like a pack of four wolves. “Man,” I thought. “We are certainly not cut out for this line of work.” I wanted to help this guy, not stalk him.

Luke didn’t seem to notice us and sat on a bench by himself. We were probably eighty feet in back of him, hidden in the shadows. I saw him bow his head and I heard the sounds of weeping. He was certainly hurting. Everyone else heard it too. We remained quiet until he seemed to get himself under control and then we walked up to him.

Like always, Allen spoke without hesitation. “Luke, we were in the meeting with you and we want you to know that your story touched our hearts. If there’s anything we can do, you only have to ask.”

Luke was startled at this group of four strangers who were hovering over him. We all connected together and Allen reached out and touched him on the shoulder. He connected to Luke in just the most ephemeral way. It was very gentle. I could feel Luke’s confusion and even a bit of fright. Allen sent him a feeling of calm and fellowship. He did a great job. The connection with Luke was just perfect.

But it was soon broken as Luke jumped up and said, “Hey guys. I don’t know what your game is, but I don’t swing that way!” And with that he stormed off in a huff, muttering something under his breath. We watched him go back towards the church and immediately start looking for a cab. He was lucky - one came by almost right away.

Our first attempt to recruit a new member was a total, complete and abject failure. And we still had 329 to go.

Chapter Nine

When we got back to the apartment building, we all split up and went to our own apartments. Jerry, Jed, Allen and I had said very little to each other in the cab ride back. There was no need. We’d failed and we still hadn’t managed to find out how to get even a single new member into the group. Once I was in my room, I called Jane and we talked it over.

“Well, I see where you went wrong,” she said. “You can’t just walk up to some strange guy and try a wimpy connection to him out of the blue. You didn’t like it when Pastor Chuck did that to you and he didn’t even know he was doing it.”

She was obviously right since Luke hadn’t responded well to our gentle connection. “So how would you have handled it?” It was easy to criticize our approach when she hadn’t even been there. I felt slightly defensive and she heard it in my voice.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. Your method might have worked, but it didn’t. Remember, we were trying to find out what worked and what didn’t and we got half of that, so it’s not a total loss.”

She paused as she thought of what to do next. “Since the guys couldn’t get it done, it must be time for the women to take over. I think we should get the Colonel to find Luke’s wife and some of us will pay her a little call. It should be possible - how many female lawyers have recently moved to Little Rock and gotten a job at an estate planning firm? I think I’ll take April and Shannon with me and see if we can help her. What do you think?”

“Well, we sure struck out. Why not? Let’s talk to Evan first since the Colonel works for him.”

And so that’s what we did. The next morning Jane and I met with the Colonel and Evan. We told him all we knew about the woman we were looking for and he agreed to find her. “Shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “I’ll get a private investigator to do the legwork so the company isn’t involved directly.”

That seemed like a wise precaution. He wasn’t done. “One more thing, I’d like to take some time off after this – I’ve got quite a bit of vacation built up. I feel like I’m less a part of this group than ever and I want to think it through. I’ll be honest and let you know that I’m a bit uncomfortable with actively trying to solicit new members to the group, but I’ll find this lady lawyer for you, then we’ll see what happens. I’m also certain that you’re holding something back from me - probably something that you heard up there on that mountain.

“I think it’s time to decide what I want to do. I’ve had this vacation planned for a while and wasn’t going to take it with all that’s been going on, but this morning I decided that it would be best to just clear my head and figure this out.” He looked at Evan, “Is that okay with you?”

Evan glanced at me for a split second and when I didn’t say or do anything, he told the Colonel. “Sure, do what you have to do and we’ll accept your decision whatever it is.” I wasn’t sure whether the Colonel noted that Evan gave me the chance to object, but if he did, he didn’t say anything.

Once that was done, the Colonel left and Juliet joined us. “Can we talk about Marina now?” she said. Jane nodded at her. “I talked to her uncle at his flight school and got all her records. I didn’t know much about how one becomes a pilot, but it really is kind of fascinating.

“She got her private pilot’s license when she was 18. That’s actually not unusual at all. Just about anyone can become a private pilot with a few hours in the air, a solo and some ground training. After that, she also got her instrument rating and last year she got her multi-engine rating. The instrument rating means she can fly in weather when you can’t see much outside the plane. It requires quite a lot of extra training. The multi-engine means she’s been trained on more advanced types of aircraft.

“So right now she can fly quite a number of different types of planes, but she can’t do it for money because she’s still a private pilot. Her next step is a Commercial Pilot Certificate. This means she can fly and be paid for it, but she can’t be an airline pilot - there’s an even higher level for that. She can, however, fly a corporate plane and ferry around company folks like us as a commercial pilot.

“She’s really close to having enough hours to get her commercial certificate. But she also has to take a written test and has to fly with an instructor who will grade her. According to her uncle, she’s a natural pilot and shouldn’t have any problem with any of this.

“So it looks like it can be done. But here’s the sticky part. When you are flying an advanced jet aircraft, you have to be rated for that specific type of plane. If she wants to fly a G450 like she flew up here on, she needs to be trained on that particular type of plane. There are several training locations including one in Delaware. But they want her to have some more hours in various two engine planes before they train her on one of the most advanced jets in the world.”

She stopped then to let all this information sink in. I had a question. “So how long will this take?”

Juliet looked at her notes. “That’s something I was surprised at. There are lots of flight schools that claim they’ll get you a higher rating in just a few days. They seem to be perfectly legit and accepted by the industry, so I guess that’s the norm. But to do it right, figure a few weeks though she could be flying second in command sooner.”

“And the cost?” That was Jane for you. Always practical.

Juliet didn’t hesitate. “At least $50K,” she said. She said it like I would say five dollars. Juliet saw the look of shock on my face. “Roger, it’s no problem. We’ll need her and we’ll likely be spending much more than that on many other things. We don’t want you or Jane to be concerned with money.”

Jane looked at me and shrugged. Evan and Juliet just lived in a different world than we did. At least, they had lived in a different world - now it looked like we really were all in this together.

Just then, the rest of the team started to arrive. We’d gotten into the habit of having an informal meeting each morning to exchange ideas and keep everyone up to date with the latest information. When everyone was there, Allen took the floor and related what had happened last night in our attempt to get a new member. He actually told the story in a funny way and everyone smiled, but we were in a jam if we couldn’t get new members. Jane then explained her plan of going after the wife. She told everyone that the Colonel was going to try and find her and that would likely mean a trip to Little Rock for some of the “ladies of the group.”

Bess then addressed the group and told them she was ready to start upgrading the phones with the voice encryption software. She said she’d need each phone for a few hours and that it’d likely take some days before they were all done.

“Speaking of the Colonel,” she said. “He asked me last night if he was going to get a phone too. I didn’t know what to tell him, so I said I’d bring it up this morning.”

Jane looked at me and I made a decision. “I don’t think we give him one now. He told us that he wanted to take some time off after he tracks down our lady lawyer and then he’d decide if he wanted to be a member. Let’s wait until then to decide if he gets a phone.”

Bess smiled at this. I don’t think she trusted the Colonel very much. She finished up by telling us that the fall semester was soon starting at school and that she’d text everyone her schedule. Once again, I marveled at how such a young girl could accomplish so much. I smiled at her and, for once, she didn’t smile back. Had I done something to get her upset with me? I couldn’t remember anything.

Next, we told Marina what Juliet had done. She knew something like this might be in the works, but she still seemed stunned. It was a gift of great importance to her so that she was at a loss for words.

“When . . . when do I start?” she said in a very quiet voice.

Juliet went to her and gave her a hug. “Whenever you want, my sister. The instructors are ready to start whenever you are.”

I could see that she was very moved by this opportunity, but she sat up straighter, lifted her head slightly and said, “I promise I won’t disappoint any of you.”

Jed spoke up, “Just be sure you’re ready to fly us to some fun spots, like Paris or Rome or Little Rock.”

Everyone grinned at that. Marina gave us a dazzling smile.

The next few days were busy; but not with progress towards signing up any new members. Marina started her training and Bess spent her time upgrading phones, starting with Marina’s and those that might be going to Little Rock. April and Allen announced that they had decided to tie the knot soon and everyone was excited about their news. I had half expected that Jane and Jed would make an announcement, but they didn’t.

The Colonel came through with the work and home addresses of our lady lawyer in Little Rock. Her name was E.D. Porter - former wife of Luke Porter. The E.D. stood for Ellen Davis, but the Colonel said she was known by her initials and was called Edie. I remembered reading that female lawyers often did better in their careers if they had a masculine or at least a less gender specific name. E.D. certainly was that. The Colonel handed us a packet with her picture, addresses in Little Rock and some information on her history. A quick look showed that she had done well in her career until about a year ago.

The Colonel said that she was living at some type of halfway house for alcoholics. It was one of those residential places where those in the program were all educated professionals. They supported each other so that they could rebuild their lives.

As soon as we got the information, Juliet set up the trip. Jane and April and Shannon would fly to Little Rock. Juliet wanted to go, but we again thought it would be best if she laid low for a bit longer. Bess was almost finished with the phones for the team that would be making the trip, but she’d have to stay behind to complete the others. I don’t think she liked that too much, but she didn’t say anything to me about it. She was still being a bit cool and I was starting to get concerned.

Jane called Marina and her instructor said they would be happy to fly our team members to Little Rock. Marina had been flying six or more hours per day since she started, so this would be just another training day for her. Our team could hitch a ride since the pilot in command was a fully licensed instructor and the plane they were using was certified to be flown by only one pilot. He made it clear that Marina would be doing the actual flying since, as he said, “training requires flying, not looking.”

I had to admit to myself that I was very apprehensive about this trip. For one thing, I knew how hard it could be to waltz up to a stranger and try to connect to them. I had every faith in Jane and Shannon and April and Marina, but I’d also tried it personally and had failed. Still, we had to do something and this was the best any of us could think of at the moment.

I did think of one more thing though - I thought that I’d call BP. Everyone was getting things ready for the trip so I went to my apartment for some privacy. I don’t know exactly why I felt the need to call on BP, but we hadn’t heard from him for a few days. I thought he might like an update. I also had a fleeting thought that maybe I missed him just a little bit.

I sat on my couch and listened to the silence. These old apartment buildings were made with thick walls and I could only hear the soft sounds of various pieces of household machinery - traffic noises and the sounds of my fellow creatures were totally absent. It was very quiet.

At least until I called out for BP. I remembered the very first time I’d called him. I’d been in a panic after learning that Allen would likely lose his job. I knew Jane would go totally ballistic when she learned about it and probably would get canned along with him. I’d called on BP to help and he had done just that. I didn’t think we’d be where we were today if BP hadn’t saved Allen the way he did. I had often lamented the burden that BP had placed on me, but I think I was finally coming to grips with it. I was glad to be with such a group of people, though I was humbled to have such a chore ahead of us. For the first time ever, I think I actually felt grateful to BP. And, also for the first time ever, I was in a pretty good mood and without a boatload of stress when I called on him.

“BP,” I said. I had learned you had to call for him out loud. “Yo, BP. Where you at, my friend?” I didn’t normally use such bad grammar, but heck, that was the kind of mood I was in. I waited for him to answer. After a couple of minutes of nothing, I tried again. “Oh BP, BP, BP-omatic. This is your friend Roger. You know the reflexively honest one. Come in BP.”

Now I really did sound crazy. Before he had always seemed to appear after just a minute or two. I tried to remember a time when I’d called for him and he had failed to show up. I could only think of one.

I felt a moderate squirt of concern juice enter my system as some part of my brain considered what it might mean if he never appeared again. This was a crazy thought and I discarded it as quickly as I could. Just because BP didn’t appear on cue when I called him didn’t mean he’d abandoned us. As far as I could tell, we’d just gotten started in actually applying what we’d learned from his Revelation and we’d likely need him more than ever in the future. No, he was around somewhere, just not where he could hear me. Maybe he needed a break from us as much as we sometimes did from him.

I decided I’d give him a couple of hours and try again. Just then, my doorbell rang. I got up and opened the door to find a supermodel standing there. Before I could come to my senses, she said, “Roger, it’s time for your phone upgrade. Mind if I do it now?”

It was Bess. But not the Bess that I’d known. That Bess wore gym shorts and sandals and sweatshirts and leggings and other typical college girl dress. This specimen was much taller than Bess because she had on very high heels. And she wasn’t in gym clothes, but a sleeveless black dress that ended about 3 inches above her knees. It wasn’t tight, but it showed off her figure - which was worth a bit of showing. Her hair was normally loose or in a ponytail, but today it was held aloft with a shiny clasp so that her face was highlighted. She had a natural beauty about her, but she’d helped nature out quite a bit with makeup. Her lips were full and very red and looked moist. Her eyes were enhanced with just a touch of color so that they looked twice as big as normal. She showed just a hint of cleavage and was wearing a large and heavy looking necklace that drew your eye to her chest.

“My God, Bess.” I said as I took a deep breath. “You look beautiful!” I meant it as a compliment, of course. How in the world could it be taken any other way? “What’s the occasion?”

I may have been okay with my compliment on her beauty, but I shouldn’t have asked her why she had decided to doll herself up. Girls liked to dress up, but they wanted you to think that they were beautiful all the time.

She stared at me with a look she must have learned from Jane. “Oh, I’ve got a date tonight. He’s a nice college boy about my age. I didn’t want him to think I’m an immature, silly little girl the way you do.”

Now where in the world had that come from? I frantically scanned my memories until I was reasonably sure I’d never said such a thing about her. “But . . . but, I . . . I . . . never said any such thing about you.” I had started to stutter again.

“Oh, I know you never said it and you probably never even thought it in just those terms, but I know that’s what you believe.”

Oh boy. Now I was guilty even though I’d never said or even thought such a thing. I finally came to my senses and realized that this was silly. I took her hands in mine and led her inside and shut the door. I pulled her close and gave her a hug. She didn’t resist. I realized that she was wearing a very subtle perfume. The closer I was to her, the more I could smell it.

I whispered in her ear, “Now, what’s this all about? You know I respect and love you. What the heck is going on?”

She raised her head and our noses almost touched. “Marina told us about the other night. She was just telling all of us how sweet you were - how good you were with Jerry and Shannon’s kids.”

Marina wouldn’t have told them about us kissing, would she? “Who is all of us?” I asked. I thought I knew the answer.

“It was Shannon, Marina, me and Juliet and Jane. April was out with Allen, but we filled her in later. After you guys struck out in getting a new recruit, Jane thought we should get together and see what we could do. She talked about the idea of going to Little Rock and, after a couple of drinks, we started talking about you and how you’d make a great father.”

So they actually were all sitting around sucking down scotch or lemon Gingertinis while discussing my suitability as a father and/or husband. I’d known it all along. Darn that Jane for letting this happen. Actually, she probably didn’t just let it happen - I suspected that she was the ringleader of this little band.

I led her to the couch and we sat down. She crossed her legs. They were toned and strong looking.

“So how did this lead to you believe that I thought you were immature?”

“Jane told us how the two of you went up to talk to me on the bus trip and found me asleep.

“Oh, I was so adorable and cute lying there snoring. What a darling child.” She said that using Jane’s southern accent. “You said I looked young. And now I can’t go on the trip to Little Rock even though it’s so important. Well, Mr. Roger Seaton, for your information, I am young, but I’m not a kid. I’m a fully grown, adult woman, able to make up her own mind about what I like and what I don’t like.”

She stopped speaking and I was getting ready to agree with her about that fully grown part when she started again, “And I know I like you.” With that, she leaned over and kissed me.

Generally, I’m in favor of kissing. I remembered that long, sweet kiss from Marina just the other night and I couldn’t help but compare the two of them. This one started off slow and wet, but then Bess connected to me and my head literally started to spin. I felt nothing but her lips on mine. I was either holding her or she was holding me, but I had lost the distinction between where I ended and where she started. My entire universe consisted of that kiss. I felt a desire to keep it going a long time, possibly forever, when I regained just enough of my senses to break the connection with her.

I sat back and took in big gulps of air. I’d been holding my breath. “What in the world was that?” It was all I could think of to say.

“We’ve been practicing our connecting and Shannon taught me how to manipulate some things physically the way she can do. It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it. Not all of us can do it yet. Jane and Juliet haven’t had much luck with it, but I caught on pretty quick. I just enhanced our kiss a little bit just now.”

If that was a little bit of enhancement, I wondered what a lot would be like.

I started to speak, but once again, she cut me off. “Look Roger. I get it okay? You’re the big leader of the Connection and you’re trying your best to figure out things just like all of us are. But with you it’s orders of magnitude more serious. You’re the leader. If we succeed, it’ll be because you made it happen. If we don’t, you’ll blame yourself. So I get it. You can’t attach yourself to me or Marina while all this is happening. So I’m not asking for you to marry me or anything like that. I’m just asking you to see me as another member with some skills that might be helpful to the group - no more and no less. I just don’t want to be thought of as some sweet kid who needs to be looked after.”

I had no idea that this had been bothering her. I wondered if not knowing about this was a sign of poor leadership on my part. I decided that it wasn’t - at least not in this case. In any group of eleven people like we had, there would almost always be someone who was hurting in some way; some petty jealousy or imagined slight that could cause friction among us. It was the nature of life to be a struggle at times. I couldn’t fault myself for how everyone felt at any moment in time. I could only fault myself if I found out that someone was hurting and didn’t do anything about it. I didn’t intend on doing nothing now that I knew how she felt.

I connected to Bess and then reached out and pulled her to me. This time, I kissed her in a gentle and loving way. I let her feel my love for her along with my confidence in her. I could feel her love for me. I’d known it was there even before Jane warned me about it, but Bess was right - I couldn’t do anything about that right now. But I could be sure and treat her like the adult she was. I let her know I’d be doing that from now on.

I pulled away from her but we remained connected. We only separated by about an inch but that didn’t last long. Our lips almost automatically moved toward each other yet again when I felt the pressure of BP on my shoulder. He didn’t wait for an invitation. He just entered my head and, since we were connected, Bess felt him there too.

“I am sorry to intrude, but you called me and I thought it might be important enough to interrupt your human mating ritual.”

That broke the spell once and for all. Bess sat back and laughed out loud. It wasn’t a girly giggle, but a full laugh. “Your timing always did suck,” I said. “But I hadn’t heard from you in a few days and I thought you might like an update. And, oh yes, that was not a human mating ritual.”

“Of course,” said BP. He was using his pretentious voice again. It still grated on me. “I have been busy researching ways of creating the spacecraft we need to return this universe to its normal pattern. It appears to be a difficult job, but not an impossible one. I’ll have more information for you soon. Now please tell me what has happened here.”

I started to speak, but thought better of it. “Bess will give you the summary,” I said. She was surprised and her first words were a bit shaky, but she soon got into the swing of reporting and she did fine.

When she was done, BP was quiet for a few seconds as if he was considering what he’d just heard. When he spoke, he dropped the silly serious voice and sounded much more human. “Thank you, my daughter. I am concerned that we have not managed to get a single new member yet, but I think that the expedition that Jane has planned may be more successful. At least I hope it will be. May I make a suggestion?”

This was directed at Bess. He would not ask my permission to make a suggestion. In fact, he wouldn’t likely call it a suggestion at all - more like an order. He seemed to like the women that we had on the team and always treated them better than he did me. “Good for them,” I thought.

“I think it may be time to use the Revelation as Roger has written it to help bring in new recruits and also to educate them as to the true nature of the universe. I have read everything that Roger has written on our time together, but most of it has never been read by anyone else. I encouraged Roger to write expansively and describe in great detail literally everything that has happened to this point. By necessity, this meant that he wrote about private moments with each of the members and also about his private thoughts about them.

“You and the other members have read only my Revelation and Roger’s larger comments on the various parts. The full document is much longer and much more detailed. I think it could be used in a variety of ways in the future, but for now, it is stored in only one place. Is that correct, Roger?”

It was. Once I had started to write down my story, it had become almost therapeutic for me to get it out just about every day. I created two versions - one that I dictated that was meant to inform the group as to the Revelation, and one that I wrote that contained all the things that had happened to me and what I thought about them. I hadn’t shared that with anyone - except that BP had read it, of course. I had it on the hard drive on my laptop and once in a while copied it to a thumb drive I kept in a drawer. I’d meant to back it up more securely, but had never gotten around to it. That was dumb.

“I would suggest that Bess be given the task of securing that document along with all the other documents that have been created by the members. Again, I think it may be very useful someday. I also think that we should consider publishing at least the beginning parts of the Revelation to help new members become oriented. It could be a series of booklets, each covering a portion of the whole and presented in the order that I used with you, Roger.”

Bess uncrossed her legs and sat up straight. “Not a booklet - a website. We could set it up so that every member or even prospective member sees just the amount of information meant for him or her. A new member might be introduced to the fact that there is no life in the universe other than what is on Earth, while a curious person who just happened upon the site might be asked a simple starting question like, “What two things make up the universe?”

“I think that sounds like a very good idea, my daughter Bess. I leave you now so that you may return to your mating ritual.”

He was making a joke, of course, but the idea of returning to our kissing did have a certain appeal.

Bess’s phone beeped and she looked at it. “It’s my date. He’s downstairs. I’ll tell him I need five minutes. Roger, show me the file that contains the Revelation long version so I can safely encrypt it and back it up. I want to do that before I leave.” Her voice made it clear that this wasn’t a suggestion.

I didn’t know what to say. “You really have a date?” I had thought her new look was just an excuse to show me the new, all grown up, version 2.0 of Bess.

“Of course I do. I said so didn’t I? Marina and I agreed we can’t wait for you. We might be young now, but if we wait on your schedule, we’ll be old maids before you make up your mind. Now show me the file. We’ll get your phone fixed up tomorrow.”

The old Bess wouldn’t have been ordering me around. I liked this one as much or perhaps more than I had the other one. I showed her the file and she typed a few dozen keystrokes and pronounced it was now safe and secure. “I won’t read it without your permission,” she said as she left. I watched her walk down the hall, her heels clicking on the hard surface. She had a spring in her step and she looked sensational. I felt a tiny hint of jealousy.

Chapter Ten

I made sure I was up so that I could see off April, Shannon and Jane. We met for a quick breakfast in Evan and Juliet’s apartment. It had become our meeting place, but they didn’t seem to mind at all. Of course, Jerry, Allen and Jed were there to say goodbye to their significant others. Bess was there too and came to me and took my hand. She was wearing tailored slacks and a white sheer silk shirt that really looked good on her. She wore those same heels as last night and, while she had ditched most of the makeup, she kept the very red lipstick. She didn’t look immature in any way at all.

While our travelers were getting their last hugs and kisses, Bess told me she wished that we could go along too. “I know how you feel,” I said to her. “But it’s best to let them do this without me hovering around and we need you here to get the rest of the phones done. We won’t all be together at every minute in the future and Jane wants to get us all used to working in smaller groups - or alone.” In truth, Jane had called me last night to confess that she was a little worried about being in charge during this trip. It wasn’t the being in charge that bothered her since she was a natural leader, it was the fact that they had to do connecting with a stranger and they planned on seeing if they could heal her of the alcoholism. Jane couldn’t do this herself and needed Shannon along for that part. April was going because Jane thought that if something went wrong, she’d be the rock they could lean on. Marina was going to be there too, of course. She’d been staying at a hotel near the airport when she had to fly early the next morning since it could take more than an hour to get there from the apartment building. She’d probably already be at the airport getting the bird ready to fly.

Jane didn’t need to share any of this with me, but I was sure it made her feel better to talk about it. For a long time, she never showed any signs of weakness or uncertainty, but now she’d discovered that she could open up with her brothers and sisters - and especially with me. She was really working to be more open with us. We talked for an hour and I told her all about my night with Bess. If Jane could share with me, then I could share with her. She thought that what had happened was all for the good and that it would be good for Bess to be a bit more assertive. I agreed, of course, but she’d taken assertiveness to a whole new level last night.

I also asked Jane to keep a record of everything that happened on her trip. This was the first time that something important was going to happen with the group where I wouldn’t be there to see it and write it down. Bess now had a copy of what I had begun to think of as the “full” Revelation - the document where I’d recorded a lot of detail not only about what BP had said, but also about the personal side of our journey with BP and each other.

I wanted to keep that record intact, so I asked Jane to write down all that happened and send it to me. I’d incorporate her account into my writings so that any future reader what know not only what I did, but what Jane did on this trip. She understood and readily agreed, but started to nag me about reading the rest of the “full” Revelation. I didn’t really want to share that with anyone right now, so I put her off. I guessed that would not be the last I heard of it.

Soon it was time to go as Jane, April and Shannon walked towards the door. On the way, Jane stopped by me and gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered into my ear. “Wish me luck,” she said. I connected to her for just a second. I could feel her uncertainty about the job she was going to do, but there was something else there too. I couldn’t identify it right then, but I let her feel my confidence and told her she’d do fine.

“Thank you,” she said and then the three of them left.

The room felt kind of empty now. Bess looked at me and said out loud, “She sure is something.” Jerry and Allen both answered in unison, “She sure is.”

I grinned at Bess and she said, “Let’s get your phone upgraded now.”

“Give me a minute,” I said. “I’ve got to call Marina about something.” It had just occurred to me what was really bothering Jane.

I was done in sixty seconds. Bess worked on the phones the rest of the day until they were all done.

Contribution of Jane Mitchell

Little Rock Trip Report

When we got down to the street, a SUV was waiting for our trip to the airport. Normally, I’d have just taken a cab, but Juliet insisted that we have a driver take us around when we were on Connection business. He greeted us and carefully studied my chest as I talked to him. Did guys think we were blind?

The trip took longer than normal because of slow traffic, but the driver knew what he was doing and we managed to miss the worst of it. I wanted to be at the place where Edie worked by lunchtime. The private investigator hired by the Colonel had sent along a picture of her sitting on a park bench eating her lunch. It was very much like the setup that the boys had tried with her former husband, but at least it was daylight and I didn’t plan on being so timid about our connection.

Edie was a large woman - not fat, but stocky. Her shoulders and waist seemed to be about the same size and I guessed she was probably almost as tall as me. It was hard to tell her age from the picture, but I guessed she was likely around forty five years old. I thought that she might have been pretty at one time, but now she just looked tough - probably due to her drinking. She had been a formidable opponent in the courtroom, but she’d have to straighten out before those days could return. We meant to try.

We didn’t talk business on the way to the airport - just general girl chit chat. The driver looked back once in a while, checking us out, but didn’t say a word. When we arrived at the airport, he showed some ID at a gate and drove us right to the general aviation hangar. This was one great perk about flying this way - we didn’t have to deal with the crowds and with security. Basically, we just drove up to the plane. When we arrived, it was time to go. I could get used to this.

But when I saw the plane, I lost most of my confidence. It was a small jet and looked like it could be tossed around like a feather if the wind decided to blow. I had dreams of plane crashes and it was hard enough for me to fly on big, heavy and safe planes, but this little tinker toy made my stomach clench. I got out of the car while Shannon and April were walking to the plane. I ordered my legs to follow them, but they apparently didn’t get the message. I seemed to be frozen in place.

I was considering getting back into the SUV when I saw Marina appear. It looked like she’d been walking around the outside of the plane, probably checking to see if it was in the mood to fly. She gave them both a hug and helped them up the rickety set of steps into the plane. As soon as they disappeared inside, she walked towards me.

I thought for a moment that she was going to ask me why I didn’t get the lead out and get inside. She had on pants, leather lace up shoes and a masculine looking shirt with epaulets that had three stripes on them. She was dressed as a pilot, but the clothes didn’t disguise the fact that she was a woman. I also noticed that she’d cut her hair. It had been long and beautiful when I’d last seen her about three days ago, but now she’d cut it to shoulder length and had it styled with just a hint of inward curl at the ends. She looks so professional and competent. I felt like such a fool, standing there trying to get up the nerve to put one foot in front of another.

“I got a call from Roger a little while ago. He told me about your fear of flying. Don’t worry, my sister, your secret is safe with me.”

She took both my hands in hers and connected to me. It felt so natural and right. I could feel her confidence and her competence. She had no doubts about her ability to get this beast to Little Rock. “Jane, I just checked the weather and it’ll be smooth as glass all the way. I’ll be doing the actual flying since that’s the way training works, but my instructor will watch my every move to make sure I don’t make any mistakes.”

She thought I was worried about her. “Oh no, Marina. It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s just this tiny plane. It just seems so . . . fragile. But that’s not right either. I know it’ll be fine. What I don’t know is how I’ll act. I don’t want to break down in tears and grab April and beg to be let off. I’m supposed to be one of the leaders of our little group, not one of its biggest chickens. The last time I flew we hit bad turbulence and Roger helped me get through it and never judged me as being weak. I’ll always love him for that.”

She connected with me in an even stronger way. I could feel her calm and it spread to me. It helped a lot and somehow I just knew she’d never let anything bad happen when she was at the controls. I don’t think I’ve ever been as certain of anything in my life. “Thank you,” I said. “I’m ready to get on now.”

I’d never had a panic attack this bad before, but then again, I’d never flown in such a small plane. But that didn’t matter. I had to fly to Little Rock because I had a job to do there. I couldn’t let my irrational fears stop me for doing what I had to do. I wouldn’t let that happen - and my sister Marina wouldn’t either. At that moment, my respect for her hit a whole new gear.

I let go of her hand and walked by myself to the staircase. I willed myself to climb it and enter the plane. Inside, it was small, but the seats were roomy and comfortable - far more so than the normal cattle class seats I’d always flown in before.

I sat and buckled myself in. I made it so tight that it hurt. I didn’t think April or Shannon knew of my fear of flying. They seemed in awe of the comfort of the little plane. There were seats for seven and we filled only three of them. We could lie back or cross our legs and get comfortable with no problem. They seemed to love it. I wrestled myself under control and smiled at them like I was enjoying it too. I wished I had Roger’s shoulder to lean on, but I was on my own.

Marina was in the right hand pilot’s seat. There was no obstruction to block our view of the cockpit. She looked back at us and spoke over the intercom. Her voice sounded Godlike. “My friends, do you all have your seat belts buckled tightly? I want you to do that for takeoff. Afterwards, when we reach cruising altitude, we’ll let you know and you can loosen them if you want, but please keep them at least loosely buckled. We expect a smooth flight today, but turbulence can happen just about any time. I’m in training on this flight and will be doing the majority of the flying, but I’ll be under the command of Captain Laird Jensen. He’s one of the greatest pilots I’ve ever met and he’ll help me make sure you have a safe and comfortable flight to New Orleans.”

I felt the hair stand up on my neck. New Orleans? I started to say something, but managed to corral myself in time. “Just kidding,” said Marina. “Little Rock is two hours fifty minutes away. There are snacks and drinks in the stowage compartments. There are no flight attendants on this airline, so you’ll have to serve yourselves. Captain Jensen will give you an update when we’re in the air.”

She sounded so natural and experienced. My heart swelled again in awe of what she was doing. I resolved at that time to never worry when she was at the controls.

We watched as Marina and Captain Jensen flipped switches and talked on the radio. I heard the engines get louder and soon we were moving. In just a few minutes, they got much louder as we rushed down the runway towards takeoff. I have to admit that this plane really got into the air quickly. It seemed that only seconds after we started down the runway, Marina pulled back on the wheel and we fairly leapt into the air.

Shannon was looking out the window and April was reading a magazine. Neither of them seemed to even take any particular notice that we were now climbing rapidly. I noticed, but realized that I wasn’t the basket case I could have been. I made my hands let go of the armrests of my seat and took a deep breath. The plane was climbing smoothly and Captain Jensen said something to Marina and she smiled. It seemed like we might live after all and I started to relax just a bit.

Soon, the engines slowed down as I guessed we reached our cruising altitude. I heard the sound of the intercom come on again. This time Captain Jensen turned back in his seat to talk to us.

“I’m sure you noticed the flawless takeoff we just had. That was totally done by your friend and my co-pilot, Marina Gonzales. She’s got us in a slot now that’ll likely get us on the ground in Little Rock at about 11:10. I understand there will be a car waiting there for all of you and we’ll confirm that as we get closer. The weather should be great on our route so we don’t expect any turbulence, but like Marina said, please keep your belts at least loosely fastened. There is food in the little galley compartments and the Lav is in the back. Feel free to use your computers or phones.”

He turned back in his seat and Marina said something to him. We couldn’t hear them talk to each other and they couldn’t hear us. The plane was not too noisy, but it wasn’t silent. Shortly, April found she could swivel the seats so that all three of us could face each other. I felt a lot better now, and was glad to talk to them to at least take my mind off the seven mile drop to the Earth below. April looked at the cockpit to make sure they weren’t watching us, “That Captain sure is handsome,” she said. I’d noticed that, of course. He had blondish hair and a square jaw. His arms looked muscular in his short sleeve shirt.

“He doesn’t have a wedding ring on,” said Shannon. “I wonder if Marina is making a play for that.”

“She’d be crazy not to,” giggled April and we all laughed.

I added, “I think there’s someone back home she hasn’t given up on yet, and besides, someone that good looking without a wedding ring and who’s a pilot? He’s almost certainly gay.”

They laughed again and for once, I wasn’t scared to be flying. I had to remember to thank Roger for telling Marina about my phobia. Without her support back there before we took off, I might have really embarrassed myself, but she only knew to offer that support because Roger had been so thoughtful.

He’d been kind of immature when I first met him at work - always trying to act cute. But he’d certainly grown into a man since BP had started his Revelation. I don’t know what we would have done if he hadn’t stepped up the way he did. I know we all loved him, but I felt a special closeness to him and I think he did with me as well. Soon, I intended to have him connect to me and combine his DNA with mine so that I’d get pregnant. I had told him that I wanted to think about it and I had. Now I’d made my decision and it was firm. Actually, it was an easy decision. I’d never much thought of having a child before, since I’d never been that serious about any guy before I met Jed. But some gear in my internal body clock must have reached a point where it switched on my desire to have a kid. That desire was there and it was real and I was going to act on it.

I put my hand on my stomach and it felt warm. There was no new life in there yet, but there soon would be. I decided to tell Roger as soon as we returned triumphant. At least that’s how I hoped we would return.

I was also at least 99% certain that I wouldn't tell Jed how I became pregnant - it’d be better to let our baby be the miracle that he knew would be required for him to father a child. In my opinion, everything that had happened was miraculous, so our baby would be just another of those miracles. I knew too that I had no worries that Roger would somehow spill the beans as he was too kind and thoughtful for that. I realized at that moment that I trusted him like I’d never trusted any other human.

Roger - this is a message for you since you’ll be reading this before anyone. I put in the part above because it’s what happened on that flight. I know it’s intensely personal and I started to just delete everything about the baby I’m going to have, but I don’t like holding anything back from you, so there it is. Delete it from your Full Revelation or include it - it’s up to you. I’ll respect your decision.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and the landing was so smooth I couldn’t really tell we had touched the ground until the engines make that loud noise they do to slow you down.

After we parked, Marina came back and opened the door and let down the stairs. It felt so good to get outside and stretch. “I’ll be about ten minutes doing post flight,” she called out to us and disappeared back into the plane.

We walked inside the general aviation building and immediately April saw a girl holding a sign that said, “Mitchell, The Connection” on it. We walked over to her and I identified myself. “I’ll be your driver,” she said. “I have one address near downtown; do you want to go there first?” That was where Edie worked and hopefully had lunch.

“Yeah, that’s right, but we’re waiting for another person. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

We waited in kind of an uncomfortable silence. Our attempt to get a new member was close at hand now and I started to get nervous about it. The boys hadn’t done too well and I didn’t want us to fail like they had. I thought both April and Shannon seemed a little nervous too. They had big parts to play in what was going to happen and I’m sure they felt some pressure just like I did.

Right on time, Marina joined us. Everyone made a big deal of her flying us here. I’m sure the driver was wondering what kind of group brought along their own pilot. Marina seemed so happy to be able to fulfill her dream as she told us all about how she was literally flying hours each day. She said she would soon be ready for her commercial pilot's exam.

The traffic in Little Rock was a fraction of what it was in the big city, so we got downtown in only a few minutes. Our driver expertly parallel parked the big SUV and pointed out the building that Edie worked in. She stayed with the car while we walked over. It was still before noon.

The PI’s report had said that Edie came to the little park across the street a few minutes after twelve, so we arrived right on schedule. I told the girls to just mill around on the edge of the park. One of the benches was empty and I figured she’d sit at that one and then we’d approach her. It suddenly seemed like a thin plan, but it was what we had.

She worked in an office building that was several stories tall, so people were coming and going out of it all the time. We waited, but not for long. In just a few minutes, Edie burst out the door. The picture we had was a good likeness and so it was easy to identify her. She was bigger than I even thought. Not only was she tall, but she had broad shoulders. She certainly wasn’t fat - just big. It was warm here, but she wore the same light sweater that she’d had on in the picture provided by the PI. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn the same thing twice in the same month, much less within a couple of days. I wondered if she’d sunk that low and immediately felt guilty for judging her that way.

It was a beautiful, clear day with a slight breeze that took most of the uncomfortable heat out of the air. As expected, she made a beeline for the bench and sat down. Her lunch was in a brown paper bag. She opened it and put a couple of plastic containers on the bench beside her. For some reason, I waited to see if she prayed before she ate. She looked up at the sky and took a deep breath and then reached into the bag and pulled out an apple. I couldn’t tell if she had prayed.

It was time. I walked towards her. The other girls saw me and did the same, just as we’d planned. Shannon and Marina stopped right behind her and April and I stopped in front, facing her. “Mind if we sit down?” I asked. We’d spent an hour discussing whether we should try to talk to her first or whether we should just get on with the connection. I’d finally decided that some normal, innocuous conversation might make our task easier.

But I was dead wrong. Edie looked me up and down and then turned her head slightly to study April. It seemed like she spent several seconds on each of us. Next, she turned and did the same with Shannon and Marina.

“So they sent two fashion models, a ship’s captain and a chaperone.” Edie had a strong voice. “Most of the time I get skanks, but this time they sent the fresh faced interns.”

I normally am not at a loss for words, but these were so unexpected that my brain was having trouble trying to assign some meaning to them. Before I could come up with anything to say, Marina said in a very sheepish voice, “I’m a pilot.” She understood that the ship’s captain remark was meant for her. She was still ahead of me, as I didn’t understand anything.

“Sure you are, sweet cheeks, sure you are. Say, any of you girls have a drink on you? You know, a little taste?”

None of us uttered a word.

“Well, I guess that’s alright then. I wasn’t planning on drinking today anyway. I woke up this morning and had to make the decision I always do on a beautiful, bright and sunny day - am I going to drink today or am I not going to drink today or am I going to kill myself today. I was a little surprised to decide that I wouldn’t drink today. The odds are only one out of three, right? But I’ve made that same decision for the last twenty seven days. What’s the odds of that? I’m not good with math. Hey, Stringbean, you’re look like you’re the head honcho here and you look like you could do math, what are the odds?”

She called me Stringbean. When I was in high school, it seemed like all my girl friends were getting more curves and bigger chests while I lagged far behind. I was tall and played on the volleyball team and my nickname was “Stick.” That was close enough to Stringbean for me.

“Now,” I said and we connected to each other instantly. Shannon took the lead and put her hand on Edie’s shoulder. The boys had tried a very subtle connection and it didn’t work. We went for more the sledgehammer style. We connected with Edie fast and hard. We immediately sensed her fright, but Shannon quickly did what BP had done the first couple of times he connected to Roger - she helped her to be calm and relaxed.

Shannon had the ability to look inside people and cause physical changes during a connection - like healing. Roger had been the first to have developed this ability, but now Shannon was very good at it and it looked like Bess might be able to do it too. She was looking for something that caused Edie’s pain; the source of her addiction to alcohol. She let us see what she was seeing.

At first, Shannon didn’t find anything that seemed out of place. I could tell she was searching in her chest and stomach area. We didn’t see actual organs, just a representation of them made by her mind. Shannon had been a nurse so she was more familiar with people’s insides than Roger, and therefore her searching was more deliberate and I guessed that what we saw was at least somewhat more anatomically accurate. When we’d seen Roger do this with Jacob, the problem had been so large as to be obvious. Here it wasn’t, so Shannon kept looking.

Next Shannon changed her focus upward. We saw what looked like a large shroud of grey, featureless and extending in all directions. But Shannon quickly focused in on a specific area. There was a small discoloration there - it was green, and as we got closer, it was putrid with rot.

“This area controls thirst and hunger,” said Shannon out loud so we all could hear. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do. If you body needs food or water, then these areas will make you uncomfortable as you feel hunger or thirst. That’s a normal survival mechanism. But here, this spot has changed. It’s hungry and thirsty all the time for alcohol. It demands a drink and it keeps demanding until it gets what it wants.”

As I stared at it in fascination, the green area suddenly moved on its own and I jumped in fright. It opened like a tiny mouth, begging to be fed. It was awful.

Shannon reached out with some sort of mental hand and touched the spot - rubbing it away until it looked just like the normal hunger and thirst center. “I think that in some people, alcohol causes this type of damage itself - the more someone with this susceptibility drinks, the more damage is done and the more they need a drink. It truly is a disease.”

Now, the fetid green area was indistinguishable from those areas around it. Shannon had done her job. It was time to see what we’d done to Edie.

We had discussed this too. We didn’t want to just break the connection in a too abrupt manner. Shannon slowly removed the layer of calm she had provided Edie and when it was almost gone, we dropped the connection.

I hadn’t even realized it, but I’d been holding April’s hand. She dropped mine and sat down beside Edie on the bench and took hers. I could tell she didn’t connect to her - she was just offering a human touch. “How do you feel, dear?” she said.

Edie had been staring straight ahead, but when she heard April, she turned and looked at her. “Do that again.”

We didn’t know what she meant. “That thing where I can feel you. Do that again.”

As so, this time we all joined hands and we connected to her in a much gentler manner. We could feel her curiosity and surprise. She could feel that we supported her and had been trying to help her.

Chapter Eleven

Some of us had been stunned the first few times we’d experienced the connection, but Edie seemed to quickly accept it. She spoke out loud, “I once had a case, a medical case. My client was an old guy named Rawlings who had a hip operation to allow him to walk without pain. It’s a routine procedure done on many people every day and it’s generally successful. It was with Rawlings too. After he had the operation, his hip pain was gone and he regained his ability to walk.

“He also got something else. When he woke up from the anesthesia, he could hear a humming sound. Sometimes it was loud and other times it was soft, but it was always there, 24/7. The doctors tried everything they could, but no one had any idea why, all of a sudden, he started to hear this sound.

“Eventually, he came to me and we filed a lawsuit, alleging that the operation caused him to hear this humming sound and that it diminished his quality of life. In the end, he got a settlement, but that money didn’t reduce the volume of the sound in his head at all. I don’t know if Rawlings is still alive today, but if he is, I wish he could go through what I just did.

“For the first time in too many years, I don’t crave a drink. It’s just gone. Every waking minute, I’ve been used to wanting a drink. Every night, I’ve dreamed I was having a drink only to wake up and want one even more.

“And every once in a while, I’d take a drink and my life would get worse. Often it would get far worse. But the desire, the need, the longing to drink would always still be there just like that humming in Rawling’s head.

“But not now. It’s gone. It’s just gone. Praise God. It’s gone.”

She obviously had a story she wanted to tell and so we wisely let her say what she needed to. Now she was silent. We were still connected to her as she once again looked each of us up and down, but this time she didn’t have the smug look of defiance on her face. This time tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked from April to me to Shannon and to Marina. She didn’t make a sound.

A full minute must have passed. I broke the connection and reached into my purse and took out a pack of tissues. I’d been carrying them with me since it seemed like our new lives tended to swing between utter joy and deepest sorrow. I gave the packet to Edie and she wiped her eyes.

“Are you with the Drunk Agency?” She’d regained her composure. She could tell we didn’t know what she was asking about. “I mean the Duncan Agency. I call it the Drunk Agency. They’re the ones who try to rehab people like me - people with education, a professional career. They let me stay in their residence and got me this job.”

I shook my head. “No, we’ve never heard of them.” I knew what the next question would be, so I went ahead and answered it like we’d planned. “We’re from a small group in New York. We have found that we have the ability to help people. You felt that just now. We call it connecting and our group is called The Connection. We’d like you to come back with us and meet the other members and, if you want, we’d like you to join the group.”

She stared at me. I could tell that she was thinking furiously. “Let me see your purses,” she said.

I think she saw the look of surprise on all our faces. “Look, I don’t know a thing about you people, even your names, and yet you want me to fly off to some secret hideaway and be a member of some group? How would that sound to you?”

I admitted to myself that I’d be suspicious too.

“So let me see your purses. You can tell a lot about a woman by what she lugs around. I’m not going to steal anything with you standing there, staring at me. I’m just going to try and get a handle on who the heck you are.”

It was up to me. Now was one of those times I wished Roger was here so we could put our heads together. But I was on my own and if I was the leader of this group, then I had to decide what to do next. I handed Edie my purse.

She opened it gently and peered inside. She took out my wallet first and looked at my driver’s license. “Hmm. Ok Jane Jackie Mitchell, let’s see. Credit cards in that name. An employee ID for a famous company. About $500 in cash. A very fancy cell phone. Various other personal stuff. Okay, I’m done with you, Jane Mitchell.”

She handed me my bag back and I quickly put it over my shoulder. I couldn’t remember ever having a stranger look through my purse. It was a bit creepy.

Next she went though the others. With Marina, she had a good look at her pilot’s license. “So you are a pilot Ms. Gonzalez. Good for you. I hope you don’t let the men hold you back.”

“There’s not much chance of that,” I thought to myself.

“So, we’ve got Jane and Marina and April and Shannon. Three of you have ID from Texas and one from New York. All of you have exactly the same expensive phone.” She looked at me. “Stringbean, do you know Evan Miller? You work at his company.”

If I hated being called Janie, which I did, I hated being called Stringbean a hundred times more. “The name is Jane and yes, I know him.” I put my hands on my hips and stared at her.

She pointed to my purse. “Okay, call him for me.” She saw me hesitate. “If you can really pick up your phone and call him and talk to him, then this must have something to do with his company. I’ll be much more comfortable going with you then. And, oh yes, don’t think you can call just anyone so they can try and pass for Evan Miller. I have a question for him. You’ll ask it because he won’t know me from Eve, but if he knows the answer, I’ll be convinced you really did talk to him and then I’ll go with you.”

I looked at my sisters for advice. April was still sitting beside Edie and she spoke up. “I’d want some type of assurance if I was her.” Marina and Shannon nodded their agreement, so I pulled out the phone and woke it up. I could have made the call by just touching the screen, but I decided to use voice commands.

“Login Jane Mitchell,” I said. The phone responded, “Please look at camera for identification.” This was one of Bess’s security enhancements. Before you could get into the phone, it had to do a biometric scan of your face, eyes and voice. It recognized me. “Hello Jane,” the phone said.

“Call Evan,” I continued. There were several beeps instead of normal dialing sounds as it tried to reach Evan. This was to let us know that the voice call was being scrambled and should be secure. This also meant that Bess had upgraded Evan’s phone.

I had him on speaker. “Hi Jane,” he answered. “How is it going?” He knew we’d be meeting with Edie right about this time, so he probably thought we’d called to tell him how it went.

“Evan, hold for a minute, will you?” I muted the phone and looked at Edie, “Okay, so what’s the question?”

Edie looked surprised that I’d gotten this far, but she had the question ready. “Evan Miller was involved in a patent suit some years ago. It revolved around the date of a certain invention. He’ll remember. Ask him to tell you what date he testified was the correct one.”

It seemed sketchy to me, but I repeated the question to Evan. I had him back on speaker and he answered with no delay. “I testified that I drew out the plans for that new type of screen on April 16, 1999. And that was the correct date - a full month before it was copied by our Korean friends.”

Edie smiled for the first time ever for us. It was like she had to remember how. “Yes, that’s it. Thank you Mr. Miller.”

“Were you on that case?” asked Evan. He had guessed that Edie was on the call now.

“I was a lawyer assisting the main counsel. He talked with me about the evidence for that date quite a bit. That’s why I’ve never forgotten it.”

Evan had a smile in his voice, “I see. I know my friends Jane, Shannon, April and Marina are trying to be of assistance and I’ll keep you in my thoughts.” He hung up. Evan knew I was on the front line and didn’t want to get in the way.

Edie stood up and looked at her wrist. There was nothing there. “Do you know the time? I had a Rolex but I had to sell it and I still look for it at least 10 times a day.”

It was 12:35. “I’m close to being late for work. I’ll go with you, but I have to finish the day here. I get off at three. All the drunks get off early so they can support each other and keep each other from drinking when four or five o’clock rolls around. Cocktail hour to a drunk is kind of like full moon to werewolves, you know. If we aren’t careful, we’ll change from being a pitiful, but sober drunk, to a pitiful and drunk drunk. It’s not pretty.

“The number one rule of the Drunk Agency is to be at work when you’re supposed to be there. I’ve got to go. Can you meet me back here at three?” She turned to leave, but stopped and reached out to me. I took her hand and April, Shannon and Marina joined in. “Thank you,” she said. “I think I probably owe you my life.”

And with that she rushed back into her office building. I certainly had not expected her to return to work like nothing had happened, but it looked like we didn’t have any choice but to meet her at three.

We had some things to talk over and I didn’t want to be overheard in a restaurant, so I walked over and told the driver to leave us at the park and come back just before three if we didn’t call her sooner. She wasn’t sure she should go because she’d been told to stick with us, but a forty dollar tip helped make up her mind. We got some hot dogs from a cart just outside the park and found a secluded spot to eat and talk.

I called Roger and we filled him in on all that had happened. He had us on speaker, so that everyone could hear us. Jed said, “I knew those gals would be able to get’er done.” We could feel everyone smile on both sides of the line.

“Rog, could you or Juliet look up this group The Duncan Agency? Edie said they were providing the treatment and so it might be good to know a bit more about them.”

We heard clicking on the line as someone typed and then Juliet came on. “They specialize in treatment for alcoholics who are professionals - doctors, lawyers, media stars, that type of thing. They claim that sixty percent of their clients remain alcohol free after being in the program for two years or longer. They say here that most of their clients fail in their first few attempts at long term sobriety, but each time they fail, they are admitted to a group home with others like themselves and are given jobs. That squares with what Edie told us.

“It says here that they are quite strict with their rules. Clients cannot miss work or even be late without an ironclad excuse. They must go directly from work to their residence home and must eat their morning and evening meals with all the other clients in the home. They are subject to random visits by agency representatives at any time, but especially at work.

“That’s must have been what Edie thought was happening when you showed up. They don’t list prices, but I’d guess they are quite expensive. They take insurance and a professional might have such coverage. I think that’s about all I can get from their website. I see a few complaints about them, but not many. Most are from people who got kicked out for not following their rules. It looks like the great majority of people think this treatment is fairly harsh but effective.”

We let that sink in. I had no idea if that information would be useful. After a moment, Roger spoke up, “Jane, did she really call you Stringbean?”

I had started to withhold that from my report, but since three others had heard it, I had no choice but to get it out there. I knew it would come back to haunt me, but there’s wasn’t much else I could do.

“Yes, and she also called both me and Shannon fashion models - which means she has good taste. She called Marina a Ship’s Captain and sweet cheeks. April got off lucky, she got called a chaperone. She said we were all fresh faced, which is, of course, true. I’m willing to cut Edie some slack because she was obviously suffering, but you, Roger Seaton and you, Jedidiah Houston Cunningham, had better watch what you say. If you think you can be cute and get away with it just because I’m not there to defend myself, you’d better rethink and do it right away.”

I hoped a strong stand would put an end to this Stringbean nonsense, but after a few seconds of silence, Roger answered, “Yes, Bean . . . I mean Jane.”

Everyone on both sides of the call laughed out loud. I have to admit, even I did too. Oh well, I survived as Stick, I guessed I would make it as Stringbean.

When we were done with the report, we still had some time left so we wandered around the park or went into some little stores that were nearby until it was almost three. I saw our driver arrive back with the SUV and she waved to let me know she was there.

Three o’clock came and went as we waited. I was starting to get concerned when Edie came out at about 3:15. When she saw us, she smiled like she had half expected us to be gone. “I’ve never had such a good afternoon,” she said. “I can’t tell you how at peace I feel. Really, I feel like a new woman. That awful, gnawing hunger - it’s just gone.” She stopped as if she’d just thought of something, “It’s not coming back, is it?”

I looked at Shannon. “No, it’s not. But I’d stay away from alcohol. You’re susceptible to the type of damage we saw earlier. I don’t know if you’re immune to it now or not, but it would be best to lay off the booze.”

Edie seemed relieved, “That sure won’t be a problem. Thanks to you people, I don’t feel any desire to do it at all. No, I won’t be drinking anymore.”

I pointed to our SUV. “Here’s our ride to the airport,” I said.

Edie looked surprised. “I’ve got to go back to the residence and pack some things. It’ll only take a few minutes. I can’t go with just what I’ve got with me.”

I should have thought of that and made some arrangements while we were strolling around that darn park, but I was so happy to have accomplished our goal, I hadn’t been thinking. “Come on girl, get with it,” I thought to myself. I was usually more on top of things that this.

There seemed to be no other way, so we all got into the SUV and Edie told the driver how to get to her place.

It only took a few minutes. “Come on in. You can give me a hand. It’ll be hard to decide which of my ball gowns to take. I’ll need some help.”

I hadn’t planned on going inside, but then again, I hadn’t planned on coming here at all. This Edie could be a bit pushy.

She led the way and we all followed. The building appeared to be in good shape and had a large central entranceway and stairs going up. She walked past them to a door towards the rear. She held it open for us and we all entered.

And what we entered into was an area with a large table. Seven people were seated around it. I remembered that the residents had to eat together and I immediately knew this was their dining area.

I looked at Edie with some fire in my eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am. But they are my friends. These are the people that I’ve struggled with. They all are drunks, just like I was and they all are suffering, just like I was. I called them when I was back in the office and told them what had happened and asked them to be sure and get here right after they got off work.”

So that was why she had to go back to work and it was also why she was a bit late leaving. She had to give them time to arrive here and set up this little scene.

“They don’t believe a word of what I told them. That’s fine, because even if they don’t believe me, they trust me. So they are here and I want to ask one final favor before I disappear with you to God knows where. I want you to heal them the way you did me. I promise you, Jane, if you’ll just help my friends, I’ll do whatever you ask.”

Once again, it was up to me. I thought about pulling out my phone to report these developments to Roger and the others, but I felt myself grow stubborn. That happened with me every so often. If I was in charge of this little band, then it was my call. I didn’t want the team to think that the girls had to always run to the big strong men when something unexpected happened. No, I was here now and it was my call.

I looked at Shannon. “Can you do it?”

“I hope so,” she said. “It can be a bit draining sometimes, and I’ve never done this type of thing more than once, so I don’t really know. I’ll do my best for you though, Jane.”

My God, what people I had with me. I knew Shannon would use whatever strength she had just because I asked. I pointed to a couch, “Shannon, you sit here with Marina and April on either side of you. Edie, you bring them up, one at a time.”

Edie went to the end of the table and reached out for a frail looking elderly man. He was thin and was very deliberate when he stood. I wondered if he was drunk now.

“This is Mr. Collins. He’s been a drunk for 46 years. He’s tried just about everything.”

He stood in front of Shannon and she reached out and took his hand. I knew that April and Marina were connected to her and could see what was happening. I decided to remain alert and didn’t connect. I watched Shannon carefully to make sure she wasn’t getting too exhausted.

It took almost a full minute. Shannon said that he would be all right now and she let go of his hand. He lifted it closer to his face and appeared to examine the hand like he’d never seen it before. He looked back at Shannon and started to smile when he simply collapsed. It was like someone had pulled the fuse on the motor that kept him upright. One second he was standing, and the next he was dropping straight down.

But Edie was there and she caught him and carried him all by herself to a nearby chair. He was a thin man and she was a strong woman. Still, it was a sight to see. She placed him gently into the chair and stroked his head until he opened his eyes. They immediately filled with tears. He was cured.

Next, Edie led a young woman to Shannon. She introduced her as Courtney and explained that she was a great singer and song writer. She probably was only a little older than Bess, but she didn’t look young like Bess did. I noticed scars on her wrists beneath her long sleeves. I realized she had been cutting herself.

Shannon took her hand with a gentle touch. I could see the muscles in her neck tighten as the connection happened. She found the damaged spot that caused the thirst for alcohol and she healed it.

When Shannon nodded that she was done, Edie led her away. Courtney kept saying, “I believe. I believe.”

One by one, Shannon and Marina and April connected to these people and, one by one, they were healed of their addiction. Most cried, one laughed and all waited to watch their friends be transformed.

Finally, the last person was led up by Edie. He was middle aged with a touch of grey. He looked to be in good health. His face showed curiosity and intelligence.

By this time, Shannon was just about spent. I connected to her and I felt her weariness. I started to tell her that we were done when she took my hand said, “I can do it, my sister. I can do one more.”

Edie said, “This is Father Tom Harrison. He’s a priest.”

Father Tom smiled at her. “That’s correct but not totally correct. I’ve made up my mind to leave the priesthood, but haven’t done it officially yet. The church put up with me as a drunk and tried to help me with this treatment, but I don’t think I can continue as a priest. I’ve seen what you can do here and I think my days as a drunk are numbered if these beautiful women can find the strength to work their magic one more time. But can you cure someone who’s lost their faith in their calling?”

I told Shannon to go ahead and she struggled, but like the others, Father Tom was cured of his alcoholism. I put my arm around him and helped him to a chair. “You didn’t answer my question about restoring faith,” he said. It seemed to be as important to him as the curing of his addiction.

I looked at him right in the eye and connected to him. I let him feel my strength. “It depends on what you want to have faith in,” I said and then broke the connection. I liked him.

By this time, Edie had moved to sit beside Shannon. Marina and April were fine, but Shannon was just about used up. Edie put her arm around her and pulled her head to her shoulder. Shannon closed her eyes almost immediately. Her red hair was quite a contrast with Edie’s. “God, I love all of you.” she said. “Please let her rest for a few minutes and then I’ll be ready to go with you.”

One by one, six of Edie’s friends came by to pay their respects to my sister, Shannon. Some touched or even kissed her hand and others mumbled their love for her. Each and every one had tears in their eyes. I was long ago out of tissues.

The only one who didn’t show was Father Tom. After a few minutes he appeared with a bag for Edie. “I packed your things for you,” he told her. She smiled and nodded at him, but she didn’t move as Shannon continued to rest on her shoulder.

There was a second bag as well. He pointed to me, “Can I see you for a minute?” he said.

I followed Father Tom outside.

“I want to go with you,” he said. “Edie told me she was going and she had no idea what might happen, but she trusted you. I trust you too. In all my years as a priest, I saw very few people who gave as much to their fellow humans as that wonderful red haired woman in there. When she was healing me, I could feel she was spent - used up. I wanted to stop her before she hurt herself, but it was impossible. She was willing to give everything to help others. I can’t find that type of spirit in the church, but maybe I can find it with your group. If you’ll let me, I mean.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t even know your name. Edie said the skinny one was in charge and I know that’s you. Please, let me come and look after Edie. Let me come with you to wherever it is you’re going.”

Well there it was again. Edie had a way of making my leadership a challenge. But this was an easy choice for me. Father Tom was a good man, I knew that. I told him he could come with us. After all, what would Roger do, kick me out? I was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen - even if I was a stringbean.

In just a few minutes, Shannon sat up and said she was ready to go. She looked pale, but otherwise fine. I connected to her for just a second and she felt normal. “I want to get back to my family,” she said. I knew how she felt. It seemed like we’d been gone a month, not just a few hours.

I made sure that Edie had all the names and info on the people we’d healed and were going to leave behind. I thought it likely we’d come back to see them and that they might become another center of Connection activity. Amid cries of “God bless you” we piled into the SUV and left. I told the driver we were ready to go to the airport. She said it would only take a few minutes. I could tell she was curious as she’d heard several people say “God Bless You” to us, but she didn’t say anything else.

When we arrived at the airport, I asked her if she’d been paid and if everything was good. She said it was. I’d already tipped her $40 and, since it was my money, I thought that was probably enough. I could get reimbursed by Juliet, but I’d have to ask for it and that I would not do.

I told her goodbye and we went into the General Aviation terminal. Like before, it was busy, but without any of the hassles that went along with normal flying. Marina said that she had called ahead and Captain Jensen was doing the preflight, but she wanted to be there. First she had to go the bathroom. All of us went with her - except for Father Tom.

Everyone was standing at the mirrors fixing their hair and makeup when Edie whispered to me, “Jane, when we’re done here, can I speak to you in private?”

I had no idea what this was about. “Ladies, when you are done go ahead and get on the plane. We’ll be right along.”

This Edie seemed to require a high level of maintenance. I admit I was a little cross with her. She’d been leading me around by the nose all afternoon and I wasn’t used to that. Usually I was the one who was doing the leading. But she’d managed to make me wait for two hours after we healed her and then she’d set things up so that we’d heal her friends - all without a word to me. And now she was asking for private meetings? That was just about enough.

Everyone finished their hair and lipstick far quicker than normal and left without a word. I continued to stare at Edie. I put my hands on my hips and opened my mouth to speak, but she smiled and reached out her hand to me before I could say anything. I took it. “I’m sorry Stringbean; you remind me so much of myself twenty years ago - tall, skinny and smart. I knew you were tall and skinny and pretty right away, but now I know you’re smart. I just wish I had those twenty years to live over again. I could have done so many things, but I wasted those years as a common drunk. Now you’ve given me another chance and, if you will let me, I’ll do my best to help you achieve whatever great thing you have planned. I know there must be something and I wasn’t sure if it was okay to talk about it in front of the others, but I hope you’ll share it with me some day.”

I gave her hand a squeeze, “There is something we have to do as a group. It is big and it is important and everyone else knows all about it. If you join, you will too.”

I wasn’t done because I wanted to get something straight. “Look, I think we’re going to get along fine. Just let me know if you get an idea and I’ll do the same for you, okay? There is no need to plot something behind my back. If you had just asked, I’m certain we would have healed your friends.” I paused and looked directly in her eyes. “And one more thing, do not call me Stringbean.” She smiled her agreement and we left the bathroom. I thought I had things straight with her, but time would tell.

We walked towards the door that led outside to the plane. Standing there waiting for us was our limo driver. “What now?” I thought. I just wanted to get home.

She could tell I wasn’t expecting to have another talk with her, so she spoke up right away. “I want to give you my card. It’s really just the company card, but I wrote my name and phone number on the back.”

In a very neat hand was written, “Tanith Watson” and her phone number. I looked from the card to her. She was dressed in her chauffeurs outfit, but she’d taken off her hat. Her hair was braided tightly into a single strand in the back. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but she was young and pretty. I guessed she probably was about the same age as Bess.

I looked questioningly at her. “I know you might not believe me, but I don’t do this type of thing to people I’m driving. It’s against company policy and it’s also probably rude.

“But I want you to have this and if you ever need any job done, just about anything at all, please call me. I don’t know why, but I just feel I have to do this.” She stopped for a moment, but I could tell she wasn’t finished. “I go to church a couple of times a week - usually it’s just me and my grandmother. We sing hymns and listen to the preacher and most of the time it’s nice. But every once in a while, we’ll be singing and I can almost physically feel the people around me and our voices blend in such a beautiful way. When that magic happens, we’re all just one with the Lord. Every person in there is still an individual, but we all feel like we’re one person. It’s like we’re all so close.

“I know it’s crazy, but I felt that you and your friends were close in that way too. I hate this dead end job and I barely make enough to help my family get by, but I’m not looking for money. I’d love to work with people like you - good people who really, truly care for each other.”

Now she stopped again and I thought she was done, but she wasn’t quite, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stopped you. I’m sorry.”

She looked down at the floor and I reached out and took her hand and connected to her. I connected to Edie too so she would feel what I was feeling. I could tell this person was strong and capable, but was bowed from the load she was forced to carry. My parents had been upper middle class so I’d never even thought about things like food or housing. But in my connection to Tanith, I felt her worry about those things and also about the health of her Grandmother.

And I felt she was hungry. I knew she hadn’t spent a penny of the money I’d given her on herself - even for a meal.

“You will hear from us. I promise.” I maintained the connection and let her feel the sense of belonging that I had with the other members of the group. That was what she wanted.

While that was going on, I reached into my purse and pulled out the wad of bills that I’d brought along for the trip. I put them in Tanith’s jacket pocket. She didn’t notice, but I knew that Edie did.

I broke the connection and hugged her. “I’ll be in touch,” I said as we started to walk away. I could see tears in her eyes. That first connection could be a powerful thing - especially if you were hurting. I resolved to carry more tissues.

As we walked across the tarmac to the plane, Edie started to say something, but I cut her off. All of a sudden I was faced with having to climb into another flying coffin and I knew it would take all my willpower to go up those stairs. “You did NOT see what you think you saw back there, got it?” I sounded abrupt, but it worked. Edie smiled and nodded.

Just then, Marina appeared at the top of the stairs. “I was getting ready to leave without you,” she joked. I felt a wave of appreciation towards her since I knew she was trying to help me feel better. With her help, I climbed the stairs and entered the plane. My fears seemed under control.

After we were seated, I gave Marina the thumbs up and the pilots finished their checks and we started to move. In minutes we were in the air. It took me that long to realize that I wasn’t afraid of this flight. I knew it was because Marina was doing the flying.

I texted Roger a summary of all that had happened. He replied, “Gr8 job Jane! Everyone will be ready with accolades for you and ur team. See you soon, my sister!”

I wanted to relax, but Edie wasn’t done with me yet. She swiveled her seat next to mine and said, “So why me?” It was a good question that I knew had been on her mind. I also knew that she wasn’t going to ask it until we’d cured her friends.

I just told her as much of the truth as I could - no more and no less. I told her about the group and that we had received some gifts like the gift to heal and the gift of the Revelation. I didn’t give her all the details, of course, and I never mentioned BP. I told her how her husband had led us to her. When I was done, she stared into space, trying to think of what to say. “My husband. I thought it might have something to do with him. You know what he said in front of that group, but what you don’t know is that he and I were divorced some years ago and he claims he can’t get over it. He’s been to several such support groups that I’ve heard of. Sometimes he gets business contacts from them and that makes me just a bit suspicious. Regardless, I don’t want anything more to do with him - but I am thankful that he led you to me. Thank you for telling me, Stri . . . I mean Jane. I appreciate your honesty.”

She turned away to stare out the window and think her thoughts. I was finally able to be quiet and relax. I put my hand on my stomach and let my mind wander. Soon, I’d be ovulating again.

Chapter Twelve

I included Jane’s report of her trip just as she wrote it into the full version of the Revelation. I didn’t change a word and I included it so that the timeline of all that happened was maintained. It was such a beautiful and detailed account, I couldn’t stop reading it once I started. I didn’t know when or if anyone would ever read these accounts of all that had happened. I knew I’d give a copy to Jane, but I didn’t know if I wanted anyone else to read it.

However if someone did end up reading it, they’d sure learn a lot about Jane and me and all of us - some of it good, some of it not so good, some of it very embarrassing, but all of it true. I didn’t want to hold anything back and Jane apparently didn’t either. Somehow I knew that would be the way she’d do things.

That evening, we were all sitting around in Evan and Juliet’s apartment, waiting for our sisters to return home. We’d had a text that they had landed and were on their way. Juliet was playing a beautiful song on the grand piano, Kari and Kevin were waiting anxiously for their mom, and people were reading or talking. I was checking the time every two minutes. I hadn’t even admitted it to myself, but I’d been really worried about this trip. If the girls had failed like the guys, we’d have had a big, big problem. But they hadn’t failed - they’d succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations. They’d brought back not one, but two new prospective members. And they’d connected to at least seven other people down there who could perhaps join and even start another group. We were nowhere near to having 329 new members, but it appeared we would no longer be stuck at zero.

Soon, there was the sound of the door opening and Marina, April, Jane and Shannon came in followed by Edie and Father Tom. I had thought that they would rush to their loved ones, but they stood there in the doorway as a group for just an instant, as if they were hesitant to break up the team. There was time enough for Bess to stand and start to applaud. Instantly, we all stood and did the same thing. Edie and Tom stood apart and joined in too.

After a few seconds, she couldn’t wait anymore and Kari ran to her mother with a squeal of joy that was so high in pitch as to be almost beyond human hearing. She leapt at least a foot in the air and into her arms. Jerry and Kevin led Shannon away with kisses and hugs. Allen embraced April and Jane strode over to Jed and put her arms around him and reached up and gave him a kiss. Edie had walked over beside me. “Good Lord,” she said. “This sure is a hugging bunch.”

Bess was standing beside me. “It sure is,” she said. “It sure is.” And with that she gave Edie a hug too. I guessed that Bess 2.0 was still a hugger.

Jane broke away from Jed and announced to everyone, “My friends, I’d like to introduce you to two people who we hope will decide to join our group. This is E. D. Porter and she likes to be called Edie. And this is Tom Harrison. I think he’s still a priest, but we just met both of them today so there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.

“I have a suggestion though; let’s all introduce ourselves and then just spend some time getting acquainted. Let’s leave the part about our group and what we’re here for until tomorrow. It’s getting late and Edie and Tom have a lot to take in. Tonight, let’s have some fellowship together and meet back here at 9 a.m. Sound okay?”

Everyone agreed and so we spent the next hour or so in small talk. Jane introduced me to both Edie and Tom as the leader of our group. “If you can lead our girl Jane here, then I should be in awe of you. She’s quite the leader herself.”

I laughed. “That she is. Sometimes I think she just let’s me believe I’m in charge.” Jane gave me a kick for that, but it didn’t hurt.

The introductions were soon done, so I asked Edie and Tom to tell us about their backgrounds. We’d all spent a couple of minutes explaining who we were, so it seemed reasonable to ask them to share a bit too.

Edie told us about her legal career; how she’d go out with the boys to a bar at the end of every day. How she saw her life deteriorate as her control over her alcoholism got weaker. It was a sad story, but I hoped things were set up for a happy ending.

I thought Tom would have something similar to share, but instead he told us about becoming a priest.

“I never planned on being a priest, but I can see now that my mother planned it for me. She made sure I applied at the seminary after college and pushed me to go there. Still, I liked it. I liked the structure and the discipline of it. And being young, I liked what we could get away with. Lots of the students there had girlfriends and we’d go out and drink on the weekends when we were allowed to leave the grounds. It wasn’t encouraged exactly, but it wasn’t too actively discouraged either. We weren’t officially Priests after all, and it was smart to let us sow a few wild oats, I guess.

“When I graduated, I took my vows. There really wasn’t any choice as far as I could tell - my mother expected it and that was enough. I’d been raised in the church, educated in the church and now was the time for me to work in the church. I wasn’t sure just how much of the church teachings that I believed, but it didn’t seem necessary.

“I had done well in school and I was picked out of our graduating class almost immediately and told I’d be going to grad school. They wanted me to study psychology. I’d taken a couple of classes at the Seminary, so it seemed fine to me. Most of my other classmates were being assigned to parishes or to some type of clerical duties, so I asked why I was going to grad school. They told me it was because I was worldly. What they told me wasn’t the full truth, but I didn’t know it at that time.

“So, a bit more than four years later I graduated once again with a newly minted PhD. I assumed I’d be doing some type of research and I was right. I was called into my Bishop’s office and he talked to me at length about the sex scandal that he feared was going to do great damage to the church. At this point in 1994, the scope of the problem wasn’t publicly known and hadn’t been widely reported on. I was one of a select few who’d been chosen to receive all the inside information and to recommend a course of action. Basically, I was supposed to suggest ways for them to manage the problem so that it wouldn’t explode. I was told that a group of those considered the best and brightest were asked to make suggestions, but I never met any of the others.

“I spent the next six months traveling, studying and learning all I could about priests who would molest children. I’d lived a sheltered life, first at home, then at the Seminary and lately in academia, so I wasn’t prepared for what I found.

“However, I did as I was told and eventually wrote my report. It was 113 pages long and it changed my life.

“I said that there was no way to contain the scandal. I said that instead of trying to minimize the extent of the problem, the church should immediately remove every Priest who had been accused or was known to have done this type of thing. I said they should be placed in special rural residences designed just for them and they should never again be allowed to perform any official duties.

“I also stated that anyone - priest, or bishop or even cardinal - who had covered up or transferred any of these priests to a new area so they could do the same thing again, also had to be relieved of their duties. Basically, I told them to admit everything, make all the information they had public, and publicly deal with the rot that was inside the priesthood.

“I can tell you that my report created quite a stir. My understanding is that it was read and commented on by no less than fifteen cardinals and that it was purposely kept from the Pope. Today a search of church records will find no mention of it.

“I received no feedback. What I did receive was a plane ticket with orders to report to an out of the way parish in Little Rock. I’ve spent the last twenty years there doing things like marriage counseling and helping depressed teenagers. I am still officially a priest, but to this day, I’ve never done a single priestly duty. Three months after my exile began, a series of articles came out on the molestations and the church responded by trying to minimize their importance. I knew it would turn into a disaster and it did. This was when I started drinking like I meant it.”

Tom’s story was more than compelling. Everyone sat listening carefully to every word. When he was done, Juliet said quietly, “Thank you.”

Sometime later, I saw a sight that I’d never seen before. Jane had Kari on her lap. I didn’t witness how this happened, but Kari was rubbing her eyes. She was sleepy. “Can Uncle Roger read me a story?” she said to her mom. Shannon looked at Jane and must have received some type of unspoken signal that only women can understand. She said, “How would you like both Uncle Roger and Aunt Jane to read to you?” Kari laughed with delight.

So Jane carried her downstairs, while Jerry and Shannon followed with Kevin. She must have gotten heavy along the way, but Jane didn’t ask for help. Once we got to their apartment, Jane and Shannon changed Kari into her pajamas and then called me into her room. Shannon turned down the light and pulled the door almost shut as she left Jane and me to read to her.

“What do you want to read?” I asked. There were many books on her shelf. “Bunnies and People!” she said with enthusiasm. She liked it before, so I guess she wanted it again. I started to read and she interrupted. “Where’s my kiss?”

I didn’t know about this part of the ritual. I reached down and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. “Jane too,” she said and Jane did the same thing. Jane had a happy expression on her face that I’d never seen there before.

I read the story and, like before, Kari laughed out loud when the bunny laughed out loud. I laughed out loud too and so did Jane. It was just funny. After I was done, Kari said “Now Jane,” and so Jane read the story to her. She put a lot more into it that I had and Kari laughed even louder. I was worried that we were over stimulating her, but as soon as Jane was done, she pulled her blanket up right under her nose and within seconds closed her eyes.

Jane and I stood there, side by side gazing down at that sweet little girl. I put my arm around her waist and she put hers around my shoulder. I turned my head so that my lips were touching her hair as I talked. “You’re going to be a great mother,” I said. She hadn't told me officially, but I knew her well enough to be certain that I was going to be called on to provide the DNA needed for her to have a child.

“God Roger, I hope so. It won’t be long now. I’ll let you know.”

We stood there long enough for Shannon to become curious and come in to check on Kari. I could have stayed there even longer.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, I got up at six and worked almost three hours on the full narrative version of the Revelation. I wanted to stay up to date as much as I could. Bess had things set up now so that as I wrote, it was encoded and saved automatically in whatever safe place she put things.

I was getting ready to go upstairs for our nine o’clock meeting with there was a knock on my door. It was Bess and Marina. “We just wanted to make sure you were on time. Ready to go?”

Bess was wearing a tight top with skin tight pants that ended just below her knees. Marina had on a short skirt and a sleeveless top. Both of them looked fabulous. Bess certainly did not look like a kid and I loved Marina’s new hair style. I told them they looked great. “Give me a couple of minutes to finish up some stuff. Come on in.”

They sat on my couch. I had some papers from the early parts of the Revelation I wanted to take with me. I went to my dining table to arrange them. My back was to them.

Marina asked Bess, “So how did your date go the other night? Did he appreciate that dress?”

“Sure, he appreciated it. Maybe a bit too much. You know those college boys; they’re so immature and grabby. It sure helped that I’m on the boxing team. I guess I need someone older - I think someone maybe around thirty or thirty five. Most boys younger than that are, you know, just boys. I’ll just have to keep trying. How about that pilot instructor of yours? I hear he’s quite a looker.”

Now I was listening to every word. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear this stuff, but I couldn’t stop.

“Yeah, he’s a looker and that’s an understatement. He’s drop dead gorgeous. The problem is that he knows it and he’s used to women throwing themselves at him. I don’t know, maybe I will, but certainly not until I get my commercial license. First things first, you know. Anyway, there’s lots more guy pilots than women pilots, so there’s no shortage of good looking men to pick from.”

Bess agreed. “I know what you mean. It’s the same way in the computer world. There’s lots of fish in the sea, no use getting too hung up over any one guppy.”

I stole a look at them and they were both staring and me and were grinning from ear to ear. I was slow, but I finally got it. They were putting on a little show for me.

“Very funny you two. I admit you had me going for a minute there. You know I love both of you, but there’s not much I can do about it with all that’s going on with this BP stuff, and leading this group, and saving the universe. So go ahead - have a dozen boyfriends if you want. There’s nothing I can do about it . . . but I promise you, I’ll be jealous of each and every one of them.”

I think that must have hit just about the right tone, because both of them walked with me, arm in arm, up to the meeting. Each even gave me a kiss on the cheek before we went in. I felt like a lucky man.

Juliet had arranged for a very nice catered breakfast for the whole group that morning. After we ate, we gathered around and I once again expressed our appreciation to the team that had traveled to Little Rock. I brought everyone up to speed on Marina’s training and told her how impressed we all were. Jane spoke up and said she was the best pilot she’d ever flown with. Jane had told me about her panic attack and so I knew what Marina had done for her. If she had her way, she’d never fly with anyone else.

Next, I covered Bess’s idea for a website that would introduce the Revelation. We hadn’t talked much about this subject with Edie or Tom, but now was the time.

“My friends, all of us in this group, the Connection, have received a Revelation. This Revelation explains just about everything. It explains why the Earth is the way it is. It explains how life got started here. It explains how humans appeared and it also explains why we are here. We have a task in front of us, a job to do, and we are here to complete that task. Edie and Tom, if you are ready, we’ll let you read the Revelation of Brain A. Pearlmitter. It will explain everything.”

They didn’t know what to expect, but they nodded “yes.”

“Along with the Revelation, we also received something else. I think it’s a gift, but you’ll have to decide that on your own. Early on, we discovered that we could connect with each other. This is what Shannon and Marina and Jane and April did with you and your friends yesterday. When we’re connected, we don’t share thoughts or really anything unless you want to share. It’s mostly feelings and a general sense that we know each other in a deep and personal way. This is why we named our group the Connection.

“Unless you object, I’m going to connect to you now. I’m pretty adept at this and since you were connected yesterday, I think you’ll find it easy to do. That’s another thing about connecting - the more you do it, the better you get at it. Soon, if you’re willing, you’ll be able to connect to us or each other at will.”

I paused to let my words sink in and to let them prepare themselves. Neither Edie nor Tom objected, so I connected to them. I could feel that they were surprised, but I let them experience my calm and my confidence. Almost instantly, I knew much more about them. I knew Edie was strong and very smart. I knew Tom was gentle and loving. I knew they would fit right into our group.

“You can’t read thoughts when you’re connected, but you can talk to each other. Now, I’m going to ask Jane to join us.” Jane came to me and offered her hand. I took it and she joined the connection with the three of us. I was surprised, but she opened herself a lot so that they could see what kind of person she was.

One by one, everyone else joined in the connection. After the first few, Edie said “I can’t believe it,” and Tom said, “Me either.”

Once the entire group was connected, I shut up and let everyone just experience what was happening. It felt wonderful as my brothers and sisters welcomed Edie and Tom. I thought that my point had been made and I was just about to gently break the connection when I felt BP on my shoulder. I had a momentary reaction of annoyance, but that was just reflex. He was certainly welcome at this place and at this time.

It seemed I wasn’t finished after all. “Edie and Tom, we were given the Revelation that you will soon learn about by a voice that suddenly started speaking to me. It spoke to me one night with a simple question and ever since then, that voice has been answering questions that humans have asked since their beginning. That voice calls himself Brian A. Pearlmitter and we call him BP. He’s here now and I think he would like to say a few words.”

I fully expected BP to blare with his most pompous voice, but instead he started out sounding almost human. “I would like to welcome Edie and Tom to our group. I know they haven’t formally decided to join, but they are here now and I am grateful for that. I’m grateful to Roger for being so faithful and good and I’m grateful to my daughters Jane, Shannon, April and Marina for what they did yesterday in helping so many.

“Please listen to them as they share the Revelation with you. Remember, what they tell you is true. It happened just the way they will tell it. And when you are done, you’ll know why you are here and what your purpose is.”

He stopped talking and so I spoke up. Even though they hadn’t yet heard the Revelation, now seemed like the right time to do this. “Edie and Tom, we would all like to invite you to join the Connection. It’s your decision, but I know that each and every one of us would love to have you as our newest members.”

Until now, everyone who had been offered the opportunity to join had accepted instantly and enthusiastically. But until now, we’d never invited a lawyer.

Edie had a question before she answered. “Will we be free to renounce our membership in the future if, for any reason, we decide to leave the group?”

It was a question from a lawyer for sure. I was taken aback for a moment as I tried to make sense of it. Bess giggled at the thought that anyone would want to leave.

“Edie and Tom, of course you could leave at any time. The group is only a few weeks old and, as far as I know, no one has ever even thought about leaving - but if you want to, you can. No one here would stop you, though we’d be sad to see you go.”

That was true. I’d been connected to Edie and Tom and I felt close to them now. That was just the way connecting worked.

Edie saw I was struggling a bit with her question. “Don’t get me wrong, Roger or Jane or any of you. I’m ready to join right now. After what you’ve done for me, I‘d be crazy not to. I just don’t know what the future will bring and Tom and I don’t even know what this Revelation thing is all about. I’m just trying to understand what is being offered here.”

She paused and looked at Father Tom. He smiled at her and spoke up for both of them. “If you’ll have us, we’re in.”

I had brought with me the first few chapters of the Full Revelation. I had shared these chapters with Allen and Jane and Matt when this whole thing first started. These first chapters had very little about the people in this room in them - they were mostly just about things BP had revealed to me. I thought they’d make a good start in introducing Edie and Tom to the Revelation and wouldn’t embarrass anyone with their honesty. For some reason, I remembered that Pastor Cleimer had read these too after Matt had stolen them from Bess - along with quite a lot of our other writings.

As Edie and Tom were reading about my confusion with the concept of the universe being made up of life and non-life, the phone rang.

That was nothing unusual, but it was Evan and Juliet’s private phone. Evan had just started getting back to running his company, but company business was done on his cell phone. Juliet picked it up and answered, “Hello.”

I thought it would be a family member calling to check on them, but the look on her face told me that wasn’t the case. She was obviously puzzled. “Hold on,” she said into the phone.

She turned to Evan. “It’s a Lieutenant Abrams from the police. He wants to talk to you. It doesn’t sound like a social call.”

Evan frowned and took the receiver. By now we were all looking at him. “This is Evan Miller,” he said. This was followed by several “Uh huh’s” and “I understands.” Finally he said, “Lt. Abrams, my phone just cut out, can you repeat that?”

Evan pushed the speakerphone button so we could all hear. “Yeah, Mr. Miller. Like I said, I’m sorry to bother you, especially so soon after the passing of your son. But we’ve had a report that claims you turned off his life support while a group of your friends stood and watched. I know it’s crazy, but the report says there’s a video recording and I’d like to see if there’s any truth to that.”

Evan looked startled and started to speak, when Edie appeared and pressed the hold button. “Listen to me Evan. Take him off hold and tell him there’s someone at the door and you need to put him on hold. Do it now.”

Her voice didn’t make it seem like a suggestion, so Evan did just as she said. She’d bought us a minute or so. “Now fill me in. Quickly.”

Evan and Juliet were both in shock, so Jane stepped up and summarized what had happened with Jacob. She told the entire story in about thirty seconds, ending with Evan turning off the machines after Jacob was gone.

Edie thought about what she’d heard and looked at Evan. “Will you name me as your counsel so I can represent you right now?”

Evan didn’t need to be convinced. “Yes,” he said immediately.

She pressed the hold button. “LT, my name is E.D. Porter. That’s the letter E and the letter D. I’m an attorney representing Mr. Miller.” She pronounced L.T. as Elle Tee. “Is my client a suspect in any criminal investigation?”

“Well, let’s see,” he said. “E.D. Porter. That’s P-O-R-T-E-R, right? What does the E. D. stand for?”

“Look LT, you’ve got my name. Look it up if you care to. If you have any questions about anything other than my name, now might be the time to ask them. But first, how about answering my question. I can repeat it if you don’t remember.”

Abrams signed audibly on the speakerphone. He hadn’t planned on having to deal with a pushy lawyer. “As of now, we’re just making a friendly call to hear what Mr. Miller says about this turning off life support business. I sincerely doubt there’s anything here, but since we understand there might be a video, you can see why we have to check. I know that the deceased was in a treatment room and that there was security in that building, so it seems possible there’s a video. Now normally I might toss this type of report in the trash, but I don’t want to do that and see the video on YouTube in a few days along with an accusation that we didn’t follow up. So I’m following up.”

Edie pressed hold again. “Is there a video?” Evan looked a Juliet. It was obvious that they didn’t know. Colonel Stout was in charge of security. He would know, but he wasn’t here.

She put him back on speaker. “Okay LT, we’ll need a few hours to check. We don’t know if there’s a video or not. You’re calling Mr. Miller’s private home, so he sure doesn’t have any such video just lying around. I’ll be back in touch later today when we find out.”

There wasn’t much the Lieutenant could do right now, so they exchanged numbers and hung up.

Edie was still thinking when Evan spoke up, “I can call the security people and have them check to see if there’s such a video. We had cameras in the entrance way and out back, so there probably is one.”

Edie stood and started to pace. “I’m sure we can check on that, but first we need to understand what just happened here. How did they know about the machines and the video? I can’t believe that anyone here made such a report to the police.”

Bess spoke up, “The Colonel,” she said. “He was the only other one there.”

Chapter Fourteen

I heard more than one gasp when Bess named the Colonel. Evan shook his head. “I’ve known him for a long time. He wouldn’t betray us, would he? We invited him to join. He knows what kind of people we are.”

He was rambling. Edie broke in, “It doesn’t have to be him who made the report to the cops. He could have told someone and they could have done it.” She looked at Bess and changed gears. “You’re the computer geek. Can you check on that video?”

“Probably, but Evan or Juliet will have to talk to the security people and tell them to assist me. I have no idea how the video is recorded or stored, but it’s probably digital and it’s probably on a computer right here since video files can be quite large. They’re easier to store locally than to send over the net.”

Evan stood up to go downstairs and talk to the security people. I had seen a camera in the entrance way and a guard sitting in front of at least 4 screens, so I guessed there were multiple cameras that watched who came in and out of the building.

Bess got up to go with him. I had an idea. “Jerry and Jed, can you go too? You’re technically oriented and I don’t like Bess and Evan walking around alone right now when we don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

They left and we waited. No one said anything for several minutes. My phone rang and it was Bess. “You’re on speaker,” I told her.

“Okay, I’m sitting at a pretty standard PC that is used to record the video. There are cameras at the front and back and another in the vestibule. The last one is in the basement, where Jacob was being treated. I can see the video files and logs. They go back almost a month and they are complete for three of the cameras, but the one that was in the basement is missing a full day of video - and guess what? It’s the day Jacob left us and Evan turned off the machines.”

Edie asked her a question, “So it was deleted by someone?”

“It would guess it was. There’s no sign of hard drive problems and the other recordings all look like they are intact. I also looked in the trash can and it’s not there. Of course, if someone used the “empty” command it wouldn’t show up.”

Edie’s face showed concern. This was not good news. “But I think I might be able to find the video. I’ll have to try a few things, but this system is designed to back everything up every day and to keep the backups for a month. With any luck, there’s a backup copy that can be recovered. Whoever did this might have thought of that and trashed the backup, but we won’t know until I try. Should I go ahead and do it?”

I looked at Jane and then at Edie. Edie said, “Yeah Bess. Do try and let’s hope you can do it. I hate the idea of a video floating around when we don’t know what’s on it exactly.”

“Roger Dodger,” said Bess. “I mean okay, I’ll do my best.” The new mature Bess was not using as many slang expressions. “These are big files and I’ll need a large external drive to restore to. It might take several hours. It would be better if I just take this machine back to Evan’s place and do it there. Also, do you think Jerry and Jed could go out and get us an external drive? A two terabyte unit would do the trick. I’d want an eSATA interface if they can get one or USB 3 if they can’t.”

I didn’t really know what all that meant, but Jerry and Jed did so they left to find a computer store. In about fifteen minutes Evan and Bess returned. Evan was carrying the PC and a small LED monitor, and Bess had an arm full of cables, keyboards, mice and other computer stuff. She was working on plugging everything in when Jed and Jerry arrived with the drive.

Bess looked at the box and read the specs. “That’s just gran . . . I mean that’s perfect.” She smiled her brightest smile at Jed and Jerry. She pulled a hair tie from somewhere and gathered her blond hair together into a pony tail. She was ready. She got to work.

“How long will it take? I told the LT that I’d call him back today,” Edie asked.

Bess thought about it for a few seconds, “I should know if the backup is intact in less than an hour. If it is, I don’t know how long it’ll take to recover. I’ve never used this particular software and this machine isn’t the fastest, so I just don’t know. However, once it starts to recover, it should give me some type of progress indicator so we can estimate how long it’ll take. That’s the best I can do.”

There seemed to be nothing else to do but wait, so Tom and Edie went back to learning about the Revelation and Jane formed a little group to practice the type of connecting where you can see inside the person and sometimes heal them. I could tell Jane was annoyed because Shannon could do it and Bess was starting to be able to do it too and she couldn’t.

She got Shannon and Marina and Jerry and Jed to gather a group of chairs together. I decided to join this little experiment too. April and Allen were with Edie and Tom and Juliet and Evan.

“I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t do it,” said Jerry. “I can connect with no problem, just not that way. Shannon makes it seem so easy, but it’s not for me.”

“Well, let’s see what we can do.” Jane wasn’t going to give up without a lot more trying. “Shannon, you lead us if you will. Rog, do what you can to help.”

With that, she started the connection and soon we were all in that now familiar state. I felt my friends and they felt me. Jane had said at one time that it felt good, and it did today.

Shannon took the lead, “To see inside someone, you have to kind of shift your mental perspective. I know that makes no real sense, but that’s what I do. Jane, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to look inside you and let everyone else see what I see via our connection.”

Jane didn’t hesitate. “Go ahead.”

“Now I’m going to just shift the connection a bit. I hope you can feel it. Jane, I’m going to have a look at your heart.”

We could all see something move. It didn’t exactly look like any heart I’d seen in pictures, but it was an expanse of red that seemed to move rhythmically. I guessed that represented the beating of her heart. I couldn’t tell any great detail, but I could certainly see that her heart was strong and healthy. I don’t know how I knew that, but I did.

Shannon now stopped looking inside Jane. “That’s how I do it. Roger, how about you?”

“Yeah, I do it the same way. It really is hard to explain. It’s like trying to tell someone how to ride a bicycle; you have to actually do it to learn how. You just kind of shift the connection from the whole person to inside the person.”

Jane had had enough demonstrating. “Okay, for those of us who can’t yet do this, let’s try it. Shannon, I’m going to try and look inside you and if that doesn't work, I’m going to try with someone else. Maybe it’s easier with some than with others.”

And so Jane, Jerry, Marina and Jed started to try. I could see a look on strain and then frustration on Jane’s face as she tried one person, then another. I was still connected to all of them, so if there had been any successes I would have know it. But there weren’t any.

Marina, Jerry and Jed gave up and were just resting, but Jane kept trying. I knew that it wasn’t going to happen for her, at least right now, but she was sometimes a bit stubborn. I let her feel that I understood her frustration. I felt sorry for her too. That was something new for me.

That’s when I saw her heart again, just like we’d see it via Shannon. My first thought was that Jane had actually done it, but then I realized it wasn’t Jane, it was Bess. “Here’s how I do it,” she said to the group as she walked over from the computer she’d been working on.

Jane broke the connection and shot daggers at me with her eyes. What had I done? She’d worn herself out trying to do this type of connecting only to have Bess waltz over and do it seemingly without effort. I could understand her frustration, but why be frustrated with me?

Bess realized something had happened. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just heard the tail end of Roger’s explanation of how he did this type of connecting and I thought we were sharing our methods. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as Jane came to grips with her own limitations. It wasn’t easy for her. “No, Bess. No need to apologize. I can’t believe how easy you picked this up. I’m jealous. Do you think you and Shannon can try and train me together some time? Just the two of you? I don’t want to give up.”

Bess gave her a hug of course. The new mature Bess was still a hugger. “You name the time, my sister,” she said. Shannon nodded in agreement. Jane shot me another one of her looks. I felt a primal urge to run and hide because I knew I was in trouble - I just didn’t know why.

The group broke up and Edie came over when she saw Bess was not at the computers. Bess was ready with an update. “There are several incremental backup files; all seem to be intact. I started the recovery a few minutes ago and let’s see . . .” she stared at the screen, “it says there’s two hours fifteen minutes to go. Then with any luck, we’ll be able to see that video.”

Edie was pleased. “Good. I want Evan and Juliet and I to watch it as soon as we can. Actually, unless they object, I think everyone should watch it since you were all there. You can tell me if you see anything that you didn’t remember.”

After that people wandered off. Marina, Shannon and Jerry took Edie and Tom out for a little shopping spree. They had come on short notice and only had a few things with them. Juliet made sure they knew which good places to go to and she told Marina to make sure they didn’t worry about the cost. Edie had a few private words with Juliet and then the group left promising to return in a couple of hours.

I was about to go back to my place and do a little writing, when Jane signaled to me. She was talking to Jed. His back was to me and she looked around him and lifted her brow. I had never seen her do that before, but somehow I knew it meant she wanted me to wait until she was done.

Normally, she would be holding Jed’s hand or otherwise showing affection, but now she stood a foot away from him and she didn’t look happy as she talked. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but when she was done, Jed turned and left without a word to her. Something was up.

She walked over to me and stood close so that we could talk without being overheard. I was concerned, so I said, “You and Jed okay?”

She normally looked me in the eye, but now she looked over my shoulder. “Sure. Just a little spat. All people who love each other have them. You and I even did at least once. I’m sure it’s nothing. Sooner or later we’ll make up and that will be really, really fun.”

I didn’t think I needed to know about that, so I didn’t say anything. “I guess it’s my day to be mad at people, because I’m mad at you.” I let my innocence show on my face. If I’d done anything wrong - at least in the last fifteen minutes - I didn’t know about it.

“When we were connected and I was trying like a stupid moron to learn to connect the way you and Shannon and Bess and probably the cat can do, I felt that you were sorry for me.”

She was getting going now. “Listen to me good Roger Seaton. I have no problem with you feeling sorry for me if I give up. You can feel sorry for me if I’m not trying. You can feel sorry for me if I’m clearly not capable of doing something I should be able to do. You can feel sorry for me if I don’t give it everything I have.

“But as long as I’m in there trying and trying hard, I don’t need your pity, Mr. Connect and Look Inside People. Keep it to yourself - better yet, forget about pity and concentrate on helping if you can. And don’t you dare let our brothers and sisters feel your pity for me. At least you didn’t do that, but consider yourself warned. And one more thing . . .”

I felt my heart breaking. She was right; I had felt sorry for her even though I knew she was trying her best. It felt like betrayal to her and now it felt like that to me too. In mid rant, I took her in my arms and held her close.

“Oh God, Jane. I’m so sorry. I was just thoughtless and I hurt you. I’d never, ever want to do that. I love you too much. Please forgive me.”

She pulled back and smiled. It was obvious my apology had been accepted. “I should give you a good kick, but I guess I love you too much for that too. I just had to get that off my chest, Roger. I know I have a big personality flaw, but I just don’t want you to ever feel sorry for me. I could take it from anyone but you.”

She wasn’t looking over my shoulder now. She was gazing deep into my eyes. “Look and see if I’m ovulating,” she said.

I connected to her and looked inside. It was easy for me. I knew where to look now and we both quickly saw the red, blood rich expanse that we’d seen earlier. The small mound that had contained the tiny white egg was there and it looked warm and ready, but there was no egg visible. “It won’t be long,” she said. “It might be an hour or it might still be a few days. I never tried to track it until the last time.”

We just stayed there, connected and watching that spot inside her like it might sprout an egg at any moment. I felt her longing to be a parent.

I don’t know how long we remained in that state, but I eventually became aware that Juliet was standing with us. “I don’t want to intrude,” she said. “But I have to report a problem with one of our members and her handling of money.”

Uh oh. This could be serious. I couldn't believe that any of us was in any way untrustworthy. I looked at Jane and she had a shocked look on her face. I know I did too.

“One of our members recently went on a trip and her report wasn’t complete. She didn’t report a large expenditure of money.”

Juliet was staring at Jane and suddenly I knew it was her. “Oh Lord, not Jane,” I thought.

Jane smiled at me and at Juliet, “I’m going to change Edie’s name from E.D. to E. B. - for Edie Blabbermouth Porter.”

Their smiles told me everything was alright, but I was still clueless. Juliet filled me in. “Remember the chauffeur that Jane told us about? And how she connected to her and thought she’d make a good member? Well, Jane didn’t tell us the whole story. It seems that while she was connected, Jane could feel that her family was poor and that Tanith hadn’t eaten all day - she was taking every cent back to her family. Jane here took it upon herself to reach into her purse and slip every penny she had with her into Tanith’s jacket pocket. Edie had counted the money earlier and it was almost $500.

“And so Jane did a kind deed for a fellow human being. But you didn’t say a word did you, my sister? You weren’t going to ask for the money back, were you? You had too much pride to ask for it, didn’t you?

“It’s my fault. I should have made sure that every traveler had Connection money with them. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Juliet handed Jane an envelope. I knew it contained money. The look on her face didn’t invite discussion on accepting it.

“My God, Jane. How many more good deeds have you done in secret, never asking for recognition?”

Jane took Juliet’s hands. “My sister, if you took all my bad deeds and put them on a scale and balanced them against all my good deeds, I’d be happy if my good outweighed my bad by a tenth of an ounce. I know I should have told you about giving her that money, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I am trying to be more open, but it’s not easy with me.” She looked back to me. “I did put it in the report for you, Roger. As you’ll see, I left nothing out of that.”

Chapter Fifteen

Everyone had returned by the time Bess announced that the restore was completed and that she’d found the video recording. We all crowded around the little monitor and watched.

The video didn’t offer any new insights at all. It showed us holding hands around Jacob’s hospital bed. It showed the many blinking lights and real time displays from all the machines he was connected to. In the corner, you could see the Colonel watching everything that went on. I saw my own face show sorrow at the moment Jacob left his body and went to BP. Jane had tears streaming down her cheeks and Evan was obviously holding Juliet up.

Right on cue, the machines starting beeping with alarm as Jacob’s vital readings plunged. I could see one machine which I knew showed his heartbeat. The display showed a flat line - his heart had stopped. Only then did Evan leave the group and go over and slowly turn off each machine. And only after that, did we all file out.

Bess stopped the playback and Juliet sniffed loudly. I felt like doing it too. Edie asked if anyone had seen anything that was new or should be discussed. No one spoke up except me. “It shows just what happened. His body died and then Evan turned off the machines. It’s very clear.”

Edie agreed, “I think so too. Okay, I’m going to call that LT now.”

“Should I upload the video for him?” said Bess.

Edie looked surprised. “No, we’re not going to give him the video. We’ll give it up for a court order, but he won’t get one - he can’t based on what he has right now and he doesn’t want to get one anyway. I think he told us the truth; he’s just following up on the report in case the yogurt hits the fan for some reason. If it does, he’ll be able to show he did what he should have done. You never give them evidence if you’re not charged, even if it shows you are innocent, unless you have to. We don’t have to and we won’t. At least that’s my advice.”

Evan looked at Juliet and they must have silently agreed. “We’ll do what Edie says.”

She took out her cell and dialed. “I think I’ll send a little indirect message to this Colonel while I’m at it.”

She waited for the call to go through. “LT, this is Edie Porter. I can put your mind at ease. We do have the recording and it clearly shows that poor little boy leaving us and then Mr. Miller starting to turn off the machines after that sad event.

“No, I don’t think we’ll want to send it over. We have it if it’s ever needed. No, I don’t think we can do that either.” She sounded very sincere and matter of fact.

“Okay LT. I don’t guess you’d tell me who made that report would you? I didn’t think so. Well, you may want to ask your source a question or two. It looks like we may have suffered a theft of data here. You won’t believe it, but it’s that very video you called about. We’re just lucky to have technical geniuses here who could find a backup copy. We’re not totally positive about the theft or even if there was one, but I’d suggest you ask your source about it. Get him on record, you know?” She paused listening to his response.

“Okay LT, I appreciate it. You’ve got my number.” She hung up.

I thought what Edie had done was brilliant. She’d left no doubt that we had the video and weren’t going to give it up, and she’d also intimated that they should be wary of whatever their source told them because he might be a thief. I knew it was the Colonel who’d done this. Evan might take a while to come to grips with the fact that his long time friend had betrayed him, but not me. I’ll already been through this with Matt, so I was way past the stage of wondering if such a thing could happen - I knew it could and I was sure it had.

“I’ve got to call Colonel Stout,” said Evan as he pulled out his phone. In unison, Edie, Jane and I all said, “Wait!”

Jane continued, “Evan, Let’s have a little strategy session before we call him. First, why would he do this? Is there anything in it for him?”

Juliet and Evan knew the Colonel better than any one of us, so we waited for their opinion. Juliet spoke up first, “Ever since that meeting with Roger and Jane, he’s been . . . different. That’s the day when we found out there was no real hope for Jacob and I think it affected him. He seemed very skeptical about BP too. I know he wanted it all to be true, but when we couldn’t save Jacob I think the Colonel didn’t believe in BP’s ability to take Jacob with him. I think it started there.”

Bess spoke up, “And remember his phobia about connecting. He seemed scared of it.”

I also remembered a couple of instances when I didn’t feel really “right” about Colonel Stout. Bess had been obviously wary. I should have trusted her instincts more. I vowed not to make that mistake again.

“Do we know where he is now? I know he’s on vacation, but do you know where he went?”

Evan’s face lit up. “He always leaves his whereabouts with our security team here. Nothing ever comes up, but if it did, he wanted to be notified instantly wherever he was. He’s got his cell, of course, but he’s in the habit of leaving another contact if he’s going to be away. Should I check with them?”

I thought it was a good idea. Neither Jane nor Edie objected, so I told him to go ahead.

Evan made the call and asked where Colonel Stout could be reached. The last time he’d left a number had been days ago, before he left on vacation. Evan wrote down the number which had an area code in the metro area. It didn’t look familiar at all. Jane asked, “Bess, can you do a reverse lookup on this number?”

Bess took the number and pulled out her phone. “I can find it easier with this, that PC is pretty slow.” She must have had an app for it because she just typed in the number and two seconds later she said, “Here’s the address. It’s for the Cult Awareness Action Network.”

I was stunned. That was Pastor Chuck’s group.

Chapter Sixteen

We talked about what to do among ourselves, but in the end we just didn’t know enough. We thought it likely that the Colonel had given the police the “tip” about the video. We knew he’d intimated that there might have been something bad about what Evan did, but we had no idea as to why. The Colonel might have been an outsider, but we treated him well and had asked him to join the group more than once.

Jane asked if it was possible that he somehow bought into Pastor Chuck’s cult accusation, but again, until we talked to him it was all speculation. I suggested that Evan call his cell. “I’ll put him on speaker,” said Evan as he brought up the Colonel’s number on his contact list.

“Wait a minute, please.” This time it was Bess who wanted to hold off. She stared into space, thinking. It reminded me of Jane. “He’ll be able to tell he’s on speaker. It doesn’t sound the same so he’ll assume others are listening. It might be better if he thinks Evan is alone on the line with him. Evan, you can conference me in on the call and then go in another quiet room. I’ll put my phone on speaker and mute the microphone so he can’t hear anything from us, but we’ll all be able to hear the call.”

Edie said she was a genius. I wasn’t prepared to argue the point. It was a smart idea for sure. Bess looked a little embarrassed.

Evan went into their bedroom and made the call to the Colonel’s cell phone. We could all hear it ring clearly on Bess’s phone as the call went through. After four rings, we got his voicemail and an invitation to leave a message. Evan asked how his vacation was going and asked him to call. He didn’t mention the police. I thought that was a good plan.

Evan returned to the main room and sat beside Juliet who was seated on the piano bench. She took his hand. “He knows it was me calling and he didn’t answer. That’s happened no more than a few times - like when he was on a plane. When it has, he’s called back as soon as he could. Normally, it’s within minutes”

We waited. Several minutes went by with no return call. That could mean nothing, of course, or it could mean that the Colonel wasn’t taking Evan’s calls.

Evan was a man of action and didn’t like waiting around. “Should I call Chuck Cleimer’s number – the one that Colonel Stout left with the security people?”

I was thinking about that when my phone made the little whistling tone it uses to signal that I received a text or email. I looked down at it and realized it was from Matt Shivley, our former friend.

I read it quickly and felt my heart skip a beat. I handed my phone to Jane and told her I’d like to send it to everyone else in the group. She read and then nodded in agreement as I handed my phone to Bess and asked her to forward the message. She could make it happen quicker than I could and I wanted to bring Edie and Tom up to speed on what was happening.

“Matt was an original member of our little group of friends at the office. We’d meet for lunch a couple of times a week. Bess joined our group early on when I started to receive the Revelation. We were close friends. I even connected to Matt and Jane and Allen before Bess ever joined. That was the first time that I ever connected to anyone other than BP.

“Anyway, Jane got Bess an internship at the company and Matt set up her accounts on our internal network. He also left himself some kind of back door so he could access her email and files. He used that to steal our information - all the earlier parts of the Revelation - and ended up giving them to his Pastor, the same Chuck Cleimer that we’re thinking of calling. This email is the first thing I’ve heard from him in quite a while.”

The email wasn’t long, but it chilled me to the bone.

Roger,

The Colonel is in with Pastor Chuck now. I can hear them talking in the other room. Pastor Chuck has been “counseling” him. The Colonel has told him everything he knows. He might have tried to hold things back, but he couldn’t - no one can. Chuck is connecting to him and to me and to lots of other people in his congregation. He’s really good at it now and he’s very strong. He learned it from you.

He’s telling the Colonel that he wants to invite you here to see him. Roger, don’t come!! He’s strong and he will mess with your head. He’s done that to me and I can’t take any more. I’ve tried to pray for help, but I think God has given up on me. I don’t blame Him. I can’t live like this.

Please tell Jane and Allen that I do love them and that I’m sorry for what I did. Tell Bess that I have nightmares about stealing from her every night and that if there was a single thing I could change in my whole life, it would be that.

Roger, again please, don’t come here. He knows just about everything about the Connection and the Revelation, but he’s obsessed with two things he doesn’t know - how to heal people when he connects to them and what is the last part of the Revelation. He’ll push and shove your feelings until you can’t think straight.

I’ll be free of him soon and I’ll get what I deserve. God may have abandoned me, but I still believe in Him.

Matt

After everyone had a chance to read the message, we stood there in silence. I didn’t want to think about what Matt was going to do, but it didn’t sound good. I replied to him immediately.

Matt.

You are my friend and you will always be my friend if you want to be. The past doesn’t matter. Listen to me, I’m coming to meet with Pastor Chuck and help you. Do nothing until you hear from me. Understand? Do nothing and don’t send me any more messages until I make contact with you. It won’t be long.

Roger

I forwarded my reply to the group so that could see what I was thinking. I had no idea of the firestorm I was about to unleash.

Jane read my reply and jumped up and came over to me and stood above me as she stared down at me with her hands on her hips. Her eyes weren’t just shooting sparks, they were intense enough to burn right through me. “You are so not going to meet with Pastor Chuckles. Forget about it. It’s not happening.”

Edie jumped in, “I don’t advise that at all. It could be dangerous.”

Bess had started to tear up, “No Roger! No. You can’t! Please don’t.”

And then the floodgates opened. Everyone crowded around and talked at once. I could only understand a word here and there, but I knew what they were saying. They thought I had lost my mind.

I gave them thirty full seconds to vent and then I stood up and lifted my hand to ask for silence. Slowly, they stopped talking and waited for me. The last thing I heard was from Jerry. It was “No.”

“All right, my brothers and sisters. I guess I know how you feel about my idea. But let me tell you a few things.

“First, Matt is my friend. I’ve known him for as long as I’ve worked at Evan’s company. When I first started there, I met him in the cafeteria when he asked if he could sit with me. I was the new guy - all alone at a table. He sat down and bowed his head. I knew he was praying before he ate, so I waited for him to finish. When he looked up, he smiled and said “Thank you.” I must have looked surprised at being thanked, so he explained that people often joked about his praying. He thought they were embarrassed for him. I wasn’t and he knew it. He seemed to be a man of faith, and I respected that.

“We talked and kind of hit it off. He asked where I’d been assigned and I told him about the cubicle farm I would be toiling in - how one was probably as good as another. He laughed and asked if I wanted to be a success in the company or if I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t bored. At that point, I did want to be a success, but I sure didn’t want to be bored. I told him I’d take both, with an emphasis on the anti-boredom part.

“He said, ‘Okay my new friend, I’m going to talk to someone about your cubicle assignment. I’m going to get you next door to someone who may run this place one day. Or she may get herself fired and maybe you and me too. But I’ll guarantee you’ll not have many really boring days.’

“Later that day, I got a text telling me my cubicle number. When I got there, I found a pretty girl next door. Her name was Jane.”

Most of them smiled and looked at her. They hadn’t heard this story. Jane wasn’t smiling though. She was still staring bullets at me.

“Matt was my friend then, and he’s my friend now. I was mad at him before - and disappointed too - but that’s over. He did something bad, but right now I don’t care. He sounds like he’s thinking of suicide and I’m not going to stand by while that happens. I’m just not.

“Now second. I’m not scared of Pastor Chuck. I don’t care how much he’s been connecting with people; I doubt he can force himself on me. I actually did connect to him once at my apartment. It was short and intense, just to let him know what I thought of him. So, he’s not a total unknown to me. I can understand that he’s strong, but he won’t be able to connect to me unless I allow it. I just know that.

“Third, the Colonel is over there right now being counseled. We all know he didn’t want to be connected to by any of us and now Matt says Chuck is doing it to him. He wouldn’t know how to resist. We’ve connected to people without their permission - Edie is the latest example - but we’ve always done it for some good cause and, in every instance, we’ve left them better than they were before. I suspect Chuck is doing it to see how much power he can have over people and lord knows what effect it’ll have on the Colonel. So, I want him to stop and I’m going to tell him that. If he’s got any decency left, he’ll understand that he can hurt people.

“And last, I’ve got an ace in the hole - two of them actually. He wants to know how to cure people and he wants to know the last part of the Revelation. Of these, the most important to him is the ability to make physical changes inside people. I hope he will never be able to do this, but perhaps I’ll get a clue when I talk to him. I can see how he’d want this power above almost anything else. Imagine what he could charge to cure people of, for example, alcoholism or cancer or diabetes.

“So, I’ve got to go. I’m going to call him up now and march right over there if I can.”

I had made up my mind that this had to be done. I looked at them for a reaction. There were several worried looks, a couple of sad ones and one angry one - Jane. I hadn’t made my case to them very well.

But even without their enthusiastic support, it had to be done. I asked Bess to give me the number for the CAAN group that she had looked up earlier. I could tell she didn’t want to, but she held up her phone with the number on the screen so that I could read it. I dialed it on mine. I didn’t bother putting them on speaker.

After a couple of rings, a female voice answered and I asked for Pastor Chuck Cleimer. “He’s in a counseling session right now and then has to prepare for services tomorrow. He likely won’t be available until Monday. May I take a message?”

She sounded normal. I had somehow suspected that Pastor Chuck’s people would grunt like Zombies after he got through playing around in their heads. That was crazy of course. “Yes, please ask him to call Roger Seaton at the number I’m calling from. I think he’ll want to give me a call. Tell him I’ll be waiting.”

I wasn’t very nice to her, but I had an excuse as Jane was still staring at me in a cold fury. I checked to make sure I was outside of kicking distance.

Everyone was sitting in silence. Some looked at me and some studied their shoes. I heard the fridge turn on in the kitchen. It was that quiet. “I left a message,” I said. My voice sounded too loud. I almost whispered, “He’ll call me back.”

They remained silent. They already knew I’d asked to be called back. I ran my fingers through my hair. I wished someone would say something and help get us back to normal.

Jane spoke up and it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. “So you taught him how to connect? I knew your silly display of testosterone with him at your apartment wasn’t a good idea. He was already one of those who could almost establish a connection naturally and then you had to play a game of whose is bigger with him. That’s probably all it took to get him going - especially since he had a nice subject handy who had already been part of a connection and was therefore susceptible. That’s Matt, of course.

“And now you are going to run off and try to save the day like some pretend superhero when every single one of your brothers and sisters thinks it’s a bad idea - a very, very bad idea. You men drive me crazy; you’re all exactly alike. I really don’t know why we keep you around. Maybe it’s so you can carry heavy stuff for us.”

She paused and the silence was deafening. She had been like a prosecuting attorney in her tone, but now she got that look on her face that meant she was thinking hard. It took almost no time as she spoke again in less than two seconds with a much softer, more wistful tone.

“Actually, I do know why we keep you around. It because without you, Roger Seaton, this group would likely fall apart. Without you, we’d have little chance to do what BP tells us must be done. Without you, the universe probably won’t be saved and all life will likely cease to exist both here and in BP’s universe. And without you, we would have no leader that would forgive betrayal from a friend and then risk himself for him.”

She stopped talking and walked away from me and sat down beside Jed. Her shoulders slumped as the look on her face had changed from anger to resignation and worry. He put his arm around her loosely. Bess was sitting on the other side of her and took her hand.

I think the burden of being the leader of this group of incredible people had never been so heavy and so precious as at that moment.

And once again, Jane had come to my rescue when I most needed it. I could have simply done what I felt had to be done, but I wanted them with me - and I wanted them to understand. Her speech explained exactly why I had to do this in a far better manner than I ever could. Now my friends started talking again and came up to me offering support and words of encouragement. They were with me now. I had Jane to thank yet again.

Chapter Seventeen

In a few minutes, things returned to an expectant state as we waited for a call from Pastor Chuck. I had no doubt that I’d hear from him soon, probably after he finished doing to the Colonel whatever it was he did in one of his counseling sessions.

I had gone into the kitchen to make some coffee, when Bess joined me. “Let me do that,” she said. I was perfectly capable of making my own coffee, but something told me to let her do as she asked.

She went about the chore in silence and without looking at me. When the machine was loaded and brewing, she turned and said, “We’ve been talking. I’d like to go with you to that meeting. I know the others want to as well, especially Shannon. She thinks that if Pastor Chuck starts messing with things he shouldn’t, she could reach into him and make him stop - like give him a bad headache or something. So far, when we’ve looked inside people and changed them, we’ve fixed things that weren’t right. It’s like what you did with me.

“But Shannon thinks, and I do too, that we could push a bit here or squeeze a little there and really make someone uncomfortable. But please Roger, don’t take her - she’s got two kids and a husband that loves her. Let me go with you. I’ve been practicing and trying to help Jane learn how to do it. I can do it. I know I can.”

And now this sweet girl wanted to put herself at risk for me. I wondered once again how I deserved to be blessed with such people around me.

I was trying to think of a way to tell her that I had to do this alone, when my phone rang. Bess literally jumped at the sound. I looked down at the display and confirmed it was from Pastor Chuck’s number. I said, “It’s him. I’ll conference to you like you did before with Evan. Go out and let the others hear.” Bess smiled at me bravely, but a tear escaped and ran down her cheek. She pushed the required buttons on her phone and left. I peeked out. Everyone was gathered in the middle of the room, around the grand piano. They waited in silence for me to answer my phone.

I didn’t really know who was on the other end of the call. It could have been Chuck, or the secretary or even Matt. I struggled with how I should answer. For some crazy reason, at that moment I remembered that Alexander Graham Bell had thought that a phone call should be answered, “Ahoy hoy.” It might be amusing to answer Pastor Chuck that way, but it would also be dumb. Instead, I answered, “This is Roger.”

“Roger Seaton! This is Chuck Cleimer. I’m sorry I missed your call a little while ago. I was tied up in a little counseling session. But I’m glad to talk to you now; I’ve actually been meaning to call you for a couple of days. So what can I do for you?”

So far this was easy. “I need to talk to Colonel Stout. He’s on vacation and yours is the last contact number he left. I’m wondering if you’ve seen him.”

Now the ball was in his court. I thought that the odds were about 50/50 that he would lie to me about the Colonel.

He did pause for a moment, but not for long. “Actually, I have seen him. I think he’s a bit concerned about all that’s been going on with your group. Have you tried calling him directly?”

Well, he was slippery. That answer wasn’t a lie but it didn’t reveal any useful information either.

“Yes, but with no answer. Evan Miller left him a message.”

Now he seemed to be the one in control. “Well then, I don’t know what to tell you. I suppose he’ll be in touch when he’s ready. You said he was on vacation, right? Maybe he wants to leave his work life behind for a while. That’s what a vacation is for, isn’t it?”

He knew very well what I had said. I could tell he was trying to keep control by always ending his statements with a question for me. I suddenly felt a bit out of my league.

But this time he didn’t wait for me to answer. “I feel a bit uncomfortable discussing this over the phone and there are a few other things I’d like to talk to you about - things that concern your group. I’d like to invite you over to my place. I think we’d have an enjoyable and possibly productive conversation. Would Monday be alright for you?”

There he went again; ending with a question that assumed I’d want to meet with that slippery snake. But, of course, I did want to meet with him. “I can do it sooner if you want,” I said. I wanted to do it right then if I could.

“Well, tomorrow is the Sabbath and I have to spend the rest of today preparing my message - that’s my ritual, you understand. And, while Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest for my flock, it’s the busiest day for a preacher. I always found that kind of ironic. No, Monday is the earliest I can do it. Would noon be okay? I’d be happy to provide lunch.”

He seemed to have an instinct for how to be in control. I decided I would have to push back - at least a little bit. “No, I’ve got something else at noon and the earlier I’m back here the better. Can you be up and ready to meet by, say, eight?”

I had a sudden inspiration that he probably was not a morning person like me. If I could make him roll out of bed a couple of hours early, I’d consider that a tiny victory in the game we’d been playing.

“Well, you are an early riser, aren’t you? I’m normally not, but I do want to spend some time with you, so eight on Monday it is. I’ll see you then.”

I pushed the “End” button, but I continued to stare at my phone. I’d set events in motion, but I really had no idea how things were going to play out. Pastor Chuck was an experienced people person. I hoped I hadn’t gotten in over my head.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and walked into the main room. Most of my friends were smiling, but I couldn’t tell if it was from my performance or from the fact that I wasn’t going into the lion’s den for almost two days. I looked at Jane and she smiled at me weakly. I knew that meant that she thought I had done okay - not great, but okay. For now, that was enough.

One voice rose above the others. It was Father Tom. I knew he liked to be called just Tom, but he was still officially a Priest and I thought of him as Father Tom. “If I may, he seems to have a real need for control, doesn’t he? I sensed a shrewd intelligence and a manipulative personality. That’s a pretty powerful combination that could help someone be a success in a lot of public endeavors. He wouldn’t be the first clergyman to have those traits - especially Protestant clergyman,” he said with a smile.

“I would like to attend his service tomorrow. He’s never seen me and, as a psychologist, I might learn some things about him that may be helpful to you in your meeting with him. I trust Edie’s judgment on these matters without reservation and would suggest she go also.”

I took a moment to think. I would certainly appreciate anything they could offer, but I didn’t want them to be in any danger. Jane spoke up before I could come to any conclusion. “Bess, how many people attend his service on Sunday?”

Bess didn’t hesitate or ask any questions. She just brought up her phone and started tapping. In seconds she had an answer. “The main service is at 9 a.m. and it regularly draws more than 3000.”

Jane looked at her and smiled in admiration. She was becoming our own private magic answer box. “Thank you my sister,” she said. She turned to me. “I think it’s a good idea, but they should stay in the crowd and not shake hands with or even get close to Pastor Chuckles.”

Jed broke in at that point. “How about us? That ole’ boy hasn’t seen any of us Texans. I want to go too so I can size him up.”

Actually, the only ones that I knew he had seen in person were me and Jane. But I knew that Matt or the Colonel could be around and they had certainly seen the rest of the group. I explained that I had decided that only Tom and Edie would go.

No one argued with my decision.

Chapter Eighteen

A lot had happened today and I was feeling kind of bushed. I guess everyone was since we all wandered off to our own apartments. I immediately hit the shower and put the water on hot. I let the water run for a long time as I realized I’d been tense for several hours. I was just starting to recover when I heard a voice say, “Are you ever going to come out of that damn shower?”

It was Jane. I couldn’t imagine what she was doing here. I turned off the shower and looked around for my clothes. I’d left them in my bedroom. How did that girl get in my apartment?

“Toss me my clothes,” I called out to her.

“Oh good Lord, you big baby. After all we’ve been through, you’re shy? Okay, I’ll get you something.”

I heard her walk by the bathroom door and then return in a couple of minutes. She opened the door a crack and tossed in some clothes. It was those duck pants and a t-shirt. I had brought them along because Juliet had arranged for us to be able to use the gym and pool at a hotel down the block. I thought I’d go and swim or workout every day or two. After almost a month, I hadn’t made it over there.

“Very funny,” I said. “Now get my real clothes.”

“Oh, slip them on for me. For old times’ sake. I really did like them. I don’t think I ever told you that. They really do draw the chicks. I know Marina liked them a lot too. You should model them for her sometime. And I imagine Bess would faint if she saw you in all your glory wearing them.”

I stood there trying to decide what to do. “Why are you here?”

“I want to talk to you and I want you to check on my ovulation,” she said.

Oh good Lord. I went ahead and put on the duck pants and shirt. They did look good on me.

I walked out to find her seated on my couch. She had a scotch for her and she handed me one. She whistled at me. “Be still, my beating heart.” She sounded like a southern belle.

“So what’s so important you have to talk to me now and how did you get in here?” I knew the door automatically locked when it closed.

“I asked Evan for a key. He gave me one.” It was so simple. If she wanted into my place, she would enter at will. I was sure she saw nothing wrong with that whatsoever. It was, in her mind, the natural order of things.

“First the ovulation. Check me out, please.”

I sat beside her and took a healthy gulp. There would be no escape now. “I just looked a few hours ago. Why look again so soon? Are you starting to like me looking inside you?”

She looked at me like I was a total fool. She hadn’t done that in a while. I realized I’d missed it.

“Did you flunk high school biology? I get one egg a month and it may only be available for as little as twelve hours. So that means we have to check several times a day. I’d suggest early and late and in the middle of the day just to be sure. I don’t want to miss this month and have to wait another one. And yes, for your information, it does actually feel kind of warm when you look inside that way. I think my body anticipates what’s going to happen. It’s strange, but it doesn’t feel bad for sure.”

And so I checked. Like always, I let her see what I saw.

There was no change from earlier. “Okay,” she said. “It’ll happen sooner or later and now we’ll be checking often enough to be really ready.”

I was still connected to her and could feel her move on to the next thing she wanted to talk about. I felt the temperature of our connection drop several degrees. It wasn’t something she wanted to discuss, but she had to.

“It’s Jed. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but we’re arguing more and making up less if you know what I mean. I didn’t tell you the whole truth earlier.”

I got it.

“I know I’ve been bitchy recently, but that’s just me. I think he’s bothered because he doesn’t have much to do in the group and I’ve been putting him off on getting married. I think he’s also a little jealous that you and I are so close. I told myself that I want to wait so that I’m sure I’m pregnant and everything is okay, but that might just be an excuse. You don’t know this and neither does anyone else, but we went down and got a marriage license a few days ago. We’re good to go and could get married at any time. But I keep putting him off and I know it’s bothering him.”

She moved even closer and looked me directly in the eyes, “Can you talk to him? Get BP to come up with something for him to do with that craft we have to build or something?”

“Getting him a job won’t get you to marry him.”

“I know,” she said. I could feel the pain from her and it broke my heart. “I know. I haven’t told him, but April and Allen are going to get Father Tom to suggest someone to marry them in a few days. He can’t do it himself since they’re not Catholic. They don’t want anyone to make a big deal of it, so they aren’t saying anything until they are ready. I thought maybe Jed and I might join in and make it a double wedding. I haven't told him because I might get cold feet.

“Roger, I’m afraid I’m making a big mess of things. What should I do?”

Right then I should have been experiencing a squirt of some kind of “mind your own business” juice in my bloodstream, but instead I had some advice for her. I’d thought about it and hadn’t said anything, but now she’d asked.

“Jane, I think you should tell Jed that you want to get pregnant. I think you should tell him I could give you a child the way you planned or you could get some type of treatment at a clinic or you could adopt. You should make that decision together. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to do this and not let him know. It’s just feels kind of underhanded. I’ll do it if you ask, but only because it’s you doing the asking. I think you’d be better off to tell him the full and complete story.”

Maybe that was my reflexive honesty at work, but it was how I felt. For a moment, she looked conflicted, but she made up her mind quickly. “No, I can’t do that Roger. He’s already worried about you and me - not that we’ll run off together or anything, but about how close we are. I’m close to him in a lot of ways and close to you in a lot of others. It’s hard for him to understand that - heck, I’m not sure I do.”

She reached down and took the hem of the duck pants between her thumb and forefinger. She felt the material, but she wasn’t thinking about cartoon ducks. She was searching for what she wanted to say next.

“I’ve told him that if you wanted a female conquest in the group, Bess and Marina would fight each other to be first in line. I told him that it sure wouldn’t be me, but he sees us being able to almost read each other’s minds and it causes him to feel jealousy. He wants to be close in that way too.

“No, if I told him what I planned, it would cause him pain and there’s no way I want to do that. He might even leave the group - and me too, of course.” Her eyes became moist almost instantly. “We’ll need his smarts and we’ll need his strength for what we have to do. And I need him too. No Rog, I can’t take that chance. We’ve got to keep this between us and no one else.”

“Okay,” I said. “You can count on me.” We finished the scotch and she rose to leave. We agreed to meet early to see Edie and Tom off to Pastor Chuck’s service. At the door, she raised herself slightly and kissed me on the check. “Thank you,” she said.

I watched her as she walked away. Suddenly, she turned back toward me and said, “Oh yes, I’ll be going to that meeting with Pastor Chuckles with you on Monday. Nighty night now.” She disappeared into her place and I heard the lock click loudly in the hall.

Darn that girl. She knew I would not allow her to be with me on Monday, but she thought she’d make me give up and include her. I had not given up, and she would not be there. That was final. I told myself that anyway.

I put away the glass and straightened up the apartment while I was thinking about Jane. I hoped she and Jed would work out their differences. It was so strange, because I loved her without reservation, while at the same time I wanted her to have a husband who loved her like a husband should. Like I said, it was strange.

I was just about to get ready for bed, when my doorbell rang. I wondered who would be calling now since it was getting late. I was still in the duck pants when I found Bess waiting out in the hall. She was dressed in what I guessed she slept in - hip hugging loose bottoms and a short top. I could see her belly button between them. Her ab muscles were well developed.

“I couldn’t sleep because you didn’t tell me that I could go with you to meet that Pastor Chuck on Monday,” she said. “I wanted to make sure it was okay. I’ll have your back.”

I remembered that I was going to tell her she couldn’t go when my phone had rung with the call from Pastor Chuck. Because of that, I’d never told her what I had decided. Now I had two brave girls wanting to go with me into battle with Pastor Chuck.

Her eyes got big. “Are those the duck pants?” she said. “OMG. I’ve heard about them, but you’re wearing them for me right now? I can’t believe it! I don’t know what to say. Thank you Roger. Marina has been bragging about you and her and the duck pants nonstop. Now I can match her. Sure, she can flitter here and there in her little airplanes, but you’ve put on the duck pants just for me. I don’t know what to say. I love them. I just love them. And you, of course.” She leapt into my arms. It was a hug for the ages.

There wasn’t any way to untangle myself but to invite her in. “Can I have a scotch?” she asked. I fixed us both one and we sat down in the exactly the same spots that Jane and I had occupied just a short while ago. I wasn’t tired anymore; Bess was so unpredictable she had perked me right up.

“So what time are we leaving on Monday? How should I dress? Should I look innocent or glamorous?”

She sure tended to ask several questions at one time. “Look Bess, I had better write everyone a note right now. Jane has already made it known that she wants to go and you do too. If I don’t get out some info, we could have a stampede of Connection members at Pastor Chuck’s place. Help me write it, if you don’t mind.”

For some reason, she loved it when I gave her a job to do, especially if it was something she hadn’t done before - like compose a note from me to the whole group. She grinned ear to ear and took another sip of her scotch.

I opened my laptop and waited for it to boot. I brought up my email program and started to write. I spoke out loud and then typed in what I said. “My friends, it’s late and I didn’t want to disturb you, but there is some information you should have.”

I looked over at Bess and she was frowning. Her forehead was a series of horizontal lines. “What?” I asked her. I had just started - how bad could it be?

“Here Roger, you give me the laptop and you just dictate and I’ll type it in. You type three words and then backspace through two of them to correct mistakes. It’ll take forever that way. Let me do it and you just talk. Talk as fast as you want; I’ll keep up.”

That was the first time I’d had my typing skills denigrated, but maybe she could do it better. “Okay, here you go. Stop me if I lose you.”

She nodded that she was ready, so I started. “First, I want to let everyone know that I will be alone when I go to visit Pastor Chuck on Monday so there is no use in trying to get me to let you go. I’ve already had two eager beavers try to go with me, but it’s not going to happen. I do appreciate your concern, but truthfully, I’m not worried about me at all. I’ll be fine and I promise I’ll fill you all in with every little detail when I return.”

She had been typing loudly, but as soon as I quit talking, she stopped. “Do I need to repeat it?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave her too far behind. Bess looked at me with a look she must have learned from Jane, “I’m done. You can talk faster if you want.”

“Wow, you are fast.” I was impressed and that gave me an idea. “As long as you’re all set up and everything, do you mind if I add something else on another topic?

“Go,” was all she said.

“On another topic, I would ask Edie, Tom, Jed and Shannon to suggest what we do with Edie and Tom’s friends down in Little Rock. I think there are six or seven there. I know Edie’s talked to them and they are waiting for us. Do we invite them up here? Do we give them the Revelation? You get the idea.”

Once again, I stopped talking and Bess stopped typing. She smiled sweetly, waiting for me. I took another sip of scotch and so did she. Our glasses were getting low.

“Next, we need to contact that chauffeur that Jane befriended. I don’t think we’ve done that yet. I would suggest that Jane, April and Juliet call her and let’s see what we can do to help her and what she can do to help us.

“Lastly, I’ve been thinking about combining. We only did it once up on that mountaintop. I’d like Bess, Jerry, Jane and Shannon to get together a group to explore how we can use this gift. Is it just to create heat? Or can it be used to move objects? We need to know more about this phenomenon.

“I am sorry that this is so long, but I do have another item and it’s perhaps as important as any. If we have any chance of getting hundreds of people to join together in a giant connection, we will need to be able to bring them into the fold without having one of us invite each one of them personally. Bess had the idea that we use a web page to help recruit. I think it’s a great idea and I’d like her to lead a group including Allen, Evan and Marina to provide us some recommendations as to how we get started.”

I kept going and Bess kept typing. “Next week will be a big week for us, I think. I hope to learn more about what Pastor Chuck is up to and get my friend Matt away from him. Marina is scheduled to take her commercial pilot’s exam on Tuesday and we all know she’ll ace that test. Later in the week, I hope we can have a little celebration for her and for anyone else that has a happy occasion.”

She stopped typing so I knew I was done. Bess got up and put more ice and scotch in our glasses. When she returned, we sat shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh as we re-read my memo to make sure it sounded fine. I thought it was okay. There wasn’t a single typo in it. She hit “send.”

“Roger, if you won’t let Jane go to your meeting with Pastor Chuck, I can understand why you won’t let me go. But I’m still worried. We all are. If something happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d never be the same, for sure. Please be careful.” She put her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her to reassure her.

We talked about me and her and the duck pants for a good long time.

Chapter Nineteen

My phone rang just as I was having a dream about trains and deserts. I held it up to see who could be calling me at this hour, but my vision was blurred by sleep. Bess had kept me up too late. I didn’t even remember when she left. My vision finally swam into focus and I saw that it was 6:15. Normally, I’d have no problem being up at that time, but it seemed like I had just fallen asleep. The scotch bottle was on the nightstand and it was almost empty.

Jane was calling me. “What?” I said into the phone. My voice cracked and I knew I sounded cross.

“Well, Mr. Grumpy Drawers, good morning to you too. I see I woke you up. Tough night last night?”

Was she calling me just to bust my chops? I realized I had a headache. “No, it was perfectly normal.”

“I’m sure it was. I got your memo and I think it’s very good. You’re learning to let the team take some of the load so we don’t have so many loose ends.”

She just paid me a compliment. Now I started to feel guilty. That made my head hurt more.

“But I have a couple of things we should consider that weren’t in your note. Do you want to talk about them on the phone now or do you want me to come over so you can examine me while we talk?”

She was up bright and early for her egg exam. I swore to myself. This getting pregnant stuff wasn’t the cakewalk I’d thought it would be.

“Give me an hour to get ready and then come over. Feel free to let yourself in with your key.” I used my sarcastic voice and she noticed.

“My, we are a grumpy Gus, aren’t we? I thought you were a morning person like me? I’ll have to see what you were up to last night.” And with that she hung up.

I started to just roll over and go back to sleep, but I was awake now and knew she’d be here in an hour on the dot. I crawled out of bed and put on some coffee. I looked down and realized I’d slept in the duck pants.

My headache disappeared by itself during my shower and now I was hungry. I had a fridge that was empty of breakfast food except for two stale doughnuts. I put one on a plate and ate the other one. I left the one on the plate for Jane. It would serve her right.

Right on time she breezed in like she owned the place. She had on her skinny jeans and an orange top. I couldn’t stop myself from giving them a good look. I saw her phone, stuck in her left back pocket. I thought about making a stringbean comment, but she quickly came inside kicking range, so I kept my joke to myself.

She ignored my stare and planted herself at attention right in front of me and said, “Okay, make with the exam.” I could only see one of her eyes and it was focused totally on me, waiting for me to do as I was told. I really liked her short hairstyle, but it hadn’t been cut in a while and now it could fall down over her left eye. I thought it looked great that way too.

I held out my hand to her. It wasn’t necessary for us to connect, but I liked holding her hand. Instantly I looked inside and found the spot where the egg would soon appear. Once again, it was empty and I saw no change. She saw the same thing I did. I was getting really good at this exam; I could do it in an instant.

“Crap,” she said. “I dreamed about that egg last night and I thought for sure it would make an appearance this morning. Oh well, I’ll need you again later this afternoon. Don’t run off on me.

“Oh and speaking of running. I ran into sweet Bess just now. She’d been out to run a couple of miles. Looked fresh as a daisy. She told me that the two of you had a little party last night. She didn’t seem all that impressed with you. What did you do, put one of your cute moves on her? No, it couldn’t be that; there’d be an extra helping of Bess exuberance today if that had happened.”

“Very funny,” I said. I started to call Bess but I decided that I wouldn’t. I’d done nothing whatsoever that was wrong and I wasn’t going to feel guilty for no reason. Of course, I didn’t remember exactly what I’d done last night, but I knew me, and I knew I didn’t do anything wrong.

But she was like a dog with a bone, “Oh and I am going to call Tanith today like you suggested. I discussed it with April and Juliet and we’ll put her on the payroll right away if she’ll take a job with us. We’re still a bit shaky as to what it’ll be, but we’ll think of something. It might also be a good idea to invite her to come up here and meet everyone. Just so you know, she’s quite good looking too. I’m sure you’ll like her a lot, just like you do with so many others. When are you planning on showing her the famous duck pants?”

I let her prattle on as I finished my preparations to leave. I pushed the doughnut towards her on the counter, but she took one look and dismissed it.

When it was time to go and see Edie and Tom off, we took the stairs. “One more thing,” she said as we climbed, “we should set up a time to fully brief them on the entire Revelation. They have read the first part, but now we need to get the rest to them.

I couldn’t see any problems with her logic. “I agree. I’d like to do it as soon as we can. There’s a lot going on and I still want to have a little celebration late in the week - for Allen and April, for Marina, and for Edie and Tom’s joining, and for all of us, I guess.” I purposely didn’t say anything about her getting married, though that would be another great reason to celebrate.

Now she stopped just outside the door of the stairwell that would lead us to Evan and Juliet’s place. She looked down at her shoes. She had on flats. “And thanks for giving Jed a part to play in the group with your memo. He was happy about it last night - thinking of ways to integrate those folks down in Little Rock. It was almost like old times between us; you know what I mean?”

I thought maybe I did. She reached up and pushed her hair back as she smiled at me with both eyes. We went into the apartment.

It was still a bit early and not quite time for them to go, but Edie, Tom, Juliet and Evan were there. Jane and I walked up to Edie and told her good morning. She looked Jane over from top to bottom. “Lord girl, how do you get yourself poured into those jeans? Since I quit drinking I think I’ve lost a couple of pounds, but I’d have to quit eating too if I was ever going to be that skinny. Hey Juliet, you got a cheeseburger for my girl Jane, here? Are you feeling faint, dear? What do you eat, about a hundred calories a day?”

Jane’s faced turned a few shades redder than normal. I had learned that Edie had a good sense of humor. She also obviously had the guts to call Jane Stringbean.

“Ah, she’s blushing. I’m sorry Jane. I was just kidding you dear. I’d give anything to be as young, pretty and smart as you are - and to be able to squeeze into those jeans.”

For once Jane didn’t know what to say. Tom smiled at her, “Jane, don’t mind Edie. The more she likes you, the more she kids with you. I know that she likes you a lot.”

“Well, I like her too - as long as she doesn’t call me stringbean - which I think she just did without actually saying it.”

We all laughed at that. By then, others had started to wander in. Jed arrived and Jane went to him. Allen and April walked in arm in arm, and Jerry came in without Shannon. “Our son Kevin’s sick so she’s keeping the kids in today. It’s just a cold,” he said. Marina and Bess showed up together, deep in conversation. They looked from each other to me every few seconds. I was relieved not to detect any hostility.

Juliet came over and quietly told me that the car was ready downstairs for Edie and Tom. She motioned them over. When they came, she gave each of them an envelope. Edie looked inside and saw cash. “What’s this for?” she said.

“From now on, whenever anyone goes out on group business, they take group cash. That’s the way things work around here. Just bring back whatever you don’t use. I guess you should get a receipt or at least account for whatever is spent somehow, but just use it as you need too. No one here will second guess your decisions.”

Edie looked at her with a puzzled expression. “This is your money, right? Your private money?” Juliet nodded her head, “Yes.”

“And how does everyone here earn a living? They’ve got to have bills and stuff. Are some of them on Evan’s company payroll?” Again, Juliet nodded her head.

“Well, we’ve got to fix this without much delay. Right now you could be personally liable if any one of us does something stupid - like unwanted rooting around in unsuspecting people’s heads. I’m thinking of a certain ex-husband of mine.

“And if they’re on the company payroll, it could be sued and you could get into trouble for using company funds for private purposes. We’ve got to set up some new organization and then you can fund it. It might be an LLC or a Corp or something else altogether. I guess it’s not an emergency, but we need to fix this before one occurs.”

It made sense. I had experience with such things only as a junior finance guy, but with Evan and Edie, I knew we would come up with the answer. I was more concerned with what was going to happen this morning.

“Okay, we’ll talk about that later. Now, I want to tell you again to stay in the background when you get to the church. Don’t seek out Pastor Chuck and don’t try to connect to anyone. If you feel anyone trying to connect to you, resist it. I don’t think there’s any chance that will happen - if I did I wouldn’t want you to go - but just in case, be prepared. Don’t linger after the service, just get in the car and come back here. Remember, you’re just going to see if you can learn anything about him or his people. Don’t try to be some super spy or anything.”

Tom frowned at my instructions. “For someone who has no concerns about his own meeting with Pastor Cleimer, you seem to want us to stay well clear of him. If he’s as harmless as you say, why these detailed instructions?”

In truth, I was worried about Edie and Tom, but not worried about me. I strongly suspected that Chuck had pushed Matt into betraying us, and I had no idea what he might be able to do to relatively new members like Edie and Tom who hadn’t yet developed as much connecting ability as the rest of us.

Yesterday, my announcement that I was going to meet Pastor Chuck alone had almost caused a mutiny, but I convinced everyone to relax by downplaying any danger - and I truthfully didn’t feel that there would be any. But now, they were reminded that this man was using the ability to connect - an ability we thought was uniquely ours - for some unknown purpose. I saw a worried look appear on Bess’s face and Jane’s lips became a thin straight line.

“The instructions are just because you and Edie are new. We know Chuck can connect - Matt told us that. I know I can handle him with ease - I don’t know that about you two with 100% certainty. Like I said, I wouldn’t let you go if I thought there was the remotest chance of a problem, but it’s my job to anticipate unlikely occurrences and that’s why I said what I did to you. Just stay in the crowds because it makes me feel better, okay? With 3000 people there, it should be easy.”

This seemed to be enough to satisfy Tom and the others. Edie said, “Okay, but it might help if we knew what this guy looks like. Anyone got a picture or does he not show up in photographs?”

Bess jumped up and had Pastor Chuck's picture on her phone in a few seconds. He was putting a can of food in a box while he smiled broadly for the camera - he probably sent out a press release to let the media know he’d be helping out the poor with some food.

They both studied the picture and then Tom held out his arm and Edie took it. As they turned to leave, everyone wished them luck. It would probably take at least an hour to get out to Pastor Chuck's suburban church, so we didn’t expect them back for a while. They could call us, but Jane asked them to wait until they got back to report on their experience. They didn’t have our secure phones. Bess would set up ones for them later today.

As soon as the door closed, I felt a bit of apprehension. I’d sent people off to do something that had, at least in theory, some degree of danger associated with it. I felt responsible and, in fact, I was.

I didn’t have long to dwell on that feeling because Marina came up to me and obviously wanted to talk. “I got your memo about the celebration next weekend or whenever. I want to let you know that I’m going to cancel my test on Tuesday and I can’t reschedule for two more weeks because the person who will give me the test won’t be available again until then. I appreciate the kind words in your note, but I think you should let people know.”

This was a surprise. She’d been studying all weekend for her written test and planned on doing a few more hours in the air tomorrow. “What happened? I thought you were all set for Tuesday. Anything wrong?”

“No. I just want to be here tomorrow when you have your meeting with that Pastor Chuck. I don’t like the sound of this at all and don’t want to be a thousand miles away if something happens. I know you keep telling us not to worry, but this guy has already damaged your friend and now he’s doing lord knows what to the Colonel.”

The closer we got to the time for the meeting, the more my friends seemed to be worrying. I had to put a stop to this. I moved until my face was two inches from hers. I spoke in a whisper. “Are you brave enough to bring in a plane safely if it develops a mechanical problem? Would you think clearly about the problem and do what is necessary to deal with it? Or would you give up and fall to pieces and hide your eyes and cry your heart out as the plane plummeted to the ground?”

She couldn’t believe her ears. She stared at me in shock, flames appearing behind her eyes. “Of course I’d do my best to bring it home. If it could be done, I’d find a way to do it. I most certainly would not fall apart - nothing would make me do that. And really, I can’t believe you just said that to me.”

She seemed to grow a couple of inches with indignation. I was a few inches taller than her, but right now it didn’t seem that way. “Then don’t let your worry about my stupid meeting sidetrack your from what you need to do. Marina, I think you’re one of the most capable people I’ve ever met. I doubt that there are many things you couldn’t do if you set your mind to it.

“And I know you can and will get that license on Tuesday. We’ll need you to have it in the future and we’ll also need you to have a clear head that doesn’t get sidetracked when a distraction pops up. My meeting is going to be fine. Trust me to take care of it and I’ll trust you with the lives of all our members as you fly them around. I want you to take and pass that test on Tuesday and I want to celebrate your accomplishment sometime soon.”

Now I moved slightly closer. My face was almost touching hers and I could smell the freshness of the shower she’d taken that morning on her hair. “And that’s not all I want you to do. I want you to talk to the other members and tell them how confident you are that the meeting will go well. I want you to help me stave off any jitters that our brothers and sisters may have. I want you to help them feel the confidence that I feel - and that you feel too. I want you to help me do what I need to do, because, like you, nothing will keep me from doing it. I know it’s a lot to ask, but will you help me with that? I really need you to help me hold the team together on this. Worry and bickering won’t do any of us any good.”

She had been shocked at my suggestion that she might not be able to handle a crisis, but she saw now that I was just making a point. She smiled at me and said, “Okay Roger, I understand now. You’ll do what you must and so will I. I’m sorry about what I said. I’ll talk to everyone today and then I’ll be in the air bright and early tomorrow. When I land though, I’d better darn well have a message from you about what happened. Will you promise me that?”

I told her I’d make sure she got that message. She wasn’t done. “Jane told us that when she met you, you were kind of a goof off. She said it took a lot of work for her to break you of that habit. But how did you get so wise and sure of yourself? You always seem to know the right thing to do and I think all of us would follow you anywhere. I know I would. And I know Bess would too.”

This was an opening to discuss Bess and Marina and me. I thought about running, but didn’t have to as Jane interrupted us and said, “It’s Matt. He’s on the phone for you. He’s very upset.”

I took her phone instantly. “Hello, Matt? It’s Roger.”

“Roger, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Chuck is in his private office now getting ready for his big service. He’ll probably call me soon and expect me to go with him. I work for him now and live here in one of his church apartments - but not for long. I just wanted to tell Jane that I always loved her and I wanted to apologize again to Bess, and I wanted to tell Allen that he was the best, and I want you to know that I’m so sorry and that I understand how I let everyone down. I deserve what I’m going to get. God, I screwed up. I lost my wife that I loved and all my friends. Roger, don’t come to see him. He’ll mess with your brain and I’m not worth it. It’s too late for me anyway.”

It sounded like he had called to say goodbye. My heart broke with concern for him. Jane looked like she was going to cry, but she took my hand to give me strength. I needed it from her as I felt my own emotions threaten to spin out of control.

Marina took my other hand and squeezed it so hard it hurt. She knew something was up even if she didn’t know what it was - seeing the look on Jane’s face was enough to let her know something important was happening. Hadn’t I just told her to suck it up and get on with what was important? She reminded me of that.

“Matt. Listen to me, Matt. I’m going to be there tomorrow at 8 a.m. to meet Pastor Chuck. When I leave, I want you to go with me. Be ready. You got it, my friend? You are my friend, and you are Jane’s friend and Allen’s and Bess’s and you have friends here you’ve never even met. They are here for you now, waiting and hoping to see you tomorrow. Nothing in the past matters. Just decide you want us, and we will be there for you.”

I realized that my speech was kind of disjointed, but it was from the heart. I felt the need to add one more thing. “I know you’ve been through a lot, Matt. But hang in there buddy, because it is certainly not too late for you.”

Matt seemed to get control of himself. “I’ll wait for you. I guess I can wait that long. But please be careful.”

“Matt, just be ready tomorrow morning. I’m coming. I’m coming for you.”

Chapter Twenty

Matt must have once again warned Jane that I should not come to see Pastor Chuck. He’d said that to me, so he probably had said it to her as well. For the rest of the day, she kept looking at me in a funny way - she sometimes seemed slightly sad and a bit worried, while at other times, she was her old self. Every few minutes, she’d walk over to where I was and do something nice - bring me a cup of coffee or touch my hand, or get real close and whisper something into my ear. She spent time with Jed; just not all of her time.

I checked my watch. The service should just be starting. Depending on how long it took, Edie and Tom wouldn’t likely return for two or three hours. People wandered back to their apartments or met in small groups. I was tired from whatever I’d done last night, so I went to take a nap.

I think I fell asleep almost instantly and only awoke when someone started shaking me. I opened one eye and saw Jane standing beside my bed. I wondered how much it would cost to have my locks changed.

“Get up lazy bones,” she said. “Tom and Edie just called and they’ll be back in a few minutes. They say they learned a few things.” I yawned and sat up on the side of the bed. There was a brand new bottle of scotch on my nightstand. I struggled to get my brain in gear so I could understand why it was there.

She saw my look and said, “Bess brought it over for you. Apparently she had a quite the time last night and wants to make sure you’re all stocked up for an encore.”

Now I had Jane and Bess coming into my apartment and doing lord knows what while I was asleep. I had a momentary vision of them all standing over me as I lay there on the bed. In my vision, they looked unhappy.

“Ok, it’s time for my afternoon egg hunt. This time let me connect to you and then you do that shifting thing so you can see inside me. Maybe I can see how you do it then.” She was still fixated on learning how to do this.

I felt her connect to me. She felt strong, but I could still feel her worry about my meeting tomorrow. She could easily have hidden that from me, but we tended to share a lot with each other when we connected.

She sat down beside me. “Give me your hand,” she said. I did and she placed it on her stomach. I doubted that would help, but she felt warm and it couldn't hurt. “Okay now, do your magic.” It was a little strange to look inside her when she had started the connection, but it wasn’t a problem. We both looked and there was no egg. She broke the connection. “Do it again,” she said. “But this time, do it slower. Maybe I’ll figure it out.” I did as she said, but when we were done she still couldn’t look inside people.

She rose and gave me a look that implied her lack of ability and probably her lack of an egg was somehow my fault. “Why can’t I learn to do that? Dammit. Everybody and her cat is doing it and I’m the only one who can’t.” That wasn’t true since, as far as any of us knew, Shannon, Bess and myself were the only ones with this ability - but she needed to blow off some steam. “I guarantee I am going to keep trying even if I have to . . .” She stopped talking in mid sentence. Her eyes lost focus as she looked into the distance. I knew something was up. It only took a few seconds. “I just had an idea. We’ll get Shannon to look inside Bess or the other way around. It probably doesn’t matter. Then you connect to me and we’ll both look inside Shannon and Bess while they are looking inside each other. Hopefully we’ll find out what part of them allows them to have this ability. Then you can look in me and build up whatever muscle or thing it is that lets them do it but not me. What do you think? It might work, right?”

Actually, it was pretty creative and I told her so. I also told her the odds of it working were likely remote, but if Shannon and Bess were willing to give it a try, then I would too.

She seemed satisfied with that and we left together and went upstairs to see what Tom and Edie had to say.

We were the last ones to arrive and when we walked in everyone stopped and looked. They thought we might be Edie and Tom. I didn’t realize that I’d been holding Jane’s hand until we were inside. Everyone smiled at us except Jed, but Jane went over to him and sat on his lap and put her arms around him. I think that made it okay.

She had barely settled down when Tom and Edie did arrive. We were all happy to see that they were none the worse for wear.

Bess ran to greet them. “Oh please tell us what happened. Did you see Pastor Chuckles? Was Matt there? Could you feel him doing things to people?” Bess seemed to be in kind of a down mood, so she only asked three questions this time. She hadn’t said a word to me all day. She had brought me a gift of scotch though, so I couldn’t be in that big a dog house, could I?

We all gathered around as Edie and Tom sat on the piano bench. The piano was on a platform so the bench was raised a few inches above the rest of us as we sat and listened to them.

Tom began, “Well, it didn’t start in a promising way. When we arrived, they had some greeters that asked if we’d ever been there before. We didn’t know the right answer, so we told them the truth. The great majority of people had been there before and went to the main entrance, but we were directed toward a door with just a few others. Inside, we saw that it was Pastor Chuck himself who was greeting all the new attendees.

“By then it was too late. We couldn’t turn around and leave. He was shaking everyone’s hand and somehow I felt sure that he was connecting to them in a very gentle way when he took their hand. I was totally befuddled and thought sure he’d notice that we were somehow ‘different.’ When it was our turn, Edie came to the rescue. She opened her purse and was looking through it when we walked up to Pastor Cleimer. I think I can remember exactly what she said. It was classic.

‘Oh excuse me. I recognize you. You’re the preacher, right? Give me a second, I promised the kids that I would show you their pictures. They’ve seen you on TV and they want an autograph. My name’s Bertha and this is Tom. We’ve got six kids. He keeps making them and I keep carrying them. Let’s see, where is that blasted picture album? The kids are Tammy, and Trey and little Tom and Tony and Tabatha and Trisha. I think that’s all of them. Did I miss any Tom Tom? That’s what I call him.’

“By then the line had backed up quite a bit behind us and Pastor Chuck was happy to have one of his assistants move us off without having to shake hands.”

I could just see Edie doing that. She was a quick thinker, for sure.

“So, when we got into the chapel, the usher sat us near the front with all the other newcomers. I guess they planned on paying some special attention to us, but no one said a word when we rose to leave after it was all over. I think they heard about Edie.”

“As far as the service, it was good, but nothing stood out. The theology was sound, the message was about giving. Pastor Chuck has a good voice and is good at working the crowd. He came down during hymns and walked down the aisles making eye contact with people. He left us alone.

“When they had the offering, things got a little stranger. I could feel him connecting to a few people. Again, it was gentle, but it was there. Somehow I had the impression he was encouraging them to give more. I don’t know for sure how he did it, but the plates were pretty full.

“Afterwards, there was a period of fellowship and we saw him touching quite a few people. He was again doing the gentle connection. It didn’t alarm them and I’m sure they really didn’t even notice, but he was sending them feelings of belonging. I think most of those people will come back and help keep those offering plates filled.”

Edie now spoke up, “He could be setting himself up to recruit people by the hundreds. He gets them used to connecting just a little bit at a time, and then they’re susceptible when he wants to really reel them in.”

That was an unsettling thought. Here we were struggling to add one or two people in a sensible way and he was getting ready to be able to add them by the dozens or hundreds.

Evan spoke up. “I’m concerned about this part where he gets people to give more of an offering. Do you think he’s got some connecting ability that allows him to push people into doing his bidding? We don’t have that ability, but it would be scary for him to have it - especially if he was good at it.”

Tom seemed to have thought this through. “No Evan, I don’t think he’s got any ability beyond what we have. I think it’s what he shares with them. If you connect to me and you are hungry and scared, you might let me feel the fear, but not the hunger. What we share when connected is pretty much up to us. So what if he connects to someone and shares feelings of warmth and belonging with them. Then suppose he adds a slight feeling of worry about money. Many people might give more to someone when they can feel both their love and their need. I think that’s what he’s doing. It’s a neat trick, but I would guess it’s pretty limited. I don’t think he could make people do things they wouldn’t be predisposed to do anyway.

“I did also detect one other thing. It might be small, but I don’t know. I thought that I felt him share feelings of disapproval with one of the ushers who accidently bumped into him. This seemed like a much stronger connection. We discussed this and both Edie and I agree that he turned up the amplitude of this connection pretty significantly. Sharing these negative feelings is not something we have done with each other. What if I shared anger, or jealousy or hatred when we connected? Or even lust? What effect would that have on someone who wasn’t used to connecting? I saw that usher’s face and he was not very happy after that incident and Pastor Chuck didn’t say a word to him.”

It was a good report and gave us several items to consider. For me, it confirmed that I didn’t really have to worry about my meeting with Chuck - at least I didn’t have to be concerned with him connecting to me. Nothing I had heard led me to believe he could connect to me without my consent.

Some of the others expressed some unease about Chuck being able to connect to so many. It did seem like he did this a lot, but as far as we could tell, he did it mostly to get money. I suspected that I’d learn more about what he was really up to when I talked to Matt - and maybe even when I talked to Pastor Chuck.

Everyone thanked Tom and Edie for what they had done. Afterwards, Jane and I pulled them aside and asked them how they felt about the parts of the Revelation they’d seen so far. Edie spoke first. “The thing that amazes me is that it makes sense. Now we know why we haven’t heard from other planets, it’s because there’s no life there. And this whole thing that life was seeded here on Earth with the intent of creating humans - well that’s pretty mind blowing. I really want to know the ‘why’ behind it all. Why did BP bring life here? What was the purpose?”

Now it was Tom’s turn. “As a priest, the entire theology of the church is meant to answer just these questions. I really don’t think that the church would have too many issues with the Revelation as we’ve seen it so far. If it were found to be true, I’d guess the church would try to incorporate those truths into its own belief system. Still, Edie is right - the real key is the reason. Though some may disagree as to how it happened, everyone agrees Man exists - the question is why.”

Edie looked Jane directly in the eye. “When are you going to tell us the rest of it? We’ve talked about it and we read that first part. I think we’re ready.” Edie could be intense, but Jane didn’t bat an eye.

“Roger, I think now’s as good a time as any. Are you okay with telling them the rest of it now?”

I started to tell her to go ahead when I had an idea. “Now sounds fine with me, but Edie and Tom are the first new members who never experienced what happened when you and I went to do that audit. I think it would be a good idea for Jed to explain the rest of the Revelation to them - and also to share a bit about his personal experience.”

Jane smiled and I knew she was happy with my idea. She called Jed over and told him what was going on. He seemed startled to be thrust into the limelight, but he gathered himself quickly, gave Jane a long look, and started to explain the rest of the Revelation. Everyone else quickly realized what was going on, so they all moved to within earshot so they could hear what Jed had to say.

He did a great job. His Texas accent was almost non-existent as he described what had happened to him on the hangar floor that day. He told how he woke up to see the paramedics hovering all around him, how he felt something he’d never experienced before; he felt an almost physical connection to another human being. Actually there were two of them - Jane and me.

“I knew that connection had something to do with the fact that I was still alive. I didn’t know what it really was until Jane and Roger explained it, but I knew what I felt. That feeling of being connected was strong then and it’s strong now - not a day goes by that I don’t feel it and thank God for that feeling.”

He went over and put his hand on the shoulder of first Father Tom and then Edie. I was sure he connected to them. They both smiled and Tom said, “Thank you” to him. He was happy that Jed had shared his story.

After only a few seconds, he walked back to where he’d been and started to explain the rest of the Revelation to them. He had no notes, but his memory was flawless. He covered every point, one after another, in order and in detail. He explained the arguments BP had made in favor of each item. Everyone smiled when he offered the parable of the goats.

While Jed spoke, not a person moved or said anything. He was a good speaker. I hadn’t realized that before. In a bit less than an hour, he summarized in detail what I had agonized over for weeks. Edie and Tom were lucky to receive the Revelation from him. I saw Bess, over in the corner holding up her phone. It occurred to me that she was doing a video recording of what Jed was saying. Once again, I marveled at the people who chose to join the Connection.

Jed spent the last ten minutes or so describing what had happened that night on the mountain. He told Edie and Tom about how there was a link between our non-life universe and BP’s. He described our trip to see our new home and told them how wonderful it was there. He explained the peril all life was in and the reason for it.

I looked around and each and every one of my brothers and sisters were staring into space, remembering the beauty and peacefulness of the place where BP would take us when our time was done on Earth. I wondered fleetingly if BP would arrange for new members like Edie and Tom to experience the new home they way we had. It would be a shame if he didn’t - I knew none of us would ever forget that place - and I knew that all of us longed for it.

Too soon it seemed, Jed was done. Tom and Edie now knew everything we did about the Revelation and about the purpose of life in this universe.

There were a few seconds of silence when we all looked at Edie and Tom to see their reaction. Tom spoke, “And we’ve got seven years to build this craft or whatever it is, and get three hundred forty members?”

Jed told him that was correct. Tom seemed deep in thought and said something that was hard to hear. It sounded like, “Those are interesting numbers.”

Edie was a bit more direct. “Do you really think it’s possible for us to do this? I haven’t had time to really digest it all yet, but it seems like a lot to ask. Getting the new members will be hard and building some type of craft and sending it into space is likely illegal.” She stopped and looked like she had an idea. “Maybe that’s why I’m here. Maybe you’ll need a lawyer to shield you.” She stopped again to consider another point, “And this combining thing - I want to see this in action for myself.”

Edie was probably the most grounded, down to Earth and realistic person I’d ever met. She saw immediately that what we had in front of us was hard - and perhaps impossible. I struggled to answer her concerns.

But I didn’t have to. Bess spoke up with pure passion in her voice and answered Edie’s question, “Of course we can do it, my sister! With Jane and Roger leading us, there’s nothing we can’t do. We’ll get those three hundred forty if I have to find each and every one of them myself and we’ll build that space ship or whatever it is and we’ll save this universe and BP’s too. We’ve just gotta have faith in each other and stand strong together and . . .”

Bess realized she had taken center stage and she stopped in mid sentence. She looked at Jane and then at me. Her expression was one of surprise at herself for what she’d done. I started to tell her that everything was fine.

I didn’t get the chance because Jed immediately spoke directly to her. “I couldn’t have answered any better than my sister, Bess. We can do this. I think we all know we can. There might be trials ahead of us, maybe even very difficult ones. But I have faith that we’ll do what must be done. It’s why we are here, after all.”

Tom whispered something to Edie, so when she spoke it seemed to be for both of them. “Okay, I know that Tom and I would like to thank Jed for telling us the rest of the Revelation. We’ll do our best to be good members of this team and we’ll contribute what we can to help it achieve its goals. There’s certainly enough spunk here to make it happen.” She looked at Bess and smiled.

It was mid afternoon and a nice day, so everyone broke up and left. Jane came over to me and whispered in my ear, “I tried Tanith, but no answer. I’ll try again later.” She walked away and I watched her go. Those skinny jeans really did look good on her. Tall and slim was a good combination. She left arm in arm with Jed.

I spent the rest of the day mostly by myself, which lately had been a rare pleasure. Every few minutes I thought about my meeting with Pastor Chuck in the morning and every time I told myself how confident I was. I was confident, but for some reason the meeting kept popping into my mind. I had dinner alone in my place and looked at my phone to see if Bess had called or sent a note. Nothing. I really had a good time with her last night, but she’d been cool to me today. I started to feel guilty; though I was pretty sure I hadn’t done anything to feel guilty for.

I didn’t like that feeling so I decided to do something about it. I punched the button on my phone to call her. As it rang, I realized the time and thought that she might be out on a date or something. I felt a tinge of jealousy, but it passed as she answered. “Hi Rog, what’s up?”

“Can I come over and see you? I think you’re mad at me and I don’t know why.”

She paused for several seconds. “I’m not mad at you, just a little sad. Come on over if you want. But I warn you, I’m not really in a giggling mood.”

What did that mean? I went to her place to find out. She was waiting at the door for me. She was wearing a big bath robe, tied at the waist. I could see her bare feet and pajama bottoms below the hem of the robe, but it covered up the rest of her almost completely. “Sit down.” she said.

I sat on the couch and she walked over and sat on an easy chair directly across from me. Last night we had sat side by side on my couch.

I wanted to get this over with. “Okay, Bess. What did I do last night? I know I had a good time and it was very late when you left. Did I do something that I shouldn’t have done?”

She smiled at me now. I think she was glad I was taking her mood seriously. “It’s really nothing. It just made me kind of sad, that’s all. I’m a woman and sometimes I get that way. We can be pretty emotional at times, you know.”

That wasn’t much of an answer. “So, what did I do?”

She looked down at her toes. “We had a great time. You told me some things about yourself that I didn’t know and I did the same for you. We sat on the couch and drank scotch and held hands and you kissed me once in a while and I kissed you back. It was so nice and I remember giggling a lot.

“And then you fell asleep. It was almost 3:30 so you were tired. I was tired too, but I took your arm and got you to stand up and get into bed. I tucked you in and as I looked at you I felt real warm and happy inside.

“As I was leaving, I bent over and gave you a goodnight kiss. You opened your eyes and smiled and pulled me close. I loved that kiss. It was so gentle and full of love. I didn't want it to stop. If I kiss a hundred boys, I’ll never forget that one.

“But when I pulled away to catch my breath, you smiled and said one word, ‘Jane.’ You were kissing me but dreaming of her. That’s why I’m a little sad. I’m a little sad for me and I’m a little sad for you and I’m a little sad for Jane too.”

Now there was a look of pain on her face. I hadn’t seen that look before and didn’t want to see it again. “Roger, if you love her so much, why don’t you do something about it? I know she loves you too. It’s obvious. You can lift your eyebrow and she’ll know exactly what you are telling her. I’ve seen her just glance at you and then you get up and do exactly what she suggested with that glance. How can two people be that close? You’ll never be that close to me or Marina even if you married one of us and we had forty anniversaries. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but she’s going to marry Jed and soon. They even have a license. Then it’ll be too late for you and for her.

“So that’s why I’m sad. I’m sad because I want you and her to be together the way you belong. And I’m sad because I wish I was her.”

This was about as deeply personal and deeply honest as anyone could be. I felt a surge of appreciation that she trusted me enough to share this.

I wanted to pull her close and hug her, but she was outside of hugging distance. “Bess, I’m going to tell you something that only Jane and I know. I don’t want you to gossip it to anyone else. Okay?”

She got up and walked over to the couch. She sat beside me and took my hand. “I promise,” she said in a whisper.

“A few weeks ago, Jane asked me a question. It was very important to her. The question was, ‘If I asked you to, would you marry me?’ Now, I’m not really looking to get married as you know, but it was Jane asking and there’s almost nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I told her ‘yes, I would.’ She didn’t really want me to marry her; she just wanted to know what I would say if she asked. It was a little test of sorts. I guess I passed.

“But I never asked her the other side of that question because I already knew the answer. The other side would be from me to her, ‘Jane, would you marry me if I asked you to?’ I didn’t ask that because I knew she would say ‘no.’

“Bess, I don’t know why it is, but I do know that she and I will never get married. I’m not sure I truly know why, and maybe she doesn’t either. I love her and I always will, but somehow, we’ll never be together that way. It’s complicated and crazy, I know. But that’s just the way it is.”

Bess looked and me with her big eyes full of empathy. They were moist. She knew something about wanting someone she couldn't have. “But Roger, aren’t you sad about it? Maybe like you say, it’s not meant to be, but doesn’t that just break your heart?”

I answered her as honestly as I could and it did hurt a little bit. “Sometimes, Bess. Sometimes it does.”

Chapter Twenty One

So now I was feeling sad too. I went back to my apartment and within ten seconds got a text from Jane. “Where are you? I was just by and you weren’t in. It’s time for my exam. Call me right away.”

Oh good lord. I didn’t bother to call; I just went to her place and knocked. I didn’t have a key. She opened the door and stood there. I connected and we both saw no change. I told her “Good night,” and she replied, “Maybe tomorrow.”

I went back and crawled into bed. I was really tired now. I wanted to put Pastor Chuck and Bess and Jane out of my mind and just sleep. I had almost dropped off when my phone rang. It was Jane. Hadn’t I just talked to that girl five minutes ago?

I answered with “Hello,” but as soon as she heard me she broke in. “You don’t think we could have missed it for this month do you? We were only looking a couple of times a day and it really takes three to be sure. God Roger, I don’t want to wait. I’m so ready. I can’t stop thinking about it and now you’ve got that stupid meeting in the morning and you might be in danger of some kind. I know, you think you’re too strong, but you don’t really know do you? Are you sure we can’t have a few of us go with you?”

So she didn’t really have anything to talk about. She knew nagging me about sending other members wouldn’t work. She wasn’t dead tired so a chat seemed like a good idea to her. I told her I needed my beauty sleep and she did too. I heard her say, “You can just,” and then I hung up. I’m sure I was asleep in no time.

A few hours later, she called me again and woke me up. That was fine since I had to leave early because of my meeting with Pastor Chuck. “Ready for my exam?” she said. I told her to come on over and she arrived dressed and looking fresh. She was wearing a skirt today that was a little longer than I like, but it did look good on her. She had on a sweater since it was late summer and this morning promised to be cool. She was barefoot. She stood at the door and didn’t bother to come in. We looked and again, there was no progress. She put her hands on her hips. “Are you sure you’re looking in the right place? Maybe you’re not really looking in me at all. You’re new at this and you might make all kinds of mistakes.”

I didn’t have time for this. “Jane, you’re seeing the same thing I am. It’s just not time yet. I’m sure it’ll happen soon. Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you when I leave Chuck’s. Don’t let me forget to send Marina a message too. I promised that I would.”

She walked back to her place and disappeared inside. I was relieved. I thought that she might again ask to go with me, but it looked like I’d convinced her I was in no danger.

I went back inside and made my final preparations before leaving. I had on a black shirt and black jeans. I thought they made me look a little more foreboding. I had a mental flash of me and Pastor Chuck playing some kind of game. My outfit gave me one point over him.

Juliet had arranged for a car to take me to the meeting. She suggested I leave around 6:30 so that I would be there on time for my 8 a.m. meeting even if traffic was awful. I thought about that and decided that I’d be fashionably late. I told her I’d leave at 7:15. I liked the idea of getting Chuck to roll out of bed early and then have me be late. That was worth three points at least.

Just as I was leaving I got a text from Marina. “Getting ready 4 preflight. Thinking of U. Pls remember to send me message after UR meeting. LUV U, Marina.”

Her picture was on my phone in her work clothes. I really, really liked that picture. I sent, “LUVU2.” I had a fleeting thought about her flying Jane and felt good knowing that Jane wouldn’t have a fear of flying when she was at the controls. I wondered when I’d get a chance to fly with her.

I started to walk downstairs. I was a little surprised to have heard nothing from anyone except Jane and Marina this morning. The way the whole team had acted the other day when they learned about this meeting and Matt’s warning, you’d think they were really worried. I had expected some well wishers to see me off, but no one had come by my place except Jane.

I opened the door from the stairwell to the lobby when I was swamped.

It seemed that everyone was there and they were all talking at once. I was being patted on the back and hugged and kissed for good luck. I’m pretty sure I turned flame red. I heard, “Good luck, Roger!” and “Call us the instant it’s over” and “Don’t take any crap from him, Little Buddy.”

Edie took my arm and led me out to the sidewalk. “You be careful now.” She closed the door to the building. I was alone on the sidewalk.

I felt an urge to open the door and go back in with them, but instead I did what I had to do. I turned around and went to the waiting car. It was a big black SUV. The driver was standing at the door to open it for me. I’d never seen him before.

He said, “Good morning, sir,” and then opened the door. I was about to greet him back when I saw a pair of high heels on the floor in the back seat. They had ankle straps and those ankles connected to legs that led to a skirt. Jane was sitting in the car. I struggled to find something to say.

But she didn’t. “Now Roger, get in and don’t make a scene. The last time I checked, I was an executive in our little organization and executives get to make decisions. So I made one and I didn’t disobey your direct order. I decided that since you have an hour in this car, we could spend that time productively. I’ve got some agenda items we can discuss on the way to your meeting. I’m not going to leave the car when we get there; I’m just going to be with you before and after. You never said I couldn’t do that.”

She was right on that point, of course. I had just said no one could attend the meeting. I was sure all my friends had known what she was up to. I wondered which one came up with the idea. Probably Edie.

I was still standing there staring at her when she said, “What are you going to do? Grab my ankles and drag me out onto the sidewalk? You’re going to have to put up with me, so get in, you big baby.”

She was right about that - what could I do? I slid in beside her and the driver closed the door. We were in a private compartment. There was now privacy glass between us and the driver. He made an announcement, “Just push the red button if you want to talk to me. The trip will take slightly less than an hour if we’re lucky with traffic.”

I looked a question at Jane. She knew what I was asking. “I told Juliet about that last driver checking out me and the others’ in his mirror. This is better, don’t you think?”

Was there anything this girl wouldn’t do to get her way? “I think I maybe should have grabbed your ankles. I think you found a loophole in what I wanted to happen. I think you got everyone else to be part of your little plan.

“And I think I’m glad you’re here.” I smiled at her. She smiled back with one eye. Her hair was over her left eye again. I ran my fingers through it and pushed it back.

“I know,” she said. “I look like a sheepdog. I’ll find the time to get it cut this week.”

“Don’t do it on my account. I must be part sheepdog because I kind of like it.”

“Well, you are weird. Anyway, let’s get to work. I want to get this Tanith Watson thing nailed down. I got a voicemail from her last night and she said she’d be available for a call after 7 a.m. today since she had to have some clients at the airport by then. We can call her now.

“But first, I talked to Jed and Edie and Tom and they think they should go down to Little Rock and meet with their friends that Shannon cured. They’re still at the group home, but they’re anxious to get back to their lives and you can’t blame them for that. Our group wants to have a couple of days with them to tell them about ourselves and see if they want to join. We don’t know exactly what to tell them about the Revelation. Maybe they’ll just tell them that we have received a gift that allowed us to help them and we’d like them to join us so they can help others. Our people will teach them about connecting and then send them back to their own lives with the knowledge that we will call on them again in the future to help others the way they’ve been helped.

“When we have a website to organize things, we can perhaps have local meetings and keep in close touch with them - if they’re willing. We can have Tanith set up the meeting there and get her on the payroll for that.”

The only reason that I thought this might work was that Tom and Edie had maintained close contact with those six people who had been cured and had remained behind. Being cured of their addiction had seemed like a miracle to them, and so they were willing to listen to just about anything that Tom and Edie told them. So far, they all wanted to learn more about us and how we were able to do what we did.

“Okay, that sounds good. We may actually be on the way to having several new members. You know, I don’t even know their names. Another question - after Tanith makes our meeting arrangements down there, then what?”

Jane had thought of this. “I think we get her to help us full time. When I connected to her I sensed something - she’s a capable girl. I think she could be a valuable member of the core team. What do you think about inviting her to come up here when our group returns? She can attend that little party you’ve announced, but haven’t done anything about.”

Ouch, that did sting. I guess I just assumed Juliet would get things ready. Jane just let me know I was taking her for granted.

“Okay, I get it with the party. Thanks for bringing it up. I’ll talk to Juliet and apologize to her. She’s done so many things, I was starting to think they just happened with no effort - but I know she’s very careful and meticulous and I’ve not let her know how much I appreciate it. Thanks Jane. Without you, I’d have half of the team mad at me and the other half wondering why I was such an inept leader.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. It’s my job to look out for you. You’re a man after all, and most of you are pretty awful at being thoughtful. I’ve worked hard on you and you’re better at it than most, but we women still have to look out for you.”

I took that as a compliment. “Okay, let’s call Tanith Watson.”

Jane slid closer to me so we could more easily share the phone. It only rang once when a girl answered. She didn’t answer with Ahoy Hoy or even Hello. Instead, she started right in with, “What’s your address?”

Jane isn’t often confused, but she was then. “My address? Why do you need that? This is Jane Mitchell; you drove us last week in Little Rock. You wanted a job.”

Tanith either didn’t hear what Jane had said or didn’t care. “I know who you are. You’re the chick who hid almost five hundred dollars in my jacket pocket. I was so . . . I must have been amazed or hypnotized or something so that I didn’t notice. But when I got home my grandmother found all that money in my jacket pocket. There’s been some guy in the news here leaving waitresses tips of two or three hundred dollars and she thought I’d run into him and he’d tipped me that money. I couldn’t tell her the truth. Listen here, Jane Mitchell, my grandmother cried when she found that money. She thanked God for it. She’ll use it for the next month or two and things will be better for her. I won’t break her heart by telling her the truth, so I can’t send it back right now.

“But I will send it back if it takes me the rest of my life. I won’t take charity from some skinny rich girl, flying around in her own plane, trying to make herself feel good by tossing a few crumbs to the help. In fact, I won’t take charity from anyone. So what’s the address? I’m ready to write it down - some of us poor folk can even write, you know?”

Whoa. I would have been apologizing and telling her how sorry I was and how I didn’t mean to offend her. Jane wasn’t having any of that. Her voice would have frozen ice. “Who said anything about charity, Miss Tanith Watson? If I remember correctly, and I’m pretty sure I do, you asked for a job. I told you I’d be back in touch with you. Didn’t you believe me? So I call you with a job and all I get is lip? That money isn’t charity; it’s an advance on your pay. If you don’t want the job, you can keep it or return it, I don’t care. But if you want to earn it and more besides, then lose the attitude and tell me you’re interested. And, oh yes, I know you can write - the card you gave me so I could get in touch with you has your very nice handwriting on it.”

Wow. I liked her approach a lot better than mine. I wondered if it wouldn’t be better for her to go see Pastor Chuck while I waited in the car.

There was silence for more than a few seconds. Tanith must have thought about what she’d just run into and decided that Jane meant what she said. “I’m interested. What’s the job? It better not have anything do with dating - I get those kinds of job requests all the time.”

Jane smiled at that and I could tell she liked Tanith’s spunk. “No, it’s not that. We need to arrange a meeting in Little Rock starting Wednesday. There will be eleven attendees. It will be for two days. Choose a hotel in the suburbs. Make it a chain hotel, but not a low end chain. We’ll need eleven rooms for Wednesday. You’ll need to arrange local transport for them to the hotel and then to the airport or other local spots after the meetings are over about one p.m. on Thursday. Find a hotel with a suite big enough to hold a meeting with eleven people. I don’t want a normal sterile meeting room and we don’t need a big, fancy suite with a hot tub - just a big enough and nice place with enough seating The hotel will provides lunch and refreshments. We don’t need any kind of AVsetup.”

Jane looked at me. I knew she wanted to know if she’d covered everything. I nodded to tell her that I thought that was it.

Tanith was again silent. That was a lot to write down and Jane hadn’t slowed up a bit. She asked, “How much does it pay?”

Jane had been prepared for this. “Twenty five hundred, less the five hundred you already received.” I was sure she adlibbed that last part.

“Well, Ms. Mitchell, I don’t think I can provide all that for twenty five hundred. The hotel rooms by themselves would be a big part of that. Add in the suite and meals and transportation and it’ll be more than that for sure. You’ll have to pay more. What do you think I am, some dumb southern girl?”

Jane smiled into the phone. “I’ll call you Tanith if you’ll call me Jane. No, Tanith, we pay all expenses. The twenty five hundred is your fee. And if this goes well, we might have more such jobs or perhaps you could join us full time. And just to let you know, I’m a southern girl too.” She used her southern accent. It was a hundred percent authentic.

Tanith said, “You’re going to pay me twenty five hundred dollars for a few days work? Heck yeah, I’ll do that, but if I find out there’s some dating involved or you want me to fly to China or meet some rich Arab, then you’d better darn well find another girl. I will not be involved in any of that kind of monkey business.” She stopped, but not for long. “If you’re going to have these meetings on Wednesday, I need to get started. How are you going to pay for all this?”

Jane looked uncertain, but she answered like she was totally in charge. “I’ll have our finance person call you later today and she’ll arrange to pay for everything. Don’t worry, it’ll be easy.”

Tanith replied, “Okay, Jane. Either you are the best thing that ever happened to me or you’re playing some game that I’ll soon find out about. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt since I could have kept that five hundred. I told you I’d love to be a part of something like you seemed to have going on, so I’m with you for now. I pray you don’t try to mess with me.”

Jane told her we’d be in touch later in the day and hung up. She turned to me and gave me a look that meant she wanted my opinion. “You did great with her,” I said. “I think she’ll be a valuable member if she joins.”

Just about then, the driver came on the speaker and said, “We’ve made pretty good time. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.” I looked at my phone. That would put us there at 8:10. Good. I’d be just late enough.

Jane had been smiling from her talk with Tanith, but it quickly turned into a frown when she realized we were so close. She took my hand and squeezed it and said, “I wish you didn’t have to go.” She put her head on my shoulder and didn’t speak or move for the rest of the trip. I don’t know what she was thinking about, but her hair smelled like flowers.

It didn’t seem like ten minutes before we stopped. Time seemed to have speeded up. I looked outside and we were in front of a large church building. We were there.

I looked at her and she seemed scared. Her hair was covering her left eye again so I ran my fingers through it and moved it out of the way. I was surprised to see a streak of black from the corner of her eye. Her mascara had run. I was going to give her a hug, but instead I kissed her at the corner of her eye and used my thumb to remove some of the black. She knew what I was doing. “How bad is it?” she said. I told her it wasn’t bad at all. There was no reason to lie to her. “I feel like such a girl.” It was said with real pain. “Guys don’t cry when they are worried.”

I gave her that hug I’d planned on and moved closer so that my lips touched her hair as I spoke almost directly into her ear, “Yes, they sometimes do, Jane. We just don’t have mascara as evidence.”

I opened the door and got out. The driver was waiting for me outside. He shut the door and the last thing I saw was Jane, sitting in the middle of the seat, purposely not looking at me.

Chapter Twenty Two

The driver closed the door to the car and then started to lead me to the entrance. I didn’t really need him to do that, but I guessed it was protocol. Before I took two steps, I had an idea. All along I had planned on going into the building and only then decide when to ask to see Matt. Depending on what I found there, it might be before or after my meeting. But with Jane here, I realized I didn’t have to do it that way. I was standing on the sidewalk right outside the church building and I had his number.

I sent him a text. “Matt, I’m right outside on the street. Jane is here in the car. Come now and you can wait with her while I take care of my meeting with Chuck.”

I checked the time on my phone and decided I’d give him three minutes and then I’d call him. It took less than one minute to receive a reply. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. I’m ready.”

Jane saw me standing on the sidewalk and opened the door and got out. I could tell from the look on her face that she was wondering if I’d lost my nerve about going into this meeting. I held up my phone and mouthed “Matt” to her and she understood. I walked back towards her and she met me halfway. She saw the driver start to come back towards us and she told him, “Please wait near the door. We’re meeting someone before Roger goes inside.” He did as she told him, but he kept an eye on us.

Soon, Matt appeared on the sidewalk about fifty yards from us. I guessed that he had used a side exit. That was probably a very good idea - there was no need to let Pastor Chuck see him leave. He was carrying a small bag, about the size of an airline carry on. When Jane saw him, she took my hand and squeezed. Matt looked thinner. His clothes had been bought when he weighed about twenty pounds more and it showed. His hairline had receded visibly and he hadn’t bothered to secure the long hair in back into a ponytail.

But the biggest change I noticed in him was in his face. It was drawn from worry and it had lines that I’d never seen in it before. He walked slowly, as if each step hurt him. He stopped when he was three feet from us. He sat his bag down and started at it. “I don’t deserve this,” he said.

I started to tell him that we were still his friends when Jane dropped my hand and went to him. She slowly put her arms around him and pulled him to her. In her heels, she was as tall as Matt. I was surprised since she’d always been the one who seemed to be the angriest at him for what he’d done, but then again, she often surprised me.

I could hear what she said to him. “Matt, forget about the past. Those documents don’t matter to us. We’re getting ready to put most of it on the internet anyway. We just want our old friend back. We’ve really missed you.”

He looked at her and then at me. “Even Bess?”

“Yes, Bess too and also several other people who you’ve not even met. What you did is forgiven and forgotten about. I think that Pastor Chuckles is really the guy who pushed you to do it, but it doesn’t matter. Just let us help you.”

Jane dropped her arms and moved slightly away. Matt looked at me in such pain, “There’s something wrong with me. I can’t stop thinking about what I did and what Pastor Chuck did to me. He kept connecting and connecting and trying to see inside me. All I felt was shame and guilt for setting the whole thing in motion.”

I wasn’t planning on this, but all of a sudden I knew what I had to do. “Matt, connect to us - to me and Jane. You do it.”

He face lost a bit of its look of pain as a surprised look appeared. Jane hadn’t known about this either, but she quickly added, “Matt, do as Roger says. Connect to us. To me and to him. We’ll help you.”

Her voice was part plea and part command. Matt started to say, “I’ve never done that” when I felt him connect to Jane and she helped him add me to the group. I looked inside him and let Jane she what I was seeing. I didn’t let Matt see. He just felt our concern for him.

I could see very little inside Matt. It was like a thick haze of grey clouded everything. Beyond the haze, I could sense the presence of my friend, but it was weak and far away because of those clouds of grey. Suddenly, I realized that I was looking at his guilt. Matt had done wrong things, but somehow I knew that Pastor Chuck had made his guilt far, far worse. So much so that it appeared to almost engulf him. This was why Matt didn’t want to go on. His burden of guilt was so heavy it must have been almost impossible to bear. No wonder he sounded suicidal.

I knew I had to remove this haze from him. I blew most of it away with a gentle breath. It was easy for me to do. I didn’t remove it all - Matt needed to deal with the guilt that was rightfully his. That was part of being human. We’d help him with that too, but in the normal way - one friend helping another.

Jane saw what I’d done and said, “Welcome back, Matt.” We broke the connection.

He looked from her to me with a puzzled look on his face. He started to say something when his knees buckled. Jane grabbed him and held him up. The driver was watching and started to come over. I held up my hand to him to tell him to stay where he was.

Jane told him, “Matt, Matt listen to me. Let’s get in the car. Come on my friend.” I started to help, but she moved her head to tell me to let her do it alone. Matt managed the steps to the car with her help and climbed inside the opened door. Jane slid in beside him. I walked over and she was looking in her purse. There were tears running down Matt’s cheeks. She pulled out tissues. “He’ll be all right. I’ll talk to him. You go do what you have to do with Chuckles and try not to get into another one of your manliness contests with him.”

With that she turned to Matt and at the same time shut the door. I took Matt’s bag and put it beside the driver’s door so that it wouldn’t be on the sidewalk. I walked to the entrance and the driver opened the door and said, “Ms. Morgan said for you to follow the signs to the Pastor’s Office.” I thanked him and walked into a marble floored entranceway. It had a large statue of an angel made out of glass. It was quite impressive. I stopped to look at it when I felt a pressure on my shoulder. What in the world was BP doing here?

In an instant I knew. I had told Jane I wanted no one to attend the meeting with me and she schemed to ride along on the trip. Now BP had shown up and I knew for sure she’d made that happen too. I was getting aggravated with her.

I felt BP enter my head. “Hello Roger,” he said. His voice sounded almost human. “I’ve been very busy lately, but I thought I should attend this meeting with you.”

“You mean Jane Jackie Mitchell, the girl who wouldn’t take no for an answer, thought you should tag along. I told her that no one was to attend but me.”

“She warned me that you might have what she called ‘one of your stubborn spells’ when I arrived. She also said to tell you that I am not a person and, therefore, she didn’t disobey your order.”

Now she was arguing with me through BP. I had to admire her chutzpah, and that reduced my anger. “I should touch my shoulder and send you on your way, but I guess you can come along if you want. You just watch though. I don’t want you to interfere.”

“Roger, how could I interfere? You know I can not affect physical objects in this universe. I could possibly connect to him and soothe him like I did you, or maybe startle him with my most powerful voice, but that would be about it. I am impressed though with your performance with your friend and look forward to seeing how you handle this meeting.”

That sounded a bit like a compliment. BP was certainly in a good mood today.

I saw a sign for the Pastor’s Office and walked towards it. BP was also in a talkative mood - almost like old times. “I am curious about his ability to connect. I understand he learned about it from my Revelation and was able to do it because he had a natural aptitude similar to yours. If I had found him before you, I may have decided to give the Revelation to him. It is strange to think of, isn’t it? I wonder how things might be different if I had found him before I found you.”

As often as I’d wanted to be relieved of the burden of having to receive the Revelation, I was glad it was me who got it and not Pastor Chuck Cleimer.

Ahead was an ornate wooden door, at least nine feet high. A polished brass sign to the side said, “Pastor Charles Cleimer.” I opened it and entered. Inside, there was a very nicely appointed waiting area with two couches and some chairs. There was a magazine rack and today’s newspaper on a low table. A reception desk stood before another imposing wooden door. I guessed it was the inner sanctum of Pastor Chuck.

The reception desk was one of those modern, minimalist ones - it had a large glass work surface that was supported by an aluminum or steel frame. Growing out of the desk on a stalk was a flat computer monitor. Below it was a mouse and keyboard. There was also a phone, and that was it except for a nameplate which had “Amanda Perkins” on it. The desk was uncluttered. I’d never have been able to work that way.

Sitting behind the desk was a woman. As soon as she saw me she said, “You’re Mr. Seaton, right?” I told her I was. “Pastor Cleimer is running a bit late. He must have had an important early meeting or something. He called and said he’d be in shortly. In the meantime, I’m to get you coffee or whatever you need.”

I had scored points in our little game by getting him to come in early, but now he scored right back by making me wait. There was nothing I could do about it at the moment, so I sat down. “I’ll have coffee if you have some made,” I said.

“No problem at all,” she said as she disappeared behind a partition of some sort. In a moment, she came back with a little tray containing a steaming mug of coffee and cream and sugar. She put the tray on a table beside and returned to her desk.

I was actually a bit surprised that Pastor Chuck had hired this lady as his receptionist or whatever she was. I would have thought he’d have one of the long legged, short skirted types, but she was actually quite plain and was certainly well on her way to 40. She didn’t try to hide her age with her makeup or clothes either. Maybe ministers had to tone it down with the help.

I took a sip of the coffee and it was good. I decided that now would be a good time to see what I could learn. “Amanda . . . I mean Ms.Perkins, do you know Matt Shively? I understand he works for Pastor Chuck now.”

She looked at me and said nothing for at least fifteen seconds. It seemed like a long time. “Yes, I know him. I know he’s leaving with you today and that he’s quit his job here. Chuck doesn’t know that and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell him anything that I’ve said.”

Now I was both surprised and stumped. I gave BP an opportunity to suggest some course of action, but he was silent. I could only stammer, “I . . . I don’t understand.”

“I’ve known Matt ever since he started to have counseling with Pastor Chuck. He and his wife would come together. I felt very sorry for Matt, because she was cheating on him and wasn’t about to stop. I know the type.

“We kind of became friends, and when he started working here, I saw him a lot more - really I saw him several times every day. And every day he got worse - more mixed up and worried and nervous. He told me Pastor Chuck was trying something new on him and it was making him crazy. I thought his problem was his continuing effort to reconcile with his wife, but a few days ago, he broke down and told me that he’d not only failed his wife, but he’d failed his friends. He said that he stole some things from you and the others and it was eating him up with guilt. I could tell that whatever Chuck was doing wasn’t helping - it was making him worse.

“I don’t think he was sleeping and he seemed to lose weight every day. I told him I’d be glad to help him in any way I could, but he said he was beyond help.

“Yesterday, I was home when he called me to tell me goodbye. He said he knew Pastor Chuck would want him today for more counseling and he just couldn’t stand that any more. He also told me you were coming and that he didn’t deserve to have friends who would forgive him. One minute he seemed afraid of Chuck and the next he was deathly afraid of seeing you. He just wasn’t making a lot of sense.

“He told me that he was thinking of suicide - he even told me how he wanted to do it. He wanted to hang himself and just stay there until his body broke in half from rot. He said he had a dream about it, and in his dream the place was called the Field of Blood. How’s that for a pretty picture? He said it was the only thing he could do and that God would make sure he paid for his sins.

“I was so shocked. I begged him to come over to my place to talk it out. He agreed and showed up about an hour later. He was in a state of deep depression. I tried to talk to him, but he hardly seemed to hear me.

“I was thinking of what else I could do when he pulled out his phone and called you to tell you goodbye and to warn you not to come to the meeting. I don’t know what you said to him, but it helped. He told me he’d wait until he saw you this morning. He said he wanted to say he was sorry one more time. After that he was much better. I talked to him early today and I think he’s ready for you when you are ready for him. He told me he planned to leave with you.”

I was amazed at the kindness of this woman. I could tell she was desperately worried about Matt. I stood up and put my hand on hers and tried to connect to her so I could share my confidence that Matt would now be much better. It was hard to establish a connection, so I had to push a bit before it happened, “I’ve already talked to him. I think the worst is past and he’ll be okay. He’s in my car outside with another one of his friends. He’s done with Pastor Chuck. I’ll make sure he knows that you care about him - and I’m sure he’ll thank you in person at some point.”

I broke the connection and she smiled. She had no idea what had happened to her, but she knew she wasn’t worried any longer.

Chapter Twenty Three

Just then the outer door burst open like a bomb had gone off behind it. Chuck strode in, a big smile on his face and his hand extended. “Roger, it’s been a while. Has Amanda been entertaining you?”

He was wearing all white. I guess that gave him another point on me. I thought that the score was probably tied.

“Yes, she’s been a very good host in your absence.” I awarded myself a point for that dig.

He put on a smile, but I could tell it wasn’t all that sincere. “I know you are familiar with the demands of running a vibrant organization. Sometimes things just happen. I’m sorry I’m late.”

I got an apology. That was two more points for me. I regained the lead.

He led the way to his office. “Amanda, please refresh my friend’s coffee and bring me one as well, if you don’t mind.”

His office was all wood and leather, just the kind of place a semi-famous pastor and counselor would have.

He got himself settled in an oversized chair that looked like it had been made just for him. Amanda brought in his coffee and sat it on a marble coaster. He looked at some slips with messages while she sat it down and left.

Once the door was closed, he turned his complete attention to me. “I’ve got to tell you, Roger, that I’m very impressed with how you have put that group together - the Connection I think you call it. When I met you that time at your apartment, I was convinced that you were simply having fun with some friends and that you really had no chance to grow any kind of real organization - cult or otherwise.

“But I’ll admit it now. I was wrong. Getting - how many do you have now - close to a dozen people to basically give up their lives for you? Getting Evan Miller to fund you to any level you want? Studying ways of adding new members and then actually going off to do it? Having your own pilot and soon your own plane? I’ve got to say, I’m impressed almost beyond words.”

I couldn’t let this go on. “I see you know a lot about us. First, you got Matt to steal documents and now you are pumping Colonel Stout to learn about us. You can be impressed with us all you want, but I’m not too impressed with that kind of behavior.”

He looked hurt. “Roger, you don’t actually think I asked for either one of those things to happen, do you? Matt came to me suffering because of what he was reading in those documents. I tried to help him, but his descriptions of them just seemed so, well, unbelievable. I thought he was suffering from some type of psychosis and considered referring him to a psychologist. He brought those in to back up his story and I didn’t know they were stolen until much later. Even when I read them, I thought they were some type of fantasy story you were writing. It was even later before I realized that they could be a faithful telling of some real events.

“And as for the Colonel - I met him that day in Evan Miller’s office for the first time. After that, when I heard about the child, Jacob Miller, I called and spoke to him to offer my condolences. He broke down on the phone and I told him to come by if he wanted to have someone outside of Evan Miller’s circle to talk to. He did and we’ve had counseling sessions since then. I can’t disclose everything about those talks, but I can tell you that he has a belief that you somehow bear some responsibility for what happened to Jacob Miller. I don’t believe that myself, of course, but it hard for him to give it up. I’ll keep trying.”

This was news to me. “Now why would the Colonel think I had anything to do with that? That makes no sense at all.”

Chuck waited as if he were deciding what to say next. “I suppose it’s important to you and to him, so I’ll open the kimono just a bit. He had told me that when you first met, you and Jane Mitchell went to see Jacob and that you connected to him and made him much better. He was so happy that the breathing apparatus was removed. He actually hoped you’d cured the little boy.

“Well, that hope was short lived and now he’s conflicted and mixed up. But it is eating at him - especially since it appears that the child’s parents are well along in their grieving and it’s all still fresh for him. I’m doing all I can to help. I think that’s all I should say - confidentiality, you know.”

If nothing else, this trip was worthwhile just to find out that Colonel Stout was anguished about Jacob’s death and that he was unhappy with me. I thought momentarily about getting him alone with me and Juliet and Evan so that I could tell him how much we all wanted to save Jacob. I thought that it would be good for Evan and Juliet to explain to him again how they truly believed that they would one day again be with Jacob.

That was, however, something I’d do later. For now, I wanted to put Chuck on the defensive. “So you are doing all you can to help him? Is that the same help you gave Matt? Connecting to him when he didn’t want to? I’m sure you didn’t know this, but the Colonel was very much afraid of being connected to. Have you been doing that to him?”

A frown appeared on Pastor Chuck’s face. He started to say something, but stopped and took a sip of coffee instead. “This isn’t going exactly as I’d hoped. But since you bring up connecting, as you call it, I seem to remember that you were the one who connected to me without my permission. It was quite a jolt. I don’t know why you did it to this day, but I know I didn’t ask for it.

“And yes, I did connect with Matt. When I read your Revelation, I put two and two together and realized that part was true - I’d had it done to me after all, and so had Matt during one of your little lunch get togethers. So during our next counseling session, I tried to connect to him. It was awkward, but since we’d both done it, I was able to succeed. I’m sure you remember that once you have experienced a connection, it’s easier to do from then on. I will admit that I may have been a bit clumsy as I learned what I could do, but he never voiced any objections to me. I was anxious to gain strength as you had, so I may have overdone the number of times I connected to him. Ignorance is no excuse, of course, but I was truly flying blind. I suppose I should have contacted you for advice, but I am talking to you now and you seem hostile.

“By the time I started my sessions with the Colonel, I was becoming more proficient at connecting. He told me that he was afraid of you connecting to him - that you might do to him what he thought you’d done to Evan Miller. And that is, make him a willing follower of you and the Mitchell girl. He had no objection to me connecting to him as a part of my therapy.”

The slithering snake sat back and in his easy chair and smiled. He was way ahead on points with that one. But, while Pastor Chuck might know quite a bit about us, there were some things that he didn’t know. And he wasn’t going to learn them from Matt or the Colonel or anyone else.

“I understand your point, but what now? You’ve learned a lot about us, but not quite all or even enough, right? You may be able to connect, but it’s of limited usefulness, isn’t it? You may know who we had as members last week, but what about now? You no longer have anyone on the inside, do you?

“However, I will tell you something new. This is a free one from me. You know that stuff you read in the Revelation? You know a lot of what Matt and the Colonel told you? Well, that’s not going to be all that special for very long. We’re going to put a lot of it up on the internet. Then it won’t be just us and you who know this stuff, but us and you and a few million others.”

I gave myself several points and the lead for that. Chuck hadn’t expected it for sure.

“Roger, I fear we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot today. It’s true what I said about respecting what you’ve accomplished. And I know you want to accomplish quite a bit more, I just don’t know exactly what it is. But you must be a good person for your group to follow you the way they do. The Colonel says they would do just about anything for you. I consider myself a pretty good leader, but so are you.

“Perhaps we should consider joining forces? I have something that may be of use to you. Several times a week, there are a few dozen to a few thousand people who come here to fellowship with me. I don’t know exactly how many people you need to do whatever it is you want to do, but I suspect it’s a lot. Maybe we should have your entire team over here to meet me and my people so we can see if we hit it off? What do you think?”

He actually thought I might want to partner with him? He obviously didn’t know me at all. It was now that he tried to connect to me. From Matt’s warning, I had been half expecting some assault with his maximum strength behind it. Instead, it was relatively limp. He just wanted to give me a gentle shove to get me to say “yes.”

I blocked him and pushed back with a bit more force. He was able to keep me from connecting, but he couldn’t tell if I’d used all my ability or only a tiny fraction. He frowned. “I guess we’re not going to become good friends right now. I can always hope.

“I can understand if you don’t want to be friends with me; that’s your choice. But please don’t choose to be my enemy. That would not be a good idea.”

Now I was about ready to show him what connecting was all about, but I remembered what Jane had said and tried to keep my cool. It wasn’t easy. “Look Chuck, since you mentioned choosing, let me tell you what I choose. I choose to warn you that connecting to innocent people for selfish reasons is wrong. If you keep it up, I’ll make you stop. Count on it. Next, if I hear that you are snooping around my group, I’ll come and connect to your whole congregation and show them just what kind of man you are. It won’t be like I’m telling them about you, it’ll be like you confessed to them - they’ll know, without doubt, how low you have sunk. So leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone. And one more thing, you are not to have any more of your little connecting sessions with the Colonel. Tell him to come back and talk to Evan, but you are not to connect to him again. Get it, Chuck?”

Now he was actively frowning. “I think this meeting is at an end. You can show yourself out.” The volume of his voice seemed to get louder with every word. At the end, he was shouting.

I was more than glad for that. I’d been here too long already. I left and tried to slam his nine foot wooden door on my way out. That didn’t work and I deducted one point. Still I thought I’d done well.

I glanced at Amanda when I left and winked at her. She smiled at me. I hoped that Chuck wouldn’t take his anger out on her.

Leaving the church felt great. It had warmed up again as the sun rose higher in the sky. The driver was waiting for me beside the car. As I walked to the car, BP spoke up. I’d almost forgotten he was there. “Roger, I must admit that there is a side to you that I was unaware of. I applaud your display of forcefulness. I think it was needed. I must leave now as I am almost prepared to reveal the design of the trigger craft that will reverse the expansion of this universe, but there are things that must be done first.”

And with that, I felt him leave. I completed my walk to the car and the driver opened the door. Jane was alone inside.

“Where’s Matt?” I asked.

She said, “It’s okay. Get in and tell me how it went.”

I realized that she needed to hear that I was fine. “He and I got into it. He couldn’t connect to me, but I let him know I could connect to him if I wanted to. I warned him off from doing it to people without their permission and I told him to send the Colonel back to Evan. I’m fine and we may have even made a friend. That’s enough of what happened with me. Now, where’s Matt?”

She studied me like she was trying to make sure I hadn’t grown a horn or something. Eventually, she decided that I was indeed still normal and not damaged from my meeting with Chuck. She looked relieved. “He left. After you went inside, we talked and talked. He really was almost back to normal. You helped him in just the right way - God, why can’t I do that? I may have screwed things up though. I told him that everyone was waiting to meet him back at the apartment building and we’d be glad to welcome him into the group if he wanted to join. I knew it was the wrong thing as soon as I said it. He’s going to be alright, but he’s still fragile. He didn’t want a big group of strangers and friends that he had betrayed fawning over him. Not right now. He wanted to be alone. He connected to me, Roger. I could feel what he felt and I understood his decision. He caught a cab and went back to his apartment. We should let him recover for a few days and then call and visit him.

“Oh yes, he asked me to tell you and Allen and Bess that he would like for all of us to meet for lunch soon - kind of like the old days. I told him we’d love to.”

And so, we had rescued Matt. It’s wasn’t exactly the way I’d envisioned, but if Jane was satisfied that he would be fine then so was I. Now she gave me a little kick to let me know she was serious, “Okay, I want to know every detail. Don’t try to be cute or leave anything out. Tell me exactly what happened.”

For the first half of the trip home, I did just that. When I was done, she stared out the window as she considered how I’d done. Without a word, she pulled out her phone and thumb typed a text message. She showed me her phone. It was to Marina and copied to everyone.

Roger + I on the way back. Meeting went well. Roger did great and he’s fine. He kicked serious butt.

Matt is rescued and will be okay. Roger did that too.

Roger made me proud of him today.

Jane

“You can remove that last sentence,” I said.

“You’d have to have the driver stop and you pull me out by my ankles before I’d do that.” She took the phone back and hit Send.

She smiled at me. “Okay, here’s comes the reply from Bess in three, two . . .” Before she could finish, her phone beeped. “Jane, thanks for letting us know!! I’m so relieved!!! I’m so proud of you both!!!!”

“Told you so,” said Jane. “And speaking of Bess, she called me late last night, bawling her eyes out. Is that what happens when you two get together, you sit around and bum each other out?

“I spent almost an hour calming her down, and all because you had to dream about me. Last night I dreamed about BP, but that doesn’t mean I want to marry him. I finally convinced her that I do love you, but could never live with you. If I did, I’d get bitchy and you’d just take it without a word and then I’d feel guilty and eventually I’d be resentful that I had to feel guilty all the time. What we have now wouldn’t last a year if we lived together. I told her that what we have right now is perfect and that we complete each other. I think she understood.

“I also told her that Jed and I were much better matched. I’m certainly not easy to live with, but I think we will make a go of it. If I do something stupid, he’ll get mad at me and tell me to shape up and I’ll yell at him and then we’ll both think about it and apologize - usually in each other’s arms. I think in a few years we’ll argue less, but love more. We’ll see.

“I also told her that she had a clear path toward snaring you. That perked her up quite a bit. I love Bess, but you’re going to have to do something. Choose her or Marina - flip a coin or something. Get Father Tom to make you an honorary priest with a vow of celibacy. Announce you’re gay. Become a Mormon so you can have 5 or 6 wives. I don’t know - I just know that girl is head over heels for you and I do need my beauty sleep. It’s probably her hormones raging; it can’t be that she’s thinking straight.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was very close to Jane, but having her advise me on my love life was uncomfortable. And I didn’t really need to spend a lot of time thinking about Bess’s hormones, raging or not.

I started to tell her that, but she wasn’t done, “I talked to Juliet after Matt left. She called Tanith and told her to refer everyone who needed to be paid for the meeting to her. Did you know she’s only nineteen? I thought she was older. Juliet is going to watch her carefully to see what kinds of decisions she makes. Setting up a meeting like this isn’t a big deal, but there are a lot of details. I hope she can handle them. I think she can.

“And one final thing. Juliet talked to the flight instructor people in Wilmington. They are sending over a tablet computer filled with all the training manuals for the G450. Marina will start that training next week if she passes her test tomorrow. They suggest she spend time familiarizing herself with this new plane before she starts the formal classes. The training will likely take a couple of weeks. It might be a bit more or less. Basically, when they think she’s ready, they sign off on a form and that’s it.”

I asked, “What does it cost?” I wasn’t paying it, but I was curious.

“Another $50K or so. After she finishes, she’ll be what they call ‘type certified’ on the G450 and also the 350 and 550, which are almost identical in terms of piloting. We’ll still need another pilot as this plane requires two, but we can hire one. I’ll be glad when she is done. If any of us has to fly, I’d feel so much better if she was at the controls.”

Jane was sold on Marina as a pilot for sure. I was too.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Juliet wants to make the arrangements to fly Jed, Edie and Tom down to Little Rock. I know you asked Shannon to go too. I’m sure it was because she healed them. But she’s got her kids and would like to stay home this time and Bess really wants to go. Bess had gotten really good at looking inside people and I think she can heal too if the need arises She was jealous that she didn’t let her go last time. I suggest you let her. If you’re okay with that, I’ll tell Juliet.” I nodded yes. It was an easy decision. “But I’m also going to tell Juliet not to tell Bess. Let her ask you in person. You may as well give her some good news instead of making her cry her eyes out.”

Just like that, Jane had cleaned up most of the loose ends that I had to deal with today. I was grateful and she knew it. She took my hand and put it on her stomach and held hers on top of mine. I didn’t need to be told what to do. We’d only checked a few hours ago, but it wouldn’t hurt to look again now.

We saw no change, but she kept my hand in the same spot for the rest of the trip.

Chapter Twenty Four

When we arrived back at the apartment building, I had an idea and told Jane about it. She agreed.

We paused outside the door to Evan and Juliet’s place. Everyone was inside waiting for us. The group had been a bit on edge for two days because of this meeting. They were worried that I’d somehow be hurt by my encounter with Pastor Chuck. Now that they knew I was fine, they were likely feeling relieved and relaxed. I could hear Juliet playing the piano through the door. She really was quite good.

The door was unlocked so Jane opened it and went in. I waited outside while she held the door open. I could see inside. Every eye was on her. Juliet instantly stopped playing. Jane announced to the group, “Roger’s right behind me. He’s not quite the same, but I think it’s an improvement.”

That was my cue. I raised my arms and walked in dragging my right leg behind me as I stared into space with my mouth open. It was my zombie impression.

Bess had been prepared to leap at me, but she stopped in her tracks and put her hands over her mouth in surprise. For an instant, everyone was frozen in place, until I heard, “Ah, you can do better than that Little Buddy.” After that, everyone laughed and came to welcome us home. Bess gave me a kick. I was sure she’d learned that bad habit from Jane. “You about gave me a heart attack. It was funny though. And please never do anything like that again.”

We got settled and everyone wanted to know exactly what had happened on our trip. I told most of it again, but Jane told the part about Matt. It took more than thirty minutes to get it all out. When I told about finding Jane in the car and having BP appear unexpectedly, a number of them had guilty smiles. I guessed that they all knew what she was going to do. As it turned out, I was glad Jane was along - it made it much easier with Matt. I wondered if Pastor Chuck had missed him yet.

After they pumped us for every morsel of information, I told everyone to take the afternoon off. It had been a stressful weekend and I thought it would be a good time to squeeze in a little R&R. We had a busy week ahead of us.

I asked if anyone had something we should discuss before we broke up. Edie spoke up. I hoped it would be quick. “I’ve been studying how to create a legal organization for the Connection. It needs to be done to protect Evan and Juliet. They are the ones with assets at risk. We have a few choices. We could file as a company, but then we’d be expected to at least try to make a profit. The IRS doesn’t like companies that spend all their money on themselves and never pays taxes on profits.

“We could register as a charitable organization. But there are problems there too. We would need to give money to help some real cause. And we’d have to be very careful that we donate far more than we use ourselves. I think that’s too confining for the types of things we may need to do.

“So that leaves one more possibility - we organize as a church.” This caused a stir among my brothers and sisters. Father Tom knew this was coming; I didn’t. I started to object, but Edie cut me off. “Give me a second here. A church is really perfect. You need to have a belief system - which we have. You need to have certain rituals - we have those. You need to try and increase your flock - we are.

“The great thing about being a church is that the rules are quite lax as to what you do. If we believe we need a jet, we can get one. If we believe we need an apartment building, we can do that too. We can build facilities all over and hire as many people as we want at whatever salary we want to pay. We can even give money to people based on what our faith tells us is right. It’s really perfect for us. Basically, with a church, you have wide latitude to do whatever you want with your money as long as your congregation doesn’t complain. And ours won’t because we won’t be asking any of them for any donations. That’s the beauty of the idea - some bureaucrat or some reporter might wonder about us and even try to investigate our church. You’ve seen reports more than once on churches that do just about anything to get donations and then spend all that money on the founders.

“But how do you attack a church that asks for nothing from its members? You join if you want to, but it costs you nothing and no one ever asks for a donation. Now what do you think?”

Evan Miller spoke up. “I think it’s brilliant. I own this building. I bought it years ago as an investment and I charge the company if they use it. But it’s mine and we’re using it now. I’ll donate it to the church. It’ll be our first asset. I can donate the money for the jet and salaries and everything else. I might or might not take a tax deduction on those donations - we’ll have to discuss that. But since Juliet and I are the only ones putting money in, and we’re happy members of the congregation, we really can do just about anything. Roger, I think Edie’s idea is brilliant and I suggest we have her set it up.”

I knew enough about finance to see the advantages. A quick look at Jane told me she was on board. “Do it.” I said. Evan, Juliet and Edie smiled. Now I was the leader of a church.

No one else had anything to discuss with the group, so we broke up. I had suggested that everyone take a few hours off, but no one left right away. I think they were relieved to have my meeting with Pastor Chuck over with and didn’t want to leave until Jane and I did. Bess came over and waited. I knew she wanted to ask about going with the group to Little Rock. I also knew that she’d be happy with our decision.

I was thinking about asking Bess to take a walk with me in the park near my old apartment when I saw Juliet take a call. Her expression told me something was up. Jane saw it too. She walked over to us.

“I’ve got Tanith on the phone. She’s got the meeting all set up, but now she says she wants to quit. I think one of you needs to talk to her.”

I didn’t need this right now, but Jane had said that this girl would make a good new member of the team, so I had to find out what had happened to make her want to quit. Juliet had been monitoring what she was doing to set up the meeting and transportation for everyone. The meeting was in only two days, but in just a few hours it seemed that she had almost everything organized. Juliet was impressed.

I asked if we could use a spare bedroom to put her on speaker and Juliet led the way. I had a flash of intuition and said, “Bess, you join us too, please.” She smiled from ear to ear and bounded to catch up with us.

When we were ready, Juliet pressed a button on her phone to bring Tanith back on the line. “Tanith, I have Jane Mitchell here with me. You know her, of course. I also have Roger Seaton and Bess Olman here. You are on speakerphone.”

She paused but Tanith didn’t say anything, so she continued. “I’ve reported to Jane and Roger that you want to quit working with us. I’ve also told them you were doing a very good job on setting up our meeting, so we’re a little surprised at your call.”

Jane spoke up, “Tanith, this is Jane. What’s going on?” Just a few hours ago, Jane had spoken very bluntly to Tanith.

Now she returned that bluntness, “I told you early this morning that I wouldn’t have a part in any monkey business. Well, I went by that house where the meeting attendees are living so I could make the arrangements to have them picked up on Wednesday and taken where they needed to be on Thursday. There’s not much time left, so I wanted to see them personally to find out where they needed to be taken after the meeting Anyway, I went there a little while ago.

“They are some very nice people. All of them seemed happy as clams. They welcomed me like they’d known me their whole lives.

“And then they got really weird. They asked if I was able to heal. They told me that they all had been healed by that red haired woman who was in that group with Jane. They said that you are all members of some group that can look inside people and change them around. They said the meeting was so that they could learn more about you and your group. They thought I was one of you.

“I knew this was too good to be true. I don’t know what kind of scam you’ve got going, but I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”

I looked at Jane. She was struggling with what to say. I thought of something, “Tanith, this is Roger Seaton. I’m kind of responsible for getting this whole thing started. I know that it’s confusing, but I’d like to help if I can. I’m going to try and reassure you now. It’ll feel a bit strange, but you’ll be fine.”

With that, I tried to connect to her. I had gotten very good at it, but I’d never done it over such a distance before. Perhaps having the phone connection helped, because I felt her after only a few seconds.

She could feel me too and I could tell she was frightened. I willed her to be calm. I realized now this was exactly what BP had done when he first starting connecting to me.

“You can understand a bit more about me now, I think. I can sense your feelings and I’m letting you sense mine as well. All of us wish you well. What we are doing isn’t magical or sinister; it’s just another way for humans to communicate. We call it Connecting.

“I hope you’ll let us talk to you about it. All this is really my fault. I should have thought about explaining everything to you before this happened. I’m sorry about that.” I had another idea. “If you will allow it, I’d like to send my friend Bess Olman down to see you right away - today. She’ll be able to explain everything. You can certainly quit us anytime, but give us a chance first, will you? Bess is in charge of the group that is going to come down there on Wednesday, so she can just come a bit early.”

I sent her another feeling of well being and broke the connection. She seemed confused. “I . . . what just happened here? It was like with Jane.”

Jane spoke up. “Yes Tanith, that’s it. You now know us better and we know you better. That’s what happens when we connect. Will you see Bess later today if she can get there?”

Bess looked at me and Jane with worry on her face. She hadn’t expected this trip and she certainly hadn’t expected to be put in charge of the group that was traveling to Little Rock. She took my hand and Jane’s too. She gave mine a squeeze to let me know she was okay.

Tanith sounded like she wasn’t sure what to say. “I think . . . well, she can come if she wants. Let me know her flight and I’ll pick her up. I’ll finish this meeting planning and I’ll see her, but I can’t promise anything else.”

Bess spoke up, “Tanith, this is Bess. I can’t wait to meet you. I’ll see you soon and I promise I’ll tell you all about us. We’ll call you back when we know about my flight.” She pressed “end.”

Juliet heard what I said and was already tapping away on her phone looking for flights. It only took her a minute. “We don’t have a private plane available on this short notice. There is a commercial flight but it leaves in about 80 minutes. It’s getting late in the day and there aren’t that many flights into Little Rock. It’ll be close, but I think I can get her VIP treatment at the airport so she’ll be able to get through security quickly. Should I book her flight?”

I looked at Jane, but she answered without waiting for me. “Yes, do it,” she said.

While Juliet was typing, she said to Bess, “You’d better run downstairs and pack a bag. I’ll get a car sent around. Try to be ready in ten minutes, okay?”

It was time for Bess to go on a trip. She had wanted that and now she was going to do something important and she was going to do it all by herself. She hesitated for about five seconds before she got up and walked towards the door. She turned to us while she was moving. “I’ll call you when I can. I’ll do my best. I love you all.” And then she was gone.

Chapter Twenty Five

I sent Bess a text right after she left asking her to write an account of everything that happened on her trip. I’d done the same when Jane went down there. I asked her to be completely honest as I’d planned to include her account in my full narrative version of the Revelation, but wouldn’t share it with others without her permission. I also asked her to be very detailed. She sent me this part the very next night.

Contribution of Beth Olman - Trip to Little Rock

I flew down to my apartment, taking the stairs two or three at a time. I was worried about a lot of stuff with this sudden trip, but first I was worried about catching that plane. I knew that if I was late and missed it, I’d end up calling Roger or Jane in tears to report that I’d already failed before I even got started. I couldn’t let that happen.

I grabbed a bag and threw in a few clothes. If I needed other things, I’d just get them down there. I changed into a pair of dark Capri pants and a white tee shirt that seemed a bit small. I wondered for second if I was putting on weight. I put on sneakers and pulled my hair into a pony tail. I thought that I was ready.

I skipped the elevator again and was down at the curb in 7 minutes. The driver was already there. He took my bag and put it in the back. He opened the rear door for me, but I asked if I could ride up front with him. I suddenly didn’t want to be any more alone than I was.

Just then the door to the building opened and everyone came out. They all gathered around me to wish me well. I hugged as many as I could, but then Juliet said I had to go. Jane was the last one to come up to me. She hugged me hard and whispered in my ear, “You text me and let me know you are okay the second that plane is on the ground and they let you turn on your phone. Please don’t forget, my sister. I wish Marina was here to fly you.”

I told her I would. She sounded worried. I didn’t understand why she wanted to know that I had landed. If I got on the flight, I’d certainly land. I wished Marina was here too so I’d have someone else with me, so I understood that part.

I was glad to ride up front because I got to talk to the driver, whose name was Charlie. It kept my mind off the clock and it kept my nerves at least a bit in check. I imagined my plane sitting at the gate waiting for me. Charlie drove as fast as was safe and he assured me that we’d be on time.

He took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to me. There was a stack of fifty twenty dollar bills and a credit card in my name. I knew this was the work of Juliet. He handed me another envelope marked with Tanith’s name. I didn’t open that one, but guessed there was money in it for her.

When we got to the airport, Charlie parked the car at a spot away from the normal departure area. “This is the VIP entrance,” he explained. He parked right in front of a police car with a cop standing beside it. I guess the sight of the big, shiny black SUV and the driver in a black suit was enough to convince him that a real VIP had arrived. It was just me, though.

Charlie got my bag and led me inside. He handed some papers to a person behind a counter and they took a look and said, “Right this way, Ms. Olman. You’re right on time.”

I’d made it!! I couldn’t help myself - I gave Charlie a hug. His face turned red, but he smiled. He left talking into his phone - probably to report that I was there in time to catch my flight.

I made it through security in about thirty seconds. There was no one else at the security entrance, so I just put my bag and purse on the conveyor for x ray, and walked thru the metal detector. It didn’t go off. No one asked me to remove my shoes. The officer said “Have a good flight, Ms. Olman.”

I walked to the gate and was met by an airline person. He knew who I was by sight. “We’ll seat you in a minute, Ms. Olman. Everyone else is just about seated.” I didn’t know how Juliet had done it, but in a single hour she’d managed for me to bypass all the hassles of flying.

I hadn’t flown that many times before, so I was surprised when I was led to a first class seat at the front of the plane. It was big and comfortable. The flight attendant instantly asked if I would like something to drink. I told her that I didn’t. Actually, I could have used a water, but I didn’t want to bother her.

A few minutes later we were in the air. I’d received an email from Roger and Jane just before we left and I read it now. My phone was in flight mode, but the email was saved internally. It gave me all the info they had on Tanith Watson. I was a bit surprised to see that she was younger than me. I LOVED that!!!!!! I was tired of being the youngest on the team. I read that she was working to support herself and her grandmother. Jane thought that she was smart and would be a great addition to the team, but she said she had a chip on her shoulder the size of Wisconsin. Jane could exaggerate on occasion. But I didn’t care because she was younger than me!!! Yeah!!!

The flight was great. We had a little period of turbulence, but nothing much. We even had a real meal! I ate all my veggies, but only ate half my meat and only one bite of dessert. I thought about how my tee shirt felt a bit tight. I decided to add another ten minutes to my workouts. I’d been on the college women’s boxing team, but that season was over and I didn’t want to get fat.

My seatmate seemed to also be a bit preoccupied with my shirt. His eyes kept landing on it whenever he’d look out the window. I was used to boys looking, but this guy was way old - probably at least forty. He tried to strike up a conversation a couple of times, so I just kind of let him know I wasn’t in the mood to talk. He didn’t get the hint, and when he asked me what I was going to do in Little Rock, I told him that I was going to visit my fiancé who was a halfback in the CFL. “He’s wonderful - so kind and gentle to be six five and two forty. He’s jealous though - that’s his only real fault.”

I don’t know if my seat mate believed me, but he left me alone the rest of the flight and kept his eyes mostly to himself - at least when they weren’t checking out the Flight Attendants.

Soon, the Captain made the announcement that we’d be on the ground in about twenty minutes. I hadn’t called Tanith to let her know what flight I’d be on, but I was certain Juliet had done that. I wished I was as organized and capable as she was.

After we landed and were able to use our phones, I texted Jane just as she had asked. I told her the flight was fine and that I’d talk to her soon. She replied, “Thank God you’re there.” That was strange since she knew I was on the plane. Where else would I be?

Being in first class, we got off the plane first. I walked down the jetway to see Tanith waiting for me. She was carrying a sign that said “Olman.” She was in her chauffeur’s outfit. She was studying the people coming off the plane and looked around me. I guess I wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Tanith?” I said. “I’m Bess.” Now she studied me. She looked me up and down. There was no expression on her face. She asked me, “How old are you?”

“I turned twenty one about four months ago,” I said. “How old are you?” I knew the answer.

“I’ll be twenty next week. And you’re the one they put in charge? That group that was here before were all older.”

So she had a thing about her age too. “I’ve been the youngest in the group since the beginning. I hate it because they tend to treat me special because of it. My dad’s in the group and he looks out for me all the time even though I’m a grown woman - just like you are. He can’t help it because he’s my dad. But I think I’ve shown them that I can be trusted to handle things, so here I am and yes, I’m going to be in charge when the others arrive.”

“Lord help me with that,” I thought to myself. Neither of us spoke for a while. When the silence became strained, I thought of that envelope. “I have this for you from Juliet Morgan.” I gave it to her.

She opened it and looked inside. I could see there was cash in there. “I haven’t finished making all the meeting arrangements yet. You don’t have to pay me until then.”

I’d just made a mistake. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I know you’ll do a good job, Tanith, but if you want, you can give it back until you’re done.”

She shook her head and looked puzzled. “Have you done this type of thing before? Being in charge and running meetings, I mean.”

I thought about telling her a lie, but decided the truth was better. “No, it’s the first time for me. I know you think I’m clueless, and maybe I am about arranging meetings and leading people, but I’ll do my absolute best and I’ll try my hardest and I’ll ask for help if I think I need it. In our group, that’s all they ever ask. Roger, our leader, had gone out of his way to admit mistakes and I’ll do that too when I make them. But, for now, I’m in charge.

“I know you’ve got a zillion questions and I think that’s another reason Roger and Jane sent me - they know that we’re about the same age and I think they hope we’ll hit it off. I hope so too. I’m ready to answer all your questions and tell you all about us. Roger told me he should have done this before, but I’m here now and ready to get started. It’ll take me a least an hour. Do you want to do it here?”

I learned to end with a leading question by listening to that snake, Pastor Chuck. It was a useful thing to be able to do.

She thought about it. “We can talk in the first class lounge. You’ve got your ticket, right?” I didn’t know what the first class lounge was, but I knew I had my ticket. “They’ll think I’m just the hired help, but you can get me in.”

She led the way. We got into the lounge by showing my ticket. The lady at the entrance asked if Tanith was with me. She smirked when I told them, “Of course she is.”

It was a big area and wasn’t very busy. We found a couple of seats back in a corner and I explained that I wanted to connect to her in the same way Jane and Roger had done. “It won’t hurt and you’ll be able to know a lot about me because I’ll open myself up to you. You can decide how much of your feelings you want to share with me. You can break the connection at any time.”

She looked uncertain. “I . . . I don’t know. Are you going to hypnotize me or something?”

I smiled at her and took her hand. She was surprised at that, I could tell. I don’t think she was used to being touched in a caring way - certainly not by a stranger.

“No, it’s not like that at all. You’ve done it twice now, so you know what it feels like. Sometimes it feels good, but it always helps bring us closer together. In our group, we call each other ‘brother and sister,’ but it’s closer than that. If you let me, I’ll try and explain it all now.”

“Okay,” she said. “But no monkey business. I’ll know if you try any.”

I smiled at that and connected to her. It was effortless. I guessed I was getting stronger. I told her everything except for the final Revelation. I told her my own story about how I’d been saved from a life of pain by Roger. I told her about Jed and what he had done for him. I told her about Evan Miller and Juliet and April and Shannon and everyone. I told her how much I loved them all.

I told her about BP and about his Revelation. I didn’t tell her the specifics of it, but I did tell her that our group was destined to do something important and that, once we had enough people, we’d all connect and then combine our connection into one. That was true, after all.

I told her about connecting and how I could look inside people and how some of us could sometimes change things around in order to heal people. I explained that everyone in the group she’d met today were all healed of alcoholism. I told her about Jacob Miller and how we couldn’t heal him, but that we knew we’d see him again.

I talked and talked and talked some more. I held her hand the entire time and she made no move to drop it except when I told her about how Jacob Miller died. She squeezed my hand then. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I told the story and thought once again of that poor little boy.

Finally, I was just about done. I told her about our need to add more members and that we hoped she’d decide to be one. I let the connection continue. She felt from me that every word I told her was true. I felt some wonder from her and I felt her strength, but she was not letting me know much more about what she was feeling. I wondered if I’d not convinced her.

She broke the connection. I was surprised she could do that, but maybe she was one of those who were naturally able to take to connecting.

I waited as she considered what to say. When she spoke, she said something that I certainly didn’t expect. She said, “Bess, would you come meet my Grandmother?”

I didn’t need to spend any time thinking about my answer, “Of course I would if you want me to. But why?”

For the first time, I saw a real emotion in Tanith’s face. It was pain. “She’s almost seventy two and her hip hurts her so bad she can hardly walk. I’ve tried to get her to go to the doctor, but she says that they’ll make her take more and more pills and they’ll make her come see them more and more often until she gets so tired that she’ll just die. Bess, it breaks my heart. She’s seen her friends go downhill when they go to doctors. I’ve tried to explain to her that the doctors don’t cause that, but she won’t listen.

“Maybe you can talk some sense into her with your connection thing or maybe you can help her. She raised me in a tough situation and I’d do anything in the world for her. I don’t know if you can really help people, but I’m willing to try anything.”

She stopped for several seconds. “And I think I could be your friend, Bess. I don’t have a lot of them, but something tells me I could depend on you.” That chip on her shoulder just dropped a few sizes.

I about jumped out of my seat. “Oh, you can. Yes, you can!” I wanted to hug her, but held myself back. I knew I had to act a bit more mature.

Chapter Twenty Six

She was driving a shiny black SUV. I was getting lots of rides in them all of a sudden. “This is my work car,” she said. “I hired the company to pick you up so I could use the car. Juliet said it was okay. But now I have to drop it off. I can’t take it home. We’ll have to take the bus back to my apartment.”

I asked, “Couldn’t we take a cab?”

She looked at me with a hint of suspicion on her face. “Is the bus too low class for you?” I think she said it without thinking. I was sure I saw regret on her face almost instantly. That chip was smaller, but it was still hanging around.

“Look, Tanith. I live in New York. There you take the subway or you take a cab. It’s just habit for me. We can take the bus if you want. It’s not a big deal.”

Now I knew she was feeling bad about snapping at me. “I’m sorry, Bess. I drive a lot of rich people around and they often act like a horse's rear end to me. Either that or they want a date, if you know what I mean.” I smiled at her to let her know that her apology was accepted. “If we take a cab, will you tip the driver? I’m kind of partial to seeing my fellow drivers get a good tip.”

“Sure I will.” In truth, I seldom paid for a cab ride in New York. Until recently I was a poor college girl and couldn’t afford to take cabs, so I really didn’t know how much to tip. I hoped she’d help me with it.

She called a cab and gave the driver her address. During the trip, I texted Jane and Roger and told them I thought that things were settled with Tanith and I was pretty sure she’d end up joining.

The cab took about twenty minutes to Tanith’s place and the tab was $18.20. I looked at Tanith with a question on my face – “how much should I tip?” She mouthed to me, “Ten bucks.” I gave the driver two twenties and told her to keep it. Tanith smiled at me and used all her face. I got a receipt.

We got out onto a kind of run down looking residential street. There were trashcans on the curb. Some of them had overflowed and the trash was just sitting on the sidewalk. Down the block, some kids were kicking around a soccer ball in the street. It was a warm day filled with the sound of many window air conditioners. “Welcome to Home Sweet Home,” said Tanith. She smiled at me with a hint of embarrassment. There was no need for that - this didn’t look like the high class street I lived on now, but it looked about like the area outside my dorm.

We walked towards one of the buildings. There was a kid sitting on the steps. I guessed he was probably sixteen or so. It was late in the day, so school was out and he seemed to be just hanging out. Tanith whispered to me, “Just ignore him,” and we began to climb the stairs.

“Hey bitches,” he said.

Now I’m no prude. I go to an urban university and I guess I’d heard just about every swear word there is. But I’d never heard them combined in such a vile and disgusting way as the ones that came from this kid. He described exactly what he would like to do with Tanith and with me in clinical street lingo detail. I stopped walking in utter shock. Tanith took my hand and pulled.

I quickly saw why she wanted to keep moving because, when I stopped, he reached out and grabbed her ankle. He moved his hand up her leg so that her pant leg rose almost to her knee. He had a firm grip on her calf. He let out a laugh and another string of obscenities that might have been even more disgusting than the last bunch. He reached out with his other hand to grab some other part of her.

That was just about enough for me. I connected to him and I did it hard. I looked inside and found his vocal chords. They were still vibrating from the filth he was spewing. I took one mental hand and pressed them so that they couldn’t function. He instantly became silent and got a surprised look on his face.

I took my other mental hand and found a spot on him that could be quite painful for guys. I squeezed.

Then I squeezed harder.

His eyes got big and his mouth became an “O”. He let go of Tanith. He was starting to panic, but I made sure he couldn’t move. I connected to her so she could see what I saw.

I took my time even though I was furious. “Now, Mr. Potty Mouth, apologize to my friend. And it had better be heartfelt.”

I maintained the pressure. The veins on his necks were starting to stand out. He seemed to be trying, but he wasn’t apologizing. I guessed that he needed a clearer lesson. I squeezed harder.

Then I realized that I was still holding his vocal chords. I let go. He squealed like a pig. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I really am! I apologize! Please, please stop it! Please, I’ll do anything.”

Tears were running down his face. I let him go and broke the connection. He drew himself into a ball and whimpered.

“And if you ever talk to another woman like that - and I mean ANY other woman - I’ll find out about it and I’ll come back. If you think this hurt, I’ll show you what hurt really feels like.”

I thought about kicking him in the same spot just for good measure, but before I could, Tanith took my arm and pulled me away. She had to pull pretty hard because I really wanted to kick him and then kick him again, and again.

“You made your point,” she said. I realized that I had become incredibly angry. I didn’t know I had that in me. I felt ashamed that I’d lost my temper in such a way. I could have given that creep a good right cross and that would probably have made him let Tanith go. But instead, I’d really caused that guy some super intense pain.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” she said and again her face lit up in a smile. I had a sudden vision of this guy tormenting her on other days. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen again.

And so was she.

I wanted to think about what had just happened, but I didn’t have time because Tanith quickly used two keys to open the door to her apartment. I felt shame for what I’d just done, but I’d have to explore that later. Right now, I had to meet Tanith’s grandmother and I wanted her to like me.

I followed Tanith inside and saw her sitting in a recliner that was tilted slightly back. I could tell from her face that she wasn’t expecting me. At first there was some surprise, but that quickly changed to a look of welcome. She started to get up.

“Now Nanna, you stay right there. This is my new friend, Bess Olman. She’s in town on business and I invited her over. I’m going to fix us some dinner. You just sit there and rest. Bess and I’ll take care of everything.”

It was like Tanith hadn’t said anything. Her grandmother continued to lift herself up by pushing on the arm rests. I could see her arm muscles twitch with the effort. “Lord child. We don’t want our guest to have to eat your cooking.” She smiled at Tanith and I knew it was a joke between them.

I went over to her. “Let me help you.” I took her arm to help her up but I also connected to her and looked inside at her hip. When Roger did this, he saw abstract images that seemed to represent the inside of a body. But when I did it, I tended to see real bones and organs.

When I looked at her hip, I could tell that the socket it fit in was worn. There was a coating that was supposed to keep bone from rubbing against bone, but hers was too thin. I studied that coating carefully. It was there, but it seemed like it had forgotten how to repair itself, and so it had slowly worn away. I willed it to renew itself again. I pushed pretty hard to try and make it happen quickly. I had never healed anyone before, but I was pretty sure her hip would be better. I felt good about it and winked at Tanith. I think she understood me.

By then her grandmother was on her feet. “You girls just relax and I’ll cook us up a mess of something. I hope you like home cookin’, Bess. It ain’t nothin’ fancy.”

I smiled at her. She was walking to the kitchen. “Yes ma’am, I sure do. I just wish I could cook myself. I never learned.”

She seemed amazed at that. “Didn’t your mama teach you?”

My mother had probably cooked less in her life than I had. “No, she wasn’t much of a cook either. I remember my Dad letting me help him cook when I was little. Actually, I think he just told me I was helping - I doubt I actually did.” It was one of the few happy memories I had of me and Dad. I hadn’t thought of that in a very long time. It made me momentarily sad.

I don’t know why, but that touch of sadness made me ask the first thing that popped into my head. “Can I call you Nanna?” I asked. I knew I was being forward, but I liked this lady. Her hair was grey and her face was wrinkled, but her eyes sparkled like they must have when she was my age. I’d never had a Nanna of my own.

She laughed and I loved the sound of it. “Surely you can, child. That name fits me to a ‘T.’ You and Tanith just relax. I’ll get started in the kitchen.”

When she was gone, Tanith came to me. There were tears in her eyes. “Did you see the way she walked? She hasn’t been able to walk that well in a year. What did you do to her?”

I gave her a hug. I was overdue on that I guess. “I just saw that her hip was worn. I don’t know how, but I made it better. It’ll get even better in a few more days, I think. I’ve never done that before, Tanith. God, I’m so glad I was able to help.”

She looked into space as she was thinking about something. “Are the others in your group like you?” she asked.

“Well, they’ve all done more than me, but they’re all people I love and I know they love me.”

She said, “Okay. Sign me up. Do I need to cut my hand to swap blood with you or something?”

I’d seen that movie too and laughed with her. “No, you just have to say you want to be a member. That’s all there is to it.”

She took my hands in hers. “I want to be a member,” she said solemnly. She wasn’t joking. That chip was long gone.

We had a wonderful dinner. Nanna told us stories about how she used to cook for her husband. She said he’d eat anything - good or bad - because he worked hard all day. She said she wasn’t even sure he tasted the food after she worked so hard to make it good. Then one time she’d burned his meat and so she made another piece for him. At dinner, he ate the good one and then saw the burned one on the counter and ate that one too. “Which one did you like best?” she asked him. She thought he’d say what he always did when she asked him how he like some dish. He always said, “It was good.” Nothing more and nothing less.

She said he replied, “They both was good, but the burned one was a little tough.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. She was sooooo nice!!!! I could tell why Tanith loved her so much.

Just then Tanith got up and started to gather the dishes. She was going to take them into the kitchen. “I’ll help,” I said. I started to get up, but Nanna put her hand on my arm. “No child. This is the way we do things here. I cook and Tanith cleans up the dishes. We ain’t gonna have any of our guests doing that work. Besides, I want to talk to you.”

And so I stayed behind. I could hear water running in the kitchen as Tanith did the dishes. Nanna smiled at me and said, “Tanith likes you a lot. I can tell. She don’t have a lot of friends in this neighborhood. Most of ‘em quit school early and get in trouble with the law. But I tried to raise her right without any of that monkey business.”

Tanith began to quietly sing a song while she worked. The words sounded like “I see him coming in the sky” or something. Her Nanna smiled at me. “She hasn’t sung like that since her mother died. You must have made quite an impression on her.”

I didn’t want to open up any old wounds, but I was curious, “When did her mother die?”

Nanna got a faraway look on her face. “It was about 4 years ago. Tanith was almost 16. Her mother had went through a wild phase when she was younger and got pregnant with her, but she settled down and the two of them was doing real good. She had a good job in an office and Tanith was working at a supermarket after school. They was doing real good.”

She paused as if she was reliving those times. “And then one day she just collapsed. A blood clot got loose and went right to her brain. She died in less than a minute. The doctors said she didn’t feel a thing. Thank God for that.

“I don’t know why God needed to call her home so young. I’ve often wondered if it was so that Tanith would come and live with me. I don’t know why He’d want that, but that’s the way things worked out and I know it had to be His plan.”

She stopped again. I felt my eyes get moist. “It’s not been real easy. She’s taking some classes at the community college, but her job makes it hard to do it real regular like. I know she stays around here because of me, and Lord knows I need her, but she’s paying a heavy price and I surely do regret that. She ought to be at some fancy school or gettin’ started on a career. Driving rich folks around ain’t no career for a smart girl like her.”

I was almost certain that Tanith’s days as a chauffeur were over with for good, but I didn’t know what to say to Nanna.

Before I could say anything, she took my hand in hers and said, “It was your group that gave her that big tip last week, won’t it?”

I nodded my head to her. “And now you done gone and got her the job of setting up your big meeting. And you’re payin’ her for that too, right?” Again, I nodded, “Yes.”

“So here’s what I need to know, Miss Bess Olman. I need to know why you chose her?”

She wanted to make sure that we weren’t up to any monkey business. I knew immediately that she wanted to be reassured that we wouldn’t hurt her granddaughter. What I didn’t know was what to tell her. I quickly decided that I couldn’t tell her about the Connection like I had Tanith earlier. I needed to discuss that with her first. Then I had an idea.

“Do you know of Evan Miller?” I asked.

Her eyes became unfocused as she searched her memory.

“He’s some big guy with computer stuff, ain’t he?”

“Yes ma'am, that’s him. His company has grown a lot and he’s rich. Now he’s helping start a new organization. That’s our group that Tanith told you about. We’re always in need of new people - especially smart ones that can get things done. My friend Jane was impressed with Tanith on her trip down here. Tanith even asked Jane for a job, so Jane asked her to set up our meeting as kind of a test. Tanith has done great and I’m sure she’ll have a full time job with us if she wants it.”

I hoped I wasn’t saying more than I should, but if I was going to be in charge, I had to make decisions without calling Roger or Jane every five seconds.

I thought that I had done pretty well with my explanation. But Nanna wasn’t done. “What does this new organization do?”

I had to think quickly. I certainly didn’t want to tell her a lie, but I couldn’t tell her the full truth either. “We haven’t announced our plans publicly yet, but it’ll be something designed to help a whole lot of people. We’re not going to charge them either.”

“Sounds like church,” she said. I smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze. “It does, doesn’t it?” I said.

Just about then, Tanith rejoined us. “Bess, what hotel are you at? I’ll call a cab if you’re ready. It’s already after dark.”

I hadn’t thought for even one second about where I’d sleep. I had no hotel reservation that I knew of, but I also knew that Juliet had probably taken care of that detail. Tanith must have seen confusion on my face, because she said, “Why don’t you stay here? I’ve got an extra bed in my room. It’ll be like a sleepover.”

That was just grand! Nanna seemed to be in agreement too, “We’d be glad to have the company, Bess. It’s just been just the two of us for too long. You are surely welcome.”

I could tell Tanith wanted me to stay. I had a new sister, but so did she. When you first start connecting and you join the group, you want to stay with your new brothers and sisters all the time. I remembered how it was when Roger had connected to me on that first phone call. That night, I couldn’t wait to see him so I showed up uninvited at his place early the very next morning.

Plus, I would really rather have stayed here with them than try to unwind in some lonely hotel room. I’d had a long and stressful day. “If you’re sure I won’t be a bother, I’ll be glad to stay.”

I could tell they were genuinely happy to have me stay over. I was too!!!

Nanna went to make us coffee. I didn’t normally drink much of that, but most of the members of the group did, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I looked at my phone and told Tanith that I should call in and let my friends know where I’d be. “Use my bedroom to make the call,” she said. “It’s right over there.”

Making a private call in their home was a little awkward, but I wanted to talk to Jane or Roger without Tanith or Nanna hearing me. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure I’d screwed up - and maybe I’d screwed up bad. If they were going to be disappointed in me, I didn’t want my new sister to see how I’d react. I knew I’d probably cry. Sometimes I’m such a baby.

But I was a full grown woman and so I knew I had to take my medicine. I thanked Tanith and went into her room and closed the door. One bed was obviously hers. I sat on the other one and hit the button for Jane. Roger would be too nice to me. I knew I could trust Jane to tell me exactly how she felt.

She answered almost immediately. “Congrats, Bess,” she said. “Everyone is in awe of how you handled telling Tanith about us. Can you put her on a video feed so Roger and I can welcome her?”

I would be glad to do that, but not yet. “Roger is there with you? Is anyone else around?”

She seemed to hesitate, “No, we’re alone. He dropped by to look at something for me.”

I certainly didn’t know what he’d be looking at for her, but that was their business, not mine. “I’ll get Tanith in a minute, but first I’ve got to confess to doing something bad. Jane, I think I made a bad mistake. I wanted to tell you first, but if Roger’s there you might as well put him on speaker. You can both yell at me then or kick me out or whatever.”

“What in the world?” she said. I could hear her push the button for the speakerphone function and then she spoke to Roger. “Bess says she’d done something wrong and she thinks we’ll yell at her.” Jane didn’t mention kicking me out of the group to him.

I heard Roger say, “Go ahead, Bess. What is it?”

I told them about the boy on the steps. I told them everything. I didn’t leave out a single one of his obscenities and I didn’t leave out a single detail as to how I’d overreacted. I told them how Tanith had to practically pull me off him. I confessed how badly I’d lost my temper and how I’d used my ability to connect to hurt that boy. I finally finished and waited. There was silence on the other end of the line.

Then Jane spoke up. “See Roger? That’s why I want to learn to do that looking inside thing. Bess gets to have all the fun.”

Jane was trying to make me feel better. Her voice changed into serious mode. “He grabbed her right? It wasn’t just words was it, Bess? He was going to grab her again, wasn’t he?”

I said, “Yes.” I think my voice quivered. I know it did.

“And you didn’t really damage him, did you? He’ll walk a bit funny for a day or two and then he’ll be Okay, won’t he?” I knew he would and said so.

“Well, he’s lucky you were there and not me. I’ll put up with lots of kinds of misbehavior, but I won’t put up with that. Especially not with one of my sisters. No Bess, you did the right thing under the circumstances. I know Roger agrees, right?”

“Sure I do,” he said. “Don’t you be concerned Bess. You did what you had to do and it was fine.” He paused now. “But it does present us with something to consider doesn’t it? I’ve never thought about connecting being used as a kind of weapon. You even mentioned that you and Shannon had discussed how you might use it that way during my meeting with Pastor Chuck, but I never put two and two together. Write up all that happened, Bess, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to get it out to the group. We need to consider what this means.”

I told them I’d get them my write up as soon as I could. We’d taken to calling them “contributions” and everyone had contributed at least one document detailing their own experiences in the Connection.

Talking to Jane and Roger made me feel so much better. I called Tanith into the room and started a video link so that we could see Jane and Roger as well as hear them. Roger set up a connection between all of us and I could tell Tanith was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but I could also tell that she felt welcomed.

“I . . . I don’t know what to say. It’s all so new and weird and wonderful. I feel like I’ve known Bess my whole life and it’s only been a few hours. I don’t think I’ll sleep much tonight, but I promise I’ll be up first thing in the morning and make sure everything is perfect for the people who are coming on Wednesday. Jane, are you coming?”

Jane looked at Roger. I knew they just exchanged some type of communication, but I had no idea what it was. “I don’t think so Tanith. I’d love to see you again in person, but Roger and I have some things we need to do together over the next few days.

Roger’s face lit up with an idea. “Why don’t you fly back with the rest of the team on Thursday, Tanith?” We’ve love to see you in person and we’re planning a little celebration sometime this weekend. We’ve got plenty of room and you’d be able to meet everyone. I know they’re looking forward to meeting you.”

This was obviously something she hadn’t considered. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to New York and I really don’t have clothes and Nan . . . my Grandmother would be all alone and . . .”

I could see she was struggling. Jane could too and she cut her off. “Don’t worry about anything, my sister. Bess will help with all the details and whatever you need is what you will have. You think about it, but please come if you can. Roger gets a good idea every week or two and this is one of them, so we’d best not waste it.”

Now that was funny. Jane wasn’t afraid to make fun of Roger or anyone. I spoke up, “I’m on it. Tell everyone hello for me.” We exchanged our goodbyes and I hung up.

Tanith looked worried. “I don’t know how I’d fit in at some fancy New York party. I wouldn’t know what to wear and they’ll only want to talk about art and stuff. I’d better not go. I’m just a part time chauffeur. I’m afraid I wouldn’t fit in, Bess.”

I was glad she was being honest with me. “Let me tell you about your other brothers and sisters. That’s what we are to each other in the group. There is a billionaire and his beautiful wife. They, however, are below Roger and Jane in the group. There’s a tall Texan with a smart mouth and a thick accent, there’s a pretty mother and housewife. There’s a tough as nails lady lawyer and a priest. There’s an Asian aircraft mechanic with a southern drawl. There’s a salesman who happens to be the best Dad in the world and his fiancée whom he loves and I do too. Does that sound like a real fancy group?

“Oh and I almost forgot. There’s a girl just a little older than us who is going to get her license to fly jet airplanes. Her name is Marina and I’ve got to send her a note to wish her luck because her test is tomorrow.

“See? We’re just a group of average people who have come together to achieve something amazing and wonderful. You’re a part of that now, and you’re just as much my sister as Jane or Marina or anyone else. You will be welcomed and loved by everyone - I promise you that.”

The expression of worry that had been on her face lessened as she came over and sat beside me. “Thanks for calling me your sister. I always wanted one. I guess now I have several - and some brothers too.”

We sat in silence as she thought about all that had happened. She turned to me and asked, “This amazing thing we are going to do. Exactly what is it?”

I didn’t hesitate. “We’re going to save life on Earth.”

Book Four: The Celebration

Forward to Book Four

My alarm woke me at 6:45. That gave me fifteen minutes to get ready before Jane would expect me to arrive at her place and perform what she called her “egg exam.”

She wanted to get pregnant, but her fiancé likely couldn’t father children. Her plan was simple - as soon as an egg made its appearance, I would touch it mentally and somehow that would transfer my DNA and fertilize the egg. I knew of other ways to make that happen, but this was Jane, and if she wanted it this way, then that’s the way it would be.

But even with the force of her will, the egg was being stubborn about showing up. Last night I had checked her about 10 p.m. and when I reported no change, she glared at me for ten full seconds with sparks shooting from her eyes and then turned and stomped off to her apartment without saying a word. I didn’t mind really - I knew her too well to get my feelings hurt so easily. She was who she was after all. And also, she was my best friend.

I left my apartment and walked down the hallway to hers. The door was propped open. We didn’t have to worry about intruders in our building because we had twenty four hour security downstairs courtesy of Evan Miller, who not only was the owner of the building, but was a multi-billionaire. He also was a member of a group that I led called the Connection. Evan, like all the members, would do anything I asked. I wasn’t yet comfortable in such a leadership role, so I was careful to never ask too much of any of them.

Jane was my second in command. Our roles should probably have been reversed, but that’s just the way it had worked out. Today I found my second staring at herself in a full length mirror. She was barefoot and wearing a robe.

“Sit down,” she said. I did. She came and sat beside me on the couch. “Make with the checking.” Her mood didn’t seem to have improved since last night.

I connected to her instantly and started to look inside her, when I felt her take my hand. She put it palm down on her stomach and covered it with hers. The robe was thin and I could feel the warmth of her skin through it. This was her ritual and I certainly didn’t mind at all.

I found the reddish area that contained a mound. I knew that that mound would have the egg in its center when the time arrived. I’d actually seen it last month, but Jane hadn’t made up her mind about what she wanted to do at that time. But now she was ready and the egg wasn’t cooperating. Like before, it wasn’t there. But I did see that the area was just a bit redder than it had been. Something was happening. I didn’t think it would take more than a few more days.

When I connected in this way, I could let her see what I saw, so she could tell things were at least progressing, if slowly. “See, it’s starting,” I said.

“Yeah, I can see that. At least that’s something. Roger, I never paid much attention to my cycle until now. Right now we’re on the 25th day so it’s got to be soon, right?” She paused. “Maybe it’s just because I’m so stressed out about it. Do you think that’s it?”

I didn’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about her female issues. She really didn’t expect me to answer her questions and I was happy to oblige. I’d done my duty for this morning. It was either time to leave or to move on to other discussions. There were a couple of things I wanted to talk to her about.

“Marina takes her pilot’s exam today. It starts at nine with a written test and then there’s a check flight around eleven. She thinks she’ll be done about noon. Should we ask Juliet to send a car for her?”

Jane got up and went into her bedroom, but left the door open so I could hear her. I could tell she was thinking. Her voice came from inside, “You know what we should do, Rog? We should all go down there and surprise her. This is a big deal. She’s one of the best pilots in the world and she’s our sister. We should be there when she gets her diploma or certificate or whatever it is. Don’t they get wings or something?”

Jane was very nervous about flying, but she had all the confidence in the world in Marina as a pilot. I was pretty sure Jane would always want her to be at the controls if she had to fly anywhere, even if Marina had just become certified as a commercial pilot.

I knew a good idea when I heard one. I sent a text to everyone using our fancy group cellphones asking their opinion. Almost immediately, I heard from several who said they were going to the airport to see Marina and congratulate her this morning. Then I had an awful thought. I said it out loud. “Suppose she doesn’t pass? What do we do then?”

Jane stuck her head out of the door opening so she could glare at me like I was a total fool. I could see her face and a bare shoulder. “Please explain to me how she could possibly not pass. You and I both know she’s going to ace this test. Where is your head this morning?” There was not a hint of doubt in her voice. To Jane, there simply could not be a better pilot than Marina. She disappeared from the doorway again.

So that was settled. Both of our phones beeped with a message. I looked at mine. Jane’s was on the end table beside me. “Juliet will have transportation ready to leave at 10:30. She wants to know who needs a ride so she can have the right number of vehicles and drivers.”

“Tell her Jed and I will find our own way. I’ll call him shortly.” I started to reply to Juliet when she spoke up again, “No, don’t do that. I’ll contact her. Having you answer for me this early in the morning might get back to Jed and he’s already a bit jealous. No, I’ll text or call Juliet myself.”

I felt a squirt of worry juice hit my bloodstream. Jane and Jed were engaged and had their marriage license, but she was putting off actually getting married to him. I knew that Jane could be stubborn at times, but Jed felt like she was holding back because of me. That was crazy since Jane had no desire to marry me and I had no desire to get married at all. Besides, the job we had in front of us was so daunting that I was sure it would be all I could handle and probably more. I didn’t want to have to deal with this intrigue while I was trying to save the universe - two of them actually.

“Damn it, Jane. I do not like keeping your little egg hunt a secret. It’s not fair to Jed and it’s not fair to me. Why in the world don’t you just tell him the truth? He’s my brother and I know him. He would understand, I know he would. I wouldn’t do this for anyone else but you, but please, think it through and stop being so damned stubborn about it.”

When I was finished, there was silence from inside the bedroom for a few seconds. I started to wonder if I’d hurt her feelings, when she strode out and stood right in front of me. She had changed into shorts and a loose fitting sleeveless top. Her hair hung down over her left eye. Her hands were on her hips and she was barefoot. “Now Mr. Seaton, could I serve you some cheese with that whine?” The expression on her face was intimidating. My lizard brain issued a command to run, but I vetoed it since my human brain was still a bit annoyed with her.

“Look Roger. I don’t know why this is such a big deal. You and Shannon and Bess are all the time looking inside people and changing them around and doing God knows what. I’m one of the lowly souls who struggles to get by without your exalted ability, but I at least thought you’d do me this little favor. I mean, come on, literally all you have to do is lift your finger.

“And no, I don’t want to tell Jed. I want this baby to be a miracle just like our meeting was a miracle and like our destiny will be miraculous. I want Jed and I to have this miracle baby and I don’t want him to know about your part of it. It would just complicate things. Why is that so hard to understand?

“If you really don’t want to do it, then fine. I’ll eventually find someone else who has your ability. We’ll be getting new members all the time and once I set my mind on doing something I tend to make it happen. I think I’ll ask Bess to see if any of those folks down in Little Rock show signs of being able to look inside people like she does. Maybe there’ll be another male down there who would be willing.”

Ok, she had me. I had a mental image of the old man from Edie’s group who had been a lifetime alcoholic until Shannon had cured him. The thought of him providing his DNA to Jane was too much. “Okay, I give up. We’ll do it your way. I should have known that would happen anyway.” I said that in what I thought was a wistful manner.

She took it as more whining. “Perk up, you big baby. Things are looking up. We finally have the whole Revelation; we’ve got new members and perhaps another fledgling group in Little Rock. You managed to have a run in with Pastor Chuck and come out alive and mostly intact, and I really think we can do what BP asks. It seemed impossible at first, but BP seems confident and the more I think about it, the more confident I become.

“On top of that, Marina will become a full fledged pilot today and Bess has grown a lot and really takes charge when we ask her to do something. Yeah, I’d say we’re doing pretty well and there will be some things to celebrate at that party you promised. Now when was that? I forget because I must have missed your note announcing it. I surely love a good ol’ celebration and I’ll bet this’ll be one to remember.”

That last part was said with her exaggerated southern accent. Damn, I’d forgotten again to talk to Juliet about the party. I’d mentioned it to a few people and I knew everyone was looking forward to it, but I’d dropped the ball. Jane was busting on me, but she was right.

I picked up my phone to call Juliet, but Jane spoke first. She knew what I was going to do. “There’s no need. Juliet and Shannon made all the arrangements without your help. The party will be Saturday night and will be on the 6th floor. Everyone who’s a member will be there, including Tanith I think. Father Tom will get a justice of the peace to perform the ceremony for April and Allen since he can’t officially do it, but he’ll speak some words and give them his blessing. Maybe Jed and I will take advantage of the opportunity too, but we’ll see.

“There’ll be some good music, some dancing, some great food and some scotch for you. But not too much - I don’t want Bess to have to tuck you in again since it might become a habit and you might have another one of your dreams and make her cry. For one night, we’ll put all our responsibilities aside and just have a good time. The next day will be soon enough to start our seven year sprint to saving the universe.

“And I almost forgot . . . BP will be there too. I talked to him about it yesterday. So Rog . . . how does that sound?”

It sounded fine of course. I suddenly felt guilty for being cross with her before. Like always, she was on top of things. I stood and took her hands in mine and connected to her. I let her feel my thanks for all she’d done along with my respect for her.

I felt her too. It was a familiar feeling, but there was something there I hadn’t experienced before. We generally shared just about everything with each other when we were connected, but now she shared something that she’d held back. It was a longing . . . a desire to have a child. I’d never realized just how deep that went and how strong it was - it felt like a pull that could not be resisted. It was also deeply personal and I felt thankful that she trusted me enough to let me share it. For the first time, I knew how this felt to her.

I let go of her hand and reached up and pushed the hair away from her left eye so I could look directly at her. “I’ll keep doing the checks with you, my sister. And I’ll touch that spot when the time is right. I promise I’ll do that.”

She smiled since we were still connected and she could feel my strong determination that my promise would be fulfilled – even if it took the last ounce of my strength.

Chapter One

Bess woke up wondering if she’d been snoring. One time, her college roommate had said she couldn’t sleep because of Bess’s snoring. She didn’t believe that roommate for one second since she was something of a beotch, but Bess had never forgotten the accusation.

Now she woke in the room of her newest sister, Tanith Watson, and the first thought in her waking mind was to wonder if she’d been snoring.

She looked over at the other bed where Tanith slept quietly. If Bess had kept her awake, there weren’t any signs of it now. She slipped out of bed and realized that she didn’t have any slippers or a robe. This trip had been very hastily planned and she had only brought the necessities - which didn’t include sleepwear. She’d planned on just buying what she needed here, but yesterday had been very busy and it just never happened. Luckily, she and Tanith were close to the same size so she was able to wear a pair of Tanith’s PJs. They were just a tad long for her, but they did the trick.

She quietly slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door as silently as she could so as not to disturb Tanith. It was almost seven and Bess was normally up and running in high gear by then.

Nanna was sitting at the kitchen table and when she heard Bess come into the room, she smiled broadly and said, “Lord child, those PJs almost fit. Come on over here and sit yourself down. I’ll get you a cup of coffee. You take it sweet with cream, right?”

Bess watched Nanna carefully as she got up and went into the kitchen. Her hip had been bothering her for months to the point where she could hardly get up and walk. Yesterday, Bess had healed her - or at least made her hip joint work a lot better. Nanna rose easily and walked straight, seemingly without pain. It was a good sight to see.

Tanith had been so moved by the improvement in her Grandmother that she’d immediately asked to join the Connection. That’s really all it took. If you truly and honestly wanted to be in, you basically were. Bess loved her new sister and especially loved that she was younger than her. She’d grown tired of having everyone else treat her like a child just because she was the youngest in the group.

Nanna returned and set a cup of coffee in front of her. Bess had never really enjoyed coffee, but she wanted to be seen as an adult and so she’d get used to drinking coffee if that would help.

“Yesterday Tanith had to get up at 4 to pick up her car and take some people to the airport for an early flight. Her chauffeur job is like that - some days she’s up before dawn and others, she’ll be out way after midnight.”

Bess took a sip of the coffee. It actually wasn’t half bad. She wondered if she was starting to get used to it.

“It must have been a big day for her ‘cause she’s sleepin’ in this morning.” Bess knew why - they’d been up late talking about anything and everything; two new sisters getting to know each other. Just before midnight, Bess had also had another Connection meeting with people in New York.

“Nanna, yesterday when she was doing the dishes, Tanith was singing to herself. I think she’s got a very good voice.”

That brought a smile to her face. “That she does, child. God gave her that gift for sure. She sings in the choir at church and they give her a solo every time they can talk her into singin’ one.”

She paused and her eyes became unfocused as if she was remembering some event from long ago. “She don’t sing much outside of church anymore. She used to sing all the time, but after her mama passed, the joy of singing just won’t there in the same way that it was before. It was hard for a young girl like her to lose her mama and have to move in with an old shriveled up woman like me.”

Just then, they heard stirring from Tanith’s bedroom. She was awake and was singing softly to herself. “Well praise the Lord. She’s in there singing again to herself just the way she used to. Bess, ever since you stepped foot into this house, things has happened. I think maybe you got an angel following you around.”

Bess knew the part about the angel was a joke. She started to smile when Nanna reached for her hand. “I mean it, child. I’ve been praying to God for months because my old hip was hurtin’ and I was afraid I’d be laid up and Tanith would have to take care of me more than she already did. I prayed that she’d be able to get a job that would give her a good life. I prayed that she’d sing again.

“And yesterday, when you came in with Tanith, I knew something was up. She don’t bring stray, pretty girls to visit. She ain’t made a lot of friends recently - I think when she leaves this apartment, she puts on a kind of armor that says to people, ‘Stay away.’ I’m sure it’s because she don’t want to get hurt again.

“But there won’t none of that at all when the two of you walked in. I could tell she was happy and that she trusted you. I ain’t felt that from her in a good while.

“And when you took my arm to help me up, God decided to answer my other prayer. Ever since then, my hip ain’t been hurting near as much. This morning was the first time in a long spell that I just sat up and got out of bed. Most mornings, it takes a few tries and a lot of sufferin’ before I can get on my feet - but not today.”

Tanith came in and joined them at the table. She was still in her pajamas, but she’d brushed her hair and she looked fresh and happy. Nanna smiled at her and got up to go to the kitchen. “I’ll go make you girls some breakfast.” Tanith watched carefully as Nanna rose and walked. As she left the room, Bess and Tanith heard her say, “Praise the Lord.”

Tanith leaned toward Bess and whispered, “Was yesterday a dream?” Bess giggled and put her hand on Tanith’s shoulder. Instantly they were connected. Bess felt her surprise, and then her happiness.

Yesterday had definitely not been a dream.

Chapter Two

There were only five people who wanted a ride to the airport to surprise Marina. Evan, Juliet, Edie, Tom and Roger were going. Jed and Jane and Allen and April were getting there on their own. That left Shannon and Jerry Wu.

Shannon called Roger soon after she’d heard about Jane’s idea to go see Marina officially become a commercial pilot. “Do you think Marina would mind if Jerry and I didn’t drag the kids out to the airport? I’d love to go see her, but I just don’t feel up to it this morning.”

She sounded a bit . . . uncertain. Roger started to reassure her it would be perfectly fine when he remembered another instance just a couple of days ago when Shannon had stayed behind to take care of one of her kids who was sick. And she’d asked Jane to assign Bess instead of her to the group going to Little Rock.

He had a mental vision of Jerry and Shannon in which they felt trapped in the apartment and trapped in New York - and perhaps even trapped in the Connection. Maybe they were tired of the group with all its meetings and plans and connecting. Maybe they just wanted to return to their normal lives in their normal house in Texas.

Roger didn’t know what was going on, but he was sure it was something. “Don’t worry Shannon. I know Marina won’t mind at all.” He paused for just a split second so that she wouldn’t have enough time to say anything. “By the way, I’ve got some time right now and I want to talk to you and Jerry about something. Are you up to a visit? It’s no problem if you’re not.”

He stopped talking and he heard nothing but silence for two full seconds. “Ah . . . sure Roger. Give me a couple of minutes to finish feeding the kids and we’ll be ready.”

Roger thought she sounded hesitant about meeting him. He’d never seriously considered what it would be like if one of their brothers or sisters actually decided to leave the group. It just didn’t seem possible.

But it was obviously possible and might even be happening. He felt regret for not having noticed it earlier. Jerry was more than superb with all kinds of aircraft and that knowledge would almost certainly be very useful when they started to build whatever kind of craft BP was dreaming up for them.

And Shannon seemed to always come up with great ideas. Roger thought of her as one of the leaders of the group. On top of that, she was one of only three who had the ability to connect in such as way so that they could see inside and manipulate living flesh. She was special in a very special way. She’d even healed each and every one of the people in the half way house in Little Rock. Roger knew he would hate to lose her and Jerry.

But maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe they just needed a break or wanted to move back to their own home, but continue their Connection work from there.

Or maybe Shannon had picked up that cold from her son and was just feeling a bit under the weather. The only way to find out was to go see them.

Roger took the stairs. Most of the time, they were actually quicker than the elevator. Plus, Jane had told him that every flight of stairs climbed burned five calories. He didn’t think he was putting on any weight, but maybe she saw something he didn’t, so he took the stairs.

His knuckles had hardly touched the door when Jerry opened it and let him in. The first thing Roger saw was Kari and Kevin as both of them called out in unison, “Uncle Roger!!” Kari ran up to him saying, “Story, Roger. Story.” She loved it when Roger read her a story.

“Not now, you two,” said Shannon. “It’s not your bedtime, sillies, and Mommy and Daddy need to talk to Uncle Roger. You run along to your rooms and play now.”

Kari’s smile quickly became a pout, so Roger bent down and whispered in her ear, “Next time, I’ll read you two stories.” She squealed in glee and ran off to her room.

The three adults stood and watched the kids leave. When both doors were closed, Shannon looked around the apartment and said, “Let’s sit.” Roger sat on the couch and Shannon sat beside him. Jerry pulled up a chair and sat facing them.

Roger thought that Shannon might actually be sick. She had fiery red hair and normally pale skin, but this morning she looked even a bit paler. Her freckles stood out clearly as she’d not applied any makeup to conceal them. Roger remembered how impressed Bess had been with her freckles, “They’re just so cute!! I so wish I had them.”

The silence was getting awkward. Roger spoke up and his voice sounded louder than he’d intended in the quiet room. “Are you two okay? I want to make sure you’re feeling all right. Are you sick or something? Or are you getting tired of the group? I’m feeling a little worried about you.”

Roger thought that his little speech had to be one of the dumbest sounding things he’d ever said. He struggled with trying to come up with something more coherent, when Shannon smiled. She knew what he meant.

“Roger, I can’t see inside myself. I think I’m under the weather a bit. Can you connect to me and look inside? And let Jerry and I see too?”

That was normally the way it worked. When Roger looked inside people, he could let others who were connected to him experience what he was seeing and doing.

She held out her hand to him in complete trust. Roger took it and connected to both Shannon and Jerry almost instantly. He wasn’t in the habit of looking inside his brothers and sisters, except for Jane. He’d been looking inside her several times a day for a while.

Inside Shannon, Roger saw light. It was diffuse with an almost bluish tint. It was clean and warm. Everywhere he looked, he saw that light shining from every part of her. Roger had nothing but instinct to fall back on when he was seeing these types of things, but somehow he knew this meant that Shannon was healthy and strong.

He could feel the intense concentration of Shannon and Jerry as they also saw what he was seeing. As he continued, he saw the light grow stronger. It was in the area where he normally did the egg hunt with Jane.

All of a sudden, Roger realized that there was another light, an even whiter one. It was a light that combined Shannon and Jerry. Roger finally understood - Shannon was pregnant.

He broke the connection to her instantly. Roger felt slightly embarrassed like he’d accidentally seen some part of her that he shouldn't have. Jerry was grinning from ear to ear. “I knew it. It’s a boy,” he said with a large amount of pride in his voice.

Roger didn’t know what to say. He had certainly not expected this. Shannon was staring at him. “So what are you thinking, Roger? I know we’ve only got seven years left here and they’ll be busy ones. I just want you to know that Jerry and I will still do whatever is needed. If we could make any kind of contribution to the group with two kids in tow, I promise the third one won’t make that contribution any less. I always feel pretty awful in the first parts of my pregnancy, but I’ll come around. I promise.” She had a worried look on her face.

Roger was shocked at hearing this. Shannon was actually worried that she might not be able to do as much Connection work as she had planned and hoped. She didn’t want to let the rest of the group down.

Once again, Roger had that feeling of awe that he got at the people who had become his brothers and sisters.

“I couldn’t be happier for you. This is just so unexpected - to me at least. I was worried that you were tired of the group and wanted to leave or something. I can be dense sometimes as Jane is quick to point out. I’m still in shock though. How did it happen?”

Roger realized he was talking nonsense again. He stopped to gather himself. “I . . . I . . . uh . . . I mean.” Now he was stuttering.

Shannon laughed and the worry lines on her forehead disappeared.

“Actually, Roger, it is all your fault. We’d always planned on three, either two girls and a boy or two boys and a girl. We’d been trying for a while before you and Jane came down to do that audit, but it just hadn’t happened.

“And then there was the tragedy with Jed, and you connected to Jerry, and then you connected to me when I joined. That day you left and we had that long distance party with the video broadcast between us, BP helped connect us all together for the first time as a group.

“You know how it works. The more you connect, the easier it is for it to happen. That night, Jerry and I tried and, lo and behold, it worked. You know how connecting makes you so close? Well, it did its magic that night for sure.” She stopped and looked at Jerry. He smiled at her with love. “It’s still working that magic now.

“And without you it wouldn’t have happened. I believe that with all my heart.”

Roger felt his face redden. He’d asked how it had happened, but he really didn’t expect to have an answer - especially one with this much intimate detail.

He needed to change the subject. “When are you going to make the big announcement? Jane will be ecstatic for you - heck, everyone will be.”

Jerry answered this one. “We wanted to talk to you first and let you know that you can still count on us. We’ll tell everyone else soon. It’s just that we don’t want to take attention away from April and Allen’s upcoming wedding.”

Roger considered this. “It’s up to you guys, of course, but I think it would be great to make the announcement during our party. Sure, wait until after the ceremony if you want - but it’ll be one more happy event for us all to celebrate.”

This time Shannon brought them all together in a connection and Roger felt her appreciation for his words. He also felt her strength. It seemed like more than enough for whatever lay ahead.

Chapter Three

Marina Gonzales couldn’t help herself - she was nervous and she wasn’t used to this feeling. Even when she was doing stall recovery practice and she felt the wings of the plane lose lift, she never broke a sweat. When she had to fly only on instruments with a hood over the windows of the plane so she couldn’t see outside at all, she never felt any great anxiety.

Today was the day she was going to take the test to become a certified commercial pilot. This was the second highest level of pilot licenses - only behind airline pilots. She looked forward to flying her friends and fellow members of the Connection around in her new jet. It would be bought and paid for by Evan Miller, but she thought of it as hers even though they hadn’t even started looking at what was available.

That day was coming and soon, but first she needed to get through today. In order to get her license, she had to do three things. First, she had to have over 250 hours of flight time which included a bunch of solos and longer flights. She’d done all that.

Next, she had to take an oral and flying test with an instructor in a “complex” aircraft. She’d done most of her recent training in a twin engine jet - a Beechcraft Premier 1A. Because she’d made a number of flights in this aircraft and because she could afford to pay for the flight time in a real jet, she would also be type certified to fly this plane once she passed her test. It was a luxury that most student pilots couldn’t afford, but she could - at least Evan Miller could.

She wasn’t worried about the flying part. Marina knew she was a good pilot. She was careful and exacting and talented. It wasn’t bragging for her to believe that; it was just the truth. She was confident that she’d pass the flying test and the oral exam that would go on during and after the flight.

It was the damned written test that was making her nervous. During the early part of her training, her instructor had told her there were two ways to approach the written test - she could study one of the guides in an attempt to memorize the questions and answers, or she could spend her time on the underlying knowledge and be prepared to answer just about any question.

The FAA published many of the potential questions on the test but you never knew where the correct answer would appear. It could be “A” in the study guide and “D” on the actual test. They also used different actual numbers for balance and fuel calculations and other things that required math. That meant you could never just memorize the right answer since you’d never seen the exact problem you were presented with.

Marina chose to study and understand the concepts. As an Airframe Mechanic, she knew far more than most pilots about how planes worked, so she figured she wouldn’t need to spend as much time memorizing, which also meant she could spend more time flying. Her instructor had agreed with a smile.

She had spent the weekend at the apartment building with her brothers and sisters and had returned late Sunday afternoon to the hotel where she stayed during her training. The trip from the apartment building was too long to do twice a day, so she stayed right beside the airport where she could train early and late and everything in between.

She had considered remaining at the apartment because of Roger’s meeting with that crappy Pastor Chuck, but he convinced her to stick to her plans. He made it feel like she’d made the decision herself. He could do that type of thing.

When she checked in, she was greeted by her favorite desk clerk. His name was Hector and he wasn’t shy about flirting with her. So far at least, she’d not offered him any encouragement. “Yo, Marina. Glad to see you. You’re looking fine as always. Just fine. Got a package here for you.” He went into a back room and came out with a book that appeared to be several hundred pages thick. On it was a note, “Marina, I didn’t want you to worry about this before, but it’s time now to hit the books. Please do some last minute cramming. It’ll help you get 100% on the test.”

She felt her blood pressure rise by a few points. Couldn’t he have warned her about this? She could have spent the weekend studying, but now it was basically the last minute. She prayed that her instructor knew what he was doing.

Hector was studying her. “Looks like it’s not good news. What say you and I go to this nice cafe I know and we can like talk about it. It’s kind of like quiet and romantic and it really gets girls in the mood. I’ll be off in like an hour.”

Marina hardly heard what he was saying, but she eventually returned her attention to him. “Not this time, Hector. Look, do me a favor please. Ask the kitchen to send up a pizza about 7 p.m. I’ve got to study this whole damn book tonight and be up early in the morning. I don’t want to take time even to call and order.”

Without waiting she turned and walked away carrying the book in one hand and pulling her bag behind her with the other. Hector watched her go. She was wearing shorts and a tank top. “Mercy” he said to himself as he lifted the phone to call the kitchen and put in her order.

When Marina woke the next morning, she was momentarily surprised to see the pizza box on her table with its leftovers still inside. She barely remembered eating a couple of slices last night. She’d stayed up past midnight studying, but finally made herself put the book down and get into bed.

She needed her rest for what was ahead, but even then she couldn’t fall asleep right away because she was worried about Roger. “Damn that boy for getting himself into this mess,” she thought. “He didn’t have to go see Pastor Chuck and he sure didn’t have to do it alone.” She fretted for over an hour until sleep finally took her.

Monday was spent doing one more short flight and studying. Early in the day Jane had texted her that Roger was fine and had “kicked butt.” She felt her heart swell with her love for him.

She also backed off on her study of that book. She realized she knew this stuff. Sure she missed a question once in a while, but she only needed to get seventy right out of a hundred. She was confident she’d be able to do that. What she really wanted was to get them all right, but that wouldn’t be easy. She felt a drive to do it though, and something told her that Jane would be the happiest of them all if she actually pulled off a perfect score. She felt a need to achieve that for her.

She hit the books again for a couple more hours. Her anxiety about the test was still there, but it wasn’t about passing; it was about getting as many right as she could. About midnight, she put the book away for the last time and fell asleep almost instantly.

Chapter Four

The five of them that were heading out to surprise Marina were in a stretch limo. It was quite spacious inside with large bench seats. As soon as the door closed and the driver took off, Edie took charge. She had a yellow legal pad and a pen.

“Yesterday afternoon I talked with a local law firm that has extensive experience in setting up non-profit corporations - in our case, a church. This is actually a very common thing, but can be chancy when the church is, like ours, totally new and without any affiliation with a known denomination.

“We should be able to make it happen, though. We have what’s needed. We have enough members to qualify. We can easily have a board of deacons or elders or whatever. The founding members can all be ministers of the church and thus eligible to receive wages.

“We are actively looking for new members and we have a defined set of beliefs.” She looked directly at Roger, “If you authorize me to continue, I’ll get the bylaws and statements of beliefs written for your approval. Once we are satisfied with the submission, we’ll file it and it’ll take up to a month to receive our certificate of incorporation, though we will be able to legally function as soon as we file. Then we’ll be an officially recognized church.

“Next, I suggest we go ahead and file with the IRS as a 501(3C) non-profit. This is not strictly necessary, but when they recognize us as a church, it provides an air of legitimacy that I think could be useful in the future.

“I think I’ll also want to retain a law firm so that they can help us plan our activities and spend money in a legal way. We’ll also need to retain an accounting firm.”

She made a note to herself. “I think that’s it. Questions?”

Roger wished Jane was here, but he knew what her first question would be, so he asked it. “How much will this cost?”

Evan Miller started to object to the question. To him, it didn’t matter what something cost. If they needed it to fulfill their mission, then they had to spend the money.

Before he could speak, Edie raised her hand to stop him. “Roger is right to ask, Evan. I don’t care how much you have; we’ve got to be careful in how we spend it. Please understand that I’m not worried about running out of money. I’m worried about crossing horns with someone who has a lot more than you do - like the government. That’s why we need these experts - to allow us to legally spend so that we can do what we are here to do without undue interference.

“So it’s a good question and a good habit to get into. We need to think before we jump when it comes to money.

“Now Roger, to answer your question. It’ll cost about $7K to create and file the papers to become an official church if we do it the way I suggest. After that, I think we’ll likely spend another $5K per month in fees with our lawyers and accountants. It may be more depending on what happens.”

Everyone was silent as they digested all that had been said. Juliet was the first to speak up, “Father Tom, what do you think of all this? Does it seem okay to you? I mean as a priest.”

Tom had thought about this very point. “Juliet, I guess so. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with us - with our group. There’s no moral issue with it to give me or anyone else pause. We are going to save life, aren’t we? We’re going to do it on a massive scale, right? There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.”

He paused as if he wanted to make sure he used just the right words. “I guess my only concern is with calling ourselves a church. In my mind, that term should be reserved for an organization that strives to learn about and do the will of God. Certainly, I’ve not been any kind of glowing example of what a Catholic priest should be, but I can appreciate the very good ones - the ones with unshakable faith. Those are the kinds of people who make a church meaningful.

“But I guess there can be all kinds of churches and we do seem to fit the legal definition, as Edie says. So here’s my bottom line - as long as we don’t encourage people to abandon their existing faith or to leave their existing churches, then I’m okay with it. I’d like to be involved in writing our bylaws and statement of beliefs so I can make sure of that.”

Roger realized this might be a bit of a balancing act. “So, we’re going to officially be a church, and we're going to actively try to increase our numbers - but part of our basic belief is that our members are free to join or continue as members of some other church - while all the time being a member of the Connection. I don’t see how that can work.”

Edie started to say something, but Tom got there first. “Edie, Jed, Jane and I talked about this last night with Bess on the line from Little Rock. It is, as you say, a problem, but we came up with what might be a workable solution. I think the key is that we do NOT want a bunch of new members like us - certainly not 430 of them. Right now there are thirteen of us and maybe the Colonel will join, or your friend Matt will decide he wants to be part of the group. Being a member does require a significant commitment - we will all likely have to completely dedicate ourselves to BP’s task for seven full years. Maybe we’ll decide to invite new people as we need them, but I don’t think we could ever recruit and manage the activities of many more than we have now - and doing it with such a large number is probably out of the question.

“So here’s what we came up with. See what you think.” Evan, Juliet and Roger were listening in rapt attention. Roger had a vision where he saw himself sleeping soundly while his team worked to come up with answers to their problems. He felt momentarily ashamed of himself, but quickly realized that they were leaving tomorrow and needed to have a real game plan. So it made sense that they would be talking. Jane was involved because she was Jane.

“Think of those people down in Little Rock waiting for us to come and tell them what’s going on. It’s not our plan to bring them up here to live with us as members. Instead, we’re going to tell them pretty much exactly what happened to them; how Shannon was able to connect to them and heal them of their addiction. We’ll explain connecting and demonstrate it to them individually and together as a group. We think that will be pretty powerful.

“Also, we are planning to see if any one of them might have the ability to heal. Right now, we have three out of thirteen who can do it. That’s a small sample, but more people who can do this type of connecting could be very useful. Bess came up with this idea.

“We’ll then explain to them that we want them to become our associates - Jane thought up that name for them. They won’t be full members of the Connection and know the entirety of the Revelation like we do, and they will return to their own lives. But we will keep in touch with them closely. We’ll arrange for periodic meetings where we get together and renew our connection to them. Bess says she can create a web site of some kind just for them to allow us to keep in close contact.

“And this solves our problem with being a church. They won’t actually be members - won’t even be offered membership unless we choose them. Therefore, they can join or remain as members of their own church. It’s kind of like a Baptist volunteering for the Salvation Army - you are a part of the group, but not as a full member. And you remain a member of your Baptist church.”

Evan had a puzzled look on his face. “You’re not going to tell them about the Revelation and why we are here? We’ll have to tell them something, I think - something about why we’re doing this and how it all happened.”

This time Edie answered. “Yeah, you’re right, Evan. We discussed it and think that trying to explain the full Revelation to people who never experienced BP will be more than difficult. It would probably turn off a lot of folks. But, like you say, we have to explain ourselves somehow.

“We thought about three simple things to tell them. First, we believe that humanity is in danger. That is true. Second, we believe that humans need to connect to each other in a new way, and third, once we have enough of us who can connect together, we will save humanity from this danger by bringing all of us together to simultaneously connect to each other. That is our goal and it will happen at some point in the future.

“It’s totally true and vague enough to not to sound too crazy or threatening - especially if we are sharing it with someone who’s already experienced a connection.”

There was no sound in the limo other than road noises. Evan looked a question at Juliet and she nodded her head ever so slightly. She was in agreement.

Now they all looked to Roger. He nodded too. “It’s a creative approach, that’s for sure. It seems like it might work, but I think we’ll know more after we try it out on our new associates in Little Rock. I wish I could go and see this, but I know that you’ll make it work if it’s workable.”

Chapter Five

Jane used her key to enter Jed’s apartment. She and Jed had exchanged keys almost as soon as they’d moved in. She considered it a waste of time to have to knock when Jed was going to let her in anyway.

She’d texted him to let him know she’d be coming by to pick him up so that they could go surprise Marina. She told him they’d get to the airport on their own. “We can have some time alone,” she wrote. Actually, they’d be in a cab, but at least they could concentrate on themselves and not Connection business. Jed wrote back, “Sounds gr8!”

She went to the kitchen area and turned on the coffee maker and found a pod of the Italian roast that he liked and loaded the machine with it. She heard the sounds of the shower running and then it stopped. She filled a cup with warm water and then dumped it out so that the cup wouldn’t cool the coffee too quickly. Jed had once complained that the coffee wasn’t hot enough so she’d looked up how to keep it hot longer.

Just as the stream of black liquid had almost filled the cup, Jed walked in wearing boxer shorts. He wasn’t surprised to see her, just happy. Jane took the cup from the machine and put it on the counter and stretched up on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek. “Mornin’ darlin’,” he said.

Jane never tired of his lean form - tall, with wiry muscles that she knew to be very, very strong. He could lift her seemingly without effort.

He was about a month younger than her, and almost 6 inches taller but Jane thought they fit together like they’d been made for each other. She’d been strongly attracted to him the first time they met down in Texas. When Roger healed him and he joined the Connection, the two had become inseparable.

Except when they were having one of their fights. Jane knew she could be hard to live with - she’d had a few boyfriends, but none had managed more than a week or two with her. Sometimes they had enough of her, but mostly, she found faults with them she couldn’t live with.

But Jed wasn’t like the others. When she was being unreasonable, he told her so. When she was being selfish and unthinking, he let her know. Her first reaction had been to lash out at him with some scathing comment, but he never wavered in his love for her and they’d always made up quickly. The making up was nice.

She had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, but now she was having trouble starting to talk. “Ah, Jed . . . hon . . . you know Allen and April are getting married during our party on Saturday night. Well, I was wondering . . . if you still want to . . .”

She didn’t need to say any more. Jed swept her up in his arms. “You made up your mind? You’re ready to get hitched with ol’ Jed?” His Texas accent came and went, but when he was alone with her, he usually had it.

Jane moved a step away from him and looked him right in the eyes, “If you are, I am. I think I'm finally ready and I also think you’ll actually be able to put up with me.”

They had planned on getting married and even had the license, but Jane wouldn’t agree to a date. Jed thought it might be because of her feelings for Roger and that grated at him just a little bit.

Jed thought he knew the answer, but he asked anyway. “Have you told Roger?”

She was still holding both his hands in hers, “Yeah, I did. And I also talked to April and Allen to make sure it was okay with them. By the way, Mr. Jealous, Roger always said I should marry you. We do love each other, but not as husband and wife. That could never happen with us. No, it’s you I want. I guess I knew it from that first night we met at Jerry’s party. I just wasn’t ready until now. I think I was afraid you wouldn’t love me as much once you really got to know me.”

Jed smiled at her and left her alone in the kitchen without a word. She heard a drawer opening in his bedroom. In an instant he was back, this time carrying a little box.

He opened it and inside was a ring. “I bought this back home before we flew up here. I prayed I’d need it, Jane Mitchell. I started to give it to you when we got the license, but you said that was ‘just in case’ so I didn’t. I’m glad I waited ‘till now.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jane held out her left hand and Jed slipped the ring on her finger. She marveled at it as the diamond sparkled in the bright kitchen lights. She thought it was the most beautiful ring in the entire world.

She went to him and they embraced. She kissed him, at first slowly with pure love, but soon her love evolved into passion. His muscles were hard against her.

Jed’s hands pulled her even closer. They started to roam. Jane gulped air and pulled away. “Wait just a minute, you big ape.” she said.

She held up her left hand. “See this? I’m an engaged girl. And this engaged girl is getting married soon. And after that, this engaged girl will have her wedding night.

“And until then, there’ll be no monkey business.” She’d learned that expression from Tanith.

“Now go get dressed. I can’t have my future husband parading around like that, showing off his muscles.”

Jed started to obey. He turned away, but quickly reversed course and gave her another quick kiss. “I guess I can still steal a kiss once in a while from my best girl.”

“You just hurry up and get dressed. We’ve got to stop and pick up something on the way and I do not want your primping to make us late to see Marina.” Jed bowed to her and left to get dressed.

Jane had a fleeting thought that at this exact place, and at this exact second, she was the happiest she’d ever been in her entire life. “God,” she prayed, “Don’t let it ever end.”

Chapter Six

Pastor Chuck Cleimer was still in a bad mood. Yesterday had been a foul day starting with his shouting match with Roger Seaton. It didn’t get better when he’d learned that Matt Shively had apparently quit his job and left without a word.

Now he arrived at eleven this morning to find that his secretary, Amanda Perkins, didn’t have his coffee waiting. He didn’t yell, he just looked her in the eye and said, “If you can’t manage to do the simplest part of your job, maybe I need to get someone else; someone younger with more energy.”

He stomped off to his private office in a huff and didn’t even thank her when she brought in the tray with his coffee a few minutes later.

Pastor Chuck wasn’t usually so nasty. Most of the time, he was nice; almost oily in his niceness. But last night, as he went over the events of the day in his mind, he remembered how that damned Roger Seaton had spent some time with Amanda before he arrived. Suddenly, he was certain that she’d told him things she shouldn’t have. He suspected that she may have even known Matt was leaving and didn’t tell him.

That was betrayal and if he could prove she was guilty, she’d be out the door in a heartbeat. “I don’t know why I’ve kept her around all these years. She’s sure not much to look at,” he thought to himself.

She was almost to the door when he had an idea. “Amanda, wait a minute, please.” He said this with sudden warmth in his voice.

Chuck had reread most of the Revelation last night. It was a strange document, but it was also powerful. It seemed to explain a lot, but it was also very frustrating because he didn’t know what the last part of the Revelation was - and that was the most important part.

However, he did know about connecting and he’d learned he had the ability. He’d been practicing this skill with Matt and Colonel Stout when he counseled them. He also used it in church to help fill the offering plates. He was still pretty new at it and realized that he could be clumsy - maybe that had something to do with Matt’s leaving.

Actually, until yesterday, he’d thought that he was pretty darn good at connecting. The more he used this gift, the stronger he became with it. Yet, that damn Roger had blocked his attempts to connect without seeming to expend any effort at all. It was probably because Roger was connecting to that whole crowd of robots that made up the members of his damned cult. He was probably connecting to each of them several times a day, so it was no wonder he was strong. He knew for sure that Roger was connecting a lot with that tall girl, Jane Mitchell. He could probably totally dominate her by now and make her do anything he wanted. Maybe he had that power with all the others too. Maybe he’d blasted their minds so often that they were hollow shells with no will of their own. It was a chilling thought, but also an interesting one.

He got up from his desk and walked toward Amanda. “I want to say something. When you leave this room, I’ll ask God to forgive me for snapping at you, but first I’ll ask you to forgive me. I shouldn’t take my problems out on you.”

The apology certainly sounded sincere and Amanda started to smile. He reached out and put his hand on her elbow in a friendly gesture.

And then he tried to connect to her. He hoped her feelings would tell him what he wanted to know - either she’d be feeling vengeful towards him, or she’d be feeling thankful for his apology.

At first, he tried to make the connection very gentle. He did that at church and people never knew what was happening. It just seemed to them that they suddenly had an inspiration to double their offering. They felt his approval and this served to reinforce what seemed like a chance notion. Their wallets almost always opened wider.

With Amanda, he didn’t feel anything. He pushed harder. He’d learned he wasn’t as strong as Roger, but surely he could connect with this empty headed nobody.

There was still nothing. She was a blank to him. He pushed harder still until she said “Ow” and removed his hand from her elbow. He’d been squeezing. “I . . . I . . . I hope you’ll accept my apology,” he stammered as he turned his back and went back to his desk. Amanda left the room without speaking.

“Well damn it all to hell,” he thought. “I can’t even connect to a twit.” He looked at his schedule; Colonel Stout was scheduled for a counseling session at two. He’d have to take full advantage of that opportunity to get stronger at connecting.

And he’d have to either find Matt and bring him back or get a replacement. He realized that he felt better because he now knew what his problem really was - he just wasn’t strong enough yet. But he also knew something else - he had time and he had the desire. He just needed a group like Roger’s that he could connect to whenever he wanted to.

For the first time in over twenty four hours, he felt normal - in control, self assured and on track to get what he wanted.

Chapter Seven

Nine members of the Connection stood out in the somewhat sleepy general aviation terminal. There were knots of people all over the large open space, but most were made up of only two or three people. One other larger group was obviously a family. You could tell they were a family because each of them wore an identical American flag pin. At the head of the group, an old man stared out the windows of the terminal.

Allen and April had just arrived. They were the last members who would be there in person. Bess had called Father Tom and explained to him how to use his new secure phone to broadcast the scene to her and Tanith in Little Rock. Jerry and Shannon Wu were also happy to hear they could see the look on Marina’s face when she arrived from taking her test. Everyone called them “Bess Phones” which made her giggle whenever someone referred to them that way.

Bess had asked them to bring another one of the unmodified phones with them when they traveled to Little Rock tomorrow so she could set Tanith up with it. Edie had remarked, “That girl is organized and smart enough to be a good lawyer.” From her, that was quite a compliment.

The wall of the terminal facing the runway was made of glass so that they could see people as they walked by outside. There was a constant stream of them - some were going to their planes, others were arriving and some were traveling between the several buildings that made up this part of the airport.

The group didn’t have to wait long. Jed called out “There she is!” and everyone looked to see Marina leave a building and walk towards the terminal. Roger studied her body language as she got closer to see if he could tell what the news was, but he couldn’t discern anything. As before, she was wearing her pilot’s uniform - it was exactly the same as the men wore down to the tie, but it was obvious that no man was inside this one.

The Connection gathered in an area off to the side of the entranceway so Marina wouldn’t see them the second she entered. Others in the terminal sensed something was up and stopped to watch. The old man and his family did too.

When Marina walked into the terminal, she looked straight ahead - at least until Jane called out, “Surprise, my sister!” Marina stopped and looked at them in surprise while trying to make sense of what her eyes were seeing.

It didn’t take long for her to break out in a smile that seemed to go from ear to ear. She walked toward the group, but before she made it to them, Jane and Jed unfurled a banner. It was six feet wide and three feet high. It said, “Congratulations Captain Marina Gonzales! 100% Score Commercial Pilot’s Test.”

By then everyone in the terminal was smiling as Marina waded into the crowd of friends. Father Tom was holding up his phone to stream the video. He gave her a hug and then moved aside so he could continue to stream the festivities.

Everyone told Marina how proud they were of her and how they looked forward to flying with her. Roger was the last one to greet her. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a good hard kiss. She put her lips near his ear and whispered, “I know you caused this to happen by having faith in me. I also know I’ll never forget it, Roger. I do love you.”

Now they all encircled her and Jed spoke up so that they could all hear. “I’ve gotta know, Marina. Did you really get a perfect score on the test?”

Marina looked directly at Jane. All of a sudden, there was complete silence as everyone waited for her answer. “Yeah, there were a couple hard ones, but somehow I lucked out and got them right.”

Jed laughed out loud. “When we went to pick up this sign, I asked Jane what would happen if you didn’t get a perfect score. She looked at me with that look of hers like she’s tryin’ to memorize what the dumbest person in the world looks like. Then she just shook her head and said ‘This is Marina taking a test about airplane stuff. There’s no way she’s not getting a perfect score.’ ”

Everyone laughed as Marina went to Jane and embraced her again. She told her, “I promise I won’t ever let you down, my sister. I’ll do anything you ask.”

Father Tom was getting the hang of being the video director. He could see what was being streamed on the display of his phone. Often, he showed the entire group, but sometimes he zoomed in. He focused on Marina and Jane as they embraced.

Just then nine phones beeped to indicate they had a text. Bess had sent it. “Marina, you are the best!!!!!! Congratulations from me and Tanith!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!!! BTW, what is that ring on Jane’s finger?”

Eight pairs of eyes instantly sought out that one finger. Marina took Jane’s left hand and studied it and then held it up so that everyone could see. Roger thought that this was probably the second time he’d seen Jane turn red from embarrassment. Her face might be red but it also glowed with happiness. A new round of congratulations started, this time starting with Marina to Jane.

Roger walked over to Jed and offered his hand. “I’m so glad for you and for Jane.”

Jed held onto the shake. “I think I’ve got you to thank for it, Little Buddy. I know I do.”

Roger turned and noticed a door open on a plane outside the terminal. A set of stairs was pushed out the plane. At the bottom of the stairs stood four people - all soldiers in uniform. Two of them went inside the plane.

Jed sensed that Roger’s attention was outside and followed his gaze to see what was happening. Roger walked to the terminal entrance so he could see better and Jed followed him.

Those two soldiers appeared in the plane doorway with a wheelchair. In it was another soldier. They lifted the chair and carried it carefully down the stairs to the tarmac and then started to wheel it to the terminal. As they got closer, Roger saw that the soldier in the chair had some type of artificial, metal leg. It started right below his knee and ended in a shoe. That shoe was polished to a mirror shine.

By now, others in the Connection were watching these events unfold. Tom started to stream it. Roger looked at the group he’d seen earlier. He understood now - obviously, they were here to greet their returning relative. Some had smiles on their faces, while a couple did not. The old man was probably the grandfather of the returning soldier.

As the wheelchair approached the terminal entrance, the wounded soldier raised his hand to signal that the person pushing him should stop. He said a few words while the others with him seemed to be in disagreement on something. They shook their heads and pointed inside.

The soldier seemed to take no notice of their objections. He put his hands on the arms of the wheelchair and started to push himself up. His companions came to his aid, but he said something and they stepped aside without touching him. He obviously wanted to walk inside to greet his family on his own.

But that action had a price. Roger realized this was why his companions didn’t want him to stand up. Doing that hurt and it apparently hurt a lot. Roger saw the pain on the face of this wounded soldier. It was obvious to him and to everyone. By now, just about everyone in the terminal was watching in silent attention.

As he took one tentative step and then another, the door opening mechanism sensed a human being wanting entry and opened the doors wide with a whoosh. None of his relatives were smiling now, but they all had concern and love on their faces. Roger thought he saw a tear run down the cheek of the old man. Not a soul in the entire terminal moved.

The soldier only had to take a few more steps as he passed within inches of Roger and Jed. His relatives could have run to him, but they knew the price he was paying to walk to their embrace. It was what he wanted.

With every step Roger watched the shoe that was connected to the artificial leg. It must have been on some type of pivot, because every time it left the ground, it swiveled up and down on its own like a teeter totter.

And every time that shoe touched the ground, Roger saw the pain that the soldier felt. He knew it hurt and that it had been hurting for a long time. The soldier’s forehead was beaded in sweat from the effort of walking.

When he passed Roger, the soldier looked over and their eyes met. Roger connected to him at that moment. He didn’t plan on it; it was something seemingly beyond his control. The strain on the face of this brave man was too much. Roger thought to himself, “He’s carrying a heavy burden - more than a man should have to carry.” The soldier stopped and turned slightly toward Roger. The terminal was completely silent now as everyone watched. Roger could see a nametag - it said Sgt. Dwayne Baker.

Like always, Roger didn’t know what to do intellectually - but instinct took over and led him. The connection was sharp and almost violent. Roger felt what Dwayne was feeling and it was pain. Awful, continuous pain. Pain that lived to cause misery. Pain that drugs could only temporarily dull, yet never completely stop.

Roger found the source of the pain. It was, of course, where his leg had been blown off. The doctors had done what they could to keep him alive, but there were nerves in what remained of his leg that sent constant pain messages to his brain. They shouted, “We are hurt! Stop what you are doing and we’ll stop sending the pain!”

But there was no way to make those nerves behave normally. That would require Dwayne to get his leg back and Roger couldn’t do that.

He could stop those pain messages though. Somehow he knew he could do that. He also knew that doing it would require him to basically kill those nerve cells and make it forever impossible for them to function. Roger struggled momentarily as he considered the meaning of this type of irreversible action - suppose some new treatment was developed in ten years that would allow Dwayne to walk normally by connecting some robotic thing to those very nerves.

Then Roger saw something else and it scared him. The chance that this brave man would be alive in ten years was, right now, remote. The pain was just too much. It was too constant and too ingrained. It was the type of pain that drove men insane with the never ending nature of it.

Roger saw, deep inside Dwayne, an idea. It wasn’t a new one - it had probably appeared soon after he was wounded. That idea looked to Roger like a gun. A warm, friendly gun. A tool that had the ability to stop the pain once and for all. A gun that was his friend. It called to him in a quiet voice. “I’ll take the pain away my friend.” So far, Dwayne had resisted that call, but Roger could tell he was weakening. He could see that Dwayne wanted to see his family one more time and then he would perhaps listen to the call of the gun.

It was too much. Roger knew he could not let that happen.

Roger found those screaming nerves. He killed them all, one by one. He momentarily wondered at how easy it was to cause damage or even kill using his ability, even if it was for a good cause. Bess had been ashamed when she’d hurt a foul mouthed kid who’d grabbed Tanith, but they had all agreed she’d done the right thing. Still, he hoped that doing damage with his power wouldn’t become a common thing.

He then sent a feeling to Dwayne of confidence and peace. He couldn’t send him real words, but the message was clear - things will be better now. Your family needs you - the gun does not.

As was his habit, he’d shared his connection with the others members of his team. They’d all seen what he saw. They experienced what he experienced and they felt the relief that he felt.

He was done. He and Jed started to walk away. The old man embraced his grandson and somehow knew that the pain was gone, perhaps through some lingering effect from the powerful connection that had just happened. Now the rest of the family joined in the embrace. “Hallelujah!” the old man cried. “Praise the Lord!”

Sgt. Dwayne Baker called out, “He did it! He did it! Oh, my God.” He pointed to Roger and Jed.

By now they had returned to his friends. Father Tom said to them all, “Let’s get out of here.”

Everyone thought that was a good idea. Suddenly, they felt exposed - here they were in a public place, connecting to people and publicly healing them. Right now, everyone in the terminal was focused on Sgt. Baker, but soon the word about what had happened would spread and lord knows what might happen.

Quickly, they left as a group. The limo was waiting outside. When the driver saw them, he jumped to open the door. Juliet said to him, “Quick now - as soon as we’re in take off back to the apartment. You don’t have to drive fast, just get started right away.”

They had not planned on all of them traveling in the limo, but waiting around for a cab seemed like a pretty bad idea right now. The two bench seats inside the limo were wide and far apart so that four people could squeeze onto each one. Jed sat on the floor between them with his back against the door. Jane sat in his lap with her arm around his shoulders.

The car started almost immediately and accelerated quickly. For a full two minutes, no one said anything as they all tried to come to grips with what had just happened. They were all happy for Sgt. Baker, of course, but Roger’s healing of him had been so unexpected that they were in shock. One minute they were celebrating Marina’s achievement and Jane’s engagement, and then the next they were witnessing a miracle.

Finally, Jane pulled her hair behind her ear and looked straight at Roger with both eyes. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? You’ve run across some poor soul that needed help and you’ve connected to him or her and you’ve helped them. And you’ve never said a word about it to the rest of us, have you?”

At first Roger started to deny it, but then he remembered other times where something similar might have happened. He didn’t say anything but his expression answered Jane’s question.

Her eyes bored in on him. “I thought so. You know Roger, I think I finally understand completely why you are the leader of this group. It’s not because BP happened to find you and develop your abilities; it’s because you just have an instinct to do the right thing with those abilities. By the time I’d have thought to try and help that soldier, he’d have been embraced by his family and the chance would have passed. I don’t want to swell your head more than it is already, but we’re lucky to have you leading us.”

Now Roger was starting to feel a bit warm. Everyone was staring at him. Edie sat forward in her seat and attempted to start a connection with the entire group. She and Tom were new at it, but it was getting easier for them. They could all tell she was struggling to complete the circuit with all ten people, but no one tried to help her, because it was obviously important to her that she do it on her own. Finally, with a great effort, the connection between them all was complete.

She let them all feel what she was feeling - appreciation. “I got healed not too many days ago. Shannon did it, but when you’re the one getting healed, it’s a miracle - it’s a personal miracle. One minute you’re sick or in pain or injured, and the next you’re not.

“But what I saw today, I’ll never forget. Thank you Roger, for letting us all experience what you did. I had no idea how powerful that kind of connecting can be. I only realized it when I witnessed, first hand, the power and the pure goodness you used to heal that Sergeant. I’ll never forget that. And like my sister Jane says, we are indeed lucky to have you lead us.”

Now Roger was feeling truly embarrassed. Edie broke the connection before everyone could feel his discomfort. He sincerely hoped another person would not continue the “Roger is so great” testimonials.

But before he could suggest they move on to another topic, Allen asked, “How did that old man know that the Sergeant was healed of his pain?”

It was a good question. There hadn’t really been time to think much about it, but Roger had a theory. “Maybe he’s like Pastor Chuck - he’s a natural at being able to connect. We think the skill could be in many people; they just don’t know how to use it. It may be that he’s one of those who just naturally figured it out. I was sharing with you guys and maybe he picked up some of those signals too.”

There was silence as everyone considered what Roger had said. Jane broke it, “It might be a good idea to look up Sergeant Baker sometime soon. You know, see how he’s doing.” Juliet made a note on her phone.

Roger knew it was time to return to more mundane matters. “So what time are you guys leaving tomorrow? Do you have flights booked?”

Jane snorted. “Like they’re going to fly on some airline. Marina is going to fly them, of course.”

That was news to Roger. They didn’t have a plane yet or anything. Marina saw the look of surprise on his face. “Unless you have a problem with it, Juliet and I arranged to get the Beech again. It’ll hold six passengers and I’m type qualified on it. Laird Jensen will be flying up front too, though this particular model of jet is one of the few that can be legally flown with only one pilot.”

Now that was news to Jane. “But you’ll be in charge right? You’ll be doing the flying.” That latter part was not said as a question.

Marina smiled at her. She knew that Jane had a fear of flying, but only with every other pilot in the world. She had an unshakable confidence in Marina. Roger was the only other one who knew about her phobia and Marina knew they would both keep her secret.

“I’ll be the pilot in command on this flight, Jane. That means I make the final decisions on how the flight is to be handled. It is customary for each pilot to get some time behind the controls - one will take off and the other will land, for example. But Laird has so many more hours than me, I don’t think he’ll mind if I take all of both flights.”

Jane sat back against Jed. She looked at her new ring. “Captain Marina. That’s got a good ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Chapter Eight

“Was that Roger? What did he do?” Tanith and Bess had watched the events back in New York until the stream had abruptly ended. Tanith was confused by what she’d witnessed.

“Yep, that’s him. I don’t know for sure, but I think he helped that young soldier somehow. It could have been something like what I did with Nanna, but he’s about a zillion times better at it than I am. But I don’t think even he could grow a leg back. It had to be something else. You can bet he did something good though. That’s the way he is.”

They were at Hennes and Mauritz shopping for clothes when they logged in to see Marina be surprised. Bess had only packed some shorts and sweat pants along with a couple of T-shirts. She hadn’t had time to really pack, but that didn’t worry her since she knew she could buy some clothes after she got to Little Rock. Her wardrobe back home was mostly college girl casual, but now she wanted some things that a confident and capable business woman would wear. She thought about the outfit she’d bought to show Roger that she wasn’t a child. It was a dress that hugged her curves and was high at the bottom and low at the top. He’d stuttered when he’d seen her in it and his eyes got real big, so it had worked. But she knew she couldn’t wear that kind of thing in a business environment.

Tanith had suggested this place to shop. “It’s new and really has a lot of great looking things for girls our age - I mean women our age. It’s not too expensive either - I guess I could afford a couple of things now.”

Juliet had sent cash to Tanith. She’d counted the money last night, sitting cross legged on her bed while Bess looked on. “Bess, there’s $2000 here.” She sounded surprised.

“Isn’t that what Jane told you to expect?”

Tanith looked up from the money, “Yeah, but I never dreamed she really meant it. I mean, that they’d really pay this much - to me, I mean.” She was sounding a bit overwhelmed. So much had happened to her in just one day. Bess understood how it could be hard to process it all.

Before they left that morning, Tanith tried to give $1900 to Nanna. “No child,” she said with pure love in her voice. “Bess tol’ me they want you for a real job with them. You’ll be getting more, I imagine. You take more of it and buy yourself some of them things you’ve done without. You go on and do it now, you hear. Ain’t that right, Bess?”

Bess had never met either of her grandmothers. In her mind, they would have been just like Nanna. If she and Tanith could be sisters, then they could certainly share a grandmother, couldn’t they?

She went to Nanna and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The old woman smiled. “That’s right, Nanna. She’ll be earning good money from now on. She did such a super duper job with this meeting and I think there’ll be more of them down here.”

Eventually, Tanith had taken $500. Bess also had an envelope from Juliet. It contained a thousand dollars and a credit card in her name. Bess wondered what the limit was on that card. She guessed it might be as much as $1000.

So here they were, two young ladies with the means to buy just about any outfit they wanted in the store.

Actually, that made it harder since there was so much to choose from. “How do you think this looks? Is it too short? Do women wear silk blouses with a bit of cleavage to business meetings? Do these pants make me look like a boy? Should this belt match my shoes or my bag? Do these stripes make me look fat?”

They tried on at least a dozen outfits and modeled them for each other. Tanith could not remember any other time when she’d laughed and giggled so much for such a long period of time. In the end, they each bought a dress and a pants outfit. They agreed that, for the two days of their meetings, one would wear a dress one day and the other would wear pants.

They also bought some things for the party in New York on Saturday night. Now that Nanna could get around on her own easily, Tanith gave in and said she’d go. Bess knew she was still worried about being with a bunch of strangers at what Tanith called “a fancy New York party,” but Bess had told her she’d fit right in and Tanith trusted Bess. They’d only known each other twenty four hours, but now they were sisters. Bess thought they looked sensational in their party clothes.

For this afternoon, both of them bought casual slacks and tops. They were going to do a final check at the hotel and also at the halfway house. Those chores didn’t require dressing up, so they went for comfort - Bess called it “the hot but classy comfort look.” Tanith giggled at her.

They had rented a car for the remainder of the week. Bess was proud beyond all reason that, at twenty one, she was old enough to rent a car. The only problem was that Tanith was a far better driver since, as a New Yorker, Bess seldom got to drive at all. Plus Tanith knew the town inside out and was very experienced. When Bess almost hit a pole backing out of the parking lot, Tanith said to her, “Listen to me, sister. Thank God I’m no longer a chauffeur, but I was always a good driver and still am. Let me do the driving, okay?” Bess felt a bit disappointed, but she saw the wisdom in Tanith’s words. As they circled the car to change places, Tanith gave her a hug which made her feel a little better.

They found the halfway house to be quiet. They knocked and when no one answered, Tanith opened the door and looked inside. In the front room were stacks of suitcases and bags. There was singing coming from a back room.

Tanith had been here before, so she called out, “Hello! Anyone home?”

The music stopped and a girl came out to see them. She was almost waif thin with uneven hair that looked a bit unkempt. She had on torn jeans and a cropped top that ended just above her navel.

Tanith had met these people before and that meeting hadn’t gone very well. “You’re Courtney right? Courtney Coburn, I’m Tanith Watson and this is Bess Olman. She’s with the group you’re meeting with tomorrow. We just came by to see if everyone is set. Looks like the bags are packed. Do you know if anyone needs anything? We’ll be here with a van around noon to pick you up and take you all to the hotel.”

Courtney studied Tanith and then turned her gaze towards Bess. She opened her mouth to speak, but it took a second for her vocal chords to decide to cooperate. “Ah, yeah, I think they’re all set to go back to their practices and universities and stuff. They got their tickets and everything. I hate to see’em go.”

She seemed down. Bess was surprised because being connected to and healed usually left people ecstatic, thanking Shannon or God or someone for the wonderful thing that had happened to them. She stepped forward and offered her hand. Courtney took it and Bess connected to her right away. Bess had become very good at doing this. She added Tanith to the connection.

At first, Bess felt her sadness, but there was something else there too. Even when connected, you had to agree to share your feelings - this girl was holding something back, something important to her.

Bess turned up the wattage of her connection. “Tell me,” is all she said.

It was enough. “I . . . I just talked to my manager. I’m a musician and I’ve written a couple of songs that got to be a little popular and I made a little money. That’s why I’m here with these other people who really are smart and successful.”

She paused. “Not like me. They’ve got degrees and diplomas. I’m just a little lucky. Or at least I was. You see, my manager is also my boyfriend. He introduced me to lots of big shots in the music biz. That’s where the trouble started - they all wanted to party. It was sex, drugs and rock and roll, you know? I was never a big fan of the drugs, but I sure loved the booze and if I was drunk enough, the rest didn’t matter.

“I hit bottom and got myself in this program, but I think I was just about ready to give up when those people came here and healed me - healed all of us. I could feel how much it took out of that red haired girl to do what she did. And I felt the love for her from all her friends - especially that tall girl. She hovered over her like a mother hen.”

Courtney stared into space, reliving that moment when she’d been healed. She knew she’d never, ever forget it.

“When Edie and Tom called to tell us about this meeting, everyone was super happy. We all wanted to get on with our lives, but we wanted to do it with some sort of relationship with those people who helped us so much. We felt so close to them, you know? It only took a touch and a few minutes; that’s the really amazing thing.

“So, we all can’t wait until tomorrow to see Edie and Tom and the others who are coming to talk to us. We’ve all made our arrangements and are ready to leave and put this place behind us.

“At least I was. When Eddie - that’s my manager - when he called, I was excited to talk to him. He’d been busy and we hadn’t talked a lot while I was here. Once he heard that I was ‘cured’ he got real excited. ‘You got any new tunes?’ he asked. I told him I couldn’t write or even sing for a long time, but in the last few days I’d started again. He said, ‘That’s my girl. Get that sweet butt out here and I’ll line up the meets with the right people. We’ll get that career goin’ again if it kills me.’

“Actually, it will probably kill me. I am cured, and I have no desire to drink at all. But I’m still different, like inside, you know? If I start drinking again, I know my brain will again develop a longing for alcohol like it did before. For all of us here, starting drinking is the furthest thing from our minds - we don’t need to drink and we’ve learned our lesson - we don’t want to drink either.

“But if I go back to my boyfriend, my manager, I think I’ll start again. I’m weak. Those people out there are strong and they don’t care. If they ask someone to party and they say ‘no,’ to them it just means they have to push all the more. Sooner or later I’ll give in and I’ll be back where I was - flat on my back and a drunk.”

Now there were no secrets between them. Bess thought for a moment. “What do you want to do?” It was a simple question.

“That’s the problem right there. I don’t know. I just know that if I use that airplane ticket to go back to Eddie, I’ll undo all the good you people have done. I sure don’t want to do that.”

Tanith asked, “Is there somewhere else you can go? Your parents? Can you stay here for a while and get your career restarted without that manager?”

“My parents won’t take me. There’s no chance of that. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go to Nashville, but half the music people in California come from there. Maybe that’s the problem right there - it’s just the crappy music business. Maybe I should stay here and be a waitress at a diner or something. Oh hell, I’ll probably just go back to my manager. I think he loves me. He says he does.”

Bess broke the connection and suddenly she felt alone. She’d been so close to these two people just a moment ago. Now that was over.

“Listen Courtney, will you do something for me? Will you promise to come to the meetings tomorrow and Thursday? Maybe things will be clearer for you then, after you hear what we are going to tell you. But don’t make up your mind now - let’s see what happens. Is that okay? Will you promise to be there?”

Bess was a bit worried that she was ready to give up and just fly back to California. That would not be happening. Not if she could help it.

“What . . . what just happened here Bess? I felt so close to you . . . and Tanith too. It was like before. You touched me and it happened. That’s all it took?”

Bess almost reached for her again, but realized she hadn’t had an answer to her question. “We’ll explain everything in our meetings. But promise me you’ll be there, Courtney. Promise you won’t fly back until you hear what we have to say.”

She looked down at her hand like it might have somehow changed without her knowing it. Then she said,”Yeah, Bess. I promise I’ll be there. I wouldn’t want to miss this.”

Chapter Nine

Colonel Stout arrived early for his counseling session. He’d been early for the last few of them. First it was a couple of minutes, but it seemed to Amanda that he arrived just a bit earlier each time. Today he was there twenty minutes before his appointment.

She IM’d Chuck to let him know that the Colonel was here, but she knew that wouldn’t make any difference. He was in there now, probably reading a magazine or surfing to one of his sites. She knew he’d keep the Colonel waiting until it was exactly two o’clock.

To her eyes, the Colonel didn’t look good. There were new lines on his face and a certain almost looseness to him that hadn’t been there when he started coming to see Chuck.

Something similar had happened to Matt. At first he was excited to be here and happy to work closely with Chuck. But it didn’t take long for him to change for the worse.

Amanda has been in this job for almost four years and had seen lots of Chuck’s clients come and go. Generally, they seemed pleased and appreciative for what he did for them and most seemed to be better for the experience. But lately, especially with Matt and the Colonel, they seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

She’d talked to Matt today and asked him about it, but he wouldn’t tell her anything other than that she should quit her job.

That wasn’t news to her. After the way she’d been treated this morning, she was bound and determined to get out of here. But it wasn’t that easy. Chuck was a bastard, but he was a bastard that paid well. It wouldn’t be easy to find a job to replace her present paycheck.

While all this ran through her mind, the Colonel sat motionless and stared ahead. When he first started coming here, he seemed troubled, but now he seemed almost comatose, like he was playing some scene in his head again and again. Chuck had increased their sessions to four times a week and that hadn’t seemed to have helped at all.

“Can I get you a coffee, Colonel? Or a soda? Water?”

“How about a brain?” she added to herself.

He looked at her like he’d forgotten she was there. “Will he be able to see me soon?” His voice sounded somehow unnatural.

“He’s running pretty much on schedule today, Colonel. He should be with you right on time at two.”

There was still ten minutes to go. “I understand Matt quit,” he said.

That morning, he’d called Matt only to be told by him that he “had come to his senses. And you should too, Colonel. Chuck messed be me up bad and he’ll do the same with you. I’m done with him. My advice is for you to dump him too.”

Amanda didn’t know what Chuck wanted her to say about this, if anything. She thought, “Well, damn him.” After the way he’d yelled at her today, he could go to blazes for all she cared.

“Yes, Matt quit. Pastor Chuck seemed a bit put out about it.” If Chuck didn’t like her talking to the Colonel, the lazy ass should just see him when he arrived.

“I can see how that might happen.” Colonel Stout paused and looked at his wrist for the time. He wasn’t wearing a watch.

“Do you think Matt will get his job back and put all this behind him? Evan Miller is a good man. He might take him back, don’t you think?” There was a hint of hope in the Colonel’s voice.

She had no reason to think about that one way or another. She knew little about Evan Miller and couldn’t possibly guess what he might do. “I don’t know about Evan Miller, but Roger Seaton was in yesterday. I think he works for Mr. Miller, right? He had been concerned about Matt. He seemed pretty certain that Matt would be okay now.”

Now the Colonel sat bolt upright and turned his gaze to her. For the first time today, he had life in him. “Roger, here? I . . . I . . . why was he here? Did he just show up?”

Amanda thought that this was a line she probably shouldn’t cross, even if she had laughed to herself when Chuck had let out a string of obscenities after Roger left yesterday. He had really gotten under the skin of the old creep.

“I don’t really know the details, Colonel. I think it would be better if you asked the Pastor.”

He didn’t seem to either hear or care what she’d said. “Did he come alone?”

Now Amanda was feeling uncomfortable. Chuck might actually fire her if she told too many of his secrets. Something told her to shut up, but she didn’t listen, “I think Roger said there was someone else out in the car.”

Colonel Stout smiled. To Amanda it looked more like a grimace. He was becoming more animated, more human, by the minute. “That would be the Mitchell girl. I can’t quite figure them out. They work together better than any combat team I’ve ever seen. One knows instinctively what the other is doing. It’s quite remarkable. I don’t know how they do it. But I do know one thing - one without the other is not nearly as dangerous.”

It was two minutes to two. The Colonel stood up. “Now Amanda, I’ve just got one more question. Yesterday, when Roger Seaton was here, did you have a nice chat with him the way you’ve had with me?”

His persona was now one of a prosecutor, with a helping of cop and a slice of bully thrown in. Amanda felt very uncomfortable.

She tried her best, “Colonel, I never said anything secret to him. I just greeted him, you know, that’s my job. We talked a bit, but that’s all. Just about this and that. Nothing serious.”

Colonel Stout walked towards the inner sanctum of Pastor Chuck. Just as he arrived at the door there was a beep from Amanda’s computer with a message to send him in. Before he opened the door, the Colonel said to her, “I’ve learned a lot today. Thank you.” And with that he disappeared inside.

Chuck was surprised when the door opened at almost the same instant that he pushed the “send” button with his message to Amanda. Was the Colonel waiting right outside door? He leaned back in his oversized chair and studied his patient.

Lately, he had been uncommunicative at the start of their counseling sessions. He’d kind of hang his head, look at his shoes and mumble when Chuck asked him a question. He seemed to only perk up when Chuck connected to him and sent him feelings of sympathy about the loss of little Jacob Miller. As far as Chuck could tell, the Colonel had not progressed very far in the grieving process at all.

His treatment plan was simple. He connected to the Colonel and tried to use that state to force him to relive and confront his grief. But instead of working, the connections seemed to just further stall his emotional response to his loss.

Every counselor knows the five stages of grief. Good ones help their charges progress through them. The last is “Acceptance” and it’s at this point that real healing can begin so that the subject is able to at least start to live their lives again.

Chuck wasn’t sure exactly where in the process the Colonel was. He certainly wasn’t in Denial - the first step. Chuck felt he probably was stuck somewhere between Anger and Bargaining. The Colonel was fixated on thoughts like “If only the doctors had managed a breakthrough. If only Evan hadn’t turned off the machines. If only Roger had tried again to help him. If only he’d been more persuasive with Evan and convinced him to not give up.”

Such thoughts were often harmful, and when combined with the stage of Anger, could even be destructive to the long term mental health of the subject.

Pastor Chuck was surprised that his connections to the Colonel hadn’t helped, but he was not prepared to give up. He planned on continuing them until something happened. Besides, they served to strengthen his connecting ability - and after his confrontation with Roger Seaton yesterday, he knew he needed more practice. If Matt wasn’t around, the Colonel would have to suffice.

For a split second, he thought of Matt and anger boiled up inside him. Matt had been all upset about the whole Revelation thing and Chuck had been the one to get him past that. He’d told Matt that all that nonsense about the Universe was just made up by Roger to help him recruit and control more of his robots. The only thing that was real was the ability to connect and the ability to heal.

Chuck would give just about anything to have the ability to heal, but at least he’d learned to connect. He and Matt had really learned together. Sure, Matt was never exactly comfortable with sharing his feelings that way or with receiving what Chuck wanted him to receive. And okay, Chuck conceded that perhaps he did push just a little too hard and a little too often. But they were new at this, right? You have to try things to see what worked and what didn’t.

And now the hippie puss had just up and left. He suspected that Roger had something to do with it since both events happened yesterday, but he had no proof. Matt had become increasingly unstable despite Chuck’s best efforts to help him, so anything was possible.

Chuck turned his attention back to Colonel Stout. He appeared to be patiently waiting for Chuck to return from his reverie.

Today he didn't seem to be in his normal fugue state. He seemed alert as his eyes bore into Chuck’s. It felt a bit uncomfortable.

Instinctively, Chuck asked a question to assert control over the subject. No one had actually taught him to do this - it just came naturally to him. “So Colonel, you look better today. I think we’re making progress, don’t you?”

Colonel Stout ignored his comment. He’d had the beginnings of an idea as he waited out in the reception area and there had been enough time for it to mature just a bit in his mind. He did feel better because, for the first time in a while, his brain seemed to be working somewhat normally.

That brain told him to ignore Chuck’s question. “I understand Roger Seaton spent some time here yesterday.” He said it as a statement of fact.

Chuck felt surprise and struggled to think of what approach to take. “Ah . . . how did you know that our mutual friend came here?”

“Your secretary has loose lips . . . and a tendency to chat with people as they wait to see you. She probably did that with Roger too. Did he have to wait?”

“Damn that Amanda to hell,” thought Chuck. He’d have to deal with her, but that would come later. For now, Chuck was not about to tell the Colonel what really happened during his meeting with Roger. “He called me on Saturday and I gave him an appointment for yesterday. I had no idea why he wanted to see me, but he mentioned you, Colonel.”

That was just about right. It wasn’t even a lie. “I suppose Ms. Perkins told you about Matt, too?” That was a safe bet with Diarrhea Mouth doing her nails on the other side of his door.

“He’s gone. Just up and left. Roger is cagey and wouldn’t come right out and say it, but I’m positive that Matt called him and told him that we had learned how to connect. First, he betrayed them to us by stealing that revelation document and now he’s betrayed us to them by telling them about our private counseling sessions.”

The Colonel thought that this was probably true - Matt had warned him about what Chuck was doing. It made sense he might also turn to Roger. He’d spent enough time with Roger and his people to know that they would probably welcome Matt back like some long lost friend even though his betrayal had been very real. Earlier - it seemed like years ago - he had marveled at their tendency toward loyalty.

“So what did Seaton say during your meeting?”

This was the tricky part. “He talked about how he didn’t like us knowing how to do the connection thing on our own. He talked about joining forces - combining our teams, so to speak. That discussion didn’t last long as you might imagine. It really is out of the question and he left knowing just that.”

Chuck was extremely proud of himself. Every single word was true. God, he was fast on his feet. Now for the next part.

“He said - no he demanded - that we stop connecting immediately. He said that you were no longer allowed to enter into that state - or me either. I think he had a hard time keeping himself under control when I wouldn’t agree. He lost his temper and I had to escort him out.

“But that’s not all. On the way to the door, he said to tell you that he knew how you had told everything you knew about their group. He said to tell you that he could have made Jacob better for a few more days at least, but he decided that it was time for Evan to move on and focus his attention on their group.

“I’ll tell you Colonel, it was one of the most evil and chilling things I’ve ever heard. I think this power has unbalanced him. He was raving about how they were adding new members and how they might come to this very church and add the entire congregation to their group.”

Chuck paused and connected to the Colonel. It was a very light connection; just enough to be able to send over a feeling of sympathy. “I’m sorry Colonel. I know these aren’t the words of comfort and healing you were hoping for, but I think truth may be therapeutic in this instance.”

All in all, Chuck gave himself an A+ for this performance. If, as he suspected, Matt had resumed his relationship with Roger and his group, he needed the Colonel more than ever to help strengthen his connecting skills. The Colonel was already very suspicious of Roger’s role in the death of the child - telling that little fib about Jacob should make him loath Roger and keep him from becoming another member of his flock.

The information had its desired effect on the Colonel - he was stunned. “He . . . they are actively trying to add new members? That’s their goal?”

He knew they wanted to add that female lawyer, but this sounded like they had set their sights higher - perhaps much higher. “How many do you think they will try to get?” The Colonel remembered how they had almost begged him to join multiple times.

“I don’t know, Colonel. Hundreds, thousands, millions? I just don’t know. But I do know that he and some of the others get stronger because they have more people to connect to. We can’t let them do this. We’ve got to stick together and get our own group going. It’s the only way to stop them.”

Chuck had gotten carried away with that stuff about Roger. He wondered if he’d gone too far. The whole idea of Roger Seaton having millions of followers was ridiculous. But it was certainly not ridiculous to imagine Pastor Charles Cleimer as being the head of such a large group. After all, he already attracted thousands to him each and every week. Once he got strong enough, the sky was the limit.

“He can’t . . . we can’t let him. We’ve got to find a way.” The Colonel wasn’t feeling as sharp as he had earlier. The thought that Roger could have cured Jacob, or at least helped him again, was a laser aimed at his heart - and at his mind.

On his own, he increased the strength of the connection between them geometrically. The Colonel realized once again that he needed help, “I’m ready, Pastor Chuck. Do what you have to do.”

Chapter Ten

By 7:59 a.m. on Wednesday, every member of the team still in New York was waiting by the limo, ready to go. Every member except one - their pilot.

Edie looked at her watch. Yesterday, she’d bought a Timex to replace the Rolex she had once been so proud of, but had to pawn to get living money. In her mind, this new cheap watch symbolized the fact that she had returned to a real life - a life with friends and purpose and meaning. A life without booze. She was prouder of that Timex that she had ever been of her expensive watch.

She liked to be punctual, but they weren’t punching any time clock. It wouldn’t matter if they were a few minutes late. No one else even noticed the time; there were all milling around and talking and saying their “goodbyes” and “good lucks.”

The time was just about to slip past eight when the door burst open and Marina came out of the building. She was wearing her pilot’s uniform, but her hat was canted slightly off to the side and her cheeks were red from exertion. She’d obviously been rushing to make it on time.

Edie couldn’t help herself, “Oversleep?” she asked with a good natured smile on her face.

Marina knew she was being kidded. “Nope. I was in a video conference for hours last night with Bess and Tanith. Just girl talk, you know - about boyfriends and stuff.”

With that, it seemed that everyone looked at Roger. Jane put her hands on her hips. He felt the back of his neck get warm all of a sudden.

“I finally told them I had to get my rest and was asleep by 11:30. I always want to get 8 hours before I fly if I can - and today will be a busy day for sure. I’ve been a bit rushed, but I’m fine and I’m here. Everyone ready for a trip down south?”

Jane felt better the second she saw Marina. All morning she’d had a feeling of foreboding. She knew it was because some of her brothers and sisters were going to be flying in that tiny airplane. When she’d first seen the Beechcraft, her legs had become rubbery and refused her command to walk towards it. It was so small and fragile looking. The slightest turbulence would probably toss it around the sky like a feather on a windy day.

But Marina had calmed her nerves and given her the courage to actually enter the plane. And during the flight, she’d been so expert at keeping it under control that it couldn’t engage in any antics. The flight had been smooth and they’d arrived right on time. All that was because of Marina.

She put her bag in the pile with the others who were making the trip. The driver today was Charlie - the same one who’d driven Bess to the airport on Monday. He opened the trunk and started to load the bags. Everyone gathered around to say their final goodbyes.

Edie was standing beside Evan. She asked him, “Did you hear from the Colonel?” She was concerned because someone had stolen or at least deleted a video that belonged to the group and she was pretty sure that Colonel Stout had done it, but she didn’t know why. They’d been trying to get in touch with him for some time without success. He was supposed to be on vacation, so it was at least possible that he was simply in some remote location with his phone turned off, but she didn’t believe that.

That stolen video had prompted a call from the police, but she thought they’d handled that okay. She really had no idea what was going on with the Colonel but she knew she didn’t like being in the dark this way. It was worrisome.

“No, I called him again, but just got his voicemail. He’s supposed to be back from vacation in a few days. I guess we’ll talk to him then.” The Colonel was one of Evan’s oldest friends. He hoped there was a benign explanation for his behavior.

“I talked to him just this morning.” It was Charlie who spoke. His voice was unexpected and everyone was surprised by it. They were even more surprised by his words.

The look on everyone’s face made him think he’d stepped over a line of familiarity. “I’m sorry . . . I couldn’t help but overhear. It’s just that the Colonel called me this morning. I didn’t mean to . . . “

Evan interrupted him. “Charlie, it’s okay. We’re glad you spoke up. We need to talk to the Colonel and haven’t been able to make contact. Did he say where he was?”

“No, he didn’t. He was just checking the duty roster online and saw that I was scheduled to drive to the airport today. He wanted to know who was going and where they were heading. I know he’s on vacation, but he likes to check in even when he’s not around - to make sure we’re still on the ball, you know.”

Now Edie continued the questioning. “Did you tell him who was going?”

Charlie began to realize something was up. He looked uncomfortable. “Yeah, I had the list of people who were traveling. I told him. It’s okay, isn’t it?”

Edie had one more question first, “Did you tell him where they were going?”

Now he looked at Juliet. Charlie had protected and driven them around for many years. He wanted her approval before he said anything more - especially since this Edie seemed to be more than a bit pushy.

She nodded her head at him. “It’s okay Charlie. You did the right thing. Go ahead and answer Edie, please.”

“When I drove Bess - I mean, Ms. Olman - to the airport on Monday, she mentioned that she was on the last flight of the day to Little Rock. She asked if I’d be on duty Wednesday to take the next group that was traveling there. I just put two and two together.

“Yeah, I told the Colonel that’s where they were heading.”

Edie paused for several seconds to consider this information. “What else did he ask you?” An average lawyer would have asked, “Did he ask you anything else?” Edie was not an average lawyer.

“He wanted to know when they were coming back and how many were planned to return.” Charlie looked at Edie, then to Evan and Juliet. “I told him they’d be back later tomorrow and they’d have four going out and six coming back.

“That’s all I told him. He told me to text him if anything came up and that was it. The whole thing lasted a minute or so.”

Edie tried one last time, just to be sure. “You are certain that nothing else was said by either of you? Did he mention how his vacation was going? Did he ask about Evan or Juliet or the company?”

“No ma’am. That’s all that was said. Nothing else. He sounded kind of busy, like he didn’t want to stay on the line for long. He just hung up after I told him six would be returning.”

Edie was done. Evan said, “Thanks, Charlie. That helps a lot. He must really be unplugged. Can’t say as I blame him.”

And with that, Jane and Jed exchanged one last kiss and the travelers got into the limo - all except for Marina. She walked over to Jane and whispered in her ear, “I’ll make sure they’re fine, Jane. You can count on me.”

“I know I can,” is all she said.

When the limo disappeared from sight, the group started to break up. Jane spoke, “Can we have a quick meeting starting in about fifteen minutes on six? I think we need to consider what we just learned - and we need to decide what to do for the next few days.”

Jerry Wu spoke up. His southern drawl had not been reduced by being in New York for several weeks. “If y’all don’t mind, let’s have that meeting at our place. The kids are still sleep so we won’t have to wake’em up and Shannon can be there.”

It was a good idea. The group walked back to the building. Jane took Roger’s hand and pulled him back. “You come with me,” she said.

Roger knew that she wanted him to perform her egg hunt. He’d been up early this morning expecting her to drop by or command him to come over, but he’d not heard from her until they all went downstairs to see their friends off. Roger guessed that she was spending that time with Jed.

They went to her apartment and sat side by side. She connected to him and Jane put his hand on her stomach. He looked inside her.

There was no progress that was obvious. Jane wanted to be checked several times a day now, so small changes were hard to see.

She had not said a word since they had entered the building. Roger was half expecting her to let loose with a scathing accusation that he must be doing something wrong. She’d done it before.

Instead, she sat quietly with his hand still covered with hers. She seemed deep in thought.

The silence stretched on for a full minute until she finally spoke in a quiet voice. “I showed my wedding dress to all the ladies of the group. I just wasn’t sure about it, but they all thought it was a good choice and they said it looked good. April has a long skirt and I’ve got a short one, so I guess it’ll be okay.”

Roger doubted she wanted to talk about fashion. It was just a way to get started. “Are you getting nervous?”

Jane seemed to be surprised at the question. “No, of course not. You know how it is when you connect to someone deeply - you know more about them than if you’ve spent years getting acquainted. No, I’m not nervous about finally getting married to Jed. It’s just that once I put on that dress on Saturday, I’ll be starting a new part of my life. I’ll have a husband and the group will start doing what we must do in earnest.

“We’ll be busy adding new members and finding out how to build this thing that BP has in mind. Soon, Jed and I will have our baby and that’ll be yet another new chapter in our lives.

“I sound kind of down, don’t I? I don’t want to sound that way because I’m not. I’m happy and excited and I can’t wait to walk into that room wearing my beautiful white wedding dress.

“But once that new period in my life starts, the old one ends, doesn’t it? I woke up this morning thinking about that dinner date we went on with Cynthia. Remember how you came through for me? And how about all the other times I wanted something or asked you for a favor? You know Rog, you never turned me down. I’ve thought about it - you never once turned me down.”

Roger didn’t find that particularly surprising. Jane was his best friend. It she asked for something, that was enough for him. He was about to reassure her that none of that would change just because she was getting married. As far as he could tell, they’d continue just as they had been.

They were still connected. It was so natural to them by this time that they hardly noticed their heightened sense of each other. Roger could feel her slight melancholy. He thought to himself, “Her hormones must really be raging.”

He started to offer her reassurance, when he had another idea. “I do remember that date. Cynthia was so impressed with my suave charm that I had to be careful not to steal her away from her fiancé. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. And you even fell under my spell - you gave me a nice gift the very next day.

“The team is split up for the next couple of days and the real action is down in Little Rock, so I’m going to cash in that gift you gave me right now.”

Now Jane was confused. She’d given him a certificate for great seats at a Mets game. Why was he thinking of cashing it in?

Roger smiled. “The real gift you gave me was a promise. You said that if I ever asked you to a game again, you would say ‘yes.’ So now I’m asking. There’s a game tomorrow at 1pm. We can go by the office and pick up the certificate that’s still in my desk drawer and we’ll have to go by my apartment to get my lucky hat. I won’t go to a game without that.

“It’ll be like old times. And it’ll show that your new life doesn’t have to change things. As long as I’m around, I’ll be your friend and we’ll always do what we can for each other, just like always. We can spend a good part of the day together and then Jed and the others will be back late in the afternoon. You’ll get your old life and your new life all in one day. What do you think?”

Jane smiled and embraced him. Roger could tell she felt better.

It was almost time to go. She turned and looked at him sternly, “Did I really hear the words ‘suave charm’ come out of your mouth? Haven’t I warned you about being cute?” With that, she gave him a kick to his ankle.

She rose and held out her hand for him. He took it and stood. As they walked to the door, he walked with an exaggerated limp. “Very funny. Now come on, you big baby - we’ve got group business to attend to.”

Chapter Eleven

Roger and Jane were the last ones to arrive at Shannon and Jerry’s apartment. For just a fraction of a second, conversation stopped as they entered. Roger couldn't be sure, but he thought that Shannon winked at him. Allen and April were sitting on a couch holding hands.

Jane took charge. “Can we conference in Edie and the group in the limo and Bess and Tanith? This involves security and I know Bess will want to know what’s going on.”

Juliet pulled out her phone and set everything up. It took less than a minute. It was an hour earlier in Little Rock, but Bess didn’t sound sleepy. As soon as everyone was conferenced in, Bess introduced Tanith to the whole group. She’d talked to most of them individually, but she’d been a member for less than two days and had never spoken to the entire group before. “I . . . I thank you for having me as a member. Bess has told me so much about all of you. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. It’ll be just grand. I know it will.”

Everyone smiled when Tanith said this. She’d become close to Bess, that much was obvious.

Edie had been tasked with running the meeting. “Roger, when you met with Pastor Chuck, you told him that he no longer had any kind of conduit into our group. Matt was no longer feeding him info and the Colonel wasn’t around either.

“It seems that wasn’t correct. Colonel Stout is able to log into his company accounts and check on our security arrangements, driver assignments and lord knows what else. Because of that, it’s a safe bet that Chuck knows we’ve got a group going to Little Rock today and returning tomorrow. We have to assume that the Colonel is feeding him this info. Especially since Chuck knew about that video and there’s only one way that could have happened.

“But even if the Colonel is feeding Chuck information, does it really matter? Do we really care if they know we’ve got a group visiting Little Rock?”

It was a good question. Bess answered it instantly, “I care. I don’t like the fact that they are snooping around our business. I can’t stand that creepy Pastor Chuckles and, like you say, we know the Colonel has been feeding him information. How do we know it’s just stuff from the company network? Didn’t he have someone down here to personally find Edie?”

That was true. Edie asked the group, “Do we know who this private detective was?”

Juliet had the answer to that. “I just got the bill from him yesterday. I’ve got his info.”

“Great. Let’s find out if the Colonel has him up to anything. Juliet, if you will, please call this guy and tell him you understand he may be doing another job and you’d like to go ahead and pay both bills at once. See what he says.”

Juliet was on it. “Hold on a minute and I’ll try his number. It’s early there, so there might not be anyone to answer an office phone.”

It took only a couple of minutes. “No luck, I got their voicemail. I’ll call back later.”

Edie said, “Okay. That’s fine. I really don’t think this is all that important in the big scheme of things, but you never know. I don’t like someone telling what they know about us even if they really don’t know all that much. I suspect that the good Pastor Chuck is still smarting from the spanking that Roger gave him, so he might be even more curious than he was before, but I don’t think he or the Colonel can really do anything to change our plans.

“Sooner or later the Colonel will surface and then we’ll be able to ask him some questions. I think that’s about all we can do for now.”

Bess wasn’t done, “Should we cut his access to the company servers? Change his password or at least flag his access?” Her tone left it clear that she was concerned.

Now Evan spoke up, “I suggest we leave things as they are until Juliet talks to that detective agency. John Stout has been a good friend to Juliet and me for many years and he’s been through a lot. If we can believe Pastor Chuck, he started counseling because of the loss of Jacob. I can understand that since he didn’t have the certainty that he’ll see Jacob again the way we do. I’m sure he’s still suffering. There would be no way for him to know that Chuck was connecting to him and maybe doing more harm than good in their sessions. Matt didn’t find that out right away either.

“I think if we just let him return on his own, we’ll be able to talk to him and hopefully return him to the fold. Maybe he’ll be ready to join. I don’t think the kinds of things he can find out from the security duty roster are that important. He knows some of our travel plans and about our party on Saturday because the roster will show the security people should expect caterers, decorators and such.

“But if he’s hired a detective to snoop around our people when they are out in the field, then that’s over the line by a long shot. I say we cut him off hard if that’s the case.”

Jane glanced at Roger to make sure he agreed. She took over. “Okay, we’ll do as Evan says. I do hope it’s just some misunderstanding. We’ll know soon enough, I guess.

“Bess, once again, everyone here wishes you and Tanith good luck. If we can actually explain this whole thing to a group of new people all at once and have them want to be a part of it, you will have accomplished a lot. Father Tom and Marina, special good luck to you. We’ll all be standing by in case you need anything and be sure and let us know how it’s going.

“This place feels a bit empty with so many on a field trip. We miss you, but we’ll see you soon.”

Jane indicated to Juliet that she should hang up. The group could talk with each other for hours unless someone stepped in to put a stop to it.

Marina was doing the pre-flight walk around herself. As the pilot in command of the flight today, it would have been traditional for her co-pilot, Laird Jensen, to perform this task. It was simple - you just walk around and visually check the wing edges, landing gear, rudder and the engine blades and other parts for obvious problems. As an airframe mechanic, she also knew to look for repairs that had been done on the plane, for minute leaks in hydraulic fluid in several places, and for a hundred other things. She knew far more about the mechanical aspects of planes than most pilots and she was the Captain. If she wanted to do the walk around, then she would.

She finished quickly and went up the air stairs and entered the plane. Three of the large swiveling seats were taken by Edie, Jed and Tom. They watched as she lifted the steps and door mechanism and locked it in place for flight. There was an unused large seat available and a long bench seat in the rear.

Marina was not a tall woman, but she couldn’t quite stand fully upright in this business jet, so she got down on one knee at the cockpit entrance and smiled as she spoke to her passengers. “Everyone comfy?” They should be - these seats were more like easy chairs than airline seats. “I’ll go get us ready and I’ll talk to you again on the intercom before we take off.”

She turned and entered the cabin. This was a Premier 1A model with all the latest features. She always marveled at the almost spaceship like design of the cockpit controls. There were three large LED screens that provided most of the information she’d need for the flight including the weather radar. They’d be using that because the forecast called for storms over almost their entire planned route.

She smiled warmly at Laird. He answered with, “Ready for pre-flight, Captain.” For the first time ever, Captain Marina Gonzales slipped into the left hand seat.

The Beech had a paperless cockpit, so their preflight went quickly without the charts and checklists that she had learned on just a few years earlier. She input their planned route into the flight management computer. When that was done and checked, she started one engine and then the other as Laird informed ground control that they were ready. They received clearance to taxi. Conditions at the airport were crowded so they would likely have several minutes before they could take off. She pushed the throttles and they started to move.

She started her announcement. “Okay, my friends. In just a few minutes we’ll be on our way to Little Rock. The weather today is stormy all along our path, so I do expect some bumps and want you to keep your seat belts fastened while you are in your seats. Most of the other pilots are reporting some turbulence, but it doesn’t seem to be severe. I’ll do my best to keep us away from the worst of it.

“We’re going to take about fifteen extra minutes to get there because I’m going to fly at a little slower speed to save fuel just in case we have to change course a time or two. We got a pretty early start today, so we should be there around 11:30. In the meantime, we have Wi-Fi on this plane, so you can text or surf the web. Once we are at cruise, your phones won’t be able to communicate with any cell towers. Bess wanted me to warn you that any Skype or other calls would not be secure if you are using Wi-Fi.”

Just at that moment, their phones all made their “text received” sound. It was from Juliet.

“I talked to the detective agency. They don’t know anything about another job, so it looks like the Colonel didn’t hire them for anything else. I also tried texting the Colonel since he asked Charlie to communicate with him that way. Still no reply.”

Within a few seconds, Jane sent one to the whole group.

“Thanks Juliet. We proceed as planned then and hope the Colonel will make an appearance soon.”

Marina studied her phone display for just a second. She frowned to herself as she wondered what in the world was going on with Colonel Stout. Quickly, she turned her attention back to the plane. She’d be taking off soon.

Chapter Twelve

Bess and Tanith were almost dressed for the meeting. Both of them were feeling the anticipation of what was to come. No one had ever tried to recruit so many people at one time, but Roger and Jane had trusted Bess enough to put her in charge.

Just thinking about it made her want to laugh in glee, but also cower in fear. So far, she had done okay on this trip by herself, but it hadn’t been perfect. Sure, Tanith had decided to join the group; but soon after her arrival, she’d lost her temper with a smart ass kid who had the nerve to put his hands on her new sister. She’d connected to him and really hurt him until Tanith practically had to pull her away. She was ashamed of that, but was thankful that Roger and Jane hadn’t kicked her out of the group because of it. Instead, they had been super nice when she told them the story, but she knew she’d done the wrong thing even if they told her to forget about it.

She hadn’t even known she had a temper like that. It worried her, but of course she’d never been provoked that way either. Looking at herself in the mirror, she promised herself to never let that happen again, regardless of how big the provocation was.

“What do you think?” asked Tanith. She had on dark grey pants that ended right at her ankles. She wore medium heels and a white blazer with a lighter grey top.

Bess had chosen a modest skirt in a light cream color. It ended exactly at mid knee, but was very slim and was made of a knit material that showed off her figure. She had on a sleeveless wrap-around top in the same color. She’d bought a super cute pair of black wedge sandals with straps that went around her ankles.

“I think we both look hot,” said Bess. “Of course, that just us. We can’t help that. But the clothes are great too.”

Tanith giggled. She hadn’t spent much time giggling in the last couple of years, but now it seemed like she couldn't stop. She reminded herself that she could act this way with her sister, but she’d have to be a lot more mature with everyone else. Bess had warned her that they’d treat her like a child if she didn’t.

Just then, Nanna called out to them. “If you girls want to get your hair braided, come on while we got time.” She had promised Bess she’d show her how to do good tight braids.

They walked into the living room while Nanna came in from the kitchen. Bess could see that she was walking well and didn’t seem to have any pain in her hip. Tanith was watching too and was all smiles.

When she saw then, Nanna’s showed surprise, but there was something else there too. “Lordy, last night I went to bed with two girls under my roof and this mornin’ I got two business women right out of them fashion magazines. I swear, you two do look good.”

Tanith sat and Nanna started making braids and showing Bess how it was done. She talked while she worked.

“When I was your age, I hoped to one day learn typewritin’. At the time, it seemed like a real important thing, real space age stuff. I guess it might have been because I hoped I’d be able to get a job in an office, and not some farm or hotel or somethin’.

“But it didn’t work out that way. I got married to your grandpa and he had a good job fixin’ machines down at the shoe factory. I ended up in that hotel after all until your mama came along - cleaning rooms. It was fine - won’t no real hard work or nothing, like he did.”

Now she let Bess try to do a couple of braids. The first ones were loose and not like the others. She took them out and tried again. Nana’s fingers guided hers.

“One day the manager called me to his office. That won’t normally a good thing. If things was slow, they’d put you on lay off and tell you to come back in a few days or a week. I was puttin’ away money for when we had your mama and sure didn’t want any lay off on me. So I tried my best. I tried to finish early and do the best job I could. I’d scrub them bathrooms ‘till they shined and got them sheets so tight you could cut your own self gettin’ in ‘em.”

She smiled at the memory. Bess was getting the hang of it now.

“Well, he didn’t have no lay off for me. He wanted me to be supervisor of cleaning on two whole floors. I still had my own rooms to do, but now he wanted me to make sure the other two girls was doing good too. I was so surprised I almost couldn’t speak. He tol’ me I’d be getting a ten cent an hour raise.”

She helped Bess with the last couple of braids for Tanith. She’d done a very good job and her braids looked just as good as Nanna’s. Now it was Bess’s turn. She sat and Tanith started in on her under the watchful eye of her grandmother.

“That night I tol’ your grandpa what happened. He won’t never much for talkin’ up a storm, but that was because he was a quiet man by nature. This time, though, I could tell he wanted to say something’ but it just wouldn’t come out. Finally he said ‘They done made you the boss?’ I tol’ him that I’d just be supervisor over two other girls. It won’t no big thing.

“But right then, I saw something in his face. It was pride - pride in me and in what I’d done. I’ll never forget that very moment. And for the rest of his life, if anyone brought up my work or mentioned that there hotel, he’d always say, ‘They made her the boss of two whole floors.’ He sure was prideful of that.”

Tanith was good at braiding and by now she had finished with Bess. Other girls might have been uncertain about having the exact same hairdo, but not them.

“That’s the way I feel right now when I look at you two. I feel pride right down to the quick. I don’t think there’s two smarter or more handsome girls in all of Little Rock, just gettin’ ready to start their lives on their own. You’ll do good today at your meetin’. I know you will.”

Neither Bess nor Tanith had said anything as Nanna worked and told her story. Bess knew she was right - they were at the start of their lives while this beautiful woman was nearing the end of hers. That thought was sad, but it was counterbalanced by the joy she felt in knowing Tanith and Nanna.

She gave them both a big hug - and they hugged back.

After a final check of makeup, they said their goodbyes and left. As soon as they reached the steps, it became obvious that it might rain at any minute. “I’ll go back and get an umbrella,” said Tanith. “We’ve got a little bit of walking ahead of us. Only take a sec.”

Bess stood at the top of the stairs looking down on the sidewalk and street. Groups of kids were visible, probably walking to school. The smaller ones were accompanied by their moms who chatted with each other.

One group passed right below her as Bess waited. For some reason, she thought about that foul mouthed kid and looked to see if he might be in this group, but he wasn’t. She felt a fresh pang of guilt. One mother looked up at her and smiled and this made her feel a little better. She smiled back.

Just then Tanith appeared with the umbrella. “Sorry to take so long. I couldn’t find it because Nanna had put it away. She does like to keep a neat house.”

All of a sudden, Bess wasn’t sure she wanted to go. The thought of her stupid action with that kid caused her to feel a fresh round of jitters. Being inside the apartment with Nanna and Tanith had been so safe and comforting, even with her worries about being in charge. Now she had to go out into the world and actually perform like a professional. She’d believed she was confident before, but she’d proven she could make mistakes - and big ones. She thought about calling Jane for advice, but quickly canned that idea - that would just prove she wasn’t mature enough for this type of responsibility.

For the hundredth time, she imagined what she would say to the group to start their meeting. Those first words seemed so very important - if she flubbed them, the whole group might think she was just a rookie, out of her league. She worried that they might be right to think that.

“I want to formally welcome each of you to this meeting.” She frowned when she considered this opening. “God, that’s so lame,” she thought. “I have got to do better than that.”

Tanith realized she was hesitating and guessed why. “Come on, girlfriend. It’s show time and we smart, capable and yes, I’ll say it, sexy professional women have got a lot to do.”

Her flippant remark was meant to cause Bess to smile and it did. The unspoken message was, “Don’t worry, my sister. I’m here for you and others are too. You’ll do fine.”

Bess got the message and instantly felt better, but the jitters were just around the next bend, waiting to come back. They started down the stairs, walking exactly in unison.

When they got to the rental car, Tanith reached into her purse for the keys and went to the driver’s side. Bess cut her off.

“No, let me drive. I need the practice and if I depend on you to always do it for me, I’ll never get better. If Marina can learn to fly multi-million dollar jets, I think I can learn to drive a Ford Focus.”

Tanith started to object that it might be better for her to practice some other time, with some other passenger, but instead she shrugged and handed Bess the keys. “You’re the boss,” she said.

As they got seated inside, Bess said softly, almost to herself, “I guess I am.”

Tanith gave her seat belt an extra tug.

Chapter Thirteen

Marina had performed many landings in worse conditions than they were in now. She’d landed several times with thirty knot crosswinds at night in driving rain.

But those landings had all been done in the simulator.

Conditions weren’t nearly that bad now, but the winds were gusting as they neared the ground. That meant she had to make almost constant corrections to their course. She didn’t feel nervous at all - she just had to stick the landing the way she always did, wind or no wind. There was no question in her mind as to her ability to do just that.

As they reached their final approach, the winds shifted so that they were coming constantly from her left. This crosswind made the aircraft want to come in sideways. “Fine,” she thought. “You want to be sideways, go ahead.”

Actually, the plane did want that. The winds made it happen almost automatically since the nose naturally wanted to point into the wind - which was coming from her left. Viewed from the ground, it looked like this small jet was perhaps in trouble. Its front landing gear was lined up with the runway, but the rear landing gear was several feet to the right - almost like it was slipping sideways through the air. If it landed like that, it might run right off the runway at an angle. This was not a new challenge for Marina or any other experienced pilot - it was called a Crab landing.

Laird called out their altitude. As they neared touchdown, Marina’s workload went up dramatically. She had to do three things at once - she pressed the rudder pedal with her right foot which caused the rear end of the plane to swing back into alignment with the runway. This rudder movement caused her left wing to start to lift, so at the same time, she moved her control column to keep the wings level. And then she performed a flare to get the nose of the plane pointed slightly upward so that the rear landing gear would take most of the force of the landing.

Within a couple of seconds, everyone on board heard the tire squeal that signified they were on the ground. This was heard more than felt as the aircraft made a very smooth landing. Marina quickly reduced her engine thrust and gently started to apply the brakes. They were in a small jet at a large airport - she had plenty of runway to make sure her passengers weren’t jostled by overly aggressive braking.

“Great job, Captain,” said Laird with a smile. During training, he had always had a lot of compliments for her. But this was for real and she was in charge. She heard the sincerity in his voice. She didn’t look over at him because her attention was on guiding the plane safely off the runway, but she matched his smile.

From the back, Jed called out, “That’ll do her! I didn’t even feel that touchdown! You go Marina! Now I see why Jane likes to fly with you so much!” His voice bellowed and Marina heard him clearly, ever through she had a headphone covering one ear. Her smile grew even wider.

Tanith and Bess were waiting for their friends at the general aviation terminal. They’d turned in their rental since they had hired a driver to take them all to the hotel.

Actually, they had hired a number of drivers - all from Tanith’s old company. When she first quit, she became just another ex-driver. But when she started booking their vehicles on her own, she became a potentially valuable customer. She was thankful to the company for the chance they had given her and she liked most of her fellow drivers - with few exceptions, they treated her as an equal.

It was natural that she would hire them for today’s needs and for tomorrow to take various people to the airport. Bess had asked no questions when Tanith told her what she thought they should do; she just paid for everything on the spot with her credit card. It wasn’t cheap, and Bess seemed relieved when the charge was approved.

Tanith checked the time. Two SUVs should be arriving at the detox house in about 20 minutes. There were six people there, each with luggage, so it would take two vehicles. They planned to go there with Jed and Edie to make sure everything was alright and then convoy over to the hotel. She’d checked earlier and everything looked to be ready there. So far, her quickly arranged meeting plans seemed to be on track. She hoped things would continue that way.

Just then, Bess bolted. Tanith recognized three of the people who were coming into the terminal. She hadn’t been formally introduced to them yet, but she knew the big woman was Edie, the cute short one was the pilot, Marina, and the distinguished looking man was Father Tom. She’d driven them when the group had come here just last week. It seemed like a long time ago, but it wasn’t. Fleetingly, she wondered at how so much had happened to her in such a short amount of time.

The last person in the group had to be Jed, with his tall muscular frame and cowboy hat and boots. Tanith felt like she knew them already as she and Bess had talked for hours over the last couple of days about anything and everything. Tanith understood how Jane could fall for Jed – he was good looking and they were tall enough for each other.

By the time she walked over to join the group, Bess had hugged each of them in greeting. She took a step back and held her hand out to Tanith. She took it.

“Let me introduce our newest sister to you all - Tanith Watson. Tanith, this is Edie Porter, Father Tom Harrison, Marina Gonzalez and Jed Cunningham.”

Everyone was smiling. They all knew about Tanith and about how she had come to join the group.

One by one, as their names were called by Bess, Tanith gave each of her new brothers or sisters a hug. It felt good and they hugged back.

“Good lord, she’s got you doing it too. This is the huggingest group on the planet, I think,” said Edie with a smile on her face. She could be intimidating, but that smile was genuine and welcoming.

While they were getting acquainted, Bess took Marina’s arm and pulled her aside. “How’d your first flight as Captain go?”

“Well, the weather was a little nasty, but I tried to keep the bumps to a minimum. It was okay, I think.”

In fact, Marina had made several course and altitude changes so that her passengers felt almost no turbulence.

“So, we’re still on for the next flight?”

“Yep, my sister. Laird is getting the plane fueled up now. It should be just about done. I’ll check the weather along our route one more time, but it’s still stormy. We’ll get there on time though.”

Marina stopped and looked at Bess. She thought she looked a bit distracted. “How’s it going with you? Everything on target for the meeting?”

Bess started to tell her the truth - that she was worried she’d screw things up. Once again, she imagined herself opening the meeting and once again she worried she’d say something stupid or, worse yet, not be able to say anything at all. But instead of sharing her feelings of inadequacy, she told Marina that everything was going fine - that Tanith had the whole meeting running smoothly and that she was confident that it would be a success.

“Well, you’re cooler than I would be. I’d rather wrestle an old manual airplane through a storm than have to find the words to get a whole new group of people to join us. I’m glad you’re in charge, Bess. I’d be a nervous wreck.”

That last statement hit Bess hard. If strong, capable Marina would be nervous, how could she hope to pull this off? Once again, she thought to herself, “I don’t know how, but I will. I have to.”

By the time they arrived at the halfway house, there were people milling around outside. It wasn’t much of a crowd, being made up only of the two drivers and the six people they planned to invite to join the Connection. Bess, Jed, Edie and Tanith made it an even ten. People were moving around, loading baggage into the backs of the large SUVs. Edie was welcomed back like a long lost relative with everyone instantly crowding around to greet her personally. Obviously, she’d been a leader of the group while they were living in the house. Bess wasn’t surprised at this realization at all. She wished a bit of Edie’s self assurance and leadership skills would rub off on her. At some point, Jed had said that Edie had “brass.” Bess wasn’t sure what that was specifically, but she knew Edie and Jane both had it - and she knew she wanted some too.

Bess gave them a minute to greet each other and then walked up a couple of stairs at the entrance so she was above them. Everyone noticed, so they stopped talking and waited to hear what she had to say. They were gathered together shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk below her. She opened her mouth to speak and suddenly realized she didn’t know what to say at all. She had been so worried about saying something stupid or even freezing up, and now it had happened. She stood there with her mouth open. It seemed like it lasted minutes to her, but it was only a fraction of a second. She started to panic as she realized she was in way above her head. The future of these people, and of the Connection, and maybe even two universes might be riding on her ability to say something right now - and yet nothing was coming out.

Just then - right before she broke down in tears and ran away in shame, too embarrassed to ever see any of them again - just then she made eye contact with Jed. He took off his hat, smiled at her and nodded his head, ever so slightly. He connected to her in a very gentle way.

She was very surprised at what he was feeling - it was admiration and respect. He thought she actually had brass.

This was the little push she needed. “I . . . I”m Bess Olman. These are my friends, Jed Cunningham and Tanith Watson. You all know Edie Porter, who is my friend and yours too, I think.”

It wasn’t much of an inspired start, but it was at least a start. She would so not let her friends down. “I will have brass if I have to eat pennies to get it,” she thought to herself.

That crazy thought actually relaxed her. She smiled knowing that pennies were made of copper. “Maybe copper is just as good as brass.”

Now the words came easier. “In a few minutes, we’ll drive over to the hotel where we’ll have our meeting this afternoon and also tomorrow morning. You’ll all have a room there.”

Bess looked at her phone. Edie and Tom had given them information on each person they had lived with at the halfway house. Juliet had added their itineraries for after the meeting and had texted all this info to their phones. Bess noted that the message showed it had been sent securely. She was pleased that her brothers and sisters appeared to be taking their security seriously.

“It looks like we have rides scheduled for tomorrow for each of you, but please check with my sis . . . my friend, Tanith, sometime later today to confirm your plans.” She’d almost called Tanith her sister, which of course she was. But that sounded a bit too cult like. She thought of Pastor Chuck and her smile disappeared for just a second.

“Okey-dokey, then. Any questions before we hit the road?”

Bess started to feel just a hint of relief that she’d managed to at least not sound like a total idiot. That relief didn’t last long.

“Yes, Ms. Olman. We do have a question. We’ve had a few days to think about all this. We’re now cured and we’re not dumb. We know you asked Edie and Father Tom to join your group. They didn’t tell us what this meeting was for, but we can guess.

“Are you going to ask us to join too?”

Bess knew that the thin, balding man who had asked the question was Dr. Theodore Roe - a gynecologist from the Denver area. In her description of him, Juliet had written, “Brilliant, but has little patience for those who are slower than him - which, when he is sober, is most people. Likes for his friends to call him Doc R.”

“And while you’re answering questions, where is Tom - Father Tom. Wasn’t he supposed to be here?” His voice contained a slight bit of challenge. Bess was also pretty sure she felt just a smidgen of condescension, perhaps because she was young. Or perhaps because she was female. That would not do. It would not do at all.

There was nothing wrong with Bess’s ability to think quickly. She ran through her options in milliseconds.

She could tell them to hold this type of question until they got to their meeting. That would give her a chance to talk to Edie, Jed and Tanith about their next move as they rode together over to the hotel. She didn’t like that idea - it didn’t seem to be what a girl with brass would do.

Or she could simply tell them that they were indeed going to ask them to join the Connection. That was better, but still not exactly right. The Connection was a special group for special people. You had to want to join, but you also had to be asked.

Dr. Roe started to move his eyes to Edie, as if she’d have to answer his questions because they were too hard for Bess. Bess felt her temper flare just a bit.

She spread her legs slightly and looked directly at Dr. Roe. She put her hands on her hips the way she’d seen Jane do.

“Dr. Roe, we’re always looking for new associates for our group, but you have to accept our invitation for that to happen. So far, we haven’t asked and you haven’t accepted. That’s what our meeting is for - so you’ll know enough about us to make a good decision and we’ll know enough about you to do the same thing. I do hope you’ll all end up joining, but we’ll see how things work out.

“As to Father Tom, he and Marina Gonzalez have a little chore to do before they arrive. They’ll be here later.”

The assembled crowd was dead silent for several seconds. Bess kept her gaze firmly where it had been. Finally, Doctor Roe said, “I think we all understand completely. We have certainly been wanting to know a lot more about you and your group. Edie and Tom have told us it was something really special - I guess we’re just anxious to learn more. I know I am.

“And, oh yes, I hope you’ll call me Doc R.”

Bess made one more decision before they left. She asked Edie and Jed to each go in one of the vehicles with some of the others. There was plenty of room and Jed could introduce himself and start to get to know these people who she hoped would soon be associate members of the Connection.

She asked Courtney Coburn to ride with her and Tanith. They all sat on one wide bench seat with Courtney in the middle. She was dressed in what looked like new jeans. She wore a long sleeved shirt even though it was still warm. Bess remembered that Jane had seen scars on her wrists when Shannon had healed her. She had her dark brown hair in a ponytail and she didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup.

Bess knew that she was just a few years older than she was, but Courtney looked older than Jane. The last few years had been tough on her.

Bess already thought of Courtney as her new sister. And her sister needed help.

“Did you decide what you’re going to do? After our meeting tomorrow, I mean.”

When the three of them had piled into the SUV, they had been all smiles. Now, Courtney frowned and looked down at her jeans.

“Yeah, I talked to Eddie just this morning. I guess I’m going back out there after all. I told him things would have to be different; that I wasn’t going to drink or do any kind of drugs and I didn’t want to go to any parties. I asked him to look for an apartment for me.

“I told him I just wanted to write songs and make music.”

“What did he say?” Tanith asked. She and Bess had talked about this and she knew exactly what the plan was.

“Oh, he was in total agreement. He said he couldn’t wait to see me. He said I could live at his place until I get my own. He sounded like he was high, but he said he wasn’t - he was on the wagon and a little love was all he needed.”

She said that last part using a happy voice, but her eyes didn’t get the message. They looked sad.

Bess connected to her and Tanith. She could feel that Courtney didn’t believe that her manager/boyfriend had changed. She knew what she was going back to, and yet she still planned to go.

Bess saw Courtney put one of her hands over the other one. Her thumb slipped under the sleeve of her shirt and rubbed the scars that were there. Suddenly, in a flash of inspiration, Bess understood what was driving this decision - Courtney thought she was worthless and that she deserved what was going to happen to her. Unlike the razor blade, it was slow motion suicide. A few months or years back in the life she’d left would result in a back page story about the almost famous songwriter who just died.

Bess took her hand and moved it away from the scars. Her voice was a whisper. “You don’t have to go back, you know. If you join our group, you’ll be a part of our family.”

“Oh, I wish I could. I really do. But it’s too late for me. If I could really go back in time and start again . . . if I could undo all the bad decisions I’ve made. If I could just have another chance, I’d be with you in a flash.

“But it’s too late. I’ve done things to myself and others that can’t be undone. So I’m going back. I think that’s best all around. Everyone has been trying to get me to change my mind. Edie got real mad at me just now before we left. But there’s nobody who can change my mind. It’s just what’s got to be.”

Bess thought to herself, “We’ll see about that.”

“Who knows, maybe things will work out. Maybe I’ll keep in touch with both of you and we’ll text and talk like good friends. Maybe I’ll come to see you for a visit. Maybe I’ll write you a song.”

Her voice was now in sync with her eyes - it sounded wistful.

Just then, the SUV slowed to a stop. They had arrived. “We’re just glad you’re here with us now,” said Bess.

Chapter Fourteen

April wondered what was going on with Jane. She seemed preoccupied with something. Sure, they had a lot happening right now with their efforts to get new members down in Little Rock, but their brothers and sisters on site were handling that. No, it was something else.

April saw her pull her phone out for the third time in five minutes and glance at it. She didn’t press the screen to activate it. Instead, she just glared at it and then put it away. The only thing on the screen was the time.

Allen, Roger, Jerry and Evan had all gone over to the company and were due back right about now.

After the meeting this morning, they really didn’t have anything to do and so the men decided to take off. They said they had to do “company business,” but maybe they just wanted to get away and re-enter the real world for just a bit. April understood that. In the last few weeks, all their lives had completely changed and it appeared likely that more changes were on the way. If it helped them to eat a meal at their fancy cafeteria, then that was fine with her.

But something wasn’t fine with Jane. Juliet and Shannon left to go check on the two kids who were napping in one of the bedrooms.

Just then, Jane lifted her phone again. April took her hand before she could see the screen. “It’s one minute later than the last time you looked,” she said in a gentle voice.

“What’s going on Jane? Something’s bothering you today.”

Jane looked slightly embarrassed. She was also annoyed that her mood was so obvious. “Ah . . . April . . . it’s nothing really. I’m just a little concerned with the group down south. Roger put Bess in charge and she’s never done anything like that before. I . . .

“No, I take that back. That’s crazy. I’m not worried about Bess. She’ll do a great job. I know she will. I guess maybe I wish I was down there too. I don’t know, maybe I’m just in kind of a bad mood - for no reason. None at all.”

She used her fingers to push back her hair from over her left eye.

April’s voice was a smooth as honey. “Not a single word of that is true, is it my sister? “You’re not worried about having a double wedding ceremony are you? You know Allen and I love the idea.”

Before Jane could answer, April sat up straighter as if a new idea had just occurred to her. “It’s not Jed, is it? You still are planning on marrying him, aren’t you? He loves you so much!”

Now Jane smiled. This beautiful woman was old enough to be her mother and she was concerned about her in a way that was beyond touching. That was like April - always the motherly type.

Jane remembered her own mother - how it was so hard to talk to her. How she was always so busy that Jane had to do most things for herself. She knew her mother loved her, but she was so driven, so focused on her career, that there just wasn’t a lot of time for mother/daughter talks.

Occasionally, when they had an argument, Jane thought that her mother actually didn’t care about her at all. But that was just adolescent pique.

Jane thought about one instance in high school. She got an “A” in everything, of course. School was pretty easy for her and she didn’t mind working when she needed to. Yet, it seemed that her mother hardly even noticed. When she got a report card, or when a paper needed a parent’s signature, it was there on her desk, ready for her to take to school the next day, signed by her mother. There was never a “good job, Jane” or an “I’m proud of you.” Jane didn’t miss them.

In the 11th grade, things changed. All her friends had filled out as they aged toward womanhood and she remained stubbornly stuck in mid adolescence. She was tall and lanky, her curves weren’t obvious and, to make matters worse, she developed acne.

That year, her mother had made her take calculus. She’d told her she didn’t want to take it - that she didn’t like math. But, as always, her mother got her way. It was just the way she was.

At the beginning of the third class, the teacher gave them a quiz. He assured the class that this grade wouldn’t count - he just wanted to see how they were absorbing the material. The class was made up of mostly nerds. She was one of only two girls in it. She’d woken up today with a shiny new zit on her forehead.

Jane knew the answer to all ten multiple choice questions. She chose the wrong one ten times and made sure her answer was the most ridiculous one for each question.

Afterwards, the kids were all talking about how hard the test was and how they’d be lucky to get five or six right.

That afternoon, as she returned home from school, she saw her mother’s Mercedes in the driveway. That was odd since she seldom saw her before seven. She let herself in and found her mother waiting in her study. “Come in and sit down,” she said. It wasn’t a request.

Jane liked the study. It wasn’t big or pretentious, but it had large windows on three sides that looked out into their little shaded garden. Her mother had decorated it with a stylish feminine hand. The walls were light green to match the outside in summer while the woods used in the furniture and bookcases were all light in color. It was the workroom of a woman who knew what she wanted. Jane often read and studied here after school.

Today, she sat in a chair as far away from her mother’s desk as she could get. Her mother stood and walked towards her. She extended her hand. In it was a piece of paper. Jane took it and saw that it was the calculus test. Her eyes bored into Jane’s as she put her hands on her hips.

“How . . . how did you find out?” Her voice sounded weak. It had a slight tremble in it.

“Every one of your teachers has my private number along with instructions to call me if there is anything out of the ordinary with you. That school is expensive and I make sure they know what I expect.

“So when I got a call a little while ago, I went over to see that teacher. At first I thought you were just having trouble with the subject matter, but it’s not that, is it? You carefully picked each answer to be the least likely one. That may be harder to do than picking the correct one. This isn’t an act of ignorance, is it? It’s an act of rebellion.”

For the first time in a long time - perhaps ever - Jane heard pride in her mother’s voice. That pride wasn’t because she might actually be good at calculus; it was pride that she was standing up for herself.

“Jane, I’m sorry. The time went so quick and you were so self-reliant, so capable, that I just forgot that you are almost a grown woman and might need my help. I should have discussed your classes with you. I should have helped you in a hundred different ways.”

That night, they spent hours talking and laughing together. Her mother gave her a gift that meant the world to her that very night. She planned to pass that gift on to her own daughter.

It was the most wonderful memory Jane had of her mother so far. She hoped there would be more, but she hadn’t seen her mother in several months. She was busy and Jane suspected that her mother wasn’t totally pleased with what she’d accomplished in her life. At that moment, she wanted to see her and tell her everything that had happened and let her know that her daughter was perhaps going to amount to something after all.

But instead, she returned to reality. April was concerned about Jed and her. “You remind me of my mother. I could never hide anything from her either.”

April smiled. She considered what Jane said to be a compliment.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I can’t wait to marry that big Texas lug. Saturday can’t come quick enough for me. I know it’ll be a party that I’ll never forget - probably none of us will.

“I guess I’m on edge because of waiting for word on what’s happening in Little Rock and in Grand Rapids. I feel a little out of it, you know? I’m used to being a bit more involved.

“And Roger is driving me crazy. Please don’t tell anyone else, but we’re trying something new with connecting. So far it hasn’t worked and I don’t know if it ever will, but we were supposed to try again at two and it’s almost 2:30 and he’s out doing God knows what. He’s probably eating one of his hamburgers and talking with one or more of his girlfriends from work. I thought I’d brought that boy along, but sometimes I just don’t know where his head is.”

April nodded in agreement. “Sometimes men can be a trial. Lucky for them, they’ve got us.”

“You got that right, sister.” Jane felt better. She realized it was because she had confided in April. She’d been trying to be more open, but it was a continuing process with her.

Just then, they both received a text from Bess.

Things going fine here. All likely to join with one question mark as you know. Jed explaining the Revelation to them now with demonstration of connecting. He’s doing a DYNAMITE job!!!!! Tanith’s arrangements have been perfect!!!!!! I so hope Marina and Father Tom have as much success. I know they will!!!!

Bess sent the message to everyone. Shannon and Juliet came walking out of the bedroom grinning. “I think she used up my phone’s entire supply of exclamation points,” said Juliet. Everyone laughed.

Shannon was carrying little Kari on her hip. She was awake, but still sleepy. She had her head resting on her mom’s shoulder. She looked at Jane with her big eyes and a sleepy look until her face exploded in the cutest smile imaginable. Jane felt her heart melt and then almost instantly felt a bolt of anger at Roger. He was late for her egg exam.

The landing in Grand Rapids was a bit more routine than the one in Little Rock. There was some nasty weather in the area, but air traffic control routed them away from the storms. By the time they came in to land, the winds were constant at twelve knots which was not a problem at all.

Marina had been cleared to runway 26L because the winds were from the west. The 26 in the runway name indicated that it was oriented so that she would be heading towards a point that was at 260 degrees on a compass with zero degrees being due north. This meant that she was heading almost due west and into the wind. The “L” meant that it was the leftmost runway of the two side-by-side runways.

Marina lined up the Beech and noted the twelve white stripes that indicated the runway threshold. Next, she identified the aim point markings. These were two wide stripes, one on either side of the center line, that were 1000 feet beyond the threshold markings. This was where a pilot aimed to have their rear wheels down touch down on the runway.

26L was the longest of three runways at Grand Rapids at 10,000 feet. Only a large and heavy jet would actually require a runway of this length.

Most planes touched down 500 or 1000 feet after the aim point because there was plenty of room and such a landing was considered normal. She could tell because of the location of the skid marks on the runway caused by the rubber from tires hitting the ground at landing speed.

As they passed the threshold, Marina reduced her rate of descent, and at twenty feet of altitude, lifted the nose of the plane to “flare” for the landing. This is what caused most planes to touch down beyond their aim point. When she lifted the front end so that the rear wheels would touch down first, Marina actually raised herself about three feet above the back of the plane. This made it harder to judge her descent to the aim point.

Add to that the fact that, on big planes, the rear wheels could be 100 feet or even more behind the pilot, and it became clear why those black marks didn’t often happen right on the aim point markings.

As she continued to descend, Marina kept her right hand on the throttle levers so that she could command maximum power from the engines in case it was necessary to quickly get back into the air. This was called a “go around” and meant she’d abort the landing if something appeared on the runway at the same time she was planning on using it - a truck or another plane or even geese.

But everything was fine, and for the second time that day, her landing was smooth. Her rear wheels kissed the concrete at almost the exact halfway point of the aim point lines.

She and Tom split up inside the terminal and went to change. Marina was wearing her pilot’s uniform and Father Tom had on street clothes. This job required different attire.

When they met a few minutes later, Marina had on light blue pants with a matching jacket over a white blouse. It was a look more suitable for business outside the airport.

Father Tom had transformed himself. Gone were his jeans and casual shirt. Now he was wearing black - pants, jacket and shirt. The only color was his white clerical collar that identified him as a priest.

“Wow! I’ve never seen you in your priest clothes, Tom . . . I mean Father Tom.”

He smiled but didn’t say anything. He remained silent as they picked up the keys to their rental car and as Marina slid behind the wheel and input their destination into the GPS. She could tell Tom was feeling some strong emotion and she was smart enough to let him work through it.

They were stopped at a light when he finally spoke. “The last time I wore my clerical clothes was almost 4 months ago. Before that, I guess I went at least a couple of years without dressing like a priest.”

He stopped and the silence returned. It was thick and uncomfortable. He sighed deeply, and then continued, looking straight ahead, but with an unfocused stare, “I was going to see my Bishop to tell him that I wanted to resign as a priest. Technically, you can’t resign - once a priest, always a priest, you know.

“But the church will receive requests to be returned to the lay state. You basically remain officially a priest, but can no longer function as one in the church. Many times, this happens when a priest falls in love and wants to get married. Other times, like with me, it’s because we can’t continue and need a fresh start.”

Marina merged smoothly onto Interstate 96. They had about a twenty minute drive ahead of them. “By that time, I was drinking every day and I do mean every day - not just at night. I hid it for quite a while since I was a ‘functional’ drunk.

“I eventually decided that I had to change my life. I simply couldn’t go on the way I’d been living. I thought that if I resigned, I’d be able to start fresh. I even thought I’d be able to stop drinking on my own. That’s how far gone I was.

“So that day, I dressed like a priest for what I thought was the last time and I started to walk to the church to see the Bishop. People looked at me as I walked on the street. I remember thinking that they knew I was a fraud. Only a block from the church, I passed a bar. The door was open and I could smell liquor coming from inside. I know that sounds crazy, but I’ll never forget that smell. It was so powerful. I went in and ordered a drink - just a quick one to steady my nerves.

“Three hours later, I felt strong hands lift me up from my seat at the bar. A small priest and a large nun pulled me towards the door. She said, ‘Come with us, Father. You don’t belong here.’ I can still hear her voice now. She sounded like an angel.

“Someone in the bar had called the church to report a drunken priest. One day, I’ll go back there and see if I can find out who it was so I can thank them. That call led directly to me being with you here today, Marina.”

Life returned to his eyes as he looked at her and smiled. His story was almost done.

“The Bishop would not entertain any idea that I might resign. ‘Out of the question,’ he said. ‘And certainly not until we get treatment for you.’

“And so I entered the program where you found me and where you and Jane and Shannon and April healed us. The church paid for the whole thing.”

Now it was Marina who had to think of what to say. It took a few seconds. “Do you think they felt guilty for how they treated you? I mean, they asked you to write that report on the pedophile priests and you did and you were right. But then they almost put you in exile, didn’t they?”

“The bishop is a good man, Marina. He knew about me, of course, but what could he do? When the scandal blew up and was at its peak, with all the court cases and all the publicity, it was a disaster. But it would have been worse, much worse, if some reporter or lawyer found out about me and how I’d warned them about this years ago. I understand there were a couple others who gave the same advice I did. Can you imagine the scene if any of us were called into court to testify? Can you imagine the effect my report would have had?”

He let that questions sink in for a moment. Tom didn’t expect an answer. “The church has a noble purpose, Marina. Throughout its history, it has periodically lost its way, but there was always that purpose to return to when the crisis passed - to show mankind the way to God. For the first time in many centuries, I think there was a real risk that the church might not be able to recover, even though they eventually did just about everything I had advised them to do in my report. I realized long ago that what I had written in that report had the potential to make things geometrically worse and deal the church a blow that it might not recover from. I understood that my words could lead to its collapse.

“The leaders of the church knew this too. They pushed me aside and kept me all but anonymous, but I didn’t actively object. Everyone I knew in the church was busy doing what they could to weed out the bad people and save what was left. That was their job and it was hard.

“I realized that I had a part to play in saving the institution too. My part was to use my training to help people, one or two at a time, in a small clinic. My job was to not advertise that I was a priest, to not wear clerical clothes, to stay away from the limelight - to not act as a priest. That was my job, Marina . . . and it was hard.”

Chapter Fifteen

The street was old and in need of a new coating of asphalt. As they arrived at the house, the tires made an almost constant thumping sound as they passed over the various patches that had been applied to the road surface over the years.

On each side of the street was what had originally been identical houses. They had been built after World War II for returning GI’s and their new wives. The houses were small - only a single bath and two bedrooms. But for soldiers who had experienced the discomforts of military service - and oftentimes the horrors of war - they were just right.

Soon after they were built, the streets began to be filled with children and the houses became less alike. Some had a garage added, while others sported new siding or bolder colors. Fences appeared, new rooms were added. Trees grew and the houses changed, year by year, as old owners left and new ones moved in.

Tom and Marina walked up to a house near the middle of a block. There was a very large oak tree in the front. Two frayed ropes hung from a limb, but there was no wooden seat between them to make a swing. The ropes looked old and brittle.

Before Tom could ring the bell, the door opened. A round man stared at them. He had a round face, a round belly and a round, almost bald head. He looked from Marina to Tom with round eyes. He wore round glasses. “The only reason we agreed to see you is that they said you were a priest. I guess they weren’t lying.”

He seemed almost disappointed that he’d been told the truth. “Come on in then.” He stepped aside and they entered. His wife was waiting inside. She was a thin woman with small eyes that darted from Tom to Marina. She smiled.

Juliet had called them as soon as Bess had reported that Courtney was planning on going back to her old life in California. It was a simple matter to look up her parents. She’d called hoping that they would welcome their daughter home, but it hadn’t worked out that way. They had told her to leave them alone. It was only when she offered to have Father Tom meet with them that they had relented. They were strongly Catholic and would not refuse a request from a priest.

Once inside, Marina and Tom stood together and looked at the room they were in. It was comfortable, but looked slightly old fashioned, as if no one had changed anything in it for some years. There was coffee on a tray waiting for them.

“I’m sorry Father if I didn’t sound all that welcoming. It’s just that I thought I was over losing my daughter, but it still hurts a bit. I’m Sam and this is my wife, June.”

He held out his hand and Tom took it. He did the same for Marina as Tom told him their names.

Introductions done, they sat on a well used couch. June Coburn poured coffee and served.

“Tell me how you came to know Courtney,” she said as she handed Tom a cup.

Tom told them the whole story of their time at the recovery house. He explained how Courtney was the youngest one in the group and how everyone had kind of adopted her. He explained how, when one or more of them felt they were on the verge of giving up and going back to their old ways, Courtney would often make up a song that got them all smiling. He described his training as a psychologist and how that helped in understanding Courtney. “She’s a great person, but she blames herself for where she is in life. That can be a good thing if it helps you to quit making mistakes, but it can be bad if you won’t forgive yourself when you do. She needs to forgive herself and be forgiven so she’ll be able to let herself start again.”

At this point, Tom paused and glanced at Marina. She gave her head the tiniest affirmative nod.

With that Tom connected to June and Sam Coburn. It was a very gentle connection, meant only to leave them certain that he was telling the complete truth. Father Tom was not as experienced in connecting as Marina, but he managed it without a problem. Marina didn’t join in the connection. They weren’t alarmed right now; they just felt like they could trust Father Tom. If Marina had joined in, it might have been too strange and out of the ordinary. It would have been at least confusing to them and perhaps frightening.

Tom went on, “And then one day, a miracle occurred in that house. Marina and some others in her group healed us. It seemed like all they did was touch each of us in turn and the awful thirst for alcohol was gone. I know it sounds crazy, but it happened just that way.

“Tomorrow, all my friends from the recovery house will go back to their old lives. They are beyond happy and excited to be able to get a fresh start and I’m happy for them - all except for your daughter. She’s also planning on going back to her old life and we all know it’s the wrong thing for her to do. Once she returns to California and her so called ‘friends,’ we think she’ll get caught in the quicksand again. She knows it too, but there’s something there that is driving her to return to the very lifestyle that almost killed her.

“We’ve offered to have her stay with us or to go anywhere she wants, but we think she really needs to be with you - at least for a while. That’s why we’re here. We want to ask you to come with us and see her. Courtney doesn’t know we’re here. We believe that if we told her, she’d run back to her old life right away. We think she needs to actually see you.”

Tom finished and the sound of his voice was replaced by a thick and uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Sam picked up a large book from the coffee table. He handed it to Marina and she opened it. It was a photo album.

Inside was page after page of pictures of the Coburn family. The first pages had many pictures of Courtney as an infant. As Marina tuned the pages and Father Tom looked on, Courtney aged before their eyes. In almost no time, she was walking, and then she was off to her first day at school. There were many pictures of her as a young girl playing a guitar almost as big as she was, pictures of her playing sports, pictures of her growing into an adolescent.

And then the pictures became less numerous. There was one of her with black boots, black clothes and heavy black makeup around her eyes. There was one with her smiling with spiked hair - each spike a different color.

The last picture was of her sitting under the tree in the front yard of this very house. The wooden swing was still old, but intact. She sat on it with her guitar. The photographer had caught her singing. The expression on her face was serene, even happy.

“The day after that picture was taken she left.” Sam’s voice cracked a bit. “We just got up in the morning and she was gone. She didn’t take any of her things - not even her clothes. She just disappeared.

“We were frantic, of course, but the police thought she’d just run away. She was seventeen and the last few years at home had been . . . stressful. That convinced them that she’d likely be back ‘once she kicked up her heels a bit.’ They said they’d seen it happen before.

“There wasn’t much of anything we could do. We had no idea where she might be or who she might be with. We just waited. We had no choice.

“Finally, after a couple of weeks, she called. June answered the phone and broke down in tears so that she couldn’t talk. I got on the phone and yelled at her. I told her that she’d put us through hell. I said she was the most selfish child anyone ever had.

“Father, she let me go on until I was out of words. Then she just said that she was fine. That she had a job as a singer and that she had a new life and her old one was over. She said, ‘You made it easier for me, Dad. Thanks for that. I know where I stand now. Tell Mom goodbye.’ And with that she hung up.”

By now, Sam was speaking while staring at the floor. “A few months later, we heard where she was. She was actually getting a career going in the music business and her name appeared here and there. She wasn’t a big star or anything, but she was working and making money.

“We flew out to see her. We found out that she was living in an apartment in an old house that had been divided. We knocked on the door and some big guy with long hair and no shirt answered. I say he was big, but most of it was fat. We told him who we were and that we wanted to see our daughter. He told us to wait and went back inside.

“We stood there at that entrance for ten minutes. Finally the door opened and he stepped outside and shut the door behind him. ‘She don’t want to see you. She says to tell you she’s got a new life now. She ‘tol me to give you this.’

“He handed me a piece of paper. It’s on the next page in the photo album.”

Marina turned to the last page in the album. Carefully taped to the sheet was a piece of paper. It had been wrinkled, but there were words on it written in a neat handwriting.

“Don’t come for me again.

Just think of me as dead.”

Marina gasped. “That’s . . . that’s from that song!”

June sighed, “Yes, I heard it was some kind of a hit record or something. She didn’t perform it, but she wrote it. I listened to it once. I couldn’t do it again.”

Now the silence returned. Tom maintained the gentle connection. He could tell they felt confused.

June spoke, “If we went with you, how would we get there? Where is Courtney - our daughter?”

“She’s in Little Rock with some members of our group. The leader down there realized she needed to see you. We’re here because she thinks this is what Courtney needs. As to getting there, we have a plane waiting for us at the airport.”

Now Sam had questions. “This leader - is she a psychologist too, like you? Has she known Courtney long?”

This was a time when being connected was something of a disadvantage. Tom considered letting them think Juliet was the one in charge, but knew they would see through any attempts to be less than fully truthful.

“No, she’s a twenty one year old college student who met Courtney for the first time on Monday. But she’s one of the most capable members of our group. If she thinks Courtney needs to see you, you can bank on it.” He paused. “We’re here because she said we should come and get you. That’s enough for us.”

June looked questioningly at Sam. No words were spoken between them, but their many years together made that unnecessary. “I guess that’s enough for us too. We’ll go with you, Father. There’s something going on here that we don’t understand, but if there’s a chance to help Courtney, we’ll do what we can. I thought I’d given up on her, but I guess I haven’t. Neither of us has.”

With that, Sam and June went to pack. Marina told them to take just enough for a few days. She let them know that if they wanted to stay longer, they were welcome and that the group was picking up the tab.

As they prepared, Marina looked at the time. They wanted to be back at the hotel when the day’s meetings ended at about five. Right now they had time - but not if they didn’t get going soon.

In less than ten minutes, Sam appeared with a small suitcase. June had changed clothes and was ready. “We’ve got a few questions. First, what is the name of this group of yours and what does it do? Second, are you trying to get Courtney to join? We’ve got another one, but let’s get these out of the way first.”

Tom didn’t hesitate. “Our group is called the Connection because we’re closely connected to each other. Its purpose is to help people like they did by healing me and Courtney of our alcohol addiction - and now to help Courtney to put her past behind her.

“Do we want her to join? We’d be glad to have her, but that’s her choice.”

Sam seemed to study Tom’s answer and apparently was satisfied with it. “Now, for the third thing, Father. Would you pray for all of us and for Courtney - now, before we leave?”

So far, Tom had been satisfied and even pleased with the way things had gone. He’s been truthful and hadn’t scared off these people who just wanted their daughter back.

But he hadn’t expected this. Quickly, his mind went back over his career as a priest - almost all of it spent in exile from the trappings of the church. He realized that he had never been asked to pray by a lay person before. He’s never done any of the normal things that priests do as leaders in the church. He felt the rise of panic as his mind went blank.

Almost involuntarily, his mouth opened to ask that he be excused from offering a prayer. Before any words could come out, he felt Marina take his hand and connect to him. She let him feel her support and, most importantly, her confidence in him. She could not send him actual words, but her feelings were crystal clear - “Go on Father Tom. You can do it. I have faith in you.”

That was what he needed. Tom found his voice and prayed out loud. He prayed for the success of their trip. He prayed for Courtney and for Sam and June. And he prayed for forgiveness for all of them for the times when they had fallen short. Marina could tell that this last part was more for Tom than for anyone else.

On the way back to the airport, Father Tom realized that, for the first time in his life, he felt like a priest.

Chapter Sixteen

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Colonel Stout was going over the events that led to Jacob Miller’s death. Pastor Chuck was only half listening - he’d heard it all before. He knew it would probably help the Colonel to talk about it, so he didn’t tell him to ‘man up’ and ‘grow a pair’ like he wanted to.

Besides, the Colonel had been good friends with Evan Miller and might be again. The chance that Chuck might be able to elbow his way into that inner circle was worth some boredom four days a week. It was, in fact, a honey pot of power, influence and money - just where Chuck wanted to be; especially since he planned on using his ability to connect to take his place at the center of all that power.

Chuck let his mind wander to the receptionist sitting right outside his oversized office door. The twit had called in sick this morning. Normally, that would have annoyed Chuck as she at least knew how to make good coffee and when to bring it to him. He’d tried yesterday to connect to her and had once again failed. How could such an empty head be so hard to penetrate? He’d been angry all day after that failure and only felt a little better when he was able to establish a very strong connection to the Colonel during yesterday’s session.

He had just about decided to fire her this very day, but arrived at his office only to find that she was “ill.” He had a busy schedule today, so he called the temp agency and told them to send over a girl right away.

He’d been expecting a dour, fifty year old specimen who normally answered this particular summons, but instead he got lucky. Miss Rachel Reed was no beauty queen - she had a bit too much nose and a bit too little in the lip department for that. But she had to be about thirty and the rest of her made sure your eyes didn’t waste much time on the face. She wore a tight skirt that drew his eyes to the slit in the side. He could see that she had nice legs.

Chuck had been married but his wife had died of cancer five years ago. She’d been his partner is building up his ministry and he missed her. He’d had the opportunity to be with other women since God had called her, but he’d never been with one, perhaps because he was a bit too much of a public figure and the stakes were just too high. He played the part of the saintly widower like a pro.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the tiny hint of cleavage Miss Reed displayed as she leaned over to place his coffee in front of him. She smiled at him with genuine happiness.

She was star struck to be in the company of such a famous pastor as Chuck Cleimer. She gushed about how she’d seen him in the papers and on TV; about how big an honor it was to get to meet him and even work for him.

Chuck couldn’t help himself. He instantly tried to connect to her - and it worked! He made sure it was gentle so that she’d only feel very close to him. He let her feel just a tiny bit of his power- and of his approval of her appearance. Through the connection, Chuck could tell what she was feeling and it was awe combined with a hint of womanly interest.

He was just starting to consider how he might use their connection when he heard the Colonel say something about a text from Juliet Morgan. As the wife of the big man, he was interested in her and in anything she did. In his experience, wives tended to cling and be needy with their husbands. This made the husband glad to make a new friend that wasn’t his wife.

“Say that again - about that text from Juliet.” He used her first name like he knew her.

“I just said she texted me asking how things were going. I know they are at least confused that I haven’t been in touch. I didn’t reply to her yet. I want to go back. I want things to be like they were with us. But with Roger and Jane and that whole bunch there, I just don’t know if I can.”

Now Chuck was fully engaged. This was a critical point. He was a good counselor and he knew that now was the time to make his move.

“Colonel, if you could go back and do things again, would you redouble your efforts to help Jacob? Would you convince Evan to fund even more research? Would you have called for doctors and physically stopped Evan from turning off those machines? Would you have done anything differently?”

It was a brilliant question. With the advantage of hindsight, anyone could likely do something different in just about any situation to improve the outcome. By forcing the Colonel to consider once again his inaction as Evan turned off the machines that were keeping Jacob alive, Chuck was poking a hot stick into the already painful guilt of the Colonel.

“But it isn’t Jacob that we are worried about at this point, is it? That child is receiving his reward right now. He’s beyond needing any help from us.

“No, it’s Evan Miller and his wife that are now our concern. At a time when you and Juliet and Evan should be healing together, they have fallen under the spell of Roger Seaton. I’ll tell you, Colonel, I’m worried that they will be become as unthinkingly obedient to him as the rest of that crowd is - especially, from what I understand, his girlfriend, Jane Mitchell.

“It may be too late for them. Roger has this gift - this ability to connect. I have it too as you know, but mine is a gift from God. In his case, its origin might be from somewhere else. He uses it to bind these poor souls to him; to make them do his will. It’s wrong Colonel and he needs to be stopped before it’s too late for your friends and mine - Evan and Juliet.”

Chuck was happy with his little speech. He thought it hit just the right themes and put himself right there as part of the Evan Miller inner circle.

Chuck connected to him. It was effortless at this point. He didn’t try to disguise the connection. He could feel that the Colonel even welcomed it.

As expected, he felt a large, painful measure of guilt from the Colonel. He also felt just a hint of anger.

“I’ve been thinking about this since Seaton turned my good friend Matt against me. We need to help Evan by staging a kind of intervention. Not by physically taking him away from Roger, but by making it impossible for Roger to stay around him . . . and his lovely wife, of course.”

For the first time, the Colonel considered what his life would be like without Roger Seaton. At first, he’d had high hopes for Roger since it seemed like he had the power to heal. But that hadn’t helped Jacob, and now he was drawing Evan and Juliet into his web. “Yes,” he thought. “If there was one thing I would change if I could, it would be to never meet Roger Seaton.”

Colonel Stout had been looking at the floor, suffering from the guilt imposed on him by Chuck, but now he looked up and held Chuck’s eyes with no hesitation. The idea that Roger could be made to leave them alone was reviving to him. Chuck felt a new emotion emanate from him - hope.

“How could we do that Pastor Chuck? How could we convince Roger Seaton to just go away and leave us all alone?”

The Colonel didn’t know it, but Chuck had already made a half hearted attempt to do just that. He had used a disposable phone to call the police and report that Evan Miller had actually turned off the machines that were sustaining Jacob - and that there had been a video system recording all that went on in that room. He had learned that fact from a counseling session with the Colonel who had confessed to watching the video dozens of times until, in a fit of sorrow and anger, he’d erased it.

So when Chuck made his report to the police, he knew the video was gone, but he just wanted to stir things up a bit. He hadn’t put a lot of thought into his hasty plan and it hadn’t led to anything. Maybe the police just ignored such innuendo against billionaires.

But now he had a better idea. “Colonel, you know I’ve got this group that exposes cults. If ever there was a true cult, Roger Seaton has one going. I could get one of my contacts in the media to perhaps do an exposé on this new and dangerous cult - the Connection. I can see the story now - ‘Famed Inventor and Billionaire Loses Son and Falls Prey to Cult.’ You and I can then offer to help them escape - you as their oldest and dearest friend, and me as an expert who knows how destructive these cults can be - and who knows how to help people escape them.

“Shining the spotlight on Roger and his band of scurrying insects may shock Evan back to his senses.” Chuck looked upwards as the idea seemed to expand in his mind almost like a flower opening in the sunshine. “We’ll need a list of all the members so we can show how these formally normal, good people have been trapped in this web of lies. Their stories can be made to be compelling. Didn’t you tell me that one of them actually brought her children along? The public will eat that up and Evan will need us to help him. We’ll offer him the chance to rid himself of Roger and return to his former life. He’ll take that chance. I’m sure he will.”

Chuck couldn’t help himself. He was getting excited just thinking about it. Sometimes, he marveled at the ideas that just came to him out of the blue. There had to be some sort of heavenly inspiration for them.

The Colonel wasn’t as certain. Chuck could feel that he was concerned. “But that will make Evan’s and Juliet’s connection to Roger and his group public knowledge. There’s a pretty good chance that exposing them that way will hurt them in ways we can’t predict right now. And suppose they decide to stay with Roger even after the story comes out. They’ll be lost forever.

“Chuck, it’s a creative idea and it might actually work, but there’s quite a lot of risk there too. I’ll have to think about it.” He said this with a clarity and purpose that Chuck hadn’t seen in the Colonel since that first meeting in Evan’s office. Gone was the Colonel who was confused and grieving. This was the Colonel was could see things from every angle, make a decision and follow it through with military precision. Chuck felt just a trace of concern, but he hid it from the Colonel.

He was too much invested and too close to Evan Miller’s money to let the Colonel stop him now. “I understand, my friend. You go ahead and think it out. I understand your concerns.

“But something is telling me, down deep inside, that this is the right course. When I get these feelings, I’ve found it best to act on them. I really believe that there’s a purpose to all this, you know. So don’t wait too long, Colonel. Think about it if you must, but don’t wait too long.” Through the connection, Chuck let him feel his strong desire to follow his plan.

The Colonel stared at him for several seconds without speaking. He was deep in thought. Finally, he said, “I know you’re right about Roger, Pastor Chuck. He’s at the center of the cesspool, drawing everyone else in with him. If we can just get him to go away, I do think things might return to normal. Thank you for helping me see that. I’ll try to come up with my own plan, but if I can’t, we can always call your friends in the media.”

Chapter Seventeen

At exactly 5pm, Bess brought their formal meeting to an end. Everyone was now free to go to their rooms and rest or, more likely, contemplate the astounding things they had heard - and felt - today. Tanith had arranged for food to be delivered to the meeting room around 6:30. Bess thought that everyone would probably come back and talk and connect with each other until late into the night.

The afternoon had been spent with Edie and Jed explaining to them exactly how they had been healed, who had done it and why. They explained that only some of the members of the Connection had the ability to heal, but that they could all combine their mental energy when connected. Jed demonstrated connecting, first to each of them individually and then to them all together as a group.

They told them about the Revelation and how life struggled to exist in this very hostile universe. They explained that life itself was in danger and that their task was to ultimately save life. They told them just about everything except how the universe was destined to end.

They told them that they would one day be called on to connect in a large group and combine their energy in such a way as to save life.

Late in the day, Father Tom and Marina arrived and joined in. He was greeted like a long lost brother by the people he had lived with.

This was an accomplished group of professionals in several fields. There were academics, business owners, a physician and even a song writer.

It might have been expected that this group would be at least skeptical if not outright unbelieving, but the evidence of their own healing was too fresh and too indisputable. The demonstration of connecting had been all that was required to remove any further doubt from any of them. They believed - and now that they knew the truth, they wanted to be part of the group.

All of them said exactly that to Bess as they left the large suite that was being used as their meeting room. All except one, that is - the song writer.

With everyone else gone, Bess, Tanith and Courtney walked together to their rooms. “I don’t know, Bess. I’m just numb from all that I learned today. It’s so wonderful and so scary at the same time. But I do believe it’s true. I really do. I felt it back the first time your group came. I felt it when that girl touched me.”

“Then join us,” said Tanith. It was simple, quiet and sincere.

“I . . . I don’t know. I know you’ve got such important things to do. While I was in recovery, I realized that I was a screw-up. For the first time, I knew where the blame for my painful life belonged - it belonged totally with me. I realized that every time I had a big decision to make, I made the wrong one. I even wrote a song called, ‘The Girl Who Could Do No Right,’ but it didn’t help anything - it just made me see myself as I am.

“I love you guys. I really do, but I don’t want to make a mess of things for you. I wish I could go back and do things differently, but that impossible. I am who I am and I belong out there with other people like me. I chose the wrong road a long time ago and there’s no second chance for me. I’m sorry.”

Bess faced her directly and moved until their noses were only inches apart. She looked into Courtney's eyes and connected to her. “I’m not done with you yet,” she said. “Sometimes we do get that second chance. If we’re lucky, sometimes we do.”

Bess broke the connection and Courtney gave her a thin smile. “I wish I had that kind of luck,” she said as she turned and inserted her keycard into her door. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

With what sounded like a sigh, she turned and went inside. Bess and Tanith heard the click of the door latch as it locked itself. Tanith moved beside Bess so that their shoulders were touching. They faced the door in silence.

Almost a full minute went by before the door was flung open. Courtney stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks. “What should I do, Bess? I want to run, to hide. I want to go back inside, but I’m afraid to. I’m . . . “

She stopped and Tanith gave her a tissue from her purse. She blew her nose. “You did this, didn’t you?” She was talking to Bess.

“Father Tom and our sister Marina went to them and convinced them to come. I understand that they didn’t take much convincing.”

“God, I don’t know what to do. Could I really start over? Is it possible after all?”

Bess felt her try to connect to them. It was somewhat clumsy, but for someone who had just learned about it today, she did very well. She held out her hands to Bess expecting that her touch would help. Bess took them, one in each of hers. The connection strengthened and Tanith joined in as well.

Courtney looked at her hands in wonder as a tear dropped from her chin onto one of them. Bess followed her gaze and saw white lines on her skin below the long sleeves of the shirt she was wearing. At that moment, Bess realized that every time she’d seen Courtney, she’d had on long sleeves - even though the weather was hot.

Gently, Bess pushed her sleeves up to her elbows. On each arm was a patchwork of white lines - scars that were the result of healing. Healing which was the result of the cuts that had been made to her skin. Cuts that were the physical manifestation of the self hatred she had experienced for far too long.

At this moment, Bess didn’t feel any self hatred from her. Instead, she felt her shame and embarrassment. She didn’t want her parents to see her this way - not now, not after all that had happened.

Without a conscious decision, Bess looked inside her and willed those scars to fade. In seconds, they started to become less white and more pink. Soon, they would be invisible. Bess knew that, and Courtney, through their connection, did too.

Now her tears flowed even more freely. “I . . . I don’t know what to say. It’s just like . . .”

Tanith took her by the shoulders and turned her so that she was facing the room. “Go on now, they’re waiting for you. They’ve been waiting a long time.”

For the second time, the door closed with a metallic click. The resulting silence was loud. Tanith reached into her purse again and handed Bess a tissue.

She took one for herself too.

Back in her room, Bess called Jane and Roger and reported all that had happened. She started out giving them a formal report, but they both said such nice things to her about what a good job she’d done, that she couldn’t help giggling once in a while. It didn’t help that Tanith was sitting there smiling at her the whole time. Her feeling of relief that things had gone well was almost a physical thing and it made her slightly giddy.

Next they called Nanna and made sure she was fine. They had decided to stay at the hotel tonight because the new members would likely want to be up late to talk and Bess was going to run the meeting tomorrow and didn’t want to have to rush in the morning.

Tanith talked to Nanna for a minute and then put her on the speaker. Bess told her that the meeting was going super duper smooth because Tanith had done such a good job.

“I know’d it,” she said. “You two do make a good team, even if I do say so myself.”

They changed into more casual outfits and went down to the suite to make sure the food was being delivered on time. It was early, but they were the last ones to arrive. Being new to the Connection made you want to spend every possible moment with your new brothers and sisters.

Around 9 p.m., Courtney and her parents arrived. She had pulled her hair back into a pony tail and had changed into new jeans and a short sleeved T-shirt. Her arms were pale and she looked younger. “Can we come in?” she asked from the doorway? She was holding her mother’s hand.

Everyone had by now been briefed on what had happened and it seemed like the entire group jumped to their feet to greet the new arrivals. For several minutes, it was happy pandemonium.

Later, Courtney pulled aside Father Tom and Marina. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me - for all of us.”

Marina smiled at her. “My sister, it wasn’t us. Bess called Jane the first time she met you and suggested the whole thing. It was all her idea. After that, we all just did our part, but she’s the one who made it happen.”

Courtney looked across the room until her eyes found Bess. She was talking to June Coburn. Every few seconds she laughed. “She’s quite a girl,” she said.

“She’s quite a girl,” said Jane. She and Roger had been discussing the events of the day while he checked on the progress of her cycle. It was close now - hour by hour close. It might happen tonight or tomorrow or the next day, but it was going to happen and soon. For once Jane was satisfied.

“At first, I thought she was a bit annoying, but either she’s grown a lot or I’ve gotten used to her exuberance. Either way, she’s a valuable member of the team. I’m so impressed with what she’s done on this trip. I wish I could have been there with her. I’m tired of being stuck here with you.”

Roger knew what she meant and didn’t take offense. “I know it’s been rough getting this thing off the ground, but we’re due for some down time before BP has us doing God knows what. Tomorrow you and I go to the game. That’ll be fun. And then everyone can do what they want on Friday, and Saturday is our party. After that, you and Jed and April and Allen are leaving for a few days of honeymoon.

“By the time you get back, we’ll probably have most of the work done on the vehicle to save the universe so you can become the loving housewife you’ve always wanted to be. I’m giving you a very cute apron as a wedding present.”

She gave him one of her looks. “Very funny. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while and now’s as good a time as any.”

She paused to construct what she wanted to say. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the couch in his apartment. She turned to him. “I don’t want to be just your assistant in the Connection. I ‘m happy to watch your back and help you when I can. I don’t want to change that - you need me after all. But I want to be in charge of something on my own. Something where I call the shots - where I’m the one responsible for the results.”

Roger got a puzzled look on his face. “You know you can do whatever you want, Jane. I always said you probably should have been the one to be in charge. I know how things happened, but it’s still almost unbelievable to me. I was never meant to be a leader and you were obviously born that way. The members like me and they follow me because of that - but they respect you in a whole different way.”

He moved closer to her and used his hand to move the lock of hair over her left eye. His touch was gentle. Jane smiled at his gesture, “Saturday is Girls Day for the Connection. We’re all going to spend hours in a fancy day spa and I’m going to get this sheepdog hair taken care of.”

She looked directly into his eyes and connected. Jane had never felt so close to anyone. “I . . . I don’t know what I want to be in charge of yet. Maybe when we learn what we have to do from BP, some job will present itself. I’ll let you know, okay?”

He didn’t bother to answer. There was no need. The connection was enough.

The silence stretched on, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Finally, Jane said, “It’s getting late. I guess we should get to bed.”

She got up and left. Roger didn’t turn until he heard the click of the door lock.

Chapter Eighteen

Normally, Jane slept deeply. She could function quite well on six hours a night, but when she was asleep, she was soundly asleep. It took a lot to wake her when she was in that state.

At first, she thought she was dreaming. She was alone and Roger was calling her from what must have been far away. His voice was weak. “Hello,” he said and then repeated it.

She fought through the confusion of the dream and woke up. The voice was still there. “Hello. I have information for you.” It was BP.

At first she was startled because BP had never awakened her at night for one of his sessions. It had happened with Roger early on, but not lately even with him. Her apartment was dark with no sign of sunrise. She realized it must be late at night.

As she fought to become fully awake, she also realized that Roger was connected to BP, just like she was. He was across the hall in his own apartment, but the connection was strong and clear.

Jane was feeling the effects of being awakened and was a bit cross, “Good Lord. Can’t this wait until the morning? We’re sleeping here, you know.”

Jane had not been connected directly to BP very often, but when she’d experienced him directly this way, he was usually very serious and his voice reflected that seriousness. But now, his voice sounded almost like he was smiling - even though he didn’t have a face as far as she knew.

“I suppose I could return in the morning. We have seven years to save the universe after all. What difference could a few hours possibly make? Go ahead and return to your sleep.”

Now she was stuck. There was no way she was going to let him go if he had something important to tell them. Roger knew it too. She could feel him smiling at her.

She did what she had to do. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, BP. I can be a bit witchy when I’m awakened early. And you, Mr. Seaton, you wipe that smile off your face. Don’t forget, I know exactly what you’re feeling over there.”

Roger continued that smile as he looked at the alarm clock beside his bed. It said 5:22. That was the exact time that BP had first come to him, months ago. He’d been terrified then, but not now. Not after all they had been through. This was the first time he had connected to him in this way since he’d finished the Revelation. Roger realized with some surprise that he’d missed these sessions.

“I have completed my study of the requirements for the craft that we must build. I have a design.”

BP had let them see a vision of the universe when they received the final part of the Revelation. Now, he did it again. In their minds, both Roger and Jane saw a ship. It wasn’t like anything they had ever imagined it would be. It was basically a ring - hollow in the center. Attached to the outside of the ring was a rectangular box. In their vision, the entire structure floated in space. The moon was quite small, but could be easily identified. A blue planet was beyond that, made small in the distance. Earth.

“The ring is what I call the concentrator. When you get the 340 people here on Earth to combine their connection, the energy will be aimed at the center of that ring. That stream of energy will be somewhat thick and ragged. The ring will then concentrate all of it to a tiny point. You can think of the energy leaving the ring as being in the shape of a cone - it is being focused onto a single point. That point will start the conversion of the dark energy into matter. Once that reaction starts, it will continue outward until things are returned to their natural state.”

The vision being provided by BP showed the thick stream from Earth entering the ring and being focused to a single point. Before their eyes, a burst of white light occurred and the reaction flew off in all directions.

Roger struggled with what he was seeing. It was beautiful, and at the same time frightening. Jane asked, “What happened to the ship?”

“It was consumed in the initial reaction. There is a lot of energy released in a very small area. But this method will work - it will spark the reaction that saves our home by returning this universe to its natural rhythms.”

Jane was still curious about what she had seen. “That rectangular part on the outside of the ring, what does it do?”

BP didn’t answer her directly. He paused as if he was trying to think of an answer. “The problem is that the energy from the combining is from life. Therefore, it is not perfectly predictable. One person will provide a bit more and another a bit less. Their aim will change slightly over time. That’s why the beam entering the ring is thick and unfocused. That can’t be helped since the actions of life are the only random things in the universe. Therefore the nature of the combined beam will be randomly changing and it can’t be predicted.

“Built into the ring are 1024 mechanisms that allow for adjustment of the type and amount of focus on a continuing basis. It is like a lens that is constantly shifting and twisting to match the incoming light. Those focusing mechanisms need to be continually adjusted based on the nature of the incoming energy.”

Now Roger felt Jane start to become uneasy. This made him wary. “So how does this constant adjustment work? Is that rectangular box filled with high speed computers to do this job?”

Again BP waited to speak. “No, it is not. That is what I have been working on since we last spoke on this topic. I wanted to have an automatic correction capability, but I have come to the conclusion that such a thing is not possible in the time we have. Your level of technology is just not advanced enough to build such a thing in seven years - even with my help.”

Now Jane felt Roger become concerned. He knew BP and his habits better than she did. Something was up and Roger felt it.

BP spoke, “Please do an experiment for me. Close your eyes and hold your hands in front of you; each hand apart by almost the width of your body. Now, I want you to extend your index fingers and quickly move your hands together until your index finger tips just touch each other. Go ahead, do it now.”

It was crazy, but both Roger and Jane had experienced crazy things from BP before. Somehow, they made sense after a while as he used them to make one of his points.

Roger felt frustration from Jane. She tried and neither of her index fingers even came close to meeting. Roger had the same result. Jane tried a second and third time, but only managed to have them meet off center.

“Now try it by extending your thumbs,” said BP. They did and the results were even worse.

“I am now going to request that each of you allow a slight change in our connection. You will feel my inquiry and you must allow me to have this particular access. Please do it now.”

Roger felt what BP had described. It was almost like he felt a request to share control of himself with BP. He would never have accepted such a request without having great trust in the requestor. Roger did as BP asked. He had no fear.

Jane was struggling and was starting to get frustrated. Even though she had tried her best - and planned to continue to try - she had never managed to connect in such as way as to be able to affect physical changes inside of people. Only Roger and Shannon and Bess could do this.

Now they were being introduced to yet another facet of connecting and Roger took to it easily while she once again lagged. Her frustration grew by the second and made her try all the harder.

“Let me show you, Jane.” She heard Roger’s voice in the connection through BP. It was said in a gentle manner and without a hint of condescension or pity. It was the voice of her best friend, offering his help simply because she needed it.

It required an act of will on her part, but she surrendered herself to him and accepted his help. He gently led her in a way that allowed her to see exactly what she had to do. She wondered how she could have missed it. “Thank you, Roger,” she said with genuine appreciation.

BP saw they were ready, “By allowing this connection, Roger and Jane, you have allowed me to control your motor functions. You can retake control at any time, but allow me to demonstrate.”

Without any effort from either of them, their hands moved apart just as before. And just as before, the index fingers extended and the hands move quickly towards each other. This time though, the tips of the fingers stopped their motion perfectly aligned with each other. BP was controlling their movement and could do it much more accurately than they could.

He continued to demonstrate with the thumbs and then with each of their other fingers. The speed of the hand movements doubled and then tripled until Jane and Roger had troubling following their speed in the dim light of their bedrooms.

But in every case, the fingertips came together perfectly and gently with their mate. It was a display of speed and dexterity that was astounding.

“Now you can try it,” said BP.

Jane immediately attempted it with Roger. Without hesitation, he allowed her access.

Almost instantly, she felt heavy. Big and heavy and thick. Roger was close to 6 feet tall and weighed about 175. She was 5’10” and weighed 134. That extra weight was like a very big burden. She wondered at his ability to carry this thick mass around.

Now she experimented with moving his hands. She moved one to his face and felt the stubble that was his beard. She moved his right hand to his left bicep. He didn’t have on a shirt. The muscle felt massive to her. She thought of herself as strong, but this was almost freakish.

She was done and broke that part of the connection. It was almost too intimate.

Next, she felt Roger ask to do the same thing. She agreed instantly.

She felt light as a feather to him. Like she had just done, he moved her hand to her bicep and it felt small, yet he didn’t feel any weakness there. He then moved her hand down to the spot where he touched her during their egg hunts. He felt her warmth and the bones from her hip. Her skin felt soft. He moved her hand upward.

“I think that’s enough of that.” she said as she stopped that part of the connection.

What they had just experienced was strange and wonderful. The question was “why?”

In an instant, Roger felt that Jane had an idea. She registered a strong sense of shock. “You . . . you’re going to be up there aren’t you? Pushing buttons or somehow controlling that ring thing. But you can’t move physical things on your own. You need a human to do that, don’t you? That’s why you did this little demonstration with the fingers.

“My God, don’t tell me you want one of us to be in that box. It’s going to be - you said it was going to be consumed. That’s a fancy word meaning destroyed. No forget it, BP. That explosion or whatever it is probably can’t hurt you, but it would kill any of our brothers or sisters.”

Now BP’s voice seemed to change again. It seemed softer. “My daughter, no one ever said our journey would be easy or even safe. There are likely many challenges ahead and we could certainly lose people as we strive to do what must be done.

“But remember, I will be there. I will do my utmost to take the life from the person in that ship and transport it safely with me. They will not be lost and we will see them again in our new home, just like we will with the child Jacob.”

Roger asked the next question, “You said you would do your utmost to save that person. Does that mean you might not be able to? That they might really die and be lost forever?”

When BP hesitated again, Roger felt his alarm increase. “The problem is with the somewhat random nature of the beam. I fully expect to reach a point before the start of the reaction where the result in inevitable and I can then remove the life essence of the person there with me.

“But there is a small possibility that I may have to continue making adjustments until the reaction starts. If that happens, there is a possibility that we could lose the person.

“What are the odds?” Jane had steel in her voice.

“I would calculate that they are no more than 10%. There is a 90% chance of a good outcome. As we get closer to our attempt, I may even find ways to reduce the risk even further.

“But for now, this is the best I can do.”

They all three were silent now as they tried to understand what lay ahead. Finally, Roger said, “I’ll do it if I have to. It’ll turn out alright. Somehow, I feel lucky.”

Jane’s voice had a snarl in it. “Like hell you will. You just forget about it, you hear. And I’m not kidding.”

Roger felt her heat all the way from her room. She wasn’t done. “Listen Roger; let’s just keep this to ourselves for the moment. BP, are there tasks we can get started on without revealing your - your special little plan? We need time to think about this.”

“Yes, my daughter. I can outline a group of tasks that need be done. We need a facility to build in, materials to build the concentrator. There are many things to do.”

Roger now spoke up, “Okay, I think Jane is suggesting that we at least get started. BP, you prepare the tasks and then run them by us before you do anything else. I hate these surprises, but there’s no reason to worry everyone else right now. And you keep trying to reduce the risk. I don’t like the idea of any of us getting vaporized even if you can save us in the long term. Put in some more effort to seeing if there isn’t another way. If not, get that 10% down - get it down a lot if you can.”

“And leave us alone now. We need to think about this.” That was Jane. BP obeyed and they both felt him leave.

Without him in the connection, they could no longer talk, but they could still feel each other. As usual, their connection was deep. They held nothing back. They stayed that way until the sun rose.

Chapter Nineteen

At this time of year, it started the get light around six. When it was light enough to see, Roger rose and the connection slipped away. He felt tired and needed coffee, but he spent a minute staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. The thing that BP had revealed last night was shocking.

Things had been going well; the group was expanding nicely, they knew what they had to do and they had faith that they could do it. He and Jane made a great leadership team, but that might have been because they had such good people to lead.

He’d been looking forward to going with her to the game today and to the party that would be the occasion where Allen and April and Jed and Jane got married. He didn’t want that celebration to be marred.

The vision of Jane walking down the aisle caused a thought to begin to form in his brain and he quickly squelched it. It was coming more often now, but he knew all the signs that meant it was trying to work its way into his consciousness. That thought was of no use; it was even painful. Ever since he’d had a long talk with Bess at her place, it had tried to rise inside him like a slithering thing, always looking for an opening. He didn’t let it.

Now, BP had thrown a wet blanket over what should have been a great next few days. The idea that one of their members might have to ride inside that stupid concentrator thing so that BP could be at the controls when it vaporized was frightening.

As he walked to the kitchen area and turned on the coffee machine, he thought about who it would be. He was the most likely candidate, of course. It made sense. He was the closest to BP and probably could be controlled better than any of the others. He didn’t know that for sure, but it might be true since BP had a lot of practice controlling him.

But he knew that Jane would have an epic fit if he tried to volunteer. He had a momentary vision of her, eyes shooting not just sparks, but real lightning bolts. In his mind, everyone else was doing it too, not just her. He knew he’d have a mutiny on his hands if he let it be known that he’d be in that ship.

At that moment, the door latch clicked as Jane used her key. She walked in, head bent and thumbs dancing as they typed something into her phone. She didn’t look up or say anything to him; she just strode purposefully towards the couch. She was here for her egg exam.

Of course she didn’t knock - he knew she was coming and he would most certainly let her in - so why bother to knock? That was the way her mind worked.

Roger hadn’t dressed yet and was still wearing the boxer shorts that he’d slept in. That didn’t bother him - they were about the same size as the swimming trunks with the duck pattern that he’d used at the party where they got to know Jerry, Jed, Shannon, Marina and April. He smiled to himself when he thought about those trunks. Jane called them his, “Duck Pants.”

She had apparently also not changed after she got up. She was wearing gym shorts and a loose fitting cropped top. Roger felt his heart race slightly as some gland deeply buried in his brain came to life with a squirt. She was his best friend, but he was also a man and the sight of her long legs and slim waist drew his eyes. She was barefoot.

Without a word, she dropped onto the couch and crossed her legs as she continued to thumb type. After about thirty seconds, she raised her head to look at him.

Roger knew exactly what the look on her face meant. She didn’t speak - she didn’t have to. He knew her and she knew him in a way that didn’t always require spoken words. Her expression said “Well?” Roger knew that meant, “What’s keeping you? Get over here and check me out.”

He did just that. He sat beside her and connected to her again. Just like last night, it felt normal to him. He started to look inside her, when she took his hand and put it on her stomach. Even though this area of skin was exposed to the morning air, it still felt warm.

They looked together. It was almost automatic by this time. He found the spot quickly and they both saw that there had been little progress. That’s wasn't too surprising - they’d just looked a few hours ago, after all. He knew they’d look again in a few more hours.

Roger half expected that she would have something caustic to say, but she was silent. She lifted his hand away from her and used her free hand to pick up her phone and type a few more characters. She stared at the small screen for several more seconds and then sat it aside. Their connection had ended.

They sat that way, shoulder to shoulder, for a full minute. Roger knew her well enough to let her decide when to speak. Finally she said, “Jed’s so excited about how things went yesterday. He sent me a long email last night about it so as not to wake me up. He’s really pumped.”

Now it was Roger’s turn to read her mood and expression. He knew she wasn’t done. His eyes were drawn to a flash of light that came from her engagement ring as she slightly shifted her position. He felt the beginnings of that unwanted thought creep into his mind. He shut that door quickly.

She was now staring into the distance. “You don’t really know him, Rog. He puts on a big cowboy testosterone show, but he’s a romantic at heart. He always ends his messages with lovey-dovey stuff. I never thought I’d like that kind of thing, but you know, I do.”

Not long ago, Jane would never have shared her feelings with anyone else this way. She’d changed a lot since BP started the Revelation. They all had.

She wasn’t done. “And now BP so much as said that one of us is not going to make it out of this universe alive. I should have known that was a distinct possibility. Heck, Rog, a bunch of us might get killed. It just sucks, you know? It sucks bad. I want to tell Jed, but I don’t want this type of news to ruin our wedding. I don’t know what to do.”

Roger searched for words of comfort. He looked toward her, hoping he’d think of something.

The look on her face told him there was no need. She was lost in thought, deep in an almost trance-like state that meant she was thinking hard about a problem. When she was like this Roger knew to let her alone so that she could do her work. It could take seconds or it could take longer. He had no way of knowing.

He relaxed slightly. Having Jane hard at work that way meant that she’d eventually return to him and that she’d likely have something useful to contribute.

This time it took about three minutes. That was quite a bit longer than normal. She uncrossed her legs and turned sideways on the couch. “So BP told us that he has the design for the craft - this concentrator thing that will cause the energy to matter conversion to start. That’s fine and I believe him.

“But how do we know he’s right when he says he needs one of us in there? And why does he need a person sitting there that he can manipulate? He says a computer can’t do it, but how do we know he’s not mistaken?

“I’m not ready to accept this part of his Revelation without knowing that all the other possibilities have been covered. That’s what I was doing just now - thinking about how many ways there might be to manipulate that ring of his.

“For example, did he consider having one of us work those controls safely on Earth, with him up there in space connected to him or her? Do the commands needed to correct the beam have to come from someone up there where the explosion is going to happen? Couldn’t they be sent from Earth via radio or something?

“And I’m not willing to give up on computer controls either. Evan knows all the latest research into advanced computer technologies - maybe he knows something BP doesn’t know.

“Here another - why does the beam have to be focused so precisely up there? Might it be possible to focus it down here where it’s safe? And why does it need to be so finely focused? Is it because that puts just enough energy at the point of ignition? Could we do the same thing with an unfocused beam, but with double or triple the number of people combining to create it?

“See what I mean? There are way too many things we don’t know. BP is going to have to explain himself in greater detail and he’s going to have to accept that while we humans might be the less intelligent offspring of his exalted type of life, we won’t just sacrifice ourselves without a significant effort to find another way.”

Now she stood up, pacing as she talked. Her voice betrayed excitement. “So we keep this latest part to ourselves for the moment like we decided before. Let’s get through the rest of this week before we tell anyone else. But let’s tell BP that we don’t accept that his plan is the only way and that he either has to come up with another one on his own or we’ll do it for him.

“What do you think?”

At first Roger was a bit disappointed in what she’d come up with. He’d grown so used to BP being right about everything that the idea that he could make a mistake didn’t seem likely. However, he remembered at least two times when BP himself had admitted to making a mistake. It could happen. Jane might be right and BP wrong. It could happen.

He looked at her, towering above him and again felt his heart swell as a flash of intuition let him understood her feelings. She desperately wanted the next few days to be as she’d envisioned them - her marriage and her pregnancy were both going to happen in that period according to her personal calendar. Her plan would send BP looking for another approach and give them those few days that they had so been looking forward to.

It wasn’t just Jane, after all. It was April and Allen’s marriage. Bess kept writing him about how much she was looking forward to their party. Everyone wanted to meet Tanith in person. The group had been apart for several days and they all longed to see each other again. Everyone seemed to be ready to mark the end of this learning about the Revelation and start the process of saving the universe.

Roger stood and faced her. His right hand moved a lock of hair that was threatening to cover her left eye. She smiled at him. That gesture was comforting to her. “I think your idea is grand, just grand,” he said. “I’ll lay down the law to BP after we get back from the game and before Bess and Marina and Tanith gets here. I’ll probably be busy after that and I know you will be with your sweetheart.”

She strode for the door. “Haven’t I warned you about being cute?” She said with a smile for him as she left.

He was again careful not to watch her leave.

Bess had been up to 2 a.m. programming Tanith’s brand new Connection phone. Edie had brought it along at her request. Tanith had stayed up with her almost the entire time, watching her work, but fell asleep sitting up in her bed just before it was finished. Bess made her lie down and covered her up.

By seven, Bess was out of the shower and half dressed. As she was putting on her makeup, Tanith woke up. “Don’t you sleep, my sister? How can you look so fresh in the morning when I know for sure you were up very late?”

Bess smiled at her without answering. In reality, she did feel a bit tired, but that would go away soon. She hoped she’d catch a nap on the plane going home. She wanted to spend some time with Roger tonight and if she conked out early, she figured he’d end up with Marina or even Tanith. That boy did have a way of having girls around him.

“Your phone is ready. It’ll ask for a special audible pass code and a fingerprint. You can change the passcode whenever you want, but for now I made it StayAwayFromRoger.”

Tanith laughed. They’d giggled and shared stories about their boyfriends a couple of nights ago so Tanith knew how she felt about Roger. “Maybe I’ll change it to LetTheBestGirlWin.”

“Don’t you dare or I’ll tell everyone about your last date.” Tanith laughed at that. She and Bess had shared so much with each other. They had become very good friends as well as sisters.

Tanith activated the phone only to find she had a large number of messages. Each and every member of the Connection had sent her a note expressing their happiness to have her as a member or to say they couldn’t wait to meet her in person. She almost felt overwhelmed - her life was heading on a totally new course. .

Within a half hour they were both ready. Bess was going to the meeting room early because her nerves were starting to act up again. Yesterday, she’d made the introductions at the meeting, but Edie and Jed had done most of the presenting. They’d done a great job and each and every one of the group wanted to join.

Today it was her turn. She had only one real goal and that was to coach them on connecting in such a way as to find out if any of them had the ability to heal like she did. Actually, it was more of an ability to manipulate physical things inside bodies. She’d proven it didn’t have to be used to heal or even help people - it could even be used to cause pain. She felt a stab of shame at the memory of what she’d done to that kid. He deserved a good whack, but she’d totally lost her temper and had gone way beyond that. She prayed she wouldn’t screw up today.

“I think we’re all set,” said Tanith. She had hurried to catch up to Bess because she needed to make sure the hotel was setting up the breakfast buffet correctly in the meeting room.

They did one final check, side by side, looking at each other in the mirror. Bess had on a nice business suit with a tiny crosshatch pattern in the jacket and pants. Tanith wore a summery dress that had a black background, but was covered in lots of colorful flowers. The salesgirl at the store had told her that bold flower patterns were super hot.

“Okay, T. We’re as ready as we’re gonna be and we do look fabulous. Let’s go.”

At nine o’clock on the dot, Bess rose to call their meeting to order. There had been a general background buzz of conversations going on, but the instant she stood, everyone stopped talking. The silence was loud to her.

She’d made detailed notes as to exactly what she wanted to say to them. Everyone was seated and was waiting for her to begin. She looked from them to her notes and tried to read the first words.

They wouldn’t come. She looked down again, but now the words were blurry and she couldn’t even read them. “Come on girl, get your butt in gear,” she thought to herself. She walked several steps to her right, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor, and then she dropped the notes into a trash can.

“There, that’s better,” she said to them with a smile. “Now, let’s get started.”

Chapter Twenty

Colonel John Stout had taken to sleeping in a chair. It was a cushioned chair, but its upright position kept him from falling deeply asleep. This way, his mind could work on a problem even when he wasn’t fully conscious. He’d think and then doze, only to awaken and realize he’d been dreaming about the problem at hand.

He’d started using this method when he was the commander of an intelligence unit in Iraq, during the war. There weren’t enough hours in the day for everything that was happening around him, so sometimes he’d fall asleep from exhaustion right at his desk. Often, he’d awake after an hour or two, stiff but with the answer to some problem that needed to be solved. He’d jot down some notes and fall back asleep, still in his office chair.

After the initial success for the American led coalition in the war, things had turned south quickly. Terrorists were popping up all over the place; hiding bombs beside the road, sniping at soldiers, even loading themselves up with explosives so they could commit suicide and take as many Americans as possible along with them.

As a high ranking intelligence officer, it fell to him to acquire the information needed to develop a way to deal with this unplanned for uprising. No one had expected this - the invasion plan had anticipated that the population would be cowed or at least docile after they’d experienced the invincible nature of the force deployed against them.

But it hadn’t worked out that way. Colonel Stout’s holding center was full of terrorists who were not cowed and whose numbers increased every day. Many of them had valuable information, but getting it out of them had turned out to be a slow process. Their normal methods worked, but they required time for the subject to become fatigued and disoriented - to break down and tell them their secrets.

On his last day in country, he had received information provided by one of their informants that a major attack would soon happen. It had been planned by a particularly nasty SOB named Al-Manjoon who had just been arrested yesterday in a sweep of suspected insurgents.

According to the information, at least fifteen terrorists would take up positions at various points in the city - points that would allow them to target American soldiers. At a prearranged time, they would all open fire on any targets of opportunity and, when apprehended, blow themselves up along with anyone who was nearby. It was a chilling plan and one that could work. The informant sounded like he was certain of his information, but there just wasn’t enough of it - he didn’t know exactly where or even when the attack would take place.

The Colonel knew that such an attack - brazenly large and with no regard for the safety of the attackers - would galvanize opposition to the war at home. He knew the news media would jump on this with everything they had. They would broadcast pictures of the injured or killed Americans and Iraqis, but they would lead with pictures of American soldiers firing their weapons, while crowds of innocent civilians cried out in fear. The media lived for pictures like that and it really didn’t matter to them that those American soldiers weren’t actually firing at those civilians.

The brain trust running the war thought it was basically over and wanted friendly Americans to be pictured helping kids get started back to school. They were anxious for the reporters who swarmed around to file that kind of story.

This, of course, required American soldiers to be out on the streets - smiling and helpful and certainly not threatening.

Those smiles were getting harder and harder to come by as the number of dead and wounded American soldiers mounted. The Colonel knew it wouldn’t be long before it was obvious, even to a four star General, that they had to exercise far stricter controls on these people or else get out and let them turn on each other. They were natural killers and if there weren’t Americans around to kill, they would find some other target - most likely their own countrymen. The Colonel was more than okay with that.

Well before dawn on the morning of his last day, Colonel Stout thought about how to prevent this upcoming attack until he finally succumbed to fatigue and fell into a fitful sleep in his chair. Every few minutes, he’d wake up and each time he’d think about what to do until he again dozed. One thing became clear: it was up to him to do something. He hadn’t asked for this particular responsibility, but it had found him and there was no way out.

Finally, at 4:15 a.m., he stood up and placed a call. “Get Al-Majnoon into an interview room. I’ll be right down.”

He hung up the phone without waiting for an acknowledgement. He changed into a fresh uniform, brushed his teeth and left his quarters. The need for sleep hung around him like cotton gauze, but he’d been tired before. He now knew what had to be done.

The holding area was a former Iraqi jail. Now it was an American jail with terrorists waiting their turn to be interrogated. At first, they had been almost anxious to talk, worried that the Americans would use some type of irresistible torture on them.

But now word had gotten around that they weren’t really going to get hurt. They could be made uncomfortable, but nothing that would really cause any kind of permanent damage. Over time, some of them might break, but others could take it and would even pretend to give up information - which would later be found to be false.

When Colonel Stout arrived, he went directly to the interview room. Al-Majnoon was seated at a heavy metal table. His hands were in cuffs with the chain between them threaded through a loop of metal that had been welded to the table.

He closed the thick, soundproofed door behind him. It made an ominous metal echoing sound. He walked over to Al-Majnoon and said, “I know about the attack with the fifteen terrorists. I know you planned it and that you plan for them to commit suicide after they kill as many as they can. I don’t know where they will be and I don’t know when it will happen.”

The Colonel moved so that his face was only inches from Al-Majnoon’s, “You are going to tell me that information and you are going to do it now.”

Al-Majnoon’s face betrayed surprise. Then a smile split his heavy black beard. He was twenty three years old and had been a university student studying International Relations before he started his career as a terrorist.

He spoke almost flawless English. They had been surprised to find he’d spent almost two years at American University in Washington. “Colonel, I was sound asleep, but it’s almost time for breakfast so I don’t really mind. What are you planning on doing - withholding my cereal? Go away and stop wasting your time. You’ll get nothing out of me.”

He continued to smile, now showing large, regular teeth through the mass of black beard. They looked unnaturally white.

Guns were not allowed in the holding areas, interview rooms or cells. It was too dangerous since there were many more inmates than soldiers to guard them. Sooner or later someone might lunge for a gun and take one from a guard.

But the Colonel hadn’t planned on using a gun anyway. He reached into his pocket and removed a dull looking black object. Al-Majnoon couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

At least he couldn’t until the Colonel unfolded the 6 inches of blade that had been safely inside the knife. Even though the blade was also black, it had a shiny edge that meant it was razor sharp. The other side of the blade was serrated and looked like it could saw through a tree branch if needed. The point was like a needle.

Al-Majnoon’s eyes reacted to the sight of the knife before the rest of him. They showed surprise and fear while his lips retained their insolent smile.

“You will tell me. You will tell me before I leave this room. I will not leave this room until you do. I will not let you die until I know you have told me all of it.”

Now Al-Manjoon started to cry, but it was too late. The Colonel went to work.

Fourteen hours later, Colonel John Stout was on a plane heading for home. In his briefcase were his newly minted discharge and retirement papers. They had been produced with what must have been world record speed. His career had ended about as well as it could have, under the circumstances.

He’d spent the first two of those fourteen hours in a cell, waiting to be charged with a serious and possibly capital crime. But luck was on his side because the information he’d extracted from Al-Majnoon was that the attack was planned for today at 11 a.m. The US military could be sluggish at times, but if they had a well defined mission that was important, they always rose to the occasion.

At five minutes before eleven, fifteen teams of American soldiers confronted fifteen terrorists intent on killing as many Americans as they could. In the end, two of the terrorists blew themselves up without harming anyone else, four were killed with head shots as they reached for the trigger to detonate the bomb they wore, and nine were arrested, most without injury. The final score was terrorists 0, US military 15.

The information provided by the Colonel had almost certainly saved dozens of lives and the intelligence gleaned from the captured terrorists would be a gold mine. This made his prosecution impractical - a truthful telling of what had happened in court would most likely make him a hero back home and make his superiors look like fools for prosecuting him.

So, in the end, Al-Majnoon was disappeared. There was no record that he was ever arrested by the Americans. No guard ever saw him. One day he was on the planet, and the next, he wasn’t.

It was the best way and everyone knew it. As the Colonel left his office for the final time, his staff rose as one. Even though they were inside, they snapped to attention and gave him a formal salute.

He smiled but didn’t return it.

He hadn’t thought of Al-Majnoon in a very long time. But tonight, dozing in his chair like he’d done in Indian country, he awoke realizing he’d dreamed about what had happened that morning long ago. He frowned. That wasn’t what he wanted his brain to focus on.

He was worried about his friends - Evan and Juliet. Evan had basically rescued him when he returned from Iraq - a civilian without a job. They’d met years earlier at a conference and had hit it off almost immediately. When the Colonel called him, Evan hadn’t even waited for him to ask - he’d offered a job instantly.

The Colonel would never forget that, nor would he forget the kindness shown to him by Juliet as she became part of what he thought of as his family. Evan, Juliet and Jacob were the only people on the planet that he truly loved - he knew he’d do anything he could for them.

But now Jacob was gone and that required that he come to some type of conclusion. Why did Evan turn off the machines? Pastor Chuck had implied that it might be somehow sinister, but sometime during the night, he realized without doubt that he did it because Jacob was gone. It was that simple.

The next issue was much stickier - did Roger Seaton actually help Jacob, albeit temporarily? And a related question - did he actually heal Jed Cunningham? Could he do such things?

Again, his brain had worked it out during the night during periods of almost restless half consciousness. Roger didn’t help Jacob. The disease was awful, but it could waver in its intensity. The fact that Jacob got slightly better after Roger saw him the first time was just chance.

But what about Jed Cunningham? Did the video really show Roger healing him? Evan had thought it did, but now the Colonel wasn’t so sure. First, they’d seen what they thought was blood, but the paramedics hadn’t found any. Roger himself had suggested it was red colored hydraulic fluid. Didn’t that make more sense than disappearing blood?

The other thing they saw was what looked like a crushed skull. But again, the camera was a long way away. Even with a good quality picture, wasn’t it possible that the flatness of the skull was just an optical illusion? Perhaps his head was tilted slightly to one side - that would make it look flattened, wouldn’t it?

He’d have to think it through another time or two, but for tonight, the Colonel didn’t think that Roger could heal anyone.

So if Roger Seaton couldn’t heal and he didn’t help Jacob, why did everyone in his group - including Evan and Juliet - believe he could? Why would they follow him to a mountain top and sit around a fire having some type of strange meeting - a meeting that the Colonel had somehow slept through. Why would Evan not only pledge his fortune, but also accept a subservient role to not only Roger, but also to Jane Mitchell?

Could it have something to do with that invisible creature, BP? It was Roger who claimed he existed but, as far as the Colonel knew, no one else had seen or heard him. Lots of charismatic leaders have claimed to have received information from supernatural beings in the past. Therefore, Roger simply made up BP and Evan, Juliet and all the others believed him. The question was why? What would make otherwise normal, intelligent people fall for such tripe?

What was Roger doing to his friends?

That answer came to him in a rush. It was that connecting thing, of course. He’d read about it in the Revelation documents that Matt Shively had given to Pastor Chuck, and he believed this part was totally and completely true. He’d seen for himself how they all got quiet and dreamy with each other. He knew it was real and that Roger was controlling it all.

He’d been wary of this from the beginning and was careful to stay on the outside as they somehow performed this mental ritual. Yet, he really didn’t know about connecting until he started in counseling with Pastor Chuck. Almost immediately, Chuck had connected to him. He hadn’t asked permission, but when it happened, the Colonel recognized it for what it was. He hadn’t protested at the time since he could feel the genuine good will and desire to help that was inside Chuck.

So he knew from personal experience that the connecting part was real - and that tied it all together.

Roger was using his advanced ability to connect in order to cloud the minds of Evan and Juliet. He made them get over their grief for Jacob very quickly; he controlled their money and was living on their property. He was expanding his reach to more and more people and openly plotted how to add to their numbers.

It was all because of the connection. As dawn broke, he could finally see clearly. Tomorrow he’d try to discover how he would return to his former life with Evan and Juliet. He wanted that more than anything in this world.

And if he didn’t come up with anything during the day, his chair would be waiting for him at night.

Chapter Twenty One

“Let me show you how it’s done,” said Bess.

The purpose of the meeting today was to see if any of their new members had the special connecting ability which allowed them to look inside people and physically affect them. Shannon, Bess and, of course, Roger could do this, but so far no one else could.

Most of their members had realized that they simply didn’t have the ‘spark’, but Jane had tried again and again and continued to try - without success. “That girl will wear herself to a frazzle before she gives up,” Roger had told Bess a few days ago as they’d shared a scotch. Bess smiled at the thought because she knew that Roger was exactly right. He usually was.

Seated in the main area of the suite they were using for a meeting room were the eight new associate members of the Connection. Yesterday, Edie and Jed had told them all there was to tell about what had happened and why. Jed especially found just the right words to tell them about the problem with life in the universe - and how they planned to fix it by combining together sometime in the future. He didn’t mention any space craft. Bess had captured their talks on video. She had some ideas about using it that she wanted to discuss with Roger and Jane.

Now it was her turn to lead the group and it was even larger than before. Tanith, Marina, Edie, Tom and Jed were seated with the others. None of them could connect and heal the way she could, so they were anxious to see if they could learn from her as well.

Right after she and Tanith arrived at the meeting place this morning, she’d been approached by Courtney. Bess was already struggling with her nerves, so she hoped that Courtney didn’t have bad news for her.

It wasn’t. In fact, it was wonderful news. “Bess, they told me it was you who made this happen - that you came up with the idea to get my parents and bring them here. I . . . I don’t know what to say. I haven’t cried for at least a couple of years and all during that time, I don’t think I had a single truly happy moment. But last night I cried in my parents arms and I cried with joy. Thank you, Bess. Oh my God, thank you.”

Before Bess could tell her that everyone had done their part for her, she said, “I know you’re busy. If you still want me - if you’ll still let me be your sister, I’d be the happiest woman in the world.”

Again, Bess started to speak, but again Courtney wasn’t done. It was like her words were under pressure - they just had to come out. “I talked to my parents last night after we left this very room. I told them about you and Shannon and Jane and all the others. I told them what Jed and Edie said yesterday. I told them everything. I know I should have asked you first, but I couldn’t help it, Bess. I just had to share all the good news that I’ve learned. I had to share it with them. I . . . I even connected to them.”

She was coming to the end. Bess knew to let her get it all out. “They want to join too. Will you let them?”

So that was it. Bess struggled with what to say to her. She started to tell her that she’d have to call Roger and Jane. She started to tell her that they would almost certainly be welcomed into the group. She looked for Edie, hoping to get some advice from her.

But Roger had put her in charge because he had confidence in her. If she was truly in charge, then it was her call. She stood up straighter, looked Courtney right in the eye and said, “Yes.”

With the addition of June and Sam Coburn, there were now twelve pairs of eyes focused on her. After she’d tossed her notes, her nervousness seemed to disappear.

“I think the best way for me to show you how I do it is with an exercise,” she said. Bess was surprised at her voice. It sounded strong.

“Everyone pair up - new people with one of our more experienced brothers and sisters. I know the numbers don’t work out exactly, but do the best you can. Go ahead and connect and if you need help, let me know and I’ll give you a little push.” She grinned.

“I’ll go from group to group and then look inside. You’ll feel how I do it and hopefully you’ll be able to do it too. It’s kind of like a door; you just have to open it. Okay then, let’s give it a whirl.”

For the next couple of hours they did just that. After their first pairing, Bess changed them around and tried again. She then put them in groups of four. No one knew how you learned to connect this way or even if it could be learned at all. Bess wanted to try everything she could think of since they might not have another chance with a group like this anytime soon.

Finally, she called for a break. Straining to connect this way could be fatiguing. Many of them went to check out of their rooms. Tanith called to make sure their transportation was ready. They were just about done and Bess started to let herself feel just the beginnings of relief. She pictured herself safely in the plane heading back home, the responsibility for all of them transferred from her shoulders to Marina’s.

“May I have a word with you?” It was Doc R. She hadn’t noticed him staying behind. “I find this whole thing to be extraordinary of course, but being a medical doctor, the ability you have to heal is beyond interesting to me. I am frustrated that my training doesn’t seem to have helped me perform the miracle that you make seem so easy. It’s strange, but I feel like I can almost see that ‘door’ that you describe - like it’s there right in front of me, but somehow I’m blind to it. I . . . I’d like to ask a favor. If you will allow it.”

He paused and looked uncertain. Bess realized that he wasn’t used to asking young ladies for favors - he was probably more used to barking orders to nurses than asking them for help. That kind of condescending behavior really rubbed her the wrong way.

She thought she knew what he wanted, but she would let him ask. It would be good for him. “Go ahead,” she said.

“I want to connect again. Just the two of us. I want to try it just with you.” She could tell it was hard for him to get that out. “I want to ask you to help me.”

Bess thought to herself, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

She held out her hand and he took it.

The connection was strong and instant. Bess could feel his confusion and also his slight embarrassment. She let him feel her confidence.

“Look here,” she said. “Right here. You just kind of press, you know? Push a little bit. See how I do it?”

He was following her lead without question now. “I’m trying. I think . . . I think I can almost . . . its close.”

He was straining. Bess said, “Hold on. Rest for a minute.” He did as he was told.

She really only gave him a few seconds. “Okay, my brother. Let’s give’er another try.”

Bess felt a surge of appreciation from him. She’d called him her brother. For the first time, he really did feel like part of the group.

She could feel him redouble his effort. “I think I can see it. It’s not really clear, but it is like a door, isn’t it? It’s just like you said. I can’t quite push it though. I don’t think I’m strong enough - not yet. But I can see it! I can see it, Bess!”

Without thinking, and without a moment’s hesitation, he threw his arms around her.

Chapter Twenty Two

Roger had been looking forward to going to this game with Jane. He also liked to be punctual and she was ten minutes late.

He’d texted her at 10 a.m. on the dot to see if she was ready and he’d received a reply that said simply, “Not now.”

What did that mean? The game was starting at 1:05 and they had to run some errands first and then get to the park way across town. If she didn’t get the lead out soon, he thought they’d miss the first pitch. He had a momentary vision of her sitting in front of a mirror with a whole table full of cosmetics in front of her. She was taking her time, using one bottle and then another.

He chased that thought away. Jane didn’t wear much makeup at all. At least she didn’t look like she did.

Just then the door opened and she strode in like she lived here. “Okay, I’m ready now. Jed was on the phone; they’re on break. He’s told me that everything was still going great, but that it didn’t look like anyone else was going to be able to do that looking inside trick that only a select, exalted few of the specially chosen can do.” She used an imperial voice for that last part that she must have learned from BP.

She did have a sarcastic mouth on her; there was no doubt about that. The thought of her failure to connect the way Roger did caused her to stare at him like he had something to do with it. He felt the weight of her stare.

At least she was ready to go - finally. She was wearing hip hugging jeans and a white V-neck T shirt that was tucked into her waist. The jeans fit her well, but weren’t the skinny type - she was going to a ball game, not a fashion show. She wore red Keds type sneakers. She had a larger than normal red leather bag slung over her right shoulder. She looked sensational.

She saw Roger looking. “What?” she said with a slight degree of accusation in her voice.

“I just think you look great, that’s all.” Roger smiled at her and after a second of consideration, she smiled back.

“Well, thank you I guess. Unless you’re trying to be cute, I accept your compliment.”

Roger offered his arm and she slipped hers through his. He was determined not to let anything mess up this day. After all, this might be the last time the two of them went out socially because Jane would soon be a married woman.

Their first stop was at their old office. Neither of them had been there since that day they’d been called to the executive floor to be confronted by the Colonel. Their comfortable and predictable lives had ended on that very day.

As he stood inside his little cubicle, he felt a slight melancholy. His chair was just as he’d left it, turned towards his cubicle entrance because Jane had called for him to follow her. No one had disturbed it - the whole scene was slightly surreal as if it was frozen in time.

It wouldn’t be frozen for long though. Edie had texted them that all of the people who worked for the company were now officially off the payroll. Any company money that had been paid to them since their last actual day on the job was returned. Now, no one could accuse Evan of misuse of company funds or assets. Someone would soon come along to empty out their old workspaces and prepare them for their new occupants.

Jane went to her own cubicle next door. He heard her pull out drawers from her desk. Since this would likely be their last time there, she took the opportunity to get a few of her personal items. Roger guessed that was why she had the larger than normal bag.

He really only had one personal item to pick up - the certificate for great seats at a Mets game that Jane had given him. It was a kind and generous gesture because he’d done her a very small favor. It was fitting that they’d use it together today, just the two of them.

Jane returned and Roger stood up, certificate in hand, ready to go. There wasn’t room for both of them to sit because he had a large pile of old reports and other clutter on his other chair. She looked at him in a wistful manner, like she was remembering some of their times together. She sat on his chair and spun to face him. “I should have worn a skirt. The first time I sat here you seemed to be very interested in the one I had on.”

Roger felt himself start to blush. That was the day she’d confronted him with her suspicions about BP. He had been more than confused about all that was happening and then she’d pushed him over the edge with her words and with her magically rising hemline. He’d actually broken down in tears and told her the entire truth. She’d never mentioned that she realized he was staring at her legs the whole time.

“Don’t be embarrassed, you big baby,” she said. “It just proved to me that you were human and male. We women are used to you and sometimes we even like you. Now come on, let’s go.”

She held out her hand. He took it and helped her up. They walked hand in hand to the elevators. Their work area was empty. A sign had said that there was a mandatory meeting today at the HR training room. Roger thought it was probably better not to have to explain their long absence to his former co-workers. He knew he wasn’t a good liar and the truth was a bit too strange.

Jane pushed the Down button. A couple of seconds later, another hand appeared and pushed the Up button. Roger looked over and smiled as he recognized Meredith MacFadden.

“Roger? I’m so glad to see you again!” Surprise and delight showed on her face as she moved towards him and offered her cheek. He kissed it lightly. He saw Jane over Meredith’s shoulder. An amused look was on her face.

“Ah . . . Meredith MacFadden, this is Jane Mitchell. They turned to face each other. Jane was grinning now. Meredith offered her hand for a handshake.

Jane’s right hand was holding her bag, so she switched. When she did, Meredith saw the sparkle on her left hand.

“Oh,” she said. “Roger, you dog. Now I know why you never called me. You told me that you and Jane were good friends, but I thought I heard something more than that in your voice when you said it. I should have known.

“Jane, you are one lucky girl. There aren’t many men around today who are as sweet and smart and handsome as Roger; but you know that better than anyone.”

The elevator door opened. The UP indicator was lit. “I’ve got to go. I’m late now for a meeting. Congratulations to both of you. I can tell you’re meant for each other. Bye now!”

The door closed and they waited. Roger knew what was coming.

Jane didn’t say a word until they were on the elevator, heading down. Just as they reached the ground floor, she said, “Take my bag and hold it up in front of you face.”

Roger had not expected that. He didn’t know what to say.

Jane continued, “It’s the only way to get you out of the building without creating a stampede of your girlfriends. If they can’t see you, they may not recognize just how smart and handsome and, oh yes I almost forgot, super sweet you are!

“I’ll bet you’ve kissed every girl under thirty in this whole place. How would you rank Miss Meredith in the kissing department? On a scale of one to ten, how would she rate?”

Roger was trying to think of what to say. All that came out was, “No one said anything about kissing.”

“But you did kiss her, didn’t you? Go on, tell me the truth. I’ll know if you try and lie to me.”

Roger kept his mouth shut as the elevator door opened and they walked towards the entrance. Anything he said could and would be used against him. He picked up the pace as they left the building. Jane knew what his silence meant.

“I knew it!” she said triumphantly. “I just know you so well.” So far, she was having a great time.

Chapter Twenty Three

Pastor Chuck had women problems - two of them, to be exact.

At quitting time yesterday, Rachel Reed had asked if she should return for another day and he’d said “yes” without really thinking about it. What was there to think about? As she left, he connected to her as he studied her backside. Once again, he made it very gentle, but she must have felt it because she turned and gave him an electric smile. Her face wasn’t that bad, after all.

He was looking forward to seeing what outfit she’d appear in today when he entered his outer office only to find Amanda Perkins sitting at her desk. Rachel was off to the side on a couch.

Amanda's face broke into prune mode. Rachel crossed her legs. Her skirt was shorter today.

“Looks like my prayers for your recovery were answered,” Chuck said to Amanda. “Just another reason to wonder at God’s mysterious ways.”

Now he looked at Rachel and smiled. “And good morning to you, Miss. Reed. You’re looking very healthy today.”

Both of them looked like they wanted to burst out with some female nonsense, so Chuck held up his hand to stop them. “Ladies, it appears we need to have a little chat. Today is a busy day for me and I’m already a bit late, so let’s have a meeting in my office in five minutes. Amanda, please get me coffee right away.”

Before anyone could say anything, he pulled open the tall door to his inner sanctum and left them. He knew he’d been a bit rude and abrupt, but he hadn’t had his coffee yet. He wasn’t his normal charming self until he’d had at least one cup.

No sooner had he seated himself in his comfortable leather chair, than the door opened with Amanda carrying a tray with his coffee. She sat it down for him.

Chuck had wanted a minute with her alone. “Amanda, I’ve sensed for some time that you are . . . how shall I put it . . . a bit restless here. Please tell me your plans. Are you going to stay or do you have things to do with that boyfriend of yours?”

Amanda knew exactly what he meant. “Matt is not my boyfriend. As of now, he’s a married man and I don’t go out with married men. And yes, I do plan on staying. I need the money and it might be hard to get another job like this at my age. Of course, I could probably retire with a large settlement if I was discriminated against because of my age or gender.”

She paused and smiled sweetly, “I hope you understand what I’m saying Pastor.”

Now Chuck was getting angry. The twit was threatening him. He stared at her and unleashed his most powerful attempt to connect to her. It was fueled by his anger and further strengthened by his almost continual practice with Rachel and the Colonel and others too.

Like before, it wouldn’t happen regardless of how hard he tried. What was she made of, some kind of stone? Was she naturally immune to connecting? Probably there just wasn’t enough upstairs to connect to.

He abandoned the attempt. He’d be stronger in the future and he looked forward to that time when he could send her some feelings that she might find a bit unpleasant. “Well then, we’d better make sure your employment isn’t ended because of anything other than your own decision. That’ll be all for now. You and Miss Reed return in a few minutes. We’ll have our little talk.”

Now he was in a bad mood. Was his inability to connect to her due to his weakness? Today he had a meeting with his board of deacons. In theory, they made the big decisions about what the church would do and he carried them out - like a manager. They were all leaders in business and were a sharp bunch, but Chuck had handpicked each and every member of his board. He knew they would rubber stamp whatever he wanted to do. They didn’t know, however, that today he planned on starting his own connecting group, and they were going to be the first members.

Or maybe not quite the first ones. Rachel and Amanda walked in and took seats before him.

He smiled at Rachel. She inched forward in her seat slightly. “Some days ago, I lost a very valuable employee. He was kind of my assistant on a lot of matters - you know, someone I thought I could trust.

“As it turned out, I was wrong on that point. He’s gone now and I’m not unhappy about it.”

Now Chuck turned his gaze to Amanda and twisted his lips into a smile, “I do wish our mutual friend, Matt, well. I really do. I hope he finds what he’s looking for, no matter what it may be.

“But his departure leaves a position to fill, doesn’t it? Miss Reed - Rachel, if I may - I think you would fit into that position perfectly. It means quite a bit more responsibility and we’ll have to work very closely together. It will also pay 50% more than you are now making. I would like to formally offer you the job, and hope you will accept, though I will certainly understand if you need time to consider the offer.”

She needed all of two seconds. “I accept,” she said with one of her smiles. Her face wasn’t perfect, but it was growing on Chuck.

He returned her smile by connecting to her, a bit stronger this time. He felt her gratitude and he let her feel his approval. Her lips opened slightly and she said “Oh” softly.

He turned in his seat. “Now Amanda. Miss Reed will have responsibilities that will be new to her. I’d like you to provide her all the support she needs while you continue to perform your duties for me. I’d like you to think of Miss Reed as your new boss, just as I am. Just be sure you anticipate her needs and help her live up to the standards of my administration.

“To start, please get her settled into Matt’s old office. Make sure she is comfortable and that you train her on our internal systems.”

He looked from one to the other. Rachel was grinning from ear to ear. Amanda looked like she’d aged about ten years. “Good,” he thought.

“I think that’ll be all for now, Amanda. Rachel, you stay please.” Amanda got up and started for the door. She couldn’t feel her legs. “Oh yes, please bring Miss Reed a coffee and freshen mine up too. After that, please don’t send any calls through until I tell you otherwise.”

Amanda did as she was told. She had no choice. After the coffee was served and the door was closed, she sat at her desk and cried silently, tears streaming down both cheeks.

She thought about calling Matt, but decided not to. He’d just tell her to quit like he’d already done. She couldn’t do that. She was alone. There was no one who could help her.

Chapter Twenty Four

Relief washed over Bess as she prepared to wrap up their meeting. Her worries had been almost overwhelming, but things had gone better than she could have ever hoped - everyone had decided to join, Courtney had reconciled with her parents, and Tanith thought she knew what she was doing. She prayed to herself that Roger would be proud of her, though she knew he would be.

Now that it was almost over, things could simply not be more perfect.

Once more, she initiated a connection with all her new brothers and sisters. She felt so close to all of them. They pledged to stay in close contact with each other and with the group in New York. Each of them looked forward to that time where they’d all be together and would combine their energy to save life.

When Bess broke the connection, everyone knew that their time together was over. They all rose to prepare to leave. Handshakes and hugs broke out all around.

One by one, Bess said her goodbyes to each of her new brothers and sisters as they left.

The room felt empty with only the six of them remaining. She stood to the side and watched as they prepared to leave. Marina made a call to alert Laird that they were soon be on their way. Suddenly, she felt a pressure on her left shoulder. That had to be BP. She felt him enter her head.

Her legs went momentarily watery, but she willed herself to be strong. This was her chance to experience something that only Roger and Jane had ever felt. A girl with brass would embrace a chance to talk directly to BP, not swoon over his appearance.

Marina and Tanith walked up to Bess to congratulate her on how she’d run the meeting, but they instantly saw that something was up. Bess connected to them and also to Edie and Jed and Tom. As soon as they felt the connection, they joined the others in a tight circle.

Bess spoke to them in their minds. “BP is here with me.”

He spoke and they all heard him through her, “Bess, I am very pleased that I am able to connect to you in this way. Your abilities have increased dramatically in a very short time. Normally, I would have asked Jane or Roger to prepare you for your first connection to me, but I checked on them just now and decided not to disturb them.

“I am here with you because I have news. I was just visiting Pastor Chuck and found him in a meeting with several other people. He was connecting to all of them. I did not let them know I was there, but even with a very low level connection, I was able to tell what he was doing; he was attempting to set up his own group - a group such as yours.

“This is a somewhat disturbing development. I hope you will take this information to the entire group in New York and consider its meaning.”

Bess felt him leave without warning. The change was so intense and so abrupt that she wavered on her feet. Jed took her elbow to steady her. “Wow, he can be a headful,” she said.

Tanith and Marina and Jed and Edie watched her carefully as they gave her time to recover. Finally, Bess spoke and there was no quiver in her voice, “Let’s get everyone here on their way and then let’s contact Jane and Roger and report what just happened here. I don’t think there’s really anything we can do about it right now, but they need to know.

“Sound okay?” No one said anything. “All righty then, let’s do it.”

Everyone smiled and did as she suggested.

Chapter Twenty Five

Roger had never had such good seats at a major league game. Jane had called ahead and somehow managed to get seats right behind home plate that weren't being used by a season ticket holder. He could actually see the stitches on the ball during the pregame warm-ups.

The section they were in included service right at your seat. As they were ushered in, they were given menus listing a selection of ballpark food and, of course, beer choices.

Their section was pretty full, but the rest of the stadium was almost empty. The Mets had been eliminated almost two weeks ago after a horrific season and so attendance was down. With a daytime game and with only a few left in the year, the team would be lucky to draw ten thousand. There were whole groups of seats with no one in them.

Soon after they arrived, a waitress came by to ask if she could get them anything. Roger ordered a beer and Jane got a water. “No more drinking for me,” she said to him.

Just then, both of their phones made the sound that indicated they’d received a text. This was a common occurrence, so both pulled up their phones and logged in right away. It was a message from Bess.

Roger and Jane,

I know you are probably at the game now, so I didn’t want to call. I hope you’re having a super time!

We are on the way to the airport. Everything went great today and everyone is really excited about being members. They are all returning to their homes, but I miss them already.

I miss you more though and can’t wait to get back and see you!!!! I feel like I’ve been gone just about forever.

I thought you would like to know that BP made an appearance and actually spoke to the six of us right before we left. I almost fainted because he spoke to all of us through me!!! He said I was strong enough now. I actually felt him on my shoulder, just like you do. I’m still super stoked about it.

But at the same time, I’m a little worried. I’ve only heard him through you guys, so I’m not sure – but he sounded a little worried too. I’m sure it’s nothing or else he would have disturbed you at the game.

He said he’d been at Pastor Chuck’s and saw that he was trying to start his own group. He was connecting to them! BP thought that this might be a disturbing development.

He wants us to think about it

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll see you soon. I love you both!!!! I can’t wait!!!!!

Jane, Jed sends his love. He’s so sweet!!

Bess

Both Roger and Jane stared at their screens, trying to decide what BP’s actions might mean. “Looks like he’s really trying to bum everyone out today and he’s been out playing Peeping Tom,” said Jane. “We should try and contact him in the morning. I want to hear more about this group Chuckles is trying to start.”

Before he could answer, the waitress put Jane’s water in the holder at her seat and then leaned over Roger to pour his beer. She smiled at him sweetly. “Anything else I can get you now?” she said. Roger could feel Jane just to his left without even connecting to her. He just shook his head “no.”

The waitress was wearing a short apron around her waist. As she turned and left, Roger saw she had on shorts that weren’t quite as long as the apron. He reached for the beer, but before he could lift it, Jane gave him a vicious sideways kick to his ankle.

“Put your eyes back in your head, Romeo. She does have nice legs, but you don’t have to be so obvious about it. I think Bess’s are better though, don’t you?” Her voice didn’t invite a response. “I swear. You really do take the cake.”

Roger’s ankle hurt, but he resolved he would not rub it. He knew she’d make some comment if he did.

She got that faraway look in her eye which meant she was planning something, but it only lasted a few seconds. She smiled at him sweetly. “That reminds me. You should invite the team that did such a good job in Little Rock to dinner tonight. I know they’ll appreciate it and you’ll get to meet Tanith in the flesh, so to speak.”

Just then they announced the national anthem and they both stood. Roger was thankful that Jane couldn’t talk any more.

Pastor Chuck only had one more chore for today and then he’d have time to spend exploring the mind of Miss Rachel Reed. He was really looking forward to that.

His meeting with the board had gone well. It wasn’t particularly easy, but he did manage to connect to each of the members and he let them feel just how much they needed to work together. They were inclined to do that anyway, so he was just reinforcing their feelings.

He suspected that a few sessions like this would make them quite malleable. As an early test, he told them about the hiring of Miss Reed and made a point to tell them her salary. Normally, they would have at least wanted to discuss it before giving their approval, but Chuck let them feel his absolute certainty that this was the right thing to do. They accepted her without a word.

That was a good start. Soon he’d tell them about connecting and they’d have a real group going.

But now he had to deal with the Colonel. In truth, Chuck was getting a bit fatigued with him. None of his counseling skills seemed to make the man any better. Maybe the connecting hadn’t helped, but it certainly couldn’t hurt, could it?

The only thing that kept him from referring the Colonel to some other therapist was his insider status with Evan Miller. As long as there was a chance he could use him to get to Miller and his wealth, he would keep the Colonel as a close friend.

So Chuck was more than a bit surprised when the Colonel fired him.

As soon as he was seated, he started in with, “I talked to Evan today.”

Chuck immediately thought that this could be good news. Having the Colonel retake his place on the inside of Roger’s group could offer quite a number of advantages.

“He told me about the call they got from the police. He thought I’d called them.”

Uh oh. This was not good news after all. Chuck had called the police to report that Evan Miller had turned off the machines that may have been keeping his son alive. He’d done it soon after the Colonel had told him about how Roger was fully in charge in his group and how dedicated they all seemed to be to him. Chuck hadn’t put a lot of thought into that call to the cops and hadn’t really expected anything much from it. He just wanted to shake things up a bit over at Rogerland. So on an impulse, he’d made the call to the police and, since he hadn’t heard anything about it, he thought that they had just ignored the strange report.

Apparently they hadn’t and now the Colonel knew he’d called in the report using information the Colonel had divulged in their counseling sessions - and under a thick cloud of connecting. This was not good news at all.

Chuck prayed for the wit to handle this budding crisis. “Now Colonel, as a professional therapist, I’m required to report certain things - like admissions of child abuse. This wasn’t quite in that league, but as a man of the cloth and as a professional, I just had to get it checked out. Maybe I was wrong, but I’m not really sorry. I’m sure they checked it out and found that Evan didn’t do anything wrong. I also hope that they are suspicious of Roger Seaton and why he and his whole band were there when Jacob died.”

He was actually pleased. That explanation even made some sense. “Have you given any thought to my little plan to get Evan and Juliet out of their clutches?” By habit, he asked a question to keep control of the situation.

His little trick didn’t work. Colonel Stout stood and walked to the large desk that separated him from Chuck. He put his hands on the desk and leaned over, staring directly into the eyes of the man who had betrayed him. “This will be our last talk, Pastor Cleimer. But you will not go through with that plan to leak the part about the machines to the media. I hope you understand me - you will not do that.”

At that moment, Chuck felt him try to connect. The Colonel was weak at it. He pushed his attempt aside easily, but the Colonel was still an imposing figure who looked like he might explode at any moment into violence. Chuck felt something that should have been foreign to him in his own office - he felt a wave of fear. “I explained to Evan what you did. I asked him if I could come back. He said ‘yes.’

“I also told him that I thought Roger and Jane and all the others were not a good influence. I suggested that he ask them to move out and let him and Juliet have a period of time with no members of that group around them. I told him that I thought it was possible that Roger was using his connecting ability to cloud his judgment. I asked him to take a few weeks off from Roger and all his people and see how he felt then.

“You know what he said to me, Chuck? He said, ‘My friend, please do come back. I’ve missed you and so has Juliet. You’re welcome at any time, but all of us are engaged in something of extreme importance and there is no way I’m going to back away from what must be done. John, come back and let us talk to you. I’m sure Roger will allow me to explain everything about the Revelation and then you’ll understand.’

“See Chuck? They want me back, but they want me as part of their group - all one big happy family under the great Roger Seaton. They’ll even tell me the big secret. Maybe I should just give in and join. Who knows - then I might be really happy the way they seem to be. I don’t know why I don’t - but something is holding me back.

“But nothing is holding me here, is it Chuck? You betrayed my confidence. I’m more than angry at you and ashamed of myself for not seeing you for what you are. You took advantage of me when I was grieving. I’ll never forgive that.”

And with that, the Colonel turned on his heels and left. He didn’t say a word to Amanda on his way out.

Chapter Twenty Six

“Let’s move over there.” Jane pointed to an expanse of empty seats behind the third base line.

“But why?” Roger was surprised, even shocked. “These seats are great. We could sit over there in the cheap seats anytime, but we’ll never get back here again.”

His own words caused a stab of pain. After today, he might not ever go to another game with her. She’d be married and a mother. He was happy for her, but somehow it still hurt a bit.

“I want to catch a foul ball and there’s a net in front of us here.”

“But Jane, what’s the odds you’ll get one over there? I’ve gone to a lot of games and never, ever caught a foul ball. I had one hit to me once, but it bounced off my hands. It hurt too.”

She stood up and started to walk. There was nothing to do but follow her. “What are the odds that I’ll get a chance behind this net?”

When he didn’t answer instantly, she prodded him. “It’s a real question, Rog. Go ahead. Answer it.”

He felt defeated. “There will never be a foul ball behind the net.”

“Right as rain,” she said. “The odds are exactly zero. Now, here’s another question - what are the odds of getting a foul ball over in that area a few rows behind third base? Come on now, are they greater than zero?”

“Yes, they are greater than zero.” He resigned himself to answer her questions. He couldn’t stop her anyway.

“Congratulations, my friend. With math skills like that you might win the Nobel Prize for Physics one day.”

She reached down and took his hand as they found a pair of seats away from the other fans. “Besides, I want you to check me out and we don’t need other folks around for that.”

Now he understood. It was time for her egg hunt. Good lord.

He connected to her and she placed his hand in the customary position. It only took a second to see that things were progressing, if slowly. “Another day or two Jane. That’s all.” He was happy to give her good news though she’d seen it for herself. For the next few minutes, neither of them said anything, but Jane kept his hand on her stomach.

At the beginning of the next inning, she picked up her leather bag and reached inside. Roger had no idea what she was going to pull out. If he was forced to guess, it would have been carrots or something.

But he would never have guessed what she showed him. It was a baseball glove.

It’s wasn’t just any glove like you might buy at a sporting goods store - it was an old fashioned glove of the type they wore in the early days of the game. It was small, but it fit her right hand perfectly.

“You aren’t left handed,” Roger said.

“No, but my great grandmother was. Here read this.” She turned her hand so that he could see some writing on the old leather.

It said, “To Jackie Mitchell. Never Again.” It was signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Roger took her hand and pulled it close so he could examine it better. “This can’t be real,” he said.

“Of course it’s real. They signed this on April 2, 1931.”

Roger could tell that Jane wasn’t pulling his leg. This was a priceless artifact. It had to be worth a fortune. The names looked fresh and distinct on the glove.

“Jane, you have got to tell me the story. What happened? How did she meet them? Why did they give her a glove?”

Jane looked at him and smiled. “I’m named after her, but I don’t like to use that name because, up until now at least, I haven’t earned it. But maybe I’ll earn it in the future.”

She paused for just a second, “They didn’t give her the glove. It was hers. They signed it for her because she was a great pitcher and she struck them both out.”

Now Roger was confused. What she had just said was impossible. In 1931, Ruth and Gehrig were part of a Yankees team that they called Murderer’s Row. It included some of the most famed and feared hitters ever to play the game.

And they didn’t play against girls.

He didn’t know what to say. The look on her face was perfectly serious - it was obvious to him that she wasn’t pulling his leg. He knew her too well for that.

She reached into her bag again with her left hand and brought out a newspaper clipping. It was from April 3, 1931 and it was from the New York Times.

It showed a pretty young girl with short black hair that fell across her right eye. She was left handed. She was in a baseball uniform. The article reported how the Yankees were traveling by train from spring training when then stopped to play an exhibition game against their minor league team in Chattanooga. The owner of that team had signed a seventeen year old girl named Jackie Mitchell and publicized that she would pitch against the mighty Yankees. The crowd that day was as large as the one in the stadium today.

“They wanted a stunt, but they picked a real ballplayer. She’d been playing for years and had learned a curve ball from a neighbor who later became a hall of famer. She made it even better by throwing it leftie and sidearm - something that most batters didn’t get to see very often, if ever.

“After the game against the Yankees, they banned women from affiliated baseball, so she played for several more years on a semi pro men’s team. Rog, she was a real ballplayer.”

He was stunned. He read the article again. It was just as she said.

“I told you before that women in my family tend to break barriers. You know what my mother does. My grandmother was the first female engineer on the space program. Being the first female in some area kind of runs in my family.

“That’s why I want to be in charge of something. I want to do something to make my daughter as proud of me as I am of my ancestors. I think I might actually have a chance to do that now. Before your crazy dealings with BP started, I thought I’d be the first female failure in our family. Now, maybe not.”

She stopped and turned to him. “When she's old enough, I’m going to tell her about her ancestors and I’m going to tell her that glove and how my mother gave it to me in her study one afternoon a long time ago.”

Roger’s head was spinning. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Jane Mitchell, but he certainly learned something new today. He had a disturbing thought, “What if it’s not a girl?”

Now her eyes became slits as she stared at him. “Are you trying to be cute? There is no way it won’t be a girl. I know it, okay? I just do.”

Chapter Twenty Seven

Bess yawned, but she wasn’t really all that tired. She was too keyed up for that. She kept reliving all that had happened on this trip and, with a few exceptions, she was satisfied with her actions. She vowed to herself to get every last word of it on paper - the good and the bad. She’d already sent Roger the first part of it, but she had a lot more of the story to tell.

Marina was at the controls and the flight was perfectly smooth. Normally that would lull her to sleep - especially after she’d been up half the night worrying about leading the meeting and working on Tanith’s phone. But the last time she’d slept around others, Roger and Jane had remarked about how cute she was when she was asleep. She vowed to stay awake. It wasn’t hard with Jed telling jokes and Tanith giggling at them.

She connected to the net via Wi-Fi and almost instantly received a text written by Evan. It was addressed to Roger and Jane. They had forwarded it to her.

I intended to wait with this information until your return, but Juliet and Jane have something planned and Juliet advised me to tell you what happened now. I received a call from Colonel Stout. He told me he was sorry that he was out of touch for so long, but that he’d been trying to come to grips with all the events of the last few weeks. I told him we’d always welcome him back and that his call to the police hadn’t caused any real problems.

He was shocked about that. He said that he didn’t make the call and would never have done such a thing. We both came to the conclusion that Chuck Cleimer must have done it. John said that he’d been in therapy with him to try and deal with his grief and had told him everything.

We thought that the only people who knew what happened in that room were us and the Colonel, but Edie was right - he’d told Chuck.

The Colonel got really animated as we talked. He told me that Chuck had been connecting to him just like he’d done to Matt. He didn’t think it really did him any harm, but Chuck was angry at Roger after their meeting and he made sure the Colonel understood his feelings loud and clear.

Those negative feelings towards Roger may have rubbed off on him because he suggested that Juliet and I basically kick everyone else out of the apartment building. He said he was worried that you may be exercising some type of control over us and that we should take a break for a few weeks and then see how we feel.

I didn’t know what to say. I want him to come back, but I was not going to tell him that Juliet and I would consider leaving the group. Instead, I told him that we were on an extremely important mission and that, with your permission, we’d like to tell him the whole thing; the whole Revelation.

I couldn’t really tell how he felt about my offer. He did say he would need to think about it, but would see us soon.

He also said he had another session with Pastor Chuck this afternoon, and that he would use it to tell him off and to let him know he would never be returning. I think that was perhaps the best part of our talk.

I don’t really know what to think about all this, but Juliet and I are very relieved to find out he hasn’t actually betrayed us.

I hope the game is good and that the Mets are winning.

Evan

Jane had added, “Bess, I think this might be good news. I hope so. Share it with your team if you wish or wait ‘till later. It’s your call.

One more thing - Roger saw one of his old girlfriends and found another one today and it’s only mid afternoon. Better get a move on, my sister. I hope Marina is doing the flying!”

Bess removed Jane’s comment about Roger and sent the message to her team. Jane was trying to be funny, but she didn’t need to be reminded about Roger. He’d told both her and Marina that the time wasn’t right for him to do anything but lead the group. She understood that intellectually with no problem - but her heart apparently hadn’t received that particular message - it hurt more than a little bit.

Almost immediately, everyone read the message from Evan. Marina took off her headset and said something to Laird. She turned in her seat so that she could be part of the conversation. Laird still had on his headset and was looking out the cockpit window, but neither pilot had their hands on the controls. “Autopilot” thought Bess.

“Well, well, well,” Edie commented. “It looks like I might get to finally meet the mysterious prodigal Colonel.”

Marina knew that Bess had been suspicious of the Colonel almost from the beginning. “Bess, what do you think? Do you think he’s come around and wants to be part of the team? I thought he’d called the cops on us, but if he didn’t, maybe he’s really okay after all.”

“That ‘ol boy might be real useful when we’re building that thing we got to build. He knows his way around,” Jed added.

Bess looked thoughtful. “I guess . . . I hope he really does want to join. If he does and Roger and Jane think it’s okay, then I’ll be right there to work with him. But I don’t know - that stuff about Evan and Juliet kicking us out because Roger might be controlling them - that just seems weird to me. I know we need new people and Jed’s right - Colonel Stout could be really useful - but I want to hear what he says when he finally shows up. There’s something about him. I can’t quite figure him out. He’s just, you know, like kind of strange.”

Everyone considered what she had just said. Finally Edie spoke up, “Well, at least we know for sure that there’s one snake in the garden and that it’s Pastor Chuck. There’s no question now that he’s our enemy. We’ll have to deal with him one day, I think.”

Chuck hung up the phone. He’d just done an interview with the local newspaper asking his opinion on the latest Supreme Court decision on gay marriage. Chuck made his answer sufficiently vague that no one on either side would be offended by what he said. He hoped the reporter would use his quote about how “God loves all people and will find a place for each and every one of us if we’ll just ask for it.” That kind of inclusiveness was golden and should bring a few dozen new worshipers - and donors - to his pews on Sunday.

Finally, his schedule for the day was complete. He’d done what needed to be done as a minister and head of a large organization - now it was time for him to do things that Chuck Cleimer wanted to do.

He pushed the intercom button. “Amanda, send in Miss Reed. You answer the phone or do whatever it is you do until she’s here and then take off. Thank you.”

It was abrupt, but he was still angry at her for that remark about suing for discrimination.

His mind should have been on Rachel, but the thought of his disloyal secretary led to thoughts of the Colonel and of Matt. How did he manage to surround himself with such a group of losers? Good riddance to them all - especially the Colonel. For a moment today, Chuck had been sure Stout was going to actually hit him. That man was too unstable for normal counseling; he needed a psychiatrist - and probably some heavy drugs too. And the same for Matt - another nut. They seemed to be attracted to him all of a sudden.

He was glad to abandon this train of thought when there was quick knock before the door opened and Rachel entered. As she walked towards his desk, Chuck studied her. She had nice brown hair piled on top of her head. Her sweater showed off her assets nicely and her skirt moved in a very pleasing manner. He wondered momentarily if some talented makeup artist could make her face come close to matching her body.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” she said with a hint of submission in her voice.

Her face might have been plain, but that voice was just perfect. “Now now, my dear. If I can call you Rachel, you certainly can call me Chuck. At least while we’re alone like we are now. There’s no need for formality since we’ll be working closely together. When others are around, Pastor Cleimer or Pastor Chuck, or even Sir is appreciated, but it’s not needed here. Understand?”

She was standing before his desk. At that point, Chuck connected to her in a very gentle way. It was instantaneous. She offered no resistance at all. She nodded to indicate she understood and he let her stand there for just a couple of seconds longer than was needed. “Go ahead and have a seat on the couch. Let’s go over your day and discuss your new duties.”

He waited behind his desk as she’d turned her back on him and walked to the couch. That angle was certainly not bad either - not bad at all. She sat and immediately crossed her legs and then gave her skirt a quick tug. Chuck sent her the tiniest feeling of disapproval. She had no idea what was happening.

He rose and joined her on the couch. He sat two feet away from her and she uncrossed her legs and turned towards him. Her hands started towards the skirt, but she didn’t tug it this time.

“Now my dear, are you satisfied with your office? Everything to your liking?”

“Yes . . . yes, Chuck, it’s fine.” It felt strange to call him Chuck.

“And Amanda - how has she been treating you? Has she been helpful in getting you started?”

“Well, Chuck. I guess so. I can see how it would be hard on her with me appearing out of the blue and all. I’ll work with her, I promise I will.”

Was she a twit, too? He wanted her to help him get rid of Amanda, not work with her.

“Rachel, let me ask you a very personal question. If it makes you uncomfortable, then please tell me.” Chuck paused and looked deeply into her eyes. He increased the power of his connection with her just slightly. “Rachel, do you go to church? Regularly, I mean.”

She seemed startled by his question. Chuck felt her emotions. The predominant one was shame. “I . . . I do sometimes. But, you know, it’s not all that regular, I guess. I hope you’re not too disappointed in me . . .”

He cut her off. “Not at all my dear; not at all. Your religious beliefs are your business, but I am a pastor. I have to try and add to the flock, you know? I have only one more question - will you pray with me now? Sometimes prayer can be very powerful and can change lives. It can be a very enlightening experience. Can we pray together now - just the two of us?”

He saw her eyes get watery. She was ready now. Chuck started to pray. It was a standard prayer just like he’d offered thousands of times. It was a prayer of thanks and one of seeking blessings. You always wanted to ask for something.

As he spoke the words, he held out his hand and she put hers into his. Chuck increased the wattage of the connection to the highest level he could manage. Now there was no question - he felt her and she felt him.

The difference was that Chuck let her only feel his appreciation and fondness for her; he controlled himself tightly so that she was unaware of some of his stronger feelings.

But Rachel knew nothing of connecting and knew nothing about holding anything back. She opened herself to him completely. All her feelings, all her fears, and all her desires were bared to him. At first, she felt concern with sharing so much of herself, but he sent her feelings of encouragement and soon she offered it all willingly and without reservation. Chuck had never experienced such a deep connection; he hadn’t known such a thing was possible.

Chuck sent her feelings of appreciation for being so open. She responded with feelings of pure joy. “My dear, I think we are both experiencing the power of prayer right now. It is wonderful, isn’t it?”

He slowly decreased his connection to her until it was broken. He continued to hold her hand and look into her eyes. A tear escaped from first one and then the other.

“Oh Chuck. It is wonderful. It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever felt. I will never forget this moment. I want to pray with you again and again.”

He smiled at her. This had gone rather well. “I’m sure we’ll have ample opportunity in the future, my dear. For now, you go home and think about what happened today. I’ll have some things for you to do tomorrow, I think.”

He tried to withdraw his hand, but she held onto it for just a moment, “Just let me know what you want me to do Chuck. Just let me know.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

Jane didn’t catch a foul ball. One never even came close to them. On top of that, the Mets lost again and Jane had paid more attention to her phone than she had to him. She must have sent and received at least fifty texts in the last few innings. Roger wondered why she just didn’t call someone if she wanted to chat.

It was probably the last time he’d be out alone with her before she got married and she was spending her time grinning at her phone. He asked her what she was doing and she said, “Mind your own business,” without taking her eyes off the phone.

On their way back to the apartment, the warm day cooled as a front came through. It got chilly and Jane moved extra close to him on the subway so that they sat shoulder to shoulder. That unwanted train of thought tried to bully its way into his consciousness, but he caught it in time.

“Rog, you’re planning on asking the Little Rock team to dinner, aren't you? It would be a nice gesture.”

“How about the others? I don’t want to leave out anyone and cause hurt feelings.”

“I texted Evan and Juliet and April and Allen and they’ve all got something planned after our little reunion. Shannon says she’s still a bit under the weather. I’m getting concerned about her. I think you need to look inside her and make sure she’s okay.”

Roger wanted to tell her that he’d already done that, but he’d promised Shannon and Jerry that he’d keep their happy news to himself until they made the announcement. He was also a bit relieved to not have to tell Jane that Shannon was pregnant and especially that Shannon gave him some of the credit for it. That would likely go over like a lead balloon. They’d had a really nice day together and he didn’t want to spoil it now.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m not a doctor, you know. If she wants me to check her out, I will, but I have no idea whether I’ll even know what I’m seeing.”

Just then they both received a text from Marina. She’d copied everyone. They had landed and most of the team would be home in a bit more than an hour. Jane’s face showed relief. Roger knew what she was feeling. He said, “Looks like they cheated the Grim Reaper again.” He meant it to be funny, but she gave him another kick to the exact same spot as before.

Marina sent another message, this time just to Jane and Roger.

I’m thinking of going over to check out a couple of G450s. Juliet said there are two nearby. I start my training on this type next week and it looks like we’ll be buying one soon. Is it okay with you if I don’t come back with the others?

Also, Laird asked me to go to dinner and I’d kind of like to go.

Roger frowned. “Laird? The pilot? She’s going out with him?”

Jane gave him one of her looks. “You sound retarded. Of course she’s going out to dinner. He asked her, didn’t he? Do you think she’s supposed to wait until you get around to asking her out?”

“But . . . but.” Now he was stuttering. It was a bad habit that showed up when he couldn’t think of what to say.

“Look Rog, she’s just got a date. It’s not like she’s eloping or anything. But he is quite a hunk and we will need another pilot and she thinks he might join the group. According to Marina, he’s really quite shy and a perfect gentleman. I think he’d make a great catch and all the other ladies in the group agree.”

Roger wondered how they found the time to sit around and plot their moves the way they had. He’d never understand women if he lived a hundred years.

“You should focus on Bess. I don’t really understand it, but when you first connected to her she says something happened beyond the healing that you performed. She changed somehow at that moment and now she’s in love with you. I told you that before. It’s not just a girlish thing - it’s something much more. With her, I think it’s permanent.”

This was almost too much. “Are you telling me that you women all discuss this type of thing with each other? Who belongs with Roger and who’s in love with whom?”

“We’re sisters now. We share everything. Marina and Bess even shared your little make out sessions with the group. After a scotch or two, it was quite entertaining. Shannon described in detail how Marina’s hair looked after she caught you in the act. I thought I’d pee myself I was laughing so hard. Everyone was.”

Roger felt his face redden. “And, by the way, they both liked it a lot.”

That was enough. Roger picked up his phone and typed, “Good luck with the plane shopping and have fun at dinner! See you soon. Roger.”

Roger put his phone down and stared straight ahead in silence. “Now don’t pout, you big baby. We only talk about you because we all love you. And it’s not just you - we talk about everyone.”

She took his hand in hers and put it on her stomach. He turned to look at her. His expression said “Now? It’s only been a few hours.”

“We’ll both be busy later,” she said softly.

The reunion of all the members of the Connection happened in Roger’s apartment. He’d thought they’d head upstairs to the top floor the way they normally did, but Jane insisted they do it at his place.

“We’re going to meet there in the morning to finish up the week. That’ll be enough; there’s no need for us to be underfoot all the time. Evan and Juliet need some time alone too, you know. You can play host for once. I hope your place isn’t a shambles.”

It wasn’t. A maid came by twice a week to clean and vacuum and change the linens. She was supposed to have come by today, so Roger was pretty confident that his place would pass Jane’s inspection.

They arrived to find everything neat and tidy. Jane checked the bathroom and then waltzed into his bedroom like she owned it. She came back with a little card. It said, “Cleaned by Rose.”

Jane handed it to him. “She puts mine on the kitchen counter. Why does she put yours on your pillow?”

Before he could answer, there was a knock on the door and everyone who had stayed in New York arrived at once. Allen announced, “I just heard from Jed. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes. He can’t wait to see us all - one of us in particular.” In unison, everyone turned to look at Jane.

Roger was pretty sure he saw her blush, but he might have been wrong; her smile made it hard to tell.

In truth, they’d only been gone a short while, but the results they’d achieved were so spectacularly positive that this meeting would be half ‘welcome back’ and half ‘congratulations.’

Soon, the door opened and the Little Rock group poured into the room. Before the handshakes and hugs started in earnest, Bess raised her hand to indicate she wanted to say something. She didn’t seem nervous now - she was with people she loved and trusted.

“I just want to thank everyone. Edie, Tom, Jed and Marina were just fantastic down there. They were just super!

And I want to introduce our new sister, Tanith Watson, who made our meeting happen without a hitch. I think Jane and Shannon are the only ones here who have formally met her in person. Tanith, this is Evan and Juliet, and Allen and April and Jerry - and, oh yes, Roger. Watch out for him,” she added with a smile that went from ear to ear.

Now they all hugged and kissed and welcomed their brothers and sisters home. Roger saw Jane walk to Jed and embrace him. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her in the air with no effort. On the way down, they kissed. Roger looked away and found Bess at his side.

“I missed you so much!” she said. Tanith was there too.

“I missed you too. Bess, you did just a fantastic job down there. You can lead a group anytime. Tanith, I’m so glad you decided to join. And I’m thankful that Bess was able to help your grandmother.”

Tanith was feeling a bit overwhelmed at being a part of such a group of people. “I . . . I can’t thank you enough for sending Bess. I’ll do my best to help the group, I really will.”

“Just don’t go getting any ideas about Roger,” said Bess. “From what I understand from Jane, he added a couple more girlfriends to his list just today.”

“Darn that girl,” he thought. But it did remind him he had to say a few things.

“My friends, I’d like to invite the Little Rock team out to dinner tonight. They’ve done us all proud and I’d love to hear more about what happened. I know Jane and I both wish we could have been there with you.”

The room went silent. Everyone suddenly needed to check on their shoes. Jane spoke up, “Jed and I have plans, but thanks anyway.”

He’d expected that. But he was surprised when Edie said, “Tom and I and some of the others have tickets to a show. We could cancel if you want, Roger.”

He didn’t know what to think. No one wanted to go out with him? “No, of course not. Go have a good time. You’ve sure earned it. How about we meet tomorrow at nine upstairs? We should be done by noon at the latest, I think.”

With that people started to leave. Jed and Jane left first, walking hand in hand. The rest left in groups. Finally, only Allen and April and Tanith and Bess were left.

April walked over to Roger. “I don’t know what to say, Roger. We invited Tanith to go out with us tonight. We really want to get to know her and she accepted.”

Tanith took Bess’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She left with April and Allen.

Roger and Bess were alone. They stood shoulder to shoulder, staring at the now closed door. “You know that Jane set this whole thing up, don’t you?” Roger couldn’t decide if he was mad at her or not.

“Yeah, it just occurred to me. Everyone on the plane was texting and grinning at each other on the way back. I should have known something was up.”

They stood in silence for a moment more. “Well, I guess we could go out to dinner . . . if you want to, I mean.”

That wasn’t much of an invitation. “Are you asking me out for a date?” said Bess.

Roger realized he was blowing it. He turned to her and took her hands in his. Her skin was soft. He felt his heart skip a beat. “I’m sorry, Bess. I just wasn’t expecting this from the Girl Who Would Always Have Her Way. I would like to ask you out for a date. We’ve never actually been on one with each other, have we? It’s time, don’t you think?”

For Bess, it was long past time. Her weariness from being up most of the night had completely left her. “I accept your invitation. I know we’ll have a grand date, just grand. So where are we going?”

Roger had no idea. He hadn’t even thought of it. She saw the confusion on his face. “I need to know where we’re going so I know how to dress. If it’s Chili’s or Fridays that’s one thing, but if it’s a fancier place I need to know that.”

Roger thought that his first date with Bess wasn’t starting off too well. Just then his phone chirped and he received a message from Jane. “You have a 7:30 reservation for two at Salinas. I expect you can find it. Try to be nice to my sister.”

He showed Bess the message and she instantly typed in things on her phone. She looked up to him with a look of pure happiness. “It was voted one of the ten most romantic restaurants in New York. The reviews are off the charts! Oh Roger, it’s going to be so much fun! I’ve got to go get ready now. You can call for me at seven and we’ll walk over and catch a cab.”

With that she left. Roger momentarily felt that he was a pawn on some giant chessboard, being pushed here and there by Jane Jackie Mitchell. After a moment, he realized he didn’t mind all that much.

He typed a reply to Jane, “I’m always nice to ladies, even you. I may thank you for this one day. We’ll see.”

Chapter Twenty Nine

The restaurant was only about fifteen minutes away, but they had to walk to the hotel at the end of the block and get a cab. It wasn’t raining and it wasn’t the weekend, so Roger thought they’d get one quickly, but in New York, you never know. He knocked on Bess’s door at 6:55.

She let him wait for thirty seconds and then opened it. Roger had half expected that she’d be dressed in a very sexy outfit like she’d worn before when she went on a date, but this was yet another Bess. She was wearing a dress, and it was short, but it wasn’t like the other one. This was of a soft material, like a sweater, and it had long sleeves. It was a very light grey color which went great with her hair that was held back on each side by a silver clasp of some sort. She was wearing tights or leggings of almost the same color as the dress along with boots that went almost to her knees. She had on her evening makeup which made her eyes look really big and her lipstick was redder than normal.

She never ceased to surprise him. One moment she was basically a cute kid and the next she became an alluring woman who had no fear of taking on someone who was bothering her. Now she looked more mature, still sensational, but less flashy.

She was waiting for him to say something. “Well, what do you think? Is this okay? It’s going to get down into the fifties tonight.”

“Oh yes, Bess. I keep forgetting how beautiful you can be . . . I mean you are. You look absolutely fantastic. I think every other man in the restaurant will be jealous.”

Roger had a knack of saying the right thing and Bess thought this was just about as perfect as it could be. He offered his arm, she took it and they left.

“Oh Roger, it’s wonderful! All the flowers are so beautiful. We got the best table in the whole place, I bet. And they even brought us a bottle of wine on the house. It couldn’t be more perfect. We really are lucky!”

It was perfect. A bit too perfect. Roger suspected that a certain Juliet Morgan had played some part in getting them such a secluded table and in picking out the wine that was magically provided.

Plus, when they arrived, the maître d’ lit up when he heard Roger’s name. “Oh yes, Mr. Seaton and Ms. Olman. Your table is ready. It’s a very good one.”

He whisked them to a small booth that was dim inside. They sat side by side. A candle provided most of the light.

They started with scotch and a lemon Gingertini. After that they ordered and the wine came. The meal was fantastic. Bess said it was the best she’d ever had.

The night flew by. Roger had always been able to carry on conversation with his dates, but he was surprised to find that Bess could easily carry her part of the load and that she was interested in a wide variety of things. They talked about the happenings in Little Rock and about how Bess had convinced her professors to let her work online instead of attending class. They talked about rockets and politics and about Jane and Tanith and Marina and Jed. They talked until they noticed the place was starting to get quiet as most of the diners had left.

As they left and were waiting for a cab, Bess leaned against him. “I wish it didn’t have to end, Roger. I had such a great time.”

During the cab ride back to the apartment, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “God, I’m so tired. I was up most of the night worrying about today and setting up Tanith’s phone.”

She didn’t say another word the rest of the way. He thought she was asleep, but as they pulled to the curb, she sat up and smiled at him and kissed him gently.

They entered their hallway holding hands. It felt natural to Roger. Bess led the way to his door and waited as he opened it. He felt a squirt of alertness from some gland, but he ignored it.

“You fix us a nightcap and I’ll freshen up.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

He made two scotches, neither very big. He had lost quite a bit of sleep last night too because of BP and his finger tricks.

He sat on the couch and put her drink on the coffee table. He sipped once before Bess reappeared. “Wow Rog. That feels so so so much better. I’m a summer girl, I think. I’m not used to being all covered up that way. I’m glad it’s warm in here.”

She was carrying her purse and her long boots and the tights. She dropped them beside the couch in a pile and sat beside Roger. She picked up her drink and put her bare feet on the coffee table and wiggled her toes. They sipped together in silence until their glasses were empty.

Then Bess turned towards him and put her head on his shoulder. Roger could smell her hair. She took his hand in hers.

Roger had been thinking of a question for her the whole evening. He hadn't asked it because he realized it could lead down a path that he wasn’t sure the wanted to take.

But now, with Bess so warm and soft and close to him, it didn’t seem to matter. “Bess, everyone in the group had to conspire to make this evening happen. Why do you think they did it?”

He waited for her to answer as it was a question that could require some thought. When he heard her, it wasn’t her answer, but a gentle snore.

Roger smiled to himself. He closed his own eyes and was asleep in minutes.

At 1 a.m., the Colonel felt tired enough to sleep. He’d had only fitful rest the last few nights and it was catching up to him. He sat in his chair. It was time to dream about his problems.

Last night, he’d come to a few conclusions as he hovered between consciousness and sleep. But after today, he thought things were, if anything, worse.

Sure, Evan had invited him to come home, but not the way he’d planned. He had wanted things to be like they were - just him and Evan and Juliet running the company and working together. That’s why he’d called Evan today - to suggest just such a plan.

But Evan hadn’t agreed. He wanted him back, but only as part of that damned group. He’d made it clear that he wouldn’t quit the group, or kick Roger and his followers out of his apartment building. He did sound genuinely happy to have him come back, but the Colonel knew the invitation was contingent upon him surrendering himself in the way that Evan and Juliet had.

His plan had failed. But at least he’d had a final talk with Pastor Chuck. It felt good to tell him off. For a moment, he’d almost lost his temper with him. The Colonel shivered just a bit at the thought of what might have happened. He knew his grip on himself was loose right now - something was just not right with him. If he’d started pounding on Chuck, he wasn’t sure he could have stopped.

Thankfully, Chuck was behind him now. He wouldn’t have to meet with him again or have him connect to him the way he’d been doing. Instead, he had to come up with a new plan to help Evan and Juliet. He felt the press of time like it was a weight on his shoulders - he knew he had to do something soon for them or it would be too late.

As the Colonel fell into an exhausted sleep, sitting upright in his chair, he realized one thing that had escaped him all day - he realized he longed for that connection with Chuck, he actually missed it. He dreamed of it and his dreams were nightmares.

Roger woke with a start when his front door opened loudly. He realized it must be morning and that Jane had arrived for her egg exam. She could see his head over the back of the couch.

“Rog, I can’t believe I overslept. I’m meeting Jed shortly, so hurry up and let’s see if we can get this baby thing happening. I can’t believe how many times we’ve tried.”

Roger stood and turned to her. She’d obviously been in a hurry as her robe was only loosely tied. Jane’s eyes went to the pile of boots and leggings that were on the floor.

Before she could register what they might mean, Bess raised her head above the back of the couch. Both Jane and Bess broke into almost identical expressions of surprise - more like astonishment or even shock.

Bess quickly rose and picked up her belongings from the pile on the floor. “I’m sorry . . . I didn’t know . . . I don’t . . .” With that she left without another word. They could hear a sob in her voice.

Jane put her hands on her hips and stared at him. Roger was struggling with trying to think of something to say. Nothing would come.

He expected to be sliced and diced by a long string of cutting words from her, but instead she got that look on her face that meant she was studying a problem in her own special way. This certainly qualified as a problem.

Soon she rejoined him on planet Earth. “Look, Romeo. You stay here until I get back. And don’t tell anyone about any of this. Got it?”

She didn’t wait for his answer. She turned and left.

At first Roger was really worried, but Jane had obviously come up with some sort of idea to deal with what had happened. He trusted that she’d take care of it and calmed down.

After about thirty minutes, the door opened again without a knock and both Bess and Jane came inside. Bess was smiling. She’d obviously washed her face and combed her hair. She didn’t have on any makeup, and she’d changed into shorts and a T-shirt.

She came to him. He raised his arms for a hug, but instead she kissed him - hard. “Oh Roger, Jane told me all about it. You are the sweetest guy on earth to do what you’re doing for both her and Jed. And you never even let a hint slip. I promise I won’t say a word either.”

She turned towards Jane, “And I just can’t wait till you tell everyone you’re going to be a mother. It’s going to be so grand. Everyone will be so so surprised.”

Roger knew Jane was taking a chance in bringing another person into their little cabal, but he knew she did it for Bess. He said to Jane, “I’m sorry to surprise you like we did, but we just conked out.”

Jane shook her head in amazement. “You two take the cake. One time, you get together and Bess ends up crying her eyes out. And then another time, you fall asleep in each other’s arms sitting side by side. You do know that’s not quite normal, right? Maybe I need to explain to both of you how this is supposed to work.”

Bess giggled out loud, “I look forward to that, my sister. Then Roger and I can try again and again to see if we can get it right. Oh, I had such a wonderful time last night.” She looked towards Roger, “And I already looked inside Jane so you don’t have to this time. She said you tended to get pouty when she asked you to do it. I don’t know exactly how I know, but I’m pretty sure it’ll happen tomorrow - probably late after our girls day out. It’s so close. Aren’t you excited, Roger?”

Roger frowned at Jane. He wasn’t all that happy about that remark about him being pouty. It wasn’t true, but Jane thought it was funny. That girl sometimes thought of herself as quite a comedian.

Chapter Thirty

Jane might have been in a hurry, but if she had time to make up unfunny things about him, she had time to do some Connection business.

“Yesterday, BP spoke to Bess and her team members through her. She’s the third one he’s done that with and we’re all here now. We need to talk to BP about what he revealed to us yesterday and I’d like to get it done before we meet with everyone else. Jane, are you game to do it now? That means we’ll have to fill Bess in and it’ll take some time.”

There wasn’t much she could do. She frowned at him like she’d just seen an unwanted insect, but then she picked up her phone and typed for a few seconds. She was letting Jed know she’d be even later than she’d thought.

“Would you like to tell Bess about what BP said yesterday?” said Roger with a slight smile.

“Oh no, Mr. Seaton. You go ahead. You’ll tell it so much better. After all, it happened in bed and we know you do most of your sleeping on the couch.”

That did sting, but Roger went ahead and filled Bess in. He told her how BP had connected to both of them and woke them out of a sound sleep. He told her that BP had the plans for the device they were expected to build. And he told her about how he planned on having one of them up there inside the thing when the 340 members of the Connection combined to create the reaction that would save the universe.

Her face broke into a look of concern as she considered what that last part meant. “Someone is going to get killed? Is that it?”

Jane said, “Yes, that’s his little plan. He says he’s confident he can save them the way he did Jacob, but he’s not 100% certain he can do it in time but I am 100% certain I don’t like it. That’s what we need to talk to him about.”

Jane didn’t even glance at Roger to see if he agreed with what she did next. “Bess, go ahead - call him. You do it.”

Bess felt a strong desire to ask Jane to call BP instead of her. After all, he’d only appeared directly to her for the first time yesterday. She was worried that she’d fail.

But she was much more worried that Roger or Jane would be disappointed in her. She sat up straighter and remembered how Roger had faith in her to lead the group in Little Rock. She’d done her best not to let him down and she sure as heck would use every ounce of brass she had to do what Jane asked. She felt like part of the leadership of the Connection now and she understood, for the first time, just how much responsibility Roger and Jane bore for them all. The weight on her, even though it was but a small part of the overall responsibility, felt very heavy.

She remembered from Roger’s writings that you had to call for BP out loud. She called for him in a quiet voice and waited.

After a half minute, she thought to herself, “Come on you . . . whatever you are. Answer me.”

She called out even louder and stronger. “BP, it’s Bess. Bess Olman. You talked to me yesterday. Come to me. I need you. Roger and Jane are here. We all need you.”

As she waited, she wanted to look at Jane and Roger, but she just couldn’t. If they were smiling at each other in pity of this poor little child who was trying to act grown up, she would be embarrassed beyond words. If, instead, they were pulling for her to succeed, it would distract her. She looked down at her toes and concentrated.

“BP, damn it!!!! BP, you hear me now!!! BP, come in . . . talk to me and I mean it! BP!!!”

She didn’t wait for him to answer. She was too keyed up - too in the moment. She was getting ready to continue her calling at a much higher volume when she felt him.

“My daughter Bess, I am sorry, but I was quite a distance away. I’m here now. What can I do for you?”

Now she looked up with a smile that went from ear to ear. “I’ve got him! Or he’s got me - or something.”

Quickly, she connected to Roger and Jane. When BP spoke, they could hear him through Bess. “So now there are three. I am once again surprised at how fast you have progressed.”

Now Jane took over. “That’s why we want to talk to you. Yesterday, you woke Roger and me to tell us how you now have the design for the concentrator, and how one of us will need to ride inside it.

“For a while, I thought about volunteering. It was because of the way you came to Roger and me - how you used that voice of yours, how you magically appeared in our heads - all that combined to make me think your way was the only way.

“Yet, you are surprised that Bess has progressed to the point where she can connect to you directly. If I remember correctly, you were surprised when I first did it too. It seems to me that you’ve been surprised about a lot of stuff. And now you want us to basically sacrifice one of our brothers or sisters because you can’t think of any other way to get the job done? We’re supposed to blindly follow your lead as if there’s no other possible way to make that reaction happen?

“I think we have two words for you and I hope you’re surprised by them. They are ‘Forget it.’ Find another way. Surprise us and yourself. Yesterday afternoon, Roger and I came up with several other approaches. Maybe they’ll work or maybe they won’t, but listen to me, BP - there is no way in hell that we’ll let any of our members take a chance that you’ll swoop in and save them at the last second. Not unless we go over each and every other possible way. You may think you have explored them all, but sometimes I can come up with something new. We all can. We’re like goats you know, you can’t predict what we might do.”

If there was ever a time when BP was cowed, this was it. The silence that ensued was heavy with anticipation. They could all feel that he was struggling to come to grips with what Jane had said.

Bess said in a very quiet voice, almost a whisper. “She’s right, you know. None of us are going to volunteer for a suicide mission. It’s not going to happen.” She watched as Roger reached for Jane’s hand. They exchanged some type of unspoken message with a look. Bess couldn’t tell what it was. She had to quickly compensate so they wouldn’t feel her sudden twinge of envy.

“My daughter Jane, I am indeed surprised and I do understand your point. I suppose it is at least possible that there is another way, but I am concerned that we may not have enough time. The tipping point is still years away, but for me, that is an instant.”

He paused and they could tell he was considering something. “Let me make a proposal - I will share the basic design with the group at any time you are ready to receive it. I will not share the part that will require a human to be on board. You will be able to get started on many tasks and I will meet with this group or with the whole Connection as often as you want to explore other possibilities on controlling and focusing the beam. But I would strongly suggest that we reveal the basic design as soon as possible. I know it can be built, but it will not be easy or quick. We should not waste any time.”

This time Bess could read Roger’s expression perfectly. He nodded his agreement to Jane - and to her.

“How about this morning? We’re going to have a meeting with everyone and then we’ll have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow is our party and then our two newlywed couples will be off for a few days. Can we wait for ten days to tackle this issue?”

“That should be fine. It will likely take many months to build the device and the members who remain behind will, I’m sure, get started on what must be done. We can refine the design as we proceed.”

Roger looked directly at Jane. He was still holding her hand. “Then, unless she objects, I’d like Jane to be in charge of finding another way to focus the beam. I want you to follow her lead, BP. Listen to her and do what she says.”

BP didn’t hesitate. “I will do as you request. Please call me when you are ready to share the design with the others.” With that, Bess felt him leave her. Her envy threatened to return until Roger reached for her hand. She took his and squeezed.

“You said you wanted to be in charge of something,” Roger grinned at Jane as he spoke. “Is this okay? I’m sure there’ll be more things in the future, too.”

They could all feel what Jane was feeling - it was a strong sense of appreciation. “Thanks, Roger. I’ll do my best. To start with, I think just the three of us should meet with BP to discuss new ideas. Is that okay with you, Bess?”

Bess hated to hide her feelings from them, but she was almost overwhelmed. Jane wanted her to do something really important - not Roger, Jane! “I . . . sure, Jane. I’ll do whatever I can. You can count on me.”

“I know I can, my sister.” She rose to leave. “I’ve got to get dressed and meet Jed. He’s been texting me every two minutes. The closer we got to being married, the more he wants to be with me. Can you imagine?”

Bess stood too. “I’ve got to take a run and then get ready for our meeting. You want to go with me, Roger? We’ll only have time for three miles or so.”

Jane’s face broke into a big smile. “Sure Rog, that’s a great idea.” She was still chuckling as she left.

“I’m not much of a runner, Bess. You go ahead. I’ll see you at the meeting.” He walked with her to the door. She opened it, but didn’t leave.

“Roger, I’m sorry about last night. Our date was so perfect and then I had to fall asleep. I’ve been thinking. I hope you don’t mind me asking - but do you think we could try the last part again? Kind of like a do-over? We could come back here after the party tomorrow, just the two of us, you know. I promise I won’t fall asleep.”

She paused and moved closer to him. “You don’t have to. I just thought . . . It’s just that . . . “

Roger felt something inside him set off an alarm. That always happened as kind of a warning when a female was tempting him to become just a bit too close. Usually, he would heed that warning. This time Roger shut it off as he pulled her to him and kissed her. It was warm and gentle. They connected and he felt her love. He let her feels his too.

“I think that will be just grand, Bess. I really do.”

Chapter Thirty One

Amanda was surprised when Chuck breezed in before 9am. As was his custom, he didn’t have any appointments until ten, and most of the time he arrived just a few minutes before that.

He didn’t offer her any greeting, “Bring me my coffee. Give me two minutes after that and then send in Miss Reed.”

Today she had her hair pulled back and that made her ugly face even more prominent. “God,” he thought, “spare me.”

“You have a 10 o’clock meeting with Congresswoman Rymes.”

He knew that. It was why he made himself get up early and it was why he wanted to have some time with Rachel. He had been experiencing a generalized feeling of worry about how things were going even since his meeting with Roger Seaton. But sometime last night he woke up with an idea. It was a good one. Someone high up was still looking out for him.

“I don’t need a reminder. Just do what I said.” He was past trying to pretend with her. He wanted her gone, but she’d have to quit. He hoped it would happen soon.

After he was settled in his chair and the coffee was delivered, he prepared himself for what was to come. It would take a lot of ducks all lining up perfectly in a row, but if he could pull it off, he would be well on his way towards achieving the kind of power that he’d only dreamed about.

Soon, there was a tentative knock on his door. Rachel opened it and came inside. It was show time. “You wanted to see me, Pastor?”

He smiled at her in genuine appreciation. For the first time, she wore a dress. It was a modest dress, perfectly suitable to a business environment. It also suited him because it hinted at her assets - which appeared to be substantial.

“Will you join me on the couch? We need to discuss a few things.”

They sat side by side. He connected to her gently as he had done before. She was feeling warm, but also slightly apprehensive. She had no idea what he wanted to discuss.

He looked at her and let her feel his empathy for her. He realized he could broadcast just about any emotion; it didn’t actually have to be real. “Rachel, my dear. Yesterday, we prayed together and I know it was a moving experience for me. I believe it was for you as well. Am I correct?”

He sent her a feeling of uncertainty, like he wasn’t sure if she had experienced the prayer in the same manner that he had.

She took the bait. “Yes, Chuck. Yes! I was very much moved by it. I’m glad you were too. I thought about it last night in bed until I fell asleep and I thought about it the first thing this morning when I woke up. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

Now it was time to reel her in. He considered giving the line a jerk to set the hook, but decided on a more nuanced approach. He didn’t want to spook her.

He moved ever so slightly closer to her and increased the power of his connection. In reflex, she turned towards him. “I must admit that I thought about our time together last night as well. It was indeed special.” He sent her sincerity.

Slowly, he turned the reel. She was being pulled towards his net without even realizing it. “I want to share something with you, my dear. It just came to me last night - I felt this strong desire to tell you things that I haven’t told anyone before.”

He held out his hand to her and she took it. They were face to face, only inches apart. She seemed to have applied more makeup this morning. It was an improvement. He sent her a feeling of inclusion, of being in on the secret together.

“Rachel, God has given me a gift - an ability, if you will. I call it connecting. It’s what you are feeling now. It allows us to share our deepest feelings with each other. You can tell what I’m feeling right now, can’t you?”

He sent her feelings of uncertainty that she might not understand what he was saying. He added on just a tiny bit - just a hint - of love.

That did it. “Pastor . . . Chuck. I do feel you. I do!”

“Thank you for that. I am going to increase the power of the connection now. Do not be alarmed. I will know you better and you will know me.”

She was such a pushover when it came to connecting. He had no difficulty in making her feel it even more. He felt how she had always been unhappy with her looks, how she was shy and how she had been hurt before. How she was lonely.

He let her feel his warmth, his honesty, his complete satisfaction with everything about her. She felt his desire to do more things with her. He really could send any feeling he wanted to send.

He had her in the net now. He knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“Rachel, my dearest. Connecting in this way is amazing and wonderful, isn’t it? But I haven’t told you the best part. If we continue to connect together like this, you will soon develop the ability to do it on your own. It’s a miracle from God that I am allowed to share.”

He felt awe from her. He sent her happiness that the two of them would be united in this way. There it was - a small flame had just sprung to life inside her. It was love. Excellent.

“I wish the two of us could share this gift only between ourselves, but I must tell you that we are not the only ones who can do this. I have recently found a group who has the ability to connect as we are doing now. Instead of using it to become closer the way you and I are, they are using the connection as a kind of weapon.

“I don’t know exactly how big their group is, but I do know it is growing. Rachel, I believe that I must also assemble a group of people who can act as a shield against the threat that is posed by this other group. I would like you to be the first member. You can be my Girl Friday, and we’ll do our best to neutralize that other group - and we’ll do it together, sharing everything along the way. While the ability to connect is, I firmly believe, a gift from God, there are those, like in the Garden of Eden, who may misuse God’s gifts.

“We must stop them, my dear. They have access to a great deal of money and can do a great deal of damage. I believe it is up to the two of us to stop them.”

He felt her squeeze his hand. She pulled even closer to him and put their clasped hands on her knee. Her skin was warm. He lips were slightly apart. He could feel the complex mixture of her emotions reach a crescendo.

“Rachel dearest, will you join me as the first member of my group? Will you continue to connect with me and use your ability as I direct? Will you do what is necessary?”

He threw in that last part without much thought and hoped it wasn’t too over the top.

It wasn’t, because she said with complete earnestness, “Yes, I will. Yes Chuck.”

Roger was thinking about his future when his phone beeped. It was a text from Jane.

Everyone is here and awaiting your arrival. Bess told them all about what happened last night, but not about this morning.

Good lord. In an instant, he had a mental image of Jed making a joke about falling asleep at just the wrong moment and everyone laughing.

He came back to reality and looked at his watch. It wasn’t quite time to start the meeting so they were all there early. He guessed it was because the entire group hadn’t been together for a few days. He should have realized they’d want to remedy that as soon as they could.

He felt a bit apprehensive as he walked to the meeting. Darn that Bess. The girl didn’t know how to hold anything back. Just as he opened the door he smiled to himself; he realized he liked that about her.

He half way expected the males and females to all be huddled in their own groups, whispering to each other and grinning at him as he walked in. But it wasn’t that way at all. Everyone was scattered around the large room in groups of two or three. Juliet was sitting at the piano. She’d been playing something.

And instead of smirks or grins, everyone welcomed him with honest smiles. He didn’t need a connection to know what they were feeling - it was happiness that they were all together again.

Bess was sitting with Tanith and Marina. She practically leapt to her feet and went to him, pulling Tanith along with her. “Roger, I hope you aren’t mad, but I told them about last night. I couldn’t help it . . . I told them how you were such a perfect gentleman and how our date had been so perfect and how I conked out. They asked me and I didn’t really think . . . I just told them all of it. Is it okay with you?”

Now everyone really was watching. He whispered so that only she and Tanith could hear, “It’s fine, Bess. I would have told them if you hadn’t. Jane would have seen to that.”

With that, Bess’s face practically exploded into a smile as she threw her arms around him. Everyone smiled. Things were as they should be. They were together.

It was right then, with Bess giving him a bone crushing hug, that he felt the pressure on his left shoulder. BP was here too. Roger was momentarily confused - he had anticipated calling on BP when the group was gathered and ready. He’d even planned on letting Bess do the honors so that all the members would know she now had the ability.

But here was BP and it was obvious he wanted to talk to them through Roger. He just didn’t know why.

Suddenly he had an inspiration. Bess had contacted him today and she and Jane had been pretty darn hard on him. He suspected that BP had experienced enough of this pair for one day. Now, he wanted to connect through his old buddy, Roger.

Roger made the announcement to the group, “BP is here with me. I didn’t call him, but I do know what he wants. He has the initial design and specifications for the device he wants us to build. I think he wants to reveal them to us and I think he wants us to get started.”

With that, Roger connected to each of them. He felt BP enter his head and speak. Everyone in the Connection heard him through Roger.

“Yesterday, I demonstrated to Jane and Roger a new method of connecting. With your permission, I am able to use my mind to exhibit some control over the physical processes of your bodies. I can, for example, move your hands based on my will. As you will see, this is entirely voluntary and I will never be able to force you to do anything.

“Let me show you. Jane, would you volunteer to be the subject of this demonstration?”

Roger wondered if he chose Jane because she’d been more than a bit abrupt with him this morning. It didn’t matter though - if she didn’t like his little demonstration, she’d let him know in about a millisecond.

“Go ahead,” is all she said. Her voice was neutral.

“Very well. I would like everyone to notice how I am requesting that Jane allow me to access her in this way. She has to agree and, even if she does, she can rescind that agreement at any time.

“Now you can feel how Jane has accepted my request. I can now move her right hand as you can see.”

Jane lifted her right hand above her head. The entire group could feel that BP was actually doing it through her.

“And now her left.”

Now she lifted her left hand. Both were above her head.

He broke that part of the connection and everyone felt it. Jane brought her hands down on her own.

“As Roger said, I have the initial design for the craft. It will need to be placed in space and then we will direct our combined energy into it. It will act as a type of lens to focus this energy on a very small spot. This will cause the reaction to begin which will convert the dark energy in your universe into matter.

“The design is, by necessity, somewhat large and detailed. If it were printed, it would be many large sheets of paper. But I do not have the ability to print it.

“I can, however, share it with you by connecting to you all in the way I just did with my daughter, Jane. I can then impress the information into your memory. You will be able to recall it perfectly and without mistake. You will be able to transfer that memory to a printed design on paper.

“I will ask each of you to allow this type of connection now. Each of you has the ability to accept or reject my request. If you agree, I will impress the design into your memory. Roger, will you go first?”

Now Roger understood even more why BP wanted him to provide the connection. BP knew that if Roger agreed, it was likely that everyone else would agree too. Jane and Bess were just a bit too unpredictable for him - good old predictable Roger was the best choice.

He felt a bit manipulated by this whole process, but there didn’t seem to be any other way. “Go ahead,” is all he said.

It only took a few seconds. One by one, each person in the connection received the plans. One by one, they each marveled at how they could “see” the plans in their memories - as perfectly clear as if they were reading them on a computer screen.

Roger started to ask a simple question - “Where do we start?” - when he realized he knew the answer; they all did.

The lens was made up of a circular ring, a bit more than 6 feet in diameter and 6 inches thick. This was the main part. The plans called for an aluminum alloy. Arrayed around the inside of the ring were 1024 threaded holes. In their minds, they could “zoom” into the details of those holes to find the parts that would be placed in them and then they could examine the design for each one of these parts. These would provide the control of the shape of the “lens.”

Jerry spoke with a hint of awe in his voice, “We start with the ring.” His voice startled them. Only then did Roger realize that BP was gone. He had provided what he’d promised and now they needed to have time to digest all that they were learning. That process started immediately.

“Milled or cast?” said Jed.

“Milled. It’s got to be,” said Jerry.

Bess joined in, “That means we’ll need a CNC machine - or at least hire someone who has one.”

Jed replied, “Yeah, it’ll have to be quite a machine at that. This stuff looks like it will be hard.”

“And look at the tolerances. They are pretty tight.”

Now Evan spoke, “Not too tight. I know we can meet those specs. We’ve had similar specs with various products that the company makes.”

There was a period of silence as everyone made their own personal tour of what was now in their heads. “There’s one obvious thing missing,” said Marina. “There’s no propulsion to get it into space . . . no rocket.”

She was right. They had all assumed that BP would have them build a full spacecraft that they would launch from Earth. This was just a payload - meant to ride on top of an existing rocket.

Now Edie injected, “Whoa. How does he think we’re going to get someone to send this thing into space? I just started looking into this a bit, thinking we’d need a place to launch from. It’s a mess for someone new. There are all kinds of national and international organizations that have some say about what is launched and what it can do. I had assumed we’d just build our rocket in secret and launch it when we were ready, but if we’ve got to hire someone else to provide the rocket, that’s a whole new ballgame. Right now, I’d say there’s no way we’d ever get approval to do this - and that means we’ll have to either find another way or sneak it aboard some rocket without anyone noticing.”

That was a sobering thought. Now it was Allen who made a suggestion. “It’s not that big, only about 4000 pounds. Let’s not say that it’s a lens meant to save the universe by igniting an energy to matter conversion - Edie’s right, no one will allow that. But what if it’s a science experiment? It’s designed to study the sun, or catalog stars or look for comets or some such thing. No one could ever guess its real purpose - we might get away with saying it’s something else.”

Roger realized Allen’s idea was risky, but as of now, it seemed the best one they had. He looked at Jane and her expression told him that she was resigned to going forward as best they could. They really didn’t have any other choice.

Chapter Thirty Two

Chuck loved the feeling of superiority, of power, that came to him from greeting people from behind his large, ornate desk. His custom made chair was elevated just a small amount over those that were provided for visitors, so that he could look slightly downward at them.

Most of his visitors would be subconsciously intimidated in a small way, but that was out of the question when his visitor was Congresswoman Margaret Rymes. As a twelve term representative and as the head of the powerful house Science, Space and Technology committee, she merited a personal greeting right at the door.

Automatically, she stuck out her hand and he shook it. Then she smiled and offered her cheek. They were old friends.

“Well Chuck, you are looking good. You’ve lost a few pounds haven’t you? I saw you on TV a couple of months ago and you look thinner now.”

That was a lie and they both knew it. Still, it was always good to start out with a compliment.

“One has to take care of oneself, Margaret. We only get one time around, you know. I can see you’re taking that advice too, you’re looking just as young as always.”

Lies out of the way, they took their seats. She sat on a couch and he sat on the chair used by most of the people he counseled.

“Chuck, I just came by to see if you were happy with the service you've received from my office and to see if there’s anything else we could do for you - and your church, of course.”

Today there could be recorders literally anywhere. In the past, she would have come right out and put the bite on him for his normal contribution to her reelection campaign and would have asked what he wanted in return, but now she had to talk like their conversation might end up on the internet.

Chuck knew exactly what she meant though. They were both pros in their own way.

“Your office has been exemplary whenever I’ve called with a question. I couldn’t ask for more, Margaret. I do hope you’re running for another term. I’d be pleased to make my normal modest contribution. I wish it could be more, but we all have to obey the law, don’t we?”

She smiled. She knew he would max out his contribution but that he’d also bundle the contributions of many of the rich people he knew. Some of these were even members of the other party, but Chuck still found a way to get them to give. She really admired him for that.

She rose to leave. She was a busy woman, but still went out to do her “collections” herself. Plus, she liked to keep in touch with her constituents. Just then, there was as knock on the door. Rachel walked into the room, “Oh, I'm sorry Pastor. I didn’t know you had . . .”

He smiled and took Margaret’s elbow to guide her to the door. “We’re all done here so it’s no problem. Rachel, Miss Reed, I’d like to introduce you to Congresswoman Rymes. Miss Reed is my new personal assistant.” It was automatic - the congresswoman held out her hand to shake. Chuck still held her left elbow.

He had discovered that some type of physical touch really helped to start a connection with a new subject. Now he connected to Rachel and both of them attempted to connect with the Congresswoman. Chuck had warned Rachel to follow his lead - he wanted it to be gentle.

A politician is never far away from asking for a vote. She greeted Rachel with, “Glad to meet you Miss Reed. Are you registered to vote in . . .” She stopped as she was feeling a bit strange. She didn’t know what was happening, but it felt slightly enjoyable.

Chuck could tell she was feeling uncertainty. He sent her a feeling of support and then focused on what Rachel was feeling. She was so trusting, so open, so without guile. Chuck knew that Margaret liked them young and innocent.

Congresswoman Rymes looked at Chuck and then back at Rachel. She was still holding Rachel’s hand. “I . . . I can see how she will be quite an asset, Chuck. I’m sure you’ll make use of her talents.”

“Yes, I’m sure I will.”

Now he led her to the door and opened it. “Oh yes, there’s one more thing. I was planning on attending your dinner and fundraiser next month, but I find I have a schedule conflict that I can’t break. Perhaps I could send Rachel in my place? That wouldn’t cause you a problem, would it?”

Once more he intensified the connection between the three of them, but shielded his own feelings. Rachel was, as always, a wide open book, ready to be studied.

“Miss Reed, I don’t think we’ll miss the good Pastor for that one night. I look forward to seeing you there. I have a story or two about him that may amuse you.”

Rachel beamed at the thought. Chuck had explained to her how he wanted them to connect to the congresswoman without it being too frightening. She thought it had gone well. Chuck smiled at her in a way that told her he was satisfied with her. That’s all she wanted.

The team had broken into a series of separate conversations about the design that BP had provided. Roger could tell that there was a lot of uncertainty. He wasn’t surprised at that. He caught Marina’s eye and motioned for her to come over and talk.

“What do you think?” he said.

She realized he respected her technical ability. “I think we’ll be able to build the thing as BP wants it. I’m pretty sure Jerry and Jed and Evan feel the same way. We can’t be completely certain because there’s no control box - no computer to constantly adjust the lens as our combined energy fluctuates. That’s what the thing is for, after all. Bess thinks BP may not be ready to reveal that part yet. Assuming we can build that, the rest of it should be possible - but it won’t be easy.”

“How about the others?” Most of the team didn’t have the technical background of Marina.

“They have the same memory of the design as we do, but just not the experience to translate that design into a physical item. They know there’ll be plenty of work for all of us and that they’ll all have a part. Roger, everyone is fine, I think.”

Now she paused as if she was trying to decide if she should say something. He could see her raise her chin in determination. “Roger, Laird and I went to look at a G450 yesterday. It’s perfect. It’s fairly new - still under warranty for the next few months. It’s had all its maintenance and it’s got all the latest avionics, even a HUD display.”

She saw a look of confusion on his face. She realized she was getting carried away with the technical detail. “That’s a Heads UP Display - basically a projection on the windscreen that lets the pilot see the runway even through dense fog. It’s very advanced - the whole plane is.

“I talked to Jane and Evan and Juliet. They think we should go ahead with the purchase. I could use it then for my type rating training. That starts next week, you know.

“It’s an expensive plane. They are asking $26 million, but Jane thinks Edie should negotiate with them and maybe get it a bit cheaper.”

She waited for him to answer her unspoken question. He smiled at her and leaned close to whisper in her ear, “It’s worth twice that for you to be able to fly Jane around, Marina. I think there’s likely some traveling in her future and I don’t want her worried sick every time she has to go somewhere. Looks like you’ve got your plane!”

Before she could respond, Roger had an idea. He called out to the team. “Everyone, let’s have a quick meeting to tie up a few loose ends and then we’ll be free until our little celebration tomorrow.

They all quickly gave him their attention. “I do think we have more than a few things to be thankful for and to celebrate. I know I do.”

Roger wasn’t connected to them right now, but he didn't have to be - he felt their approval.

“First, this design is quite amazing, but it’s also challenging. I sure don’t have the expertise to interpret it enough to actually build something from it. But luckily, we have brothers and sisters who do. I’d like Jerry and Jed and Evan, Bess and Marina to take the lead on this project. They’ve got the technical chops to make it happen. But they‘ll need all the rest of us to help them. I think it’ll take a while and will be a lot of work, but I think it can be done.

“Everyone okay with that?” He looked at Jane. She just smiled at him.

“All right, then. We’ll need to build this thing somewhere. I would guess it should be secret. Do you agree, Edie?”

“Absolutely. We don’t want some reporter to write a story about the kooks who are building the spacecraft. It’s going to be hard enough to find a way to send this thing into space, let’s not complicate it even more by having the building of it become a public spectacle. No, we need to keep this to ourselves.”

“I thought so too. So where do we do it? Somewhere up in the mountains like we went to before? Or on an island somewhere? Jed, how much space will you need?”

He and Jerry and Evan consulted for a few seconds. “We think we’ll need an open space about as big as a high school gym - bigger wouldn’t hurt. It’ll need to have an overhead crane to move heavy stuff around and we’ll need 440 volt three phase power for welding. That will catch the attention of various inspectors and power company people. They’ll want to know what we need with that, for sure. If we are out in the middle of nowhere, we can generate it ourselves, but that also makes it hard to be invisible.”

It was a problem. If they were too far off the beaten path, their high tech activities would be obvious to anyone who saw them, even accidently. On the other hand, being in the city required them to have their construction inspected by a whole range of people. New York had hoards of public servants that would stick their noses into every available crevice.

Several groups of one or two talked quietly among themselves. Roger knew they were looking for an answer, so he kept quiet.

Finally, he saw Bess elbow Tanith in the ribs. He could read her lips, “Go on,” she was saying.

Roger asked, “Tanith, do you have an idea?”

At first she shot Bess a look and then turned to Roger. Everyone became silent. “I . . . It’s just that I drove a guy, an artist, around Little Rock last month. He was restoring an old factory that had to have been built at least a hundred years ago. It was three stories and was built of brick and it was big - like twice as big as a house. He told me he was going to have his studio on the 2nd floor and his gallery on the first. He was living on the top floor. They were doing a lot of construction inside. I didn’t go in, but I could see large open areas through the windows.”

Now April spoke up. She had an idea. “What kind of artist was he?”

“He was a photographer of some kind. I didn’t talk to him much because he was kind of creepy.”

April’s voice betrayed a hint of excitement. “An artist - that could be it. But not a photographer or painter - how about a sculptor? One of those guys who builds his art out of metal parts? You’ve seen them - big gears and metal cubes all stuck together. If we got one of Tanith’s buildings and scattered around some art like that, no one would likely pay any attention to what we were really doing. It would be natural to have a crane and the ability to do welding since our ‘art’ is made of big pieces of metal.”

Roger was stunned by the brilliance of the idea.

Juliet added, “And Little Rock is probably better than here. Here, you’ll have some government busybody coming around every day or two. It’ll likely be easier there to hide in plain sight.”

It was obvious to Roger that everyone agreed with the plan, but he wanted to hear what Jane had to say. “Jane, what do you think?”

She didn’t answer him directly, instead she looked at Tanith. “My sister, are you still planning on going back to Little Rock on Sunday after Roger’s little party?”

“I’m hoping to, Jane. I would like to see my Na . . . my grandmother again. I’ve haven’t been away from her this long since . . . in a long time.”

“Good. Then I suggest we have Tanith scout for suitable buildings there. I really like the idea of doing all this pretty much out in the open, not having to worry if people see things because they wouldn’t understand what they are seeing.

“And I suggest we go ahead and buy that G450 that Marina inspected. She says it’s fine. That’s good enough for me. We’ll be traveling a lot, so let’s not hesitate. I can’t wait to fly with her again.”

Roger and Marina exchanged a knowing glance. Jane continued, “Edie, can you handle the negotiations and purchases of the plane and building?”

“Sure, and I think we’ll put them both as assets of our new church. I heard this morning that all the papers have been filed and it’s just a matter of time until we are officially a church - actually, we are now. The courts have held that once you file, and there is the reasonable expectation of approval, you are entitled to begin church activities immediately. As of now, you’re all elders.”

Bess giggled out loud at the idea of being called an elder. She took Tanith’s hand and squeezed it.

Roger took a last look around the room. No one had anything else. “Well, if there’s no more business, I think everyone has earned the rest of today and tomorrow off. Try not to spend all your time on Connection business - those of us left here will hit the ground running on that next week. Do some shopping, have some fun or spend your time at the beauty spa if you must, though I can’t imagine any improvement in that area is possible.”

That brought a laugh from everyone, even Jane. “Very funny,” she said as she and Jed walked by on their way out.

Chapter Thirty Three

The Colonel read the message through for the third time with no changes. He’d been working on it for over an hour, wanting to make sure it was just right. He thought it was as good as he could make it.

He pressed ‘send.’

Evan and Juliet were laughing at something Shannon had said to them when his phone received the message from Colonel Stout. He walked a few feet away so he could read in private. Juliet followed him with her eyes.

He read and then rejoined the group. “It’s John. He wants to come back. I think . . . well, you read it. He touched his screen and forwarded it to Shannon and Juliet.

Evan,

I want to apologize for my last message. There is no excuse for me to ask you to leave your group. I don’t know why I even did that - perhaps it was because I was confused by Pastor Cleimer’s “treatment.”

Thankfully, that is over now and I believe I am seeing things in a much clearer light. Pastor Cleimer has the same ability you have to connect to people, but his connection seems to damage people. I think it hurt Matt and I know I suffered because of it.

I very much appreciate your offer to tell me the last part of the Revelation you have received. If you will have me, I’ll return soon and I hope I can decide to join your group.

Please tell Roger and Jane that I look forward to sharing my feelings with them.

John

“Well, that’s certainly a bit of a relief. It sounds like he’s getting back to his old self.” Evan was obviously pleased.

“It does. Shall I send it to everyone else and see what they think?” asked Juliet.

“Sure, I can’t see why not. We may have another member soon. It would be nice to have the Colonel back in the fold.”

Phones started to beep all over the large room as everyone received the text from Juliet. They all reassembled - except for Jane and Jed.

This time Evan led their meeting. “I’d love for the Colonel to return. He’s been my friend for a long time. We know he didn’t call the cops on us now, so I think he’ll be another valuable member. Roger, you agree?”

Instead of answering, he turned and asked his own question, “Tell me what you’re thinking, Bess.” She had been frowning. That was unusual for her.

“I don’t know. It’s just that he’s . . . I hope he’s come around. He told us in his last message that he’d quit Chuck and he also said it again now. Can we confirm that? Roger, you met that receptionist; do you think she’ll tell you if the Colonel is still plotting with Chuck?”

That was an excellent idea. Bess had been skeptical of the Colonel for quite a while and her idea made a lot of sense.

Roger looked at his phone book and picked out the number for “Cult Awareness Network.” He pressed the dial button and the speakerphone button.

“CAN Network, how may I help?” He remembered the voice. It was Amanda Perkins.

“Amanda . . . I mean, Ms. Perkins. This is Roger Seaton. Do you remember me? We had a nice chat before I met with Pastor Cleimer.”

Her voice sound full of excitement. “Of course I remember you Roger. Matt told me that if it hadn't been for you, he would probably have done something awful. He’s very grateful and so am I.”

“Amanda, I have you on speaker with some friends here. I hope you don’t think we’re prying, but we are hoping you will tell us if Colonel Stout is still being counseled by Chuck - or if he’s still having meetings with him.”

She was silent for a moment as she thought about her response. She liked Roger and he was honest enough to tell her she was on speaker. She knew she shouldn’t talk about Chuck’s private business, but she really didn’t care right now.

“Roger, they had quite a row yesterday. The Colonel left and then Chuck came storming out to tell me to not admit the Colonel ever again. That was a laugh - the Colonel told me he’d ended it with Chuck. As far as I know, Roger, they’re done with each other for good.”

Roger studied Bess for her reaction. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say she was satisfied with what she’d heard. It appeared to them all that the Colonel was telling the truth.

Roger started to thank her and hang up, but instead he asked, “How about you, Amanda? Is he causing you problems?” He was worried that Chuck was now connecting to her. He remembered it hadn’t been easy with her. He hoped that Chuck couldn’t do it at all.

“Oh, he’s a total jerk to me. He’s got some new young girl who spends all her time with him. I don’t think there’s anything - you know, physical - going on, but she follows him around like she’s his slave or something. They both treat me like crap. God Roger, I wish I could get out of here.”

There was sadness in her voice. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I shouldn’t share my problems with you, but Matt told me about you and Jane and Bess and Allen. I feel like I know you a little bit.”

“Why don’t you quit then?” Roger asked.

She didn’t hesitate with her answer. “I will one day. I really will. Matt has been after me to quit too, but I’m too old to get another job that pays like this one. I’ll just have to save up until I can afford to take something else.”

Roger used his most earnest voice. “Listen to me, Amanda. Chuck does something to people. I don’t know if Matt has explained it or not, but he messed up Matt and also the Colonel. If you are feeling uncertain, then leave. Do it now. You can call me or Jane anytime. We’ll arrange for a job at least. You’re not stuck there.”

She was moved by his kindness. “Matt told me you and Jane were great friends to have, Roger. He said you where his friend even when he didn’t deserve it. I see what he means now. I’ll think about what you said over the weekend - is that okay? Chuck told me to get out of here at noon. I think he wants to spend the afternoon with his new Girl Friday, as he calls her. I’ll be all right for now and I’ll call you or Jane next week if that’s okay.”

“You do that, Amanda. Make sure you do.”

And with that the called ended.

There was silence in the room. Everyone knew that Chuck had done evil things, but it was a different thing to talk to someone who was in danger from him. They were all happy with what Roger had said to Amanda.

“So Bess, are you okay with the Colonel?”

“Yeah, Roger, I guess. I’ll keep my eyes open with him, but I think it’ll be okay.

“But did I just hear that Chuck calls one of his female employees his ‘Girl Friday?’ Why does any woman put up with that? I’d bust him in the nose if he ever said something like to that to me. I would so not take that from him or anyone. I hope that I get to have a little chat with Pastor Chuckles one day.”

“That would likely be a day he wouldn’t soon forget,” Roger thought to himself with a smile. He remembered how Bess had been on the boxing team at college - and what she had done to that kid with the smart mouth in Little Rock.

Bess and Tanith went to talk to Shannon and Jerry when he got a text from Jane. She’d seen the message from the Colonel.

I know you’re willing to welcome him back. I guess I am too, but first see what Bess thinks. She’s not easy to fool.

I have good news for you. You don’t have to do our egg hunt any more. Bess is doing it and is happy about it. However, do NOT get far away. I will need you very soon.

No one was looking at Roger so they didn’t see the sadness on his face. He’d always pretended to be put out when Jane asked him to check on the appearance of her egg, but he realized now that he was just being cute. He felt a stab of pain in his heart that he couldn’t stop in time. Tomorrow, she’d be married and happy about it. And now this. He didn’t often experience loneliness, but he did now.

His mood didn’t last long because Bess came over and put her arm through his. “We’re going to go shopping and then go over to Jerry and Shannon’s place for dinner. Want to tag along?”

It was exactly what he wanted right now.

The shopping trip had been a bust. He and Jerry basically stood around as Bess, Shannon, Marina and Tanith seemed to look at every outfit in Manhattan. Their role was to offer their sincere compliments whenever anyone actually tried on anything. The worst part was the shoes. The women spent at least two hours trying them on, walking around and admiring each other. Jerry looked at Roger and rolled his eyes. “I think I’d rather be back with the kids,” he said. They were ‘helping’ Aunt Juliet and Uncle Evan decorate for the party.

“I know I would,” agreed Roger.

Finally, they left with several packages and returned back to the apartment and gathered the kids. Evan and Juliet were going out for dinner for the first time in a long time and, of course, Jed and Jane and April and Allen were together somewhere. Everyone else met at Jerry and Shannon’s place. Roger and most of the men got a scotch, while all the ladies were in the kitchen making pizza. Roger heard Edie say, “I’ll make one of my specials. I can hardly cook, but I can make a great pizza. Lots of olives, girls, that’s the key.”

Roger stifled an urge to call out something to her, but instead said, “So what’s the plan for tomorrow? All the ladies are going to be at their fancy spa, what are we doing?”

Jerry took a sip of his drink and said with his Texas accent, “Looks like Evan, Jed, Allen and I are going out to visit this metal fab firm in Jersey. They claim to have the ability to make just about any kind of part. They’re open on Saturday until two, so we’re going to pay’em a visit. You guys are welcome to go with us.”

He was referring to Roger and Tom. Roger didn’t really want to go look at aluminum. He didn’t know much about it anyway. “I think I’ll go for a walk.” He had a sudden idea. “Tom, would you go with me? There’s something I think you might like to see.”

Tom seemed relieved to not have to go study aluminum, so he gladly accepted.

The evening went quickly. Bess left for a few minutes. Roger knew it was because she was checking Jane’s progress. Others were in and out, sometimes playing games with the kids or checking their phones. It was a laid back time with their new Connection family. Perhaps for the first time ever, things seemed to make sense and they felt like they might have a real chance to do what BP had tasked them to do.

At one point, Roger found himself alone with Tanith. She was sitting beside him on the couch. He smiled at her and then she tried to connect to him. She wasn’t the strongest yet, but she was getting better every day. She completed the connection.

To his surprise, what he felt was worry. “What is it, Tanith? I can feel something’s bothering you. Is it your grandmother? She’s alright, isn’t she?”

“No Roger, it’s not her. She told me a little while ago that she’d been out visiting shut-ins - imagine that. She thinks that God healed her hip. Maybe he did, but I’ll never forget what Bess did for her.”

“Well then, are you concerned about finding us a building in Little Rock? I don’t have any doubt that you can find us a couple to choose from.”

She smiled at him wistfully. “No, I know I can do that, Roger. I’ll be on top of it.”

She paused for just a second and he could feel her struggle. Finally she made up her mind to talk. “Bess told me that if I needed to have something done I was to talk to Jane. But if I needed to feel better about something, I was to talk to you. She said you were so sweet.”

That sounded like Bess. “It’s this spa thing tomorrow. I’ve never done anything like that - never even been into one. I don’t want to embarrass myself or Bess or anyone. Everyone else here is so poised and so - New York - you know? I’m just a poor girl from the bad part of Arkansas. I don’t think I’ll fit in at that fancy city spa.”

Roger smiled with relief, but he could feel that this really was bothering her. “Look Tanith, I’ll bet that no one in the group has ever been to a spa like this other than Juliet and perhaps Jane. I’ll also bet that tomorrow Bess will begin to feel uncertain of herself once you guys are on the way. She just hasn’t thought about it yet.

“I certainly don’t know what goes on in those places, but I think you’ll just get your hair and nails and maybe makeup done. They’ll smear some kind of goop on your face and give you a massage.”

She still wasn’t sure. “Look Tanith, I could send Juliet a message and ask her to pay special attention to you and make sure you are looked after and are made comfortable. I could do that - but do you think I need to?”

It was a stark question and Roger felt her recoil from it. “I . . . I see what you are saying, Roger. I’ve got to get over this feeling of inferiority, don’t I? In this group, there is no country vs. city, no sophisticated versus naive, no haves and have nots. It’s just us, isn’t it? Just me and my sisters. I’ll look out for them, and they’ll look out for me. Is that what you’re saying?”

He smiled at her. She didn’t need to hear anything more. She reached over to him and hugged him. He could feel her relief and appreciation. She whispered into his ear, “But just tell me - do I really have to get naked for the massage? I mean like all the way?”

His answer was said with a chuckle in his voice, “I don’t think that’s mandatory. Just watch Juliet, or better yet, Edie. If you do what Edie does, you can’t go wrong.”

They were still connected and Roger felt a rush of love from her. It was the kind of love between a brother and a sister.

“Now hold on, you two.” Bess was standing over them. They hadn’t heard her walk up. “I knew this would happen. Tanith, I warned you about him. Jane says he’s got more girlfriends than Justin Beiber. Do you really want to be another in the long line of hearts broken by him?”

Tanith grinned at her. “And remember, I’m the one with the date for tomorrow night, Roger. And we are so NOT going to make it a group event, Tanith. Got it?”

“Got it,” Roger and Tanith said in unison.

Chapter Thirty Four

Roger slept right through until eight. He’d become used to getting up at six to check out Jane’s egg progress, but now Bess was doing that little chore. That realization led to the thought that today she’d be married. He pushed that out of his mind. He was happy for her.

As they agreed, Roger met Tom downstairs at ten. Other than the security detail and the babysitter for Kari and Kevin, the building was empty. The ladies were all out getting themselves beautified and most of the men were looking at metal stuff.

They walked in silence down the street. Roger had planned on taking the subway, but a cab was available and so they climbed in. He gave the driver the address.

“I haven’t really talked to you about it, Tom. How did it feel to play the part of a priest when you went to get Courtney’s parents?”

Tom hadn’t expected this, but it had been on his mind. He was glad to talk about it. “You know, Roger, it was really strange. I hadn’t worn my clerical clothes for a long time. But you know the strangest part? They are a family of faith and they asked me to pray - to pray for them and for their daughter. I . . . I almost told them I couldn’t, but I did. I was surprised to find that it felt fine. I was really surprised.”

“Marina said you did a lot of good that day. She said they weren’t going to take another chance on being hurt, but that you helped them realize that they couldn’t give up. She said she wrote your words down verbatim in her contribution. She said you moved her to tears, but that she didn’t let it show.”

“That’s maybe the first real good I ever did as a priest. I wish there could be more, but I don’t know. I wish the whole church could do more good, but I haven’t seen much of it, for sure.”

The cab pulled to a stop and they climbed out. Roger paid the tab and added a good tip. He was thinking of Tanith.

“This is the apartment building I used to live in.” Roger said. “I’m a little surprised, but I don’t miss it at all.”

He turned his back on it. “Let’s walk for a few blocks.”

They walked mostly in silence, across the park and down a side street. Finally they arrived at the church Roger had sat in one evening. They didn’t go inside, but went into the building across the street. The sign above the door identified it as a school.

The reception desk was facing the door. An older nun in full traditional habit was behind it. There were sounds of children wafting in from the distance - sounds of life.

“Could we speak to Sister Mary Celeste?” Roger asked the nun.

She studied some papers in front of her. “She doesn’t have a class right now. I’ll see if I can reach her. Please sign in and then have a seat.”

They put their names in the log and sat. They heard the receptionist say, “Celeste, there are two gentleman callers for you. Yes, two. A Roger Seaton and a Tom Harrison. Yes? Okay, I will.”

“She will be down shortly,” the nun said with a smile.

As they waited, Tom looked at Roger with a questioning expression, but didn’t say anything.

It only took two minutes. Sister Mary Celeste appeared from the hallway to their left and headed right for Roger in full stride. He stood and then was uncertain of what to do until Celeste put her arms out for hug. He obliged.

Today she was wearing jeans and a shirt, but her round face was still highlighted by her nun’s veil. “Roger, I’m just thrilled you came by. Do you have time for me to show you around?”

“Sister Mary Celeste, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Tom Harrison. I know he’d appreciate it if you could show us both around.”

“Sure, I will. Glad to know you Mr. Harrison. Can I call you Tom?” He smiled at her and nodded his head. Roger could tell he liked Celeste.

She led them back down the hallway and let them peek in several classrooms. Kids of all ages, sizes, and colors were hard at work at the business of being kids - and of learning. In every classroom, one or two nuns - some old and a few young - were leading the learning. Some smiled at them momentarily as they looked in. Roger could feel their dedication, their competence. The air was filled with the low level sounds of a well-run school.

Soon, they went up a flight of stairs and entered a different part of the building. It was much quieter. Celeste motioned them into a meeting room and closed the door. “This is our special needs area. Each child is given an assessment and an educational plan is built based on that. Some of these kids are close to being able to go to regular classes. This is where I work. Excuse me for a minute.”

She left them alone. Tom looked out the glass windows of the meeting room into what looked like a classroom. A little boy was playing with a train. He moved it with his right hand and then pulled it back with his left. He did that again and again.

When Celeste returned, she wasn’t alone. With her was a cute girl dressed in the uniform that was used in the school. Roger recognized her instantly. It was Adelle.

“Adelle, do you remember Mr. Seaton? And this is Mr. Harrison.” She added gently, “Tell them that you are happy to meet them.”

She walked to Roger and studied him. “I do remember you, Mr. Seaton. And I am glad to meet you Mr. Harrison.” Celeste’s smile dominated her face. Roger thought her eyes looked watery.

Adelle looked outside the meeting room and then to Roger. “That’s my friend Andy. He’s doing it again, isn’t he Sister?”

Celeste nodded. “Yes he is. Do you want to go play with him?”

Adelle opened the door and skipped over to the little boy. She got on her knees right beside him. They could see she was talking, but he didn’t look up. He just kept playing with the train.

“Sometimes Andy is quite communicative. He reads and laughs and interacts. He’s definitely getting better, but he still has these periods of repetitive behavior.”

Now Tom spoke up, “Are all his RRBs lower order?”

Roger had no idea what this meant. Celeste was surprised at the question. “Are you a doctor?

“Psychologist.”

“That’s close enough. Yes, it appears that his repetitive behaviors are all lower order. He plays with that train as you see. He has a rock collection and sometimes he stacks and unstacks them again and again.”

Roger was lost and Celeste saw the signs on his face. “It’s a coping mechanism for these kids. They are trying to bring order to a suddenly chaotic world - or so it looks like to them. They shut out all the outside ‘noise’ by focusing on a single thing to the exclusion of most other things. At least that’s the current thinking. Is that right, Doctor?”

“Yes, Sister. That’s my understanding as well.” He paused, deep in thought. “And Adelle? Did she have ASD as well? How did you treat her?”

Celeste laughed, “Roger did it. Didn’t he tell you? I met him one day when I took Adelle to the park. For some reason I could feel his concern for her. As we were getting ready to leave, he reached out to her and I had the strongest impression that he was praying for her to get better. I pray often, Doctor Harrison, but right then I prayed for Adelle and I think Roger did too. I don’t really know why it happened that way - it just did.

“That’s when God made her better. She reached out to Roger - that never happened before. From that point, she’s become more and more acclimated to living in our world. A couple of weeks ago, she joined our regular classes and she’s doing well.

“It’s not a treatment you can write a paper about, Doctor Harrison, but sometimes prayers really do get answered and miracles really do occur. I believe that.”

Roger could tell that Tom was moved by this beautiful person. “I believe that too, Sister,” he said quietly.

In the ensuing silence, they heard Adelle singing faintly through the glass. Roger turned his attention back to Celeste. “Do you need anything, Celeste? I mean, is there anything that would help you in your work?”

She smiled at him. “Bring your checkbook? We’ve had a diagnostic center on our wish list for three years. The diocese just can’t afford it right now. At $450k, maybe they never will be able to. And it’s not just my work. I’m a small part of the Sisters and Priests who run the school and the church. One of our parishioners donated enough to help us get started with this program - her daughter had ASD. I do what I can, though. We all do. It’s why we’re here.”

Roger rose, “It must be comforting to know why you are here - what your purpose is.”

As Celeste led them out of the meeting room, she said, “It really is, Roger. It really is a comfort and I thank God for it and for all these precious children.”

Adelle looked up as they walked over towards her. “Adelle, Mr. Seaton and Mr. Harrison have to go now. Can you tell them goodbye?”

In an instant, Adelle’s face went from showing happiness to a look of disappointment. She looked up a Roger with eyes that seemed too big for her face. “Mr. Seaton, Sister told me that God chose to make me better when you and her prayed together for me. Before you go, can you do that for my friend, Andy? He’s really nice.”

Roger was taken aback by her request. His encounter with Adelle had happened during the time BP was telling him the first parts of the Revelation. Later, he’d come to understand he could heal, but until this moment, he’d never really believed he’d healed Adelle.

But he had. He knew it now and this knowledge hit him hard.

He stuttered, “Adelle . . . I think . . . ah . . .”

Father Tom cut him off. “Go ahead, Roger. Try.”

It was a one word command, but it was enough. He knelt by Adelle and held out his hand. He connected to Tom so that he could witness what was going to happen - if anything happened at all.

Adelle put her tiny hand in his. It felt small and fragile.

Then she tried to connect to him.

Roger felt Tom’s shock at what was happening, but he allowed the connection to happen. Adelle was feeling . . . determination. Almost before he could grasp the meaning of it, he was looking inside Andy. Adelle was leading him.

“See, Mr. Seaton. See? There it is. I just don’t know what to do.”

Roger would see two flowing areas in the boy. One was active, moving, almost thrashing. The other was quiet, but it moved slowly so that the two areas got closer together and then farther apart. And then closer together again. They repeated.

Roger could see that these two parts needed to be integrated together. Now they were too separate from each other. He reached out with his free hand and put it on the boy’s head.

He heard Celeste praying softly. Her voice sounded angelic. Tom took her hand and joined her.

Roger willed the two parts of Andy to join. At first, they seemed to resist - little happened. But soon, they started to combine into a single whole. Roger knew the process would continue. It might take minutes or hours or even days, but he knew the boy would get better now. Tom, through the connection, knew it too.

So did Adelle.

“Sister! He’s going to be better now. I know it.” She didn’t seem shocked or even surprised at what had happened. Roger guessed that everything in the world seemed new and wonderful to her right now. This was just another example.

But he could tell that Celeste was stunned. She wasn’t part of the connection and hadn’t seen the miracle like Tom and Adelle had, but she felt the electricity in the air - and the joy from Adelle.

And she realized that Andy had stopped moving and was just smiling at her.

Tom let go of Celeste’s hand. “I think we need to let the experts continue their treatment, Roger. Sister, we can find our way out. Perhaps you should stay with Adelle and Andy for a bit.”

Celeste was still trying to understand what had happened. She was confused. “Yes, maybe I should.”

Roger stood and so did Adelle. She still had her tiny hand in his. It felt natural to him - like it belonged there.

“Mr. Seaton. Thank you for asking God to help Andy. I knew you would!” She jumped up at him and he hugged her.

They left without saying another word.

Later, as they walked to catch a cab, Tom said. “Thank you, Roger, for letting me see that. I’d almost forgotten that the church is more than reports and cover-ups and old men jockeying for positions of power. It’s more isn’t it? Much more.”

When they arrived back at the apartment, Tom asked a simple question, “Are you going to arrange with Evan and Juliet to send them the $450k or should I?”

Roger answered with no hesitation, “You do it, Father. But make sure it’s anonymous. And there’s no need to report anything that happened this afternoon. We just visited this nun and they are in need and we’d like to help them out. That’s enough.”

Chapter Thirty Five

Like most young people their age, Roger and Bess preferred to text rather than make a real phone call. It was just natural for them, so Roger was just a bit surprised when she called him after the ladies had returned.

“Roger, it was so much fun! We all had a great time. You should see April and Jane - they had the works! And they’re so beautiful. I had my hair done in a new way and Tanith and I had nail art done. Wait’ll you see it. Jane has a new hairdo - it super fantastic, just grand!”

“Well, come on over and let me see,” he said. He’d missed them a bit today.

“No way, Mr. Nosey. You’ll see us at the party and not before. Prepare to be impressed, that’s all I can say.

“I just called to tell you that Jane is finally ready. Here perfect little white egg is there, just waiting. But she decided she wants to wait until after her marriage ceremony. She’ll let you know exactly when, but be ready, ok?”

So it really was going to happen. It still seemed like a crazy idea to him, but if Jane wanted it this way, he’d do his best. He’d do just about anything for her.

She was his best friend, after all.

The Colonel woke up from an afternoon nap. This was highly unusual for him, but last night had been another one with only fitful sleep in his chair. Today, the combined lack of rest over the last number of days finally took their toll. By mid-afternoon, he gave up and lay down on his bed, fully clothed. He fell asleep in seconds.

Most deep sleep is accompanied by dreams, but because the sleep is so deep, it’s hard to remember them. This time, he remembered, but in a confused way. When he woke at six, he struggled to make sense of them. It seemed important.

He’d been back in Iraq and Evan and Juliet were there with him. Jacob was there too, laughing and running through the streets. At one point, they all stopped and tossed a baseball around. He felt happy.

The locals stopped to watch this spectacle; these crazy Americans throwing a ball in the street. The Colonel instantly became aware of them - for some reason he hadn’t noticed them before.

He stepped back and surveyed the crowd. His job was to watch out for this family - his family.

He studied each person, looking for signs of weapons or that glint in the eye that meant trouble. The men all had long beards and wore loose fitting white garments. Nothing set off any alarm bells for him. They didn’t appear to present a threat.

Then he saw a woman walking through the crowd, carrying a basket of vegetables. She was large around the middle - really large. She was covered so that only her face could be seen, but it was obvious that she was young and pretty and radiant. She looked very pregnant. The men parted to give her space to pass. They smiled at her condition.

But the Colonel wasn’t fooled. She was a suicide bomber and she was going to blow herself up right here. Her target was his family. She was wearing an explosive belt that made her look pregnant. In his dream, he had a momentary vision where he saw himself holding the body of Jacob. Evan and Juliet touched his head and wept.

He couldn’t let that happen. He pulled out his sidearm and fired directly into the abdomen of the bomber. The crowd froze in shock. The woman stopped walking and looked down at her stomach. A red spot grew there on her white garment. It spread slowly, like it was alive.

And then she exploded. His shot had detonated the bomb. She was far enough away, and they were shielded enough by the crowd of locals, that none of his family was hurt by the explosion. The Colonel picked up Jacob and ran with him. Evan and Juliet ran alongside, crying tears of thankfulness.

The dream was very confusing. Was his subconscious trying to tell him that if he’d done something different - if he’d acted - that Jacob would still be alive? But it was a disease that killed the boy. The Colonel didn’t have anything to do with that. He couldn’t cure him, after all.

But Roger claimed to have cured people, didn’t he? And Chuck had said that Roger purposefully didn’t cure Jacob because he wanted Evan’s full attention on him and his group of followers. Should he have forced Roger to cure Jacob?

But that was crazy. He’d already discarded that idea because he knew that Roger could not cure anyone. There was no need for it to keep coming back.

The Colonel rose from his bed. The covers had hardly been disturbed. His mind was literally swirling so that it took a second for him to gain his balance. Thoughts ran through his head, some crazy and some perhaps significant.

It was hard for him to tell which was which.

Roger liked to be punctual, so at six on the dot he stepped out into the hallway outside his apartment. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt that had dark buttons. Jane had told him that this would be fine to wear to the party - a bit more dressy than normal, but still comfortable.

He’d spent the last few minutes making sure his place was neat and clean. Bess would come over after the party for the continuation of their date. Roger smiled to himself as he remembered what she called it - their “do over.”

He knew that it was important to her to have this time with him, and he realized, almost with surprise, that it was important to him too - that his feelings for her might be serious.

Instinctively, he pulled away from that thought. The last time he’d been serious about a girl it had been with Ellen. She was drop dead gorgeous and funny too. Roger remembered her right then as if she’d been in the room just thirty seconds ago.

For their last year in college, they’d been inseparable. He fell in love with her and told her that. She just smiled in appreciation - she never said it back to him.

When they graduated, she left for LA and he moved to New York to make spreadsheets. He asked her to come with him, but he knew she wouldn’t.

“Roger, we had a great time, but we’re too young; we’ve got too many things to do, too many people to meet. I’ll always remember you. It was great . . . but it’s over.”

She could also be very direct. It took several months before his heart stopped hurting. He didn’t consciously vow to keep his emotional distance from girls, but it seemed like the natural thing to do. It was too easy to get hurt.

That was an immature attitude, of course. You couldn’t wall yourself off from your feelings forever. He knew that now. He’d learned that lesson soon after he met Jane. Maybe they’d both learned that lesson together.

But Bess was another matter. His emotional alarm system should have been blaring at Klaxon levels about her, warning him to be wary of this female. But for some reason, it wasn’t. That was strange. Maybe he’d tell her all about it tonight and see what she thought. She was a very smart girl, after all.

Also during his final look-around, his eyes were drawn to his laptop. He hadn’t written a word in what he called the “full version” of the Revelation document in a few days. At first, he’d resisted writing because BP had insisted on it, but soon he found it provided some comfort for him to put down in words all that was happening. He’d been so busy the last few days he’d let this pleasurable chore fall by the wayside. He resolved to fix that starting tomorrow - right after the celebration and his date with Bess.

The hallway was noisy. Jane’s apartment door was open so that the sound of several of his sisters came to him - he realized that they all were probably in there, getting the brides ready and having a great time.

He started to walk down, stick his head in the door and make a funny remark, but he quickly decided to leave them alone. This was their time. The laughter and constant happy snippets of conversation that reached him told him that. They didn’t need him.

Automatically, he took the stairs. That would use up twenty calories.

When he reached Evan and Juliet’s place, he found Father Tom in conversation with a stranger. Tom had on his clerical collar.

“Roger Seaton, this is Mr. O’Donnell. He’s the Justice of the Peace that will actually marry our two happy couples.” He was a short man, balding. He had a round face that looked like it was used to smiling. It did now.

“Please to meet ya, Roger. Actually, I already met with both couples and asked ‘em all the normal questions and said all the required words. Even if I did meet with the brides and the grooms separately, that doesn’t make any difference to me. All of us signed the required papers, so as far as the State of New York is concerned, they’re married now.”

Roger wasn’t sure that you were supposed to marry people when they weren’t even in the same room, but he was sure that a fairly large tip from Juliet could make things happen that were outside the norm.

“But Father here is going to do something far, far more important. He’s going to make sure they’re married in the eyes of God.

“Well, I’ve got two more happy couples to see tonight, so I’ll be on my way.”

He turned to leave and Tom said, “Bless you.”

“Thank you for that, Father,” he said with a genuine smile.

The apartment had undergone quite a transformation. Over the last few weeks, Roger had spent many hours in this large room, with its scattered pieces of furniture that provided seating for the entire Connection, and, of course, with its imposing grand piano sitting on a platform that dominated the middle of the space.

Tonight though, it was different. Along the far wall, a person in a white chef’s outfit was putting the final touches on food arrayed on a series of tables that had been placed end to end.

The furniture had been rearranged so that a large area beside the piano was empty. A stereo system was set up and was softly playing smooth Jazz. Roger guessed this area was for dancing.

The chef told them that all was ready and gave them a card with a number to call if they needed anything. He left. It was a private party and only the members of the Connection were invited.

Another area had been cleared by the large windows that overlooked the city streets. This would be where the couples would exchange their vows. Roger walked towards this area knowing it would hurt. He did it for that reason.

Father Tom left him alone. As he approached the cleared area, Roger was surprised to find the pain wasn’t there. He heard Jed come in the door behind him, “Lord, I’m as nervous as a June bug in a hen house,” he announced to the room.

Then, instead of the pain, he felt happiness for Jane and Jed and for them all. He realized, without a doubt, that Jane had been right about them - that she’d been right about everything. His heart swelled, not with the tinge of sorrow he’d expected, but with joy for Jane, and for everyone. He believed that on this night, they’d all be completely happy.

He would be too.

Chapter Thirty Six

They’d been told that the party would start at six, but apparently that schedule was only for the guys. By ten after, all the male members of the Connection were sitting around, chatting and snacking on the food that had been laid out. Without women to make them stop, they did what came naturally.

At 6:30, Evan got a text. “Juliet says to get ready. They’ll be up shortly.”

Jed murmured something that sounded like, “Oh boy,” and Allen jumped to his feet like the ladies were already outside the door. They both had on tuxedos. Jed was wearing his cowboy boots with his.

Jerry Wu laughed, “Calm down, guys. I’ve been through this marriage thing. It’s not a big deal. Just do what you’ve been told to do, smile and be attentive to your bride. The ceremony is mostly for them - so that they’ve got witnesses, you know.”

Allen shook his head and smiled, but sat down again. They all waited; now in silence.

Several more minutes went by.

They were watching the door as it slowly opened. Edie stuck her head inside and stared at the men - probably to make sure they were ready and were behaving themselves. Without a word, she disappeared back into the hallway and the door shut. As if they were all parts of a single male organism, everyone stood and faced the door.

It opened once again; this time to its full width. Edie entered and used a thick book to prop the door so that it wouldn’t close. Roger was astonished. All the girls had spent the day in a spa being pampered and fussed over. He’d never been to such a place, but he suddenly had a mental picture of Edie with her face covered with some dark goo - probably made of mud or fruit or something.

But whatever it was, it had worked. He’d first seen a picture of Edie only two weeks ago, but the woman in front of him now was hardly recognizable as the person in that photograph.

Mostly it was the hair. She’d lost a bit of weight since she’d been cured and this was the first time he’d seen her in a dress, but that wasn’t really it. No, it was the hair. Roger wasn’t sure, but maybe it was a slightly different color, or they’d styled it some new way. Regardless, it was . . . different. And in a good way.

Roger was standing near her as she placed the book. He went to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You look great, Edie.”

She smiled at him, “You know, I haven’t gotten all dressed up in at least five years. I never thought I would again. I’ve got you to thank for it - all of you.”

Roger thought he saw her eyes grow moist, but she quickly turned her attention to the open door. “Ladies, I’ve got them all warmed up for you. For men folk, they don’t look too bad. Come on in.”

Juliet appeared wearing a long blue dress. Her glasses were exactly the same color. She went instantly to Evan. He was waiting for her.

One by one, they all entered the room; Shannon and then Marina and Tanith and, lastly, Bess. Tanith looked slightly nervous.

They were all dressed for a party and they all looked beautiful. The spa had effected a subtle transformation. They were all the same women they worked with every day, but somehow, they were different - more female, more beautiful, more special.

That feeling was reinforced when Bess appeared. Roger felt a squirt of some type of juice from some long unused gland enter his bloodstream. She walked up to him and stopped, waiting for him to say something. His head swum slightly.

Roger had half expected her to dress in something flamboyant, but hadn’t expected this. She had on a simple dress. It was stylish but not really very short. It fit her perfectly and showed off her trim waist along with the rest of her figure. It was blaringly red. She had on expensive looking red platform heels and lipstick to match. Her shoes had a series of rhinestones outlining the bottom and the heels. Similar stones were in a hair clip that pulled her hair tightly away from her face. In her heels, she was almost as tall as him. The spa had worked some type of magic with her makeup. His heart skipped a beat.

He went to her and did what came naturally. He gave her a hug. “You look so beautiful, Bess.” He started to say, “I can’t believe it,” but managed to stifle that impulse just in time.

Father Tom spoke up so that everyone could hear, “All right my friends. Gather around please.” He led Jed and Allen to their places and then he disappeared out into the hallway.

They weren’t going to waste any time. The marriages were going to happen now. Roger started to walk, but his legs didn’t move. Bess took his hand and led him.

As soon as they gathered at the front, Roger felt a pressure on his left shoulder. It was BP! He didn’t enter his head. He was just another member of the Connection right now; here to witness the ceremony. Roger felt grateful for his presence - it was strange to feel that way about an appearance by BP. He connected to Bess and she felt him too.

Once they were all set, Father Tom went out into the hallway. Every eye was on him and on the open door.

Within a few seconds he reentered, but this time he was holding the hands of Kari and Kevin Wu; one on each side of him. Both of the kids smiled at the assembled members. Each had a string around their neck with a golden ring threaded through it. Roger watched Shannon and Jerry as this small procession passed. He didn’t need to be able to connect to know what they were feeling - it was pride. Shannon put her hand on her stomach.

Father Tom placed the kids on the outside of Allen and Jed. Kari reached up and offered her hand to Jed. He took it with a smile.

Tom took his place in the center of the wedding party and nodded. Juliet started playing The Wedding March on the grand piano. Roger hadn’t even seen her take her place at the keyboard because she was behind him. His eyes left her as soon as the music registered with him - it was time to watch the brides enter. All eyes were on the open door.

The entrance door was of a normal size, so one bride had to enter first. April walked in and stood waiting for Jane. Roger was shocked. He’d always thought of her as kind of like their house mother - always there to provide any help that was needed by anyone; always offering a shoulder to cry on if it was needed. But her long dress, coiffed hair and makeup left no doubt that she was a woman. As was customary, neither Allen nor Jed had seen their future wives today. Roger heard Allen say, “My Lord.” Bess squeezed Roger’s hand hard. It should have hurt, but it didn’t.

Next Jane appeared beside April. She’d modeled her wedding dress for him, so he knew what it looked like. Still, he was amazed at how she looked. The dress was startlingly white, stylishly short and perfect for her long, lean body. A black belt accented her waist and matched her black heels.

It’s wasn’t a traditional wedding outfit, but this wasn’t a traditional wedding and Jane wasn’t a traditional woman. The dress was perfect on her.

Some stylist as the spa had been busy with her as well. Her hair was only slightly shorter, but the part that used to fall down over her eye was now layered so that her face was framed by her dark hair. Roger knew he wouldn’t have to put that stray strand of hair back into place ever again. Strangely, this was a sad thought.

The pair of brides started to walk to the music. As they passed, Jane looked at Roger and connected to him momentarily. It was all there, just like normal. She held nothing back from him. That was their habit.

She broke the connection and looked towards Jed.

Once they arrived at the front, Juliet ended the song and everyone faced Father Tom.

He looked at each one of them individually for just a second. Each was a member of the Connection. They were all his brothers and sisters.

He started, “In a normal wedding service, I’d start with ‘We are all gathered here today’ and I’d tell you that our purpose is to unite our friends April and Allen and Jane and Jed in holy matrimony.

“I’d then go on to explain how wonderful it is to see two people pledge to become one - to pledge to love and cherish each other forever. I’d then ask Juliet to play some music, and when she was done, I’d invite our two couples to exchange their vows and their rings.

“I’d then pronounce them man and wife.”

“But this isn’t a normal service. The State of New York doesn’t recognize that I can marry anyone and my church only wants me to marry those who are church members. None of that sounds right to me.

“So we’ve had someone else sign some papers and they’ll file them so that the State of New York is satisfied. My church will be satisfied too.

“Given that everyone seems satisfied, I can see no reason why I can’t simply offer the words that should be offered to every couple who desires to be married. So I shall do just that.”

He paused and broke into a mischievous grin. “We are all gathered here today to unite our friends April and Allen and Jane and Jed in holy matrimony.”

And with that, he led them in the complete wedding service, just as he’d outlined it earlier. Perhaps the State of New York and the Catholic Church recognized their civil marriage, but this was the real thing, done by a real priest. They all knew it and they all appreciated the sleight of hand that allowed Father Tom to do what he’d never done before.

Roger was impressed with how it was working out. He’d thought that Father Tom would just offer a blessing or something - the fact that he found a way to actually do the service was wonderful.

After the invocation, Father Tom asked Juliet to speak.

“Our new associate members aren’t here on this very happy day, but they all send their congratulations and love for our newly married couples. One sent something else.”

She walked over to the piano and took her seat on the bench and started playing a tune. “Just a few days ago, Bess helped bring Courtney Coburn into the Connection. I haven’t met her personally yet, but I very much look forward to that pleasure. She’s a talented musician and songwriter and she’s written a song for us - for this occasion. Our sister, Tanith Watson has agreed to sing it for us.”

Nervously, Tanith made her way to the piano. As she passed by, Bess whispered something to her and she smiled bravely. “I told her to break a leg,” Bess whispered to Roger. “Her voice is so beautiful. You just wait.” Bess touched her phone to tell it to record. Tanith took her place on the platform.

Juliet played a few opening chords and then paused for Tanith to start. She hesitated for just a millisecond and then smiled at Bess. She started to sing. Her voice was natural, the notes and timing spot on. Roger had never heard the song before and he quickly realized it was written for the Connection.

Give me your hand

Then you’ll know who I am

Just as I will know you

We’ll both know that it’s true

All it takes is a touch

Come join with me now

I’ll show you how

All it takes is a touch

To feel just how much

Someone can feel for you

Come join with me now

I’ll show you how

There really is a plan

It’s been revealed for man

Brothers and sisters as one

There’s things to be done

Come join with me now

I’ll show you how

All it takes is a touch

When she was done, there was a second of silence, but it didn’t last long. Jane started to applaud and everyone joined in enthusiastically. The song was so good, and Tanith and Juliet had done such a great job with it that the applause was totally genuine.

Spontaneously, Bess connected to Roger and he connected to Shannon. The mass connection flew through the room as they all joined in. It was at this time that all the others could feel that BP was there with Roger. The main feeling among them all, human and alien, was one of closeness.

The service continued with them all connected. They did the vows and then the “I dos” and everything went off without a hitch. The kids offered the rings and Father Tom paused as they were exchanged. This was the big moment. Bess squeezed Roger’s hand again.

“I now pronounce you man and wife.”

That was it. They were married, not only in the eyes of the State of New York, but also in the eyes of the Connection.

The members went to greet the newlyweds when Bess pulled Roger aside. Their group wide connection had been broken. “Are you alright?” she asked. Roger knew she wanted to know how he felt now that Jane was a married woman.

He connected to her again. “See? I’m fine, Bess. I thought it might hurt, but I’m just glad for her, you know? After all, she’ll have what she wants and we’ll still be working together. Nothing will really change. I’m happy for her. You can feel that, right?”

She studied him carefully and then decided she could indeed feel his happiness. “Oh Roger, it was so beautiful! If I ever get married, I hope it’s just like this! It was wonderful.”

Before he could think of what to say, Allen and April came over and Bess gave her Dad a bone crushing hug. Roger kissed April, “You looked so good up there. So natural. Even Allen didn’t appear to be nervous.”

“I think I could hear his knees knocking, I know mine were,” she said. They exchanged places and Roger shook Allen’s hand while April got her hug from her new step daughter.

Over his shoulder, Roger could see Jane. Her expression said “It’s time. Get ready”

Chapter Thirty Seven

The newlyweds had their first dance with everyone standing around the little dance floor, watching. It was a slow dance and after a minute or so, Shannon pulled Jerry onto the floor to join them. Before Bess could do anything, Marina took Roger’s hand and led him to the floor as well. She looked back at Bess with a mischievous grin.

Roger could dance, especially slow dance, so he didn’t mind. As he took Marina in his arms, he was startled to realize that he was happy, worry free, at peace. The last few weeks had been traumatic, but now it felt so very good to set all that aside. His respite might only last for one night, but it would be one he would remember.

Roger saw Evan ask Juliet to dance and then they both turned and looked at something. The front door had opened and Colonel Stout was standing there, looking uncertain.

Evan and Juliet immediately changed course and went to him. They stood two feet apart from him for almost a full minute, talking. Then Evan embraced the Colonel and he gave Juliet a kiss on the cheek. They seemed happy to see him.

The song ended and everyone gathered around the door. Evan addressed the group. “My friend, Colonel Stout . . . John, has asked to say a few words.”

Someone turned down the music so that it was just audible.

“First, I want to congratulate the new married couples. Jane and Jed, Allen and April, I didn’t realize what was going on until Evan and Juliet told me. I don’t want to barge into your celebration, but I really want to get something off my chest . . . if you will allow me.”

He paused as if to see if anyone wanted to object.

“I’ve been on vacation for the last couple of weeks. I did need to get away, but I also needed to come to grips with all that was happening with this group and to spend some time grieving.

“I looked for help and support from Pastor Cleimer - I think you all know of him. At first, it was just talking and it felt good to unburden myself. But then our time together soon evolved into formal counseling sessions.”

He paused again and his eyes became unfocused as if he was remembering something from those sessions. “There’s no need to tell you about them now, but I can say that they didn’t help me and I have cut off all contact with him.

“However, I understand that he told you things about me that were totally untrue – specifically, that I told the police about the existence of a video recording. I can certainly understand how you might react to such a betrayal, but I just want to say that I did not make that call. It was Pastor Chuck who did it and I only learned about it very recently. I told him about the video, in confidence, in one of our sessions because I had watched it again and again. I also told him that, in a fit of grief, I’d erased it just so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch it anymore. It seemed to have a power over me and I wanted it to stop.”

Now he stood up straight and looked directly at all the members of the Connection. “Again, I’m sorry to barge into your celebration. And congratulations to the happy couples.”

The Colonel then walked over to Jed and held out his hand. They shook and said a few words. He then shook Jane’s hand and she smiled at whatever it was he whispered to her. He continued with everyone in this way. When he got to Bess, she smiled at him, but Roger could tell it was a smile of politeness.

Roger was next. They shook and the Colonel leaned in to say, “I know I’ve been a source of some concern for Evan and Juliet and for you, Roger. I hope I can make that right, once and for all.”

Roger would be happy to welcome another committed member of the group. “Of course,” is all he said.

The Colonel went to speak to Evan and Juliet again while the rest of the group sampled the food or got a glass of champagne - or scotch. Everyone that is, except for Tom and Edie and Shannon and Jane. They opted for club soda or orange juice.

Bess walked up to Roger. “Well, what do you think? Should we let him back in?” Bess sounded skeptical.

Roger’s first instinct was always to forgive if the person was truly asking to be forgiven. “Bess, I think most of the Colonel’s problems were caused by Pastor Chuck - always connecting to him and using his skills as a therapist to mess with his head. I liked the Colonel before Jacob died. He was strong and would do anything for Evan and Juliet. He may need a while to get over what Chuck did, but I think he will. I hope so anyway.

“But we’ve still got Chuck to deal with. He’s starting his own group and he may be damaging even more people. Next week, we need to decide what to do with him . . . but not tonight. Tonight you and I have a date if I remember correctly, Miss Olman.”

She giggled out loud. “I sure do, Mr. Seaton. I sure do. I remember fine and I think I’ll remember this night for a long, long time.”

The music was turned back up, this time with a popular and very danceable song. Bess quickly took Roger’s hand as she turned and grinned at Marina. “Not this time, my sister,” she said.

Bess was a lively dancer to say the least, but her high heels were causing problems, so she kicked them off to the side. This allowed her to put a full measure of motion into her dancing. Marina and Tanith quickly joined in, as did Tom and Edie, who danced at a slower pace.

Edie shook her head in wonder at Bess and Marina and Tanith, “Lord. Look at those girls go. If I tried that, even Roger couldn’t heal my back. Tom, you’d have to roll me around on a cart for a month.”

Soon, Jane pulled Jed onto the floor. He looked uncomfortable, but gave it his best effort.

Roger felt the weight of BP on his shoulder. He grinned at the thought of BP trying to figure out dancing. BP connected to him and then he seemed to jump over to Bess and connect to her too. Roger could feel it happening.

He wasn’t done. Next he jumped over to Jane’s shoulder. All three of them were aware of him now.

As the song progressed, BP jumped from shoulder to shoulder in time with the music. They all realized with amazement that BP was dancing. Jane, Roger and Bess exchanged knowing looks and extra wide smiles. Everyone, even BP, seemed to be enjoying the celebration.

Roger preferred slow dancing, so he wasn’t disappointed when the song ended. Before the next song started, Juliet called out “Picture time! Now gather in front of the tables here. Let’s do one of those panoramic shots so that everyone can be in it.”

She and Jane took charge in getting people lined up in front of the long food tables that had been set up against the back wall. Roger fell in near the end, next to Shannon.

“Oh no. That won’t do. Roger, you get in the middle. Our two newlywed couples get on each side and then the two kids. Now the rest of you, well, just fall in and let’s see what we have.”

Roger started to protest that he didn’t need to be in the middle when he caught a look from Jane. The middle it would be, right next to her.

Juliet was trying to get it “boy/girl boy/girl” as much as possible. “Tom, you change places with Marina. Bess, you’d probably better get your shoes back on.” Bess looked down at her feet and laughed as she went to put on her red sparkling shoes.

After a couple more moves, Juliet was satisfied. “I’ll have to try and set up the timer in panorama mode so I can get into the shot. Bess, do you know how to do that? I’ve never tried both at once.”

Before Bess could answer, Colonel Stout volunteered to take the pictures. “Juliet, you take your place beside Evan and I’ll do the honors. You just move the camera horizontally, right? Until everyone has been in a picture?”

Now Bess answered. “Yep, that’s it. It’ll probably only take three pictures to do it, and when you’re done just touch the ‘x.’ That’ll stitch the individual pictures together into a single wide one.”

Finally they got ready and put on their widest smiles. The Colonel took the panoramic picture four times - just to be sure. And he also took a bunch of candid individual shots. The cameras built into the phones Bess had set up for them were excellent and everyone had been snapping pictures all evening. Even without a professional photographer around, there would be plenty of great pictures to remember the night by.

Juliet sent the panoramic shots from her phone to all the others and everyone marveled at how they were all pictured side by side and in front of the long table. Everyone was relaxed and comfortable. It was a great picture. Roger didn’t even realize it until he saw the picture - Jane had been holding his hand.

Chapter Thirty Eight

After their picture taking session, Shannon took the kids down to bed. They had a sitter waiting for them. Everyone congratulated them on their part in the ceremony and they left grinning.

Shannon returned in a few minutes. They’d dropped off to sleep almost immediately.

Roger had hardly said a word to Jane the whole night. It wasn’t that he was concerned how he might act; he was happy for her and for all of them. No, it was just that it was her night, not his. Roger knew she’d come to him when she wanted to talk.

Actually, she came to him when she wanted to dance. A slow number had just started and Jed was dancing with April and Bess, Tanith and Marina were over by the bar. Roger could instantly tell he was being summoned - she didn’t need to say a word. Her expression said it all.

As he walked onto the dance floor, Roger suddenly felt slightly light headed; he didn’t even notice as Jane put her arms around his neck and as he put his around her waist.

Her hair smelled like it always did; so fresh and clean. He had a momentary vision from the first time he’d smelled her hair. It was back in the office on his first day in his little cubicle. She came in to introduce herself. Here was this nice looking girl, towering over him as he sat in his chair. He spun the seat to face her and tried to get to his feet so that at least their eyes would be on a level. He remembered thinking she must be seven feet tall from the angle he was seeing her from.

When he tried to stand, his feet got tangled in the legs of his chair and he stumbled towards her. With no hesitation, she stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders to steady him. As far as he could remember, this was the first time in his life that he’d stuttered. It wouldn’t be the last when she was around.

“I . . . I’m . . . I,” he said. He wondered how long he would have gone on like that, but Jane rescued him.

“That’s right Mr. Seaton. Here in the big world, we stand on our feet. Now, after you show you’ve mastered that skill, I’ve got a spreadsheet for you to make. You do know what a spreadsheet is, don’t you?”

Her lips showed only the barest hint of what might have been a smile, but somehow he could tell from her expression that she was teasing him - and probably evaluating how he’d react to her mild taunt. He remembered being amazed that he wasn’t embarrassed. She had a sharp tongue, but her words hadn’t stung.

He liked her. He leaned in even closer to her and whispered as if they were sharing a secret. “It might take me a day or even a month to master this standing thing. I’ll call you over whenever I need to get up to go to the bathroom or something.” It was then that he smelled her hair. It smelled exactly the same now, with her in his arms.

He had one final memory of that first meeting. She’d left his cubical saying, “You are a cute one, aren’t you? Don’t try to be too cute though.”

“Ok Rog. It’s time. Go ahead and connect to me and make it happen.”

She meant touch her egg and make her pregnant. “Now? Here? I thought . . . maybe . . .” Once again, he was stuttering.

Jane pulled back and looked him directly in the eye. “Yes here and now. My husband and I will be leaving soon for our wedding night and honeymoon. I can’t just disappear so you can do your magic connecting in private. No, it’s got to be here. So let’s get on with it.”

He really wasn’t interested in thinking a lot about her wedding night, so he connected to her, just as she’d said. He looked down inside and he could see the egg. There it was! Just like Bess had reported, it had emerged from the red mound and was waiting. Somehow, he could feel heat emanating from it.

This ability to mentally “touch” and manipulate things inside a living body was still a mystery to him. Most of the time, Roger really wasn’t sure in advance what to do - something would just occur to him and he’d somehow “know.” It was strange, but both Bess and Shannon had reported the same thing.

Now, just as his mental hand was preparing to touch the egg, he had another one of these episodes of certainty. “Jane, when I touch you, it’s going to be pretty intense. I didn’t realize it until now, but I’m pretty sure.”

She paused as she considered what this might mean. Roger knew that postponing this little drama would not be one of the things she was thinking about.

“You’re holding me, right? If I let light headed or something, just hold me up. I’ll recover quickly, I promise you that. Now, get on with it.”

Well, that was that. He knew there was no need to argue or try to postpone the inevitable any longer. Jane Jackie Mitchell, The Girl Who Would Have Her Way, had made up her mind.

Roger reached out. His mental hand was moving slowly, but with certainty. It would only take seconds to reach the egg.

Just then, he felt BP on his shoulder. Not just the normal BP pressure indicating he was there, but a tapping - almost like BP really was a parrot and was pecking at his shoulder.

It was insistent. He couldn’t ignore it. Jane could feel his confusion. They parted.

It wasn’t BP; it was the Colonel. “Mind if I cut in?” he said. His lips smiled, but his eyes didn’t. They looked like the eyes that a robot might have.

Human muscles are deployed in pairs. For every bone that needs to move, there’s at least one muscle that will contract to move it in one direction, and another muscle to move it in the opposite direction.

Of all the parts of the human body, the arm and hand have perhaps the greatest ability to perform intricate functions. The hand, with its twenty seven bones, is capable of an amazing array of detailed movements. It can play the piano, type on a keyboard, and even, with enough training, perform the most delicate surgery.

These muscles are, of course controlled by the brain and by the will of the individual human.

At that moment, the Colonel’s brain was hard at work. It used his eyes to find the spot on Rogers’s lower neck that had the jugular vein, carotid artery and trachea all arrayed in very close proximity. There was a thick shielding of muscle protecting these parts, but that muscle would not stop the razor sharp knife that the Colonel’s brain now ordered his arm to raise into position.

With mathematical precision, his brain calculated just how much force the arm would be called on to provide. His brain worked out the path that the elbow and wrist would take so that the tip of the knife would enter the flesh at just the right spot and at just the right angle.

Over the last few days, the Colonel had struggled with the question of Roger’s ability to heal. Most of the time, he was certain that Roger made this up to help him control his group. But then he’d remember how Roger said he moved those black things in Jacob. He claimed he couldn’t make them go away, and that Jacob would get worse again. But Jacob had certainly gotten better after Roger had done whatever it was he did. At those times, he remembered Pastor Chuck implying that Roger could have saved that poor precious little boy, but didn’t.

So supposed he could potentially heal himself? How do you kill someone who has that ability? It had to be done - that was the only way to rescue Evan and Juliet from this monster. Of that, he had no doubt.

The answer was actually simple. You create wounds of such a massive and quickly fatal type that there simply isn’t time to heal - multiple wounds in multiple locations; each violet and fatal. This plan assumed that Roger couldn’t heal himself instantaneously, but that was an assumption he had to make.

Mental calculations done, the knife started to move. The Colonel’s brain provided slight corrections to the path as the blade moved faster and faster. Roger was not totally stationary, so such tiny adjustments were necessary.

It was then that it became clear a large correction would be necessary. That girl, Jane Mitchell, was actually going to try and grab his wrist and deflect the blow. She and Roger were standing shoulder to shoulder and the Colonel saw beyond any doubt what she planned as her right hand moved quickly into position to intercept his thrust.

The Colonel’s respect for her went up a notch. Not only was she acting almost instinctively, she might actually succeed. She couldn’t match his strength, of course, but she could possibly deflect the blade enough to keep him from hitting his target. The girl had guts, but that would not do.

New calculations were performed even as the blade continued to pick up speed. Muscles in the shoulder, elbow and wrist contracted ever so slightly. Several muscles in his hand slightly moved and changed his grip on the knife.

These changes were made in an instant, far too fast for Jane to see and adjust to them. Her hand continued to move to intercept the Colonel’s wrist, but that wrist was no longer where her own brain had calculated it would be.

Instead, the black blade with the gleaming sharp cutting edge and pinpoint tip, sliced right through her palm. As he had guessed, she was no match for his strength and the knife, now protruding through the back side of her hand, performed exactly as predicted - it entered Roger’s neck, cutting two major arteries and nicking his trachea.

The violence of the strike caused Roger’s legs to crumple and he fell to the floor. Jane was pulled down with him. A fountain of blood spurted from the wound in Roger’s neck, spraying Jane’s white wedding dress with a line of red from her chest to her abdomen.

The Colonel pulled out the knife and Jane’s hand fell off the blade, limp and bleeding.

The Colonel got down on one knee and leaned over them. In a flash, the knife was used to enter the heart and then there was another blow to the gut. He twisted the blade while it was inserted in order to do the maximum damage.

That was enough for Roger. The Colonel turned to look at Jane. Her face was a mask of shock.

He decided to take care of her too. He hadn’t planned on killing Jane, but you had to take advantage of an opportunity if one arose. With her gone, it was an almost sure thing that the group would break up and that Evan and Juliet would be free. It would all be worth it if that would only happen.

Once again, he found the spot on her neck and, once again, he brain performed the calculations necessary. She was still prone on the floor, helpless and in shock, and he was at her side, kneeling over her. He raised the knife above shoulder level.

Chapter Thirty Nine

Jed has tried out for college football as a walk on. He had the size and build to be a linebacker or a defensive end, but he lacked one thing - speed. In the forty, you had to beat five seconds in order to be considered for the team. That worked out to an average speed of about sixteen miles per hour or almost twenty four feet per second.

But Jed could barely break seven seconds. His tryout lasted less than half a day.

He was just about twenty four feet away from the Colonel when he started to move. The knife was rising, and would soon start its much faster descent. He probably had a second at most to get there, a speed he’d never approached in college.

Today, that history didn’t matter. He ran towards the Colonel like he’d never run before. He held nothing back as he used every ounce of his energy. His muscles screamed in protest, but he didn’t notice. He covered those twenty four feet in less than a second.

When he reached the Colonel, the knife was halfway through its down stroke. Jed didn’t slow down at all; he put his shoulder down and lifted the Colonel into the air like a football player making a blindsided tackle.

The Colonel was bent almost in half by the force of this 240 pound man colliding with him. He was carried away from Jane as if he weighed nothing.

Jed didn’t stop or slow down until he slammed into the piano. The combined weight of Colonel Stout and Jed was over 450 pounds and they were still traveling at a high rate of speed when the impact happened. The energy created by all this momentum was instantly transferred through their bodies to the piano which caused it to slide towards the edge of the pedestal. It fell off with a giant thud, accompanied by the discordant sound of all 230 strings vibrating at the same time. The collision caused a horrible crashing sound that carried throughout the entire building. It was as if a bomb had gone off. Jed and the Colonel slid to the floor, still connected together.

Jed separated himself with some difficulty and sat down on the floor. The grand piano had a large crack in its side and was tilted crazily over the edge of the platform.

The house phone started to ring.

The total amount of time between when the Colonel interrupted Jane and Roger and when he was slammed into the piano was no more than ten seconds or so. It had happened so very fast that most of the members of the Connection hadn’t been able to do anything except struggle to comprehend what was happening.

But now Shannon sprang to life. She ran to where Roger and Jane lay prone, side by side, on the makeshift dance floor. Bess joined her there. They both got on their knees, Shannon beside Roger and Bess beside Jane.

Shannon connected to Roger and realized almost at once that they likely couldn’t help him. She was a trained nurse and she’d seen her share of trauma patients. Still, she had to try.

Bess quickly ascertained that Jane would live, so they both started to heal Roger. Bess saw red blotches in her vision of Roger. She knew they needed to be stopped - to be made to return to normal. She willed them to heal, but the healing was slow and sluggish. She realized it was too slow. In the connection, she went from place to place, her desperation growing. None of them responded as she expected. Yet, each time she pushed as hard as she could.

And each time, she cried out, “No!” as tears ran down her cheeks.

Jane couldn’t think straight. She certainly wasn’t used to that and it annoyed her. She was considering that when she felt BP enter her head.

She also felt Roger connect to her again. He felt weak, almost like it wasn’t really him. It was so strange.

“My daughter Jane, I have to take him to me now. We don’t have much time.”

That was BP talking. Jane knew that. She’d heard his voice many times; sometimes through Roger and also through her own connections to him. But she’d never heard him sound like this. She’d never heard any real emotion in his voice. But now, he sounded sad. He sounded very, very sad.

She heard Roger respond with “No, BP . . . wait.” That last word was so quiet, she could hardly hear it. The weakness in his voice brought back the horror of what had happened. Roger was badly hurt. She could tell from the connection - he was going to die if BP didn’t take him soon.

She started to yell at BP for hesitating when she felt Roger look inside her. She’d become used to it over the last days and had even looked forward to him checking on her egg. He always let her see what he was seeing and he did it again now.

His hand moved towards her egg. It was white and obviously ready, but the hand was moving so slowly. Jane wasn’t sure Roger had enough strength. She wanted to tell him to stop and she wanted to tell BP to go ahead before it was too late.

But she didn’t. Roger didn’t want her to. She felt something from him. It wasn’t anger or sadness or fear or anything negative. The hand slowly moved until it was almost touching the egg. She heard Roger say, “Jane . . .” His voice was so very weak and failing. “For you.”

When he touched her egg, the sensation was so great that it overwhelmed her senses. Roger had warned her about this. It was like sticking her finger into a power outlet. Before she passed out, she understood what Roger was feeling.

It was satisfaction.

She was only out for a few seconds. At first, her hearing started to return. She could hear human sounds, talking and shouting. It sounded like they were coming from under water.

Next, her vision started to return. It started as a pinpoint and then widened. She was staring at the ceiling. She had no idea why.

She heard Shannon say, “We’ve got to heal Jane, Bess.” And then, shouting, “Bess! You’re closer! Help Jane!”

Bess. Yes, she had heard Bess a moment ago. It didn’t sound like her though. Her voice had sounded strange, unnatural. Now she wasn’t making any sound at all.

She was there, nearby, because Jane felt Bess connect to her. It was good to feel her. Bess looked inside and found the wound on her hand and commanded it to heal. “I’ll get her to help me learn how to do that. I really will,” Jane thought.

Shannon joined in their connection. She was alarmed at what she felt from Jane. It was shock – almost a detachment from reality. Jane was so level headed, so competent, that what Shannon felt from her was totally unexpected. She was also surprised at what she felt from Bess. She’d always been very open and transparent in their connections, now she felt very little from her.

She saw that Jane’s hand was healing. It would stop bleeding very soon and the wound would close. Bess broke the connection to them both.

Lying flat on her back, Jane turned her head and looked for Bess, but all she saw were a pair of very red platform heels. They sparkled as they walked out of her field of vision.

Bess looked down at Colonel John Stout, as he lay half on the piano pedestal and half on the floor. She connected to him and looked inside.

He had an obvious crack in his spine, near the top, along with a series of broken ribs. She didn’t know how she knew, but she was certain that, if he lived, he would be a paraplegic unless those nerves that ran through this spinal cord where reconnected.

She wasn’t here for that. She turned her attention to his heart and more specifically to the arteries and veins that carried blood to and from it. She took her mental hand and grasped them, one at a time, between her thumb and forefinger. She squeezed as hard as she could.

She squeezed these hollow vessels so intensely that they collapsed and fused together - the linings of the vessels turning almost to a glue like mush. When she removed the pressure, they didn’t open up again - they had been too severely damaged.

Lack of blood to the heart causes excruciating pain. In most heart attacks, one area of the heart is starved for blood and the pain is severe. Bess had made certain that every portal was closed so that the pain was beyond imagining.

It didn’t last long, though.

The door to the apartment burst open, and Charlie entered carrying a radio. He had actually felt the crash of the piano all the way to the ground floor where he was one of the two guards who were on duty for the night. He’d run up the stairs to investigate and was breathing heavily.

He struggled to come to grips with what he was seeing. The Colonel was obviously hurt and others were lying prone on the floor. Something had pushed the piano so that it was almost on its side. He searched for and found Evan and Juliet. They appeared to be unhurt.

It was then that Shannon called out, “My God! Stop her! She’s killing him!”

Charlie pulled out his gun and talked into the radio.

Chapter Forty

When she was done, Bess went over and sat on the piano platform near Jed. Her face showed no emotion as she stared, unblinking, at the body of Roger. Everyone gave her room except Tanith, who sat beside her and pulled her close. Her presence seemed to spur Jed to action.

He rose and wavered a bit as he found his balance. He walked carefully back towards Jane.

She was now sitting upright on the floor beside Roger. Her legs were spread wide so that her dress was at the top of her thighs. Her panties were visible. She was rubbing her hand on her white wedding dress.

Except now, it had many spots of shocking red color on it. Some of it was her blood and some it was Roger’s. It had all run together to make a big pool on the floor beside her.

She dipped her hand into the pool and rubbed it on her dress. Her stomach was almost fully red; she started in on her chest. She saw Jed approach. She gave him a look on concern. “I got a stain on my beautiful white wedding dress, Honey. I can’t get it off.” Her voice had a lilting tone of amazement in it.

He bent to pick her up. He put one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. He lifted her slowly, gently. He seemed to struggle with her weight as he carried her to a bedroom. “I know darlin’. It’ll be okay,” he said, his voice a whisper.

When he left the room with her, April followed as did Juliet.

He laid Jane very gently on the bed. His movements were very slow and deliberate, like he was afraid he’d hurt her.

April came up to him, “You did good, Jed. You saved her life, now let us help her. We’ll get her cleaned up. You go on now.”

Her words were said with love as tears streamed down her cheeks. Juliet took his hand and led him out of the room. He was silent.

He sat in a chair as near as possible to the spot where he’d exchanged his vows only a short while ago. Father Tom came over to him and put his hand on Jed’s shoulder.

Not two minutes after the radio call from Charlie, the paramedics arrived carrying a large metal case and a folded stretcher. The standard response time for such emergencies in New York was ten minutes, but this was not a standard neighborhood and Evan Miller was not a standard taxpayer.

They rushed into the room and quickly surveyed the situation. Charlie spoke to them and pointed towards where Roger lay on the floor. They started by examining him, but quickly realized he was beyond needing their help. The only sound in the apartment was their whispered conversation and the sound of sobbing, which seemed to come from every direction.

As they moved to the Colonel, the door again opened and this time two NYPD cops entered. The radio call had been very short. The address was only a couple of blocks away - “At least two victims down at apartment. Armed private security on site called in report. Ambulance already dispatched. Proceed with caution.”

That last part meant that there was a chance that the perp might still be there. They entered without their guns drawn, but with their hands ready - just in case.

As the paramedics turned their attention to the Colonel, the two policemen tried to make sense of what they saw. A group formed consisting of Charlie, Evan, Edie and the two cops.

Two minutes with the Colonel were enough. The paramedics stood, looked at the cops and shook their heads “No.”

One of the cops said, “There’s another victim in a bedroom through there.” Charlie must have told them that Jane appeared to be covered in blood.

Hoping that there was someone they could actually help, the paramedics moved quickly into the bedroom. They stayed for only a few minutes and then returned. “There’s a thirty year old female with a superficial wound to the hand. We bandaged it and suggested that we transport her, but she refused. She should be okay.”

The cops got the story from Evan and Edie and quickly determined that the immediate danger was over. The made a call on their radio and reported that fact. Soon, the apartment would be swarming with higher ranking cops, forensic experts and the coroner’s people, but for now it was up to the to beat cops to protect the crime scene, begin the investigation and help the victims if they could. Soon, they would herd all the survivors into other rooms so they could be questioned - and so they didn’t have to stare at the bodies.

There was a large “click” sound as the paramedics closed their case and prepared to leave. There was nothing else that required their attention at the moment, but it was always good to at least ask if anyone needed any help. Situations like this were, by their nature, stressful and more than one bystander had experienced a heart attack just after the medical help had left.

“Anyone else hurt? Anyone need any help?” They looked around the room. They didn’t expect a response, but you could never be sure. “Anyone short of breath or feeling dizzy or in pain?”

There was no answer, so they started to the door after a final word with the policemen.

They were almost there when Jed stood up and started to take a step towards the bedroom where Jane was being looked after. He had a look of surprise on his face, but that wasn’t the thing that drew Shannon’s attention.

She realized he was as white as a sheet just before he collapsed and fell into Father Tom’s arms

The Paramedics wasted no time in getting to Jed. Father Tom moved away to give them room to work.

As they were getting their equipment out once again, Shannon kneeled by Jed and touched him. She connected instantly to him. He was alive, but something was wrong - something serious.

Before she could find the problem, one of the Paramedics took her by the arm and pulled her away. “Ma’am, please. We’ll take care of him. Just give us room to work.” One of the cops came over and took over guarding Shannon so the Paramedic could get back to work.

Jerry Wu instantly walked towards his wife. The rest of the Connection moved behind him. He knew he had to persuade the cop to let Shannon connect to Jed so she could hopefully heal him. The others knew it too. In an instant, every eye was on Shannon.

The Paramedic working on Jed said, “BP is sixty over forty. Distended hard mass in abdomen. We’d better stabilize and transport ASAP.”

Shannon turned and looked at her friends. She was crying for the first time. Now she knew what was wrong with Jed. “He’s got a ruptured spleen from the collision. It’s bad. He could die on the way to the hospital.”

She tried to break the grip of the policeman, but he held on. The other cop saw what was happening and intercepted Jerry and the rest of the group as he positioned himself between them and Jed. “Folks, let the professionals do what they need to do, please. I know you’re upset, but we need to stand back and give them room to work.”

“No!” shouted Shannon. She pulled away from the cop with all her might and tried to run around him. He easily cut her off.

The other cop held up his hands like he was directing traffic and ordering a “Stop,” when Bess walked around the crowd and towards him. She held out her hand and the cop reached for her to make her stand back. As soon as he touched her, he collapsed into a heap on the floor. It was like he fainted - one moment he was reaching for Bess, and the next he was unconscious on the floor.

Bess seemed to pay no attention. She walked towards Jed steadily, her heels clicking on the dance floor as she passed over it.

The cop that was holding back Shannon saw what had happened to his partner. He reached for the radio transmit button on his right shoulder with his left hand. “Officer down. Officer down,” he called. The digital radio would provide his identity and location to the dispatcher. Bess steadily closed the distance between them. By the time his transmission was done, she was only three feet away.

He was starting to panic now. The look in her eyes wasn’t quite human. There was no anger, no sadness, no nothing. His panic increased as he reached for his gun.

Chapter Forty One

He had practiced drawing and firing countless times, but that was practice and this was real life. He flubbed it.

As his hand tried to withdraw the gun, Bess reached out and touched him. She looked inside him and found the jugular veins and gently squeezed them shut. This resulted in almost immediate unconsciousness. She removed the applied force as soon as he started to fall.

Now two officers were down, but there was no one left to radio that fact into dispatch.

The paramedic that had been holding back Shannon now turned his attention to Bess. “Now hold on there, Ma’am. Let’s just calm down, okay?” He voice had a note of panic in it.

Bess never stopped moving towards him. At the last second, he tried a desperate rush, intending to grab her in a bear hug. But before his arms could encircle her, he collapsed.

The last Paramedic was on the other side of Jed. Bess turned her attention to him but he wanted no part of having her repeat whatever it was she’d done to the others. He held his hands up in a show of surrender and backed away from Jed.

Bess got on her knees beside Jed. She put her right hand gently on his chest and slipped her left beneath his head. She connected to him instantly and quickly found a large area that was leaking dark liquids. She could see dark bubbles form as the liquid seeped out of a gaping jagged wound.

Shannon knelt beside Bess and put her arm around her waist, ready to offer assistance. But when she connected to them, she saw that Bess had commanded the fissure to close. Her nurse training let her see the damaged spleen in a much more realistic form. The tear was closing and the bleeding would soon stop.

Bess stood and walked away as Shannon called out to the Paramedic, cowering in the far reaches of the room. “Get over here and stabilize his BP. He’ll live now, but you still need to get him to the hospital. They’ll need to drain the blood in his abdomen.”

The Paramedic seemed frozen in place. Jed’s blood pressure was still dangerously low. Suddenly, Shannon’s tears turned to anger. Her freckles stood out on her face, clearly visible. She shouted, “Damn you! Get over here and help this man or I’ll come over there and make you move and, trust me, you don’t want that. Do it now!”

After he’d seen three able bodied men felled by a lone female, he wasn’t in the mood to take any chances with Shannon. He moved and he moved fast.

The three unconscious men started to awake after only a minute or so. Bess had been taught a strangle hold in a self defense class during her first year at college. The idea was to apply pressure to a jugular vein and deprive the brain of blood. If you released the pressure as soon as you felt your subject slide into unconsciousness, they would wake up quickly and not suffer any real damage.

As they struggled to their feet, the two cops reached for their guns. It took them a couple of minutes to evaluate the situation. The members of the Connection had gathered around Jed while they were unconscious and now surrounded the paramedics who seemed to be rapidly working. “All right people, now slowly move away. Keep your hands where I can see them.”

Just then the door burst open and what seemed like a dozen cops rushed in, guns drawn. The cavalry had arrived.

Since there didn’t seem to be any ongoing threat to any policemen, the first order of business for Captain Jameson was to get this crowd of people under control and away from his officers.

He ordered them to move and they all obeyed, forming a knot near the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Edie went to the front of the group and tried to speak, but Jameson told her to step back until he figured out what was going on here. She realized that was reasonable, so she obeyed.

At the rear of the group, April and Juliet appeared with their arms around Jane to provide support. They had removed the bloody dress and Jane was wearing a robe that was too small for her. It was obviously Juliet’s.

Jane’s face was no longer a blank slate. Instead, it betrayed a world of pain and sorrow. She connected to Juliet who then connected to April. Like a flash fire, everyone entered into the connection.

Sharing your sorrow through a connection is an intense experience. You might think that having your friends so close would be comforting, but if they are all feeling the same sorrow you are, the effect is simply multiplied. Each person shared their pain with everyone else. No one held anything back. It was agony.

Then they all heard a voice in the connection. It was BP. He sounded shaken, as if he was on the verge of being unable to speak.

“I asked Jane to do this. It was hard for her. You’ll never know how hard.

“I need to warn you before it is too late and I can only speak to all of you through her.

“It’s Bess . . .”

They all looked around and realized that Bess wasn’t there. Neither was Tanith. They must have slipped out as the cops were just waking up and everyone’s attention was on Jed. In the connection, they all felt each other’s shock and confusion.

“It’s Bess. I tried to connect to her but she resisted the connection. It was like she was behind a wall. I could feel intense flames behind that wall. Flames of hatred and of anger.

“Finally, I was able to get just enough of a feeling to know what she was doing. I got a message out to Tanith through her just as she again shut me out.”

He paused and the suspense built by the second within the Connection.

“We must stop her! She’ll ruin her life and everything else if we don’t!”

He paused again. Everyone in the Connection reached for each other’s hands.

BP sounded like he was choking.

He struggled, but the words finally came.

“She’s going after Pastor Chuck.”

Book Five: The Invitation

Prologue

Tanith willed herself to set aside the vision of the horror she’d just witnessed. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but somewhere she found the maturity and strength to try and bring herself under control. She would be twenty years old in a few days, so that was hard.

And Bess had just turned twenty one. They both had their entire lives in front of them, but Bess was on a path to throw all that potential away.

All Tanith wanted to do right now was sit on a step in the stairwell and cry until someone woke her from this nightmare, but she couldn’t. BP had been in contact with her through Bess for only seconds, but he’d had time to tell her what Bess was planning. She was going after Pastor Chuck.

She was going to kill him; probably in some gruesome way. And it was up to Tanith to make sure that didn’t happen.

It wasn’t that she wanted to save Chuck - he was almost certainly responsible for driving the Colonel insane to the point where he killed Roger and came within inches of killing Jane. Instead, she had to save her sister.

Tanith felt herself sob once more as she thought of what had happened during their celebration. She tried to push it out of her mind, but thoughts can be stubborn things. She knew she’d have to live with these for a long, long time.

Chapter One

The stairwell was the normal design for such things in New York. There was a shaft that contained the stairs near the outside of the building. The stairs turned ninety degrees, four times for each floor. The treads were metal and the walls were stark cinder block with a thick coating of light grey paint.

Two floors below her, Tanith caught a glimpse of Bess. Even when she couldn’t see her, she heard the sound made by the hard soles of her shoes as she took each step. Bess was walking at her normal energetic pace. Tanith sped up.

“Bess! Bess, please wait for me. I’m coming, my sister,” she called out. Her voice was unnaturally loud in the stairwell. It echoed back to her. She was surprised to hear herself still crying.

She wiped away her tears and started to take the stairs two at a time. She was dressed for a celebration and was wearing heels. She wasn’t really used to them and flying down stairs was dangerous, but she had no choice. More police would appear any minute now, and if they tried to stop Bess . . . well, it probably wouldn’t work out all that well for them. She had a momentary vision of Bess surrounded by police officers - some lying on the ground and some standing with their guns drawn, pointed at her.

She knew it was up to her to make sure that didn’t happen.

By the time they reached the ground floor, she was only a few steps behind Bess. Without a moment’s hesitation, Bess turned right and made for the rear exit of the apartment building. The door opened into an alley using a push bar that said, “Emergency Exit Only.”

Bess shoved the bar and the door practically burst open from the force. She went into the alley and looked left and then right. Her red party dress shimmered in the moonlight, while a rhinestone on her very tall red platform heels reflected a sparkle of light. There was a late summer chill in the air.

They were near the middle of the block, so it was about the same distance either way to get to a street. Tanith could hear sirens in the distance. That wasn’t unusual for New York, but there were a lot of them. She remembered that one of the cops had called “officer down” into his radio. She knew that meant the cavalry would arrive quickly and in force.

Bess turned left. Tanith knew that was the wrong thing to do. If they went that way, they’d end up on a busy street where the cops would be arriving in swarms looking for a blond girl in a red dress. Just as she grabbed her purse and left the apartment, Tanith saw that the cops were waking up. She knew what Bess had done to them and knew that they weren’t really hurt. She suspected that they had been on the radio by now with a description of their “assailant.”

The other way seemed better because there was a hotel at the end of the block. It was one of those smaller, more intimate New York hotels that charged a fortune for a room. Tanith and Bess had been there a couple of times to catch a cab. She remembered that there was a bar off the lobby where maybe they could sit and figure out what to do next.

Tanith made her decision. It was better than walking on that busy street.

She rushed to cut off Bess by standing directly in front of her. “Bess, we can’t go that way. Let’s turn around and go to the hotel. We’ll be safer there, I think.”

Bess stopped, but her gaze went over Tanith’s shoulder. She took a step designed to bypass her.

Tanith moved so that, once again, she was directly in the path chosen by Bess. She tried to connect to her; to let her feel that she was trying to help, but Bess wouldn’t allow the connection. Tanith couldn’t feel anything from her - it was like there wasn’t anything there. She pushed harder.

And then she did feel something. The connection occurred for just an instant. Tanith almost wished she hadn’t felt it. Bess let her feel one emotion only - anger. It wasn’t like a red hot rage that would cool given enough time. Instead it was a stone hard anger; one that had settled in for the long haul.

And at that moment, for just the most fleeting second, Tanith felt that anger was directed at her. It broke Tanith’s heart to feel that from her sister. Tears again threatened to flow. “Oh God, help me,” she thought.

Thinking of God made her think of Nanna. She remembered all the praying that Nanna had done for her after her mother had died. Nanna had probably been hurting just as much as Tanith, but she’d spent every waking second helping her come to grips with her grief. She was a strong and loving woman - Tanith knew that, right now, she had to be that too.

She held out both her arms. She was open, vulnerable. “Bess, I know a few things. I know that you loved Roger and that he’s gone. I know your heart is broken and mine is too. I know that if I had a real sister, one with my same blood, I couldn’t be any closer or love her any more than I do you.

“And I know that we have to turn around, my sister, and go the other way. I also know you can swat me out of the way like a fly or make me unconscious, or even hurt me bad, but there’s one thing I know more than any other, Bess.”

She paused as she embraced Bess. She held her tightly. “There’s one other thing, my sister. I know you won’t do that to me. I just know it.”

Gently, with one arm around her shoulder, Tanith turned Bess and they started to walk.

The sirens were getting closer.

At the end of the alley, they turned right onto the street. The hotel entrance was just down the block. Tanith had her arm around Bess’s shoulder, guiding her. Just as they left the alley, a police car, lights flashing, pulled into the other end.

The doorman looked them over from top to bottom. He must have been satisfied because he tipped his cap and opened the door for them. “Welcome ladies,” he said. “Dining with us tonight?”

Tanith hoped her voice sounded normal when she spoke, “Ah . . . no. We’re just going to the bar.” Then she added, “To meet our dates. Then maybe we’ll eat here, I don’t know.”

Now that was stupid. There was no reason to say all that. Tanith wondered if she was up to the task that fate had assigned her.

“The bar is just across the lobby, through the entrance in the back. Enjoy.”

Just as they entered the safety of the hotel, two police cars, racing at top speed with sirens screaming, flew by right outside the entrance.

Tanith took Bess’s hand and led her to the bar entrance. She peeked inside and was relieved to see only a few customers visible in the dim light. She led Bess to a secluded table in the back.

A waitress approached almost immediately after they were seated. She gave them a suspicious look. They were both nicely dressed, but they looked young. She’d certainly have to card them and their IDs would probably be bad forgeries and then she’d have to ask them to leave. The earlier crowd had left for their shows or dinner so the chance of decent tips was pretty slim right now. This pair didn’t seem likely to help.

“What’ll you have?” she said to them. Tanith had waitressed a bit a couple of years ago and knew the drill. She just wanted to be left alone for a while so she and Bess could decide what to do.

She opened her small evening purse, took out a twenty and laid it on the table. “Two ginger ales please. And keep it.”

This brought a smile to the face of the waitress. “Sure, hon. Just let me know when you need something else, okay?” She took the twenty and rushed off.

It was then that Tanith realized something. She looked in her purse once again to make sure.

She’d left her phone back at the apartment. She looked at Bess. She didn’t have a purse at all.

They were truly alone.

Chapter Two

The scene was chaotic. When Captain Jameson arrived, he fully expected to find at least one officer shot or stabbed or beaten. A call of “officer needs assistance” got every available asset running to offer help. A call of “officer down” made those assets move even faster and with more resolve. It meant that an officer was already hurt.

But he didn’t see any officers down when they arrived at the apartment of Evan Miller. Jameson had been advised whose place he was responding to. It was always good to know if you were going to have to deal with some type of business tycoon or celebrity, but in this case, it was background noise. They had to get their fellow officers out of danger before offering any deference to famous people.

Instead of seeing either of the two cops fighting for their lives, wounded and bleeding, he found them herding a group of people away from a pair of paramedics who were working on someone. He could hear the paramedics talking to each other and he could hear crying from the group. His officers stared at him in silence as they worked.

Just then, a woman broke out of the group and marched towards him like she was in charge of the world. “You look like you could be in charge. Are you? I’m Edie Porter. I’m an attorney . . .”

That was all he wanted to hear from her. In fact, it was the last thing he wanted to hear. He showed her his ID and badge and said, “Listen ma’am, please get back there with the others. I need to figure out what’s going on here before I talk to you.”

Edie glared at his ID for a few seconds, reading his name and rank. She turned without another word and joined the others gathered at the entrance to the guest bedrooms.

The entire Connection was in shock, but they all instinctively gathered around Jane. So far, she’d hardly said a word.

So they were all surprised to feel her connect to them and for them to hear BP through her. He told them that Bess and Tanith were missing - that Bess was going after Pastor Chuck and that Tanith was trying to stop her. The all gasped in surprise as they realized what had happened - it took only another second or so before they all also understood what it meant. In her present state, Bess could be a danger to not only Pastor Chuck and anyone who got in her way, but also to herself, and ultimately to the entire Connection.

And without the Connection, the problem with the universe wouldn’t get fixed and all life everywhere would eventually be extinguished. Father Tom, especially, marveled at how this young woman had become both the center of hope and of despair for them all. He wondered if God was playing a joke on them and then wondered again at how he thought of God in this moment of crisis. That hadn’t been his habit.

April had been standing beside Jane; basically holding her up with help from Juliet Morgan. She’d been a tower of strength in the last few minutes as she simultaneously cleaned the blood off Jane and assured Jed that his wife would be all right. Now, on hearing from BP that Bess had left to go exact revenge on Pastor Chuck, she broke down. It was just too much. First, Roger had been killed and her wedding day ruined, and now her new daughter was in grave danger.

It hit April all at once. She almost collapsed in grief, but Jane now held her up. Her new husband moved quickly to take her. “She’ll be all right, April. I know she will,” Allen said in a whisper. His voice broke into sobs.

The group didn’t appear to present any danger, so Jameson huddled with the two officers and the paramedics. A second group of paramedics arrived and Jed was turned over to them. His blood pressure had rebounded, so they thought he’d make it. As they wheeled Jed out of the apartment, Jane called out for him, but the group held her back. Shannon had connected to him and knew Bess had stopped the bleeding from his ruptured spleen. She let the group feel her certainty that Jed would fully recover.

“So what happened?” asked Jameson. There were two dead bodies and a group of sobbing people - a group that included a least one billionaire. It was a monumental mess, but before he got to that, he had to find out who assaulted his brother policemen.

The two cops looked at each other and exchanged some sort of unspoken communication. The taller one took off his hat and ran his hand across the stubble that was his hair. “They were not letting the paramedics work; crowding around and getting in the way. I tried to make them move back and one of them knocked me out.”

Now Jameson looked to the other cop. He seemed anxious to confirm the story. “Yeah, that’s right. A blonde girl was coming at me and before I could do anything she knocked me out cold too.”

It was the paramedics turn now. One told how the same blonde had reached out to him with some kind of judo hold and the next thing he knew, he was waking up on the floor. “I’ve never seen anyone move so fast,” he said. “I didn’t even see it coming.”

The last paramedic said that he’d not been knocked out; he’d seen it all. “I saw what she did to the others, so I backed off.”

“So what did she do to them? I don’t see any bruises or blood.”

He hesitated as if he was trying to either remember what had happened or maybe was trying to tell a story that made sense. “I . . . it was the blonde girl. She had on a red dress and red shoes with some kind of sparkles. She touched the two officers and my partner and they just collapsed.”

“Touched them? So, did she hit them? Flip them in the air? What did she do exactly?”

“She just . . . I don’t know, it looked like she just touched them on the hand. Their legs just gave out.” His voice dropped in volume, “That’s all I saw. She just touched them.”

Now Jameson looked sternly at the two cops. “How does a young girl knock you two out? You tell me - what did she do exactly?”

They were silent for a few seconds, trying to think of an answer that made sense. Finally, one said, “I don’t know what she did. I really didn’t see it. I was just knocked out. There’s no doubt about that. And she did it. I know that too.” The other cop nodded in agreement.

Jameson looked at the crowd across the room. There was no young, blonde female there.

He walked over and faced the lawyer who had spoken to him. “Where’s the blonde? She in the back there?”

Edie took her time to answer. “Now listen to me, Captain Jameson. Her name is Bess Olman. She’s gone; we don’t know where. She’s young and the murder must have been too much for her. After your officers fainted, she must have just left. None of us saw her leave.”

Jameson had to take action now. He ignored her comment about fainting. The two cops on duty had called “officer down” and they said the blond assaulted them. It wasn’t clear exactly what she did, but his duty was to get this woman in custody and then figure it all out.

“You don’t mind if we take a quick look around do you? Who knows, she may just be somewhere in this apartment. It’s a big one and, as you said, no one knows where she went, so it’ll help for us to have a look around. There’s no objection, is there?”

Edie knew he didn’t have a search warrant, and he probably didn’t need one. She glanced at Evan and Juliet. It was her call.

“Sure Captain, look around. That’s a good idea.”

Jameson sent some officers to check out the streets around the building and assigned others to look inside the apartment. They moved the entire group into a spare bedroom. It would be easier to keep an eye on them that way. It also meant they were out of the room with the bodies.

No sooner had they been left alone, than Jameson stuck his head in the door. “We need a picture of Ms. Olman. Can you get us one?”

Edie considered this. She didn’t want to help them find Bess - that would likely cause even more problems. But she knew that the cops and paramedics would certainly have described her as a pretty blonde in a red dress, so they knew a lot about what they were looking for. There didn’t seem to be any need to actively impede the investigation - and by appearing to be cooperative, she thought things might go easier for the rest of the group and for Bess too.

“I’ve got one I’ll give you. It’s in my phone, over on the coffee table. Bring it to me.”

Ladies dressed for a celebration didn’t normally have places to keep phones on them. Edie realized that none of the women likely had their phones - maybe some of the men did.

Jameson returned. “Show me how to get to the pictures. It’s asking for a password.”

Edie held out her hand. “Yes it is. I offered to give you a picture, not allow access to all the private data on my phone. You know you can’t have that. I can cite a few cases if you need me to.”

The clock was ticking and Jameson didn’t have time to waste sparring with this lawyer. “Here,” he said in an exasperated voice, handing her the phone.

Edie tapped the screen here and there. “What’s your number? I’ll send the picture to your phone.”

Earlier that evening, Edie had been snapping photos like everyone else. She had many with Bess and Tanith or Bess in a group, but she’d caught her alone in one or two. She sent Jameson one in which Bess was facing the camera with one hand on her hip and the other reaching out towards something - it was like she was a game show model, pointing towards a new car. But Edie knew she’d, in fact, been reaching out to Roger. That brought a fresh stab of pain to her heart.

It was a good picture. Bess looked happy, anticipating a dance with Roger. The picture showed Bess from the knees up; at least they wouldn’t be able to look for those outlandish shoes.

Edie knew it was good to appear to be cooperating, but in fact, the picture wouldn’t help them much, if at all. By the time it was distributed to the forty thousand cops that make up the NYPD, she figured this present crisis would have been resolved. And besides, they could get Bess’s picture from her Facebook page.

Once Jameson left them alone, Edie spoke to the group. She still had her phone. “I’m going to call Bess and Tanith. They haven’t mentioned Tanith at all - maybe they didn’t notice her in the crowd with all that was going on. If so, we’re lucky they aren’t looking for two of us.”

She pressed the button to call one and then the other. There was no answer to either call.

Marina saw the disappointment on her face. “They might not have their phones with them. There are phones lying all around the apartment.”

That was true. They weren’t used to their brothers and sisters being so out of touch. The realization that Beth and Tanith were truly alone and on their own only added to their already heavy burden.

Evan was particularly distraught, “We’ve got to find them. Somehow.”

Jane had been staring into space, as if she were somewhere else. No matter how much she hurt, she knew she couldn’t let Bess and Tanith down. She forced herself to use her ability to study a problem intensively. She thought of a dozen things they could do; then she thought of a dozen more. She discarded one idea after another. She continued until she had an answer.

And for the first time since - since it had happened, she looked at her friends and spoke.

But she didn’t speak to them. “BP, please BP. Please. We need you.”

It was said in a voice so unlike Jane. It was a voice struggling to be heard; one that spoke only because it had to.

They all connected to each other and waited. They didn’t have to wait long.

“My daughter, Jane. I am here.”

They could all hear BP through her. And in this state, they could speak to each other without using their voices. Each of them, including BP, waited for Jane to speak.

“BP, do you know where Bess and Tanith are? Are they okay?” Her voice was ever so slightly stronger.

“I watched them leave. They are sitting in the bar at the hotel down the block. They are in the back. It is not crowded and they seem to be, for the moment, safe. I do not believe either of them has a phone.”

Juliet spoke and they all heard her in their heads, “We’ve got to get them out of there and somewhere out of the public view. Sooner or later the police will find them. They’re just down the block. I hate for them to take a cab; being seen in public is chancy, but I don’t see how we have any other choice.”

That seemed like a thin plan; they didn’t even know where to send Bess and Tanith.

Jane spoke again, “Allen, do you have your phone?” Even on their wedding day, guys had pockets to carry phones in.

Hearing Jane seemed to give him hope. You could hear it in his voice. He’d seen her come up with an unexpected solution to a problem before. “Yes, Jane. I do.”

“Call Matt. He lives out a ways; not so close into the city. He’s got a car. Ask him to come and pick them up. He’ll do it. He’ll do it for me and for you, and mostly he’ll do it for Bess. Just call him.”

Her warm southern accent was normally almost undetectable, but not now. She was using all her energy to do what she had to do. There wasn’t much left for control of her accent.

She wasn’t finished. “BP, you go and connect to Bess so that Tanith can hear you. She may not want to, but you do it anyway. Tell them that Matt will be by to pick them up and that it’ll take about an hour for him to arrive. Tell them the police want to question Bess and they have her description. Tell them that they don’t seem to know about Tanith.”

It was a good plan. They all felt it. “Go on now, BP. Do what I said, please.” Jane’s voice was suddenly weaker again. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Everyone felt the heartbreak behind them.

Allen pushed the button for Matt.

Chapter Three

Tanith had no plan. None at all.

She knew they couldn’t stay in this public bar too much longer. Eventually, the place would close, or an after-show crowd would arrive and make it impossible for them to stay away from everyone else the way they were now.

“How could I leave without my phone?” she asked herself for what seemed like the thousandth time. She knew the answer; she’d had only seconds to get started after Bess. She was lucky she’d managed to grab her little evening purse from the table by the door. At least she had some money.

She desperately wanted to call Juliet, or Bess’s dad or somebody - anybody who could tell her what to do. Like most young people, her phone was almost surgically implanted on her. She had it with her every waking moment; in the left back pocket of her jeans, or in her purse or just holding it in her hand. Without it, she felt naked and alone.

In fact, she was alone since Bess was still not talking. She considered asking the waitress if she could borrow a phone. She also considered trying to get a room in the hotel for the night. Both of these tasks seemed too much for her. She thought of herself as a tough, street smart woman, but now she felt like an unsure young girl; out of her league in the big city. She wanted to cry again, but promised herself she would not.

She so much wanted to talk to one of her brothers or sisters that she was actually relieved when she heard Roger call for Bess. His voice was faint and far away.

But that relief only lasted a fraction of a second as the reality of what had happened at their celebration came crashing back into her consciousness. The voice wasn’t Roger’s. It couldn’t be his. A fresh stab of pain seemed to explode in her chest.

Now she heard it again, slightly stronger this time. “Bess. Please my daughter. I need to connect to you and to Tanith.”

That last part seemed to fade in as it became crystal clear. Bess was allowing the connection. Tanith heard BP through her, but she still heard nothing from her sister.

“Tanith, Matt will be here in approximately one hour. He has a car and will take you and Bess to safety. The police want to question Bess, but they do not seem to know that you are involved. They have a good description of Bess and of what she is wearing.”

Tanith felt a flood of relief when she heard BP speak. “What should we do? Are we going to meet him outside on the street?”

It was a good question. You don’t park your car right in front of a busy business in Manhattan and just leave it. When you returned, it would have a least one cop and probably more standing beside it.

They could stand on the street and get in as Matt stopped to pick them up, but that was dangerous too. BP said they had a description of Bess - there was probably more than one blonde with a red dress and shoes in New York, but not many would be right around here. Tanith had a vision of dozens of cops, standing on the street right outside, looking for them.

“I do not know the exact nature of the pickup by Matt. I will go back to the apartment to see what that plan is. You remain here. I will return soon.”

Before he could fly off, Tanith said, “Wait, BP. Wait a second. Tell them . . . tell all of them that . . . well, just tell them ‘thank you’ from us.”

Tanith was so relieved to have regained some connection to the group that she didn’t want BP to leave. But she knew he had to.

“I shall. Stay here. I will return soon.”

“All right folks. Who’s going to tell me where Miss Olman ran off to?”

Captain Jameson was flanked by the original two officers who had been rendered unconscious by Bess. They all had stern looks on their faces.

The search of the apartment turned up nothing. They’d asked for and been given a master key by Evan and had looked in all the other apartments. Jerry Wu and Shannon had been allowed to be with them when they checked their apartment - the kids were asleep and the sitter was frightened until Jerry reassured her that there was no danger. She agreed to stay as long as necessary. Shannon gently kissed each one of her sleeping children before she and Jerry left. She was careful to dry her eyes first.

Now they were back all together in a guest bedroom at Evan and Juliet’s place. Many of the large army of cops had either left or were engaged in the search for Bess outside the building.

The investigation into the two deaths had also begun in earnest in the main room. Soon, Roger and the Colonel would be removed from the premises. Autopsies would have to be performed.

Edie had just about had enough of this focus on Bess. “Look Captain. Why are you looking for her? She’s a victim of a crime, just like we are. I know you received an ‘officer down’ call, but it was obviously a mistake. How could a sweet twenty one year old girl somehow manage to deck these big, strong cops? You’ve seen her picture. I doubt she weighs a hundred twenty pounds. And she did it without raising a hand? Come on, Captain, get real. You’ve got an actual crime here to investigate; I’d suggest you get on with it and leave the fantasies alone.”

Jameson was a bit taken aback by this. Having a lawyer right at the crime scene was an unexpected challenge. “You said your name was Porter, right? I get that you’re a lawyer, but who are you representing, if anyone.”

Edie didn’t hesitate, “You can call me Edie, spelled E. D. I represent all of these people, individually and together.”

Jameson looked them over for any signs of disagreement, then sighed. “All right, you’re the lawyer. But can’t you see that I have to talk to Miss Olman? These officers were knocked unconscious. I can’t overlook that.”

This was the opening Edie wanted. She pointed to the two cops. “Look Captain. Get these two heroes checked out, okay? There are still paramedics around or take them to a hospital or something. You’ll find there’s not a mark on them. These big, bald weightlifters weren’t knocked around by some tiny slip of a girl. No one saw any such thing and you know it.”

Now Jameson seemed a bit uncertain. “So how do you explain it? Everyone agrees they were unconscious.”

Edie seemed to think about his question. “I’ve read about this before. There was a factory, in Cambodia I think. One day, over 80 people fainted dead away. Two days later, almost 200 more passed out.

“You know what caused it? Nothing. It’s called mass hysteria. One person drops and the others fall like dominos.

“That’s got to be what happened here. It’s scientifically valid and it makes a whole lot more sense than believing that a young girl felled these specimens with a simple touch. Now that has no basis in science.”

Jameson looked at the two cops. They were both well over 6 feet. They were indeed almost bald and they did look like they lifted weights.

They found something interesting on their shoes to study.

“Yeah, I see what you’re saying, but I still need her. Right now I have statements that she did cause these specimens to lose consciousness. Maybe that is subject to change, I don’t know.” He glared at them.

“But I also have a statement from the guard who had first arrived that someone yelled, ‘Stop her, she’s killing him’ while Miss Olman was standing over Mr. Stout. Also, she fled a crime scene where there were at least two deaths, and almost certainly at least one murder. At the least, we can hold her as a material witness.

“We can’t overlook all this. You know that. Cooperate with us and help us find her. From what I know of what went on here, she’s probably not going to be charged with anything. I think the DA will understand why a young girl like her might get upset and just leave.” His glare at the two officers intensified. “You’ll be doing her a favor - helping her get all this behind her.”

Edie knew he was right. If Bess could be counted on to surrender peacefully, it would certainly be the best way.

But Edie also knew that she could not be counted on to react that way at all; not in her present state of mind.

“Captain, we can’t help you find her. I wish we could. But we can answer your questions about what happened here. At least let’s get on with that.”

Chapter Four

Pastor Chuck Cleimer took his last sip of wine and thought about getting ready for bed. Normally, he liked to retire late and get up late. But today was Saturday which meant tomorrow was the Sabbath, which meant he needed to get to the church early so he could greet his flock as they arrived.

He had a momentary vision of his flock as literal sheep. As they passed before him, he clipped off just a bit of their fleece. It was only a pittance. They wouldn’t miss it. Behind him, his personal pile of fleece had grown large.

His discarded that vision with a smile. It was one of his favorites.

Just then, his phone emitted the sound that meant he had a text message. That was odd since he didn’t particularly like to text and never sent one unless he had to. He also didn’t like to post on Twitter or Facebook. His manager of ‘social outreach’ did all that in his name. Texting was in the same category in his mind, but it wasn’t something he could farm out.

He had the latest IPhone, of course. His image and position demanded it. He struggled for just a second to unlock it so that he could read the text. “This had better be important,” he thought.

At first he couldn’t tell how important it was because it made absolutely no sense.

And then its meaning swam into focus. He felt a sudden pressure in his chest.

Bastard Pastor,

I should not warn you because you deserve what is coming your way.

Tonight, your lack of counseling ethics and your lack of control caused Colonel John Stout to kill Roger Seaton and almost kill Jane Mitchell.

The Colonel is dead now too, but I don’t think what he did was entirely his fault - I think it was yours.

Remember how you read about healing in the Revelation? Remember how Roger could look inside people and manipulate things to help them in some way?

Well, suppose someone did that to you. But suppose their purpose was not to heal, but rather to cause pain and damage and agony.

That’s what happened to the Colonel after he killed Roger. And that’s what’s coming your way.

And as bad as that will be, the vengeance of God will be far worse when you stand before Him in judgment.

Get ready, Chuck. Your time is coming.

The text on the Iphone’s screen was superbly sharp, but it was becoming impossible to read because Chuck’s hands were shaking.

He forced himself to calm down. He hadn’t reached his position in life by being overwhelmed when an unexpected development occurred. As the head of a multi-million dollar church organization, a professional counselor, an expert in cults, and a frequent guest on various TV shows, he knew that the first thing he had to do was determine if a single word of this message was true.

That should not be too hard to do. John Stout was a high ranking executive in a very large corporation; his death would attract attention. If he actually committed a murder, that would be a “stop the presses” kind of event.

Roger Seaton was a nobody, except to his slavish followers who were members of his Connection cult. Chuck didn’t know exactly how many of those there were, but he suspected that there were at least eleven. There may very well be more. The Colonel had told him in a counseling session that they were actively trying to recruit new members.

Fleetingly, he wondered what might happen if Roger really was gone - might his group need another leader?

It was too early to think of such things. First, he had to make a call. He went to his desk and pulled out his well-worn address book and looked up the name of Bob Carelli. He knew the name was in his phone somewhere. He’d had one of the cute young interns put most of his contacts in the device last summer as he looked over her shoulder, admiring the view. She’d spent over an hour inputting things and explaining how it all worked. His eyes never left her, but he wasn’t really listening as she droned on. And now he couldn’t remember exactly how to find a name - was it last/first or vice versa? His old fashioned address book was better.

Bob was an Inspector in the NYPD; a fairly high position roughly similar in rank to a colonel in the military. He even wore the eagles of a colonel. For a moment, Chuck wondered at the coincidence.

Bob was also a devout member of his flock. He was one of those that always gave the full tithe and could be counted on to pitch in a bit more when needed.

Chuck looked at the Breitling on his wrist. It wasn’t that late and besides, it really didn’t matter. He dialed.

“Pastor! I’m surprised to hear from you, but always glad. Something I can do?”

Chuck loved caller ID. It was one of the only real improvements on the old landline phones of his youth. Not only did he get to see who was calling him, but his own name was broadcast when he made a call. Normally, this resulted in an almost instant answer. Chuck could gauge how much the person he was calling respected him by how long it took to answer. In this case, Bob was very respectful.

“Bob, let me apologize for calling you at this late hour. I’m normally in bed by now. But on the night before the Sabbath, sometimes I get a little keyed up. Did I wake you?”

“No, Pastor Chuck. Not at all. I’m always glad to talk to you.”

Chuck smiled. He really was a respectful man. He made a mental note to gently connect to him tomorrow and see what he was feeling.

“Bob, I’m afraid I must ask for a favor. I have received some very disturbing information that I can almost not believe. Can you check to let me know if a Colonel John Stout has been involved in anything . . . anything violent . . . tonight? I have had some contact recently with Evan Miller and some of his circle; Colonel Stout works for him.

“I sincerely hope nothing has happened, but this will weigh on my mind until I know for sure. I was hoping you’d check with the NYPD to see if any such report has been filed.”

Inspector Carelli took only a second to consider this request. “Sure, Pastor. Give me a minute. I’m going to put you on hold while I check.”

It actually took almost two minutes. “Pastor Chuck, sorry to keep you waiting. At this point, there’s no mention of a John Stout or a Colonel Stout as a crime victim or as a perp. No one by that name has been arrested that I know of.

“But I also checked on Evan Miller and we got a hit - a big one. There’s something very unusual going on at his residence. At first, there was a call about someone with a knife inside and then the first two officers that responded put out an ‘officer down’ call. They’re still trying to sort out what’s going on. The only other thing I know is that there’s an active manhunt for a young female named Bess Olman who is suspected of assaulting our officers. It’s less than an hour since the first call, so the details I can find in our online systems are still sketchy. I can call the Captain on site if you want and probably get some more information, but I’d rather not. It’s best to let them do their investigation without a lot of interruptions.”

Now Chuck’s mind was racing. “You said someone had a knife?” The Colonel had told him what had happened in Iraq during one of their counseling sessions. He’d had to push more than normal in their connection to make him open up about it.

And now someone with a knife had appeared in Evan Miller’s apartment. That was enough for him - at least part of the text message was almost certainly true. Probably it all was.

That realization almost caused him to ask his friend to send over ten or twenty heavily armed cops to guard his home, but he quickly regained his composure. “Thanks, Bob. I do appreciate your checking on this for me. I think I have all I need now. I hope to see you for our service tomorrow.”

Without any further words, he hung up. It was an abrupt act, but he had things to think about.

Chapter Five

Without her phone, Tanith didn’t know what time it was and couldn’t be sure how long they’d been waiting for BP to return. The waitress had come by to check on them a couple of times. Finally, she ordered two fresh ginger ales and gave the waitress another twenty. The stack of them in her purse was pretty thin - Nanna had told her never to carry much money with her in New York. She was certain the place was overrun with pickpockets and purse snatchers.

She tried to talk to Bess, but with no success. It was like she’d shut herself off from the world. If she heard Tanith at all, she didn’t respond. That was worrisome, but her passivity was certainly better than her aggression. It was scary to imagine what she could do if she really tried.

Tanith had decided to ask the waitress if she could borrow a phone when she saw a cop talking to her at the entrance to the bar. He was obviously asking a question. The waitress shook her head ‘no.’ He said something else and left. The waitress walked over towards them.

“Are you two in trouble? The police are looking for a blonde in a red dress.” Her eyes studied Bess. “Should I get a manager?”

She saw the fear on Tanith’s face. “Look, hon. If you need help, just say so. I’ve got a daughter about your age. If she needed help, I’d hope someone would offer it. And I hope she’d be smart enough to take it. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Is your friend sick? Did the two of you do something wrong?”

For a moment, Tanith wanted to tell this stranger everything; just transfer the burden to someone else. But that was foolish. It would take hours to explain it all, and anyway it was up to her to make sure that Bess was okay.

She started to tell her that they were all right when a woman walked up to their table. “Sorry I’m late, girls. Traffic, you know. I hope you weren’t worried.”

The waitress smiled in relief that someone older had arrived to hopefully take charge of this pair. The cop had said that the blonde they were looking for was very tall and strong and had beaten up two cops with her bare hands. That could not be the girl sitting here. She was of average size, dressed for a party and not a hair was out of place. No, she couldn’t be the one.

But something was up with them. Luckily it wasn’t her business. Two nice tips only bought you so much. She left them alone.

BP had planned on going back to the bar, but he’d been too busy. The group was still in shock, but they pulled themselves together because one of their own, and even their entire mission, was in grave danger.

Plans were made and people were called on the cell phones the group had with them. Sometimes, the cops were in with them asking questions, and that was when BP had to be there to keep them all connected and communicating.

Edie took the lead in providing the answers. Through BP, she advised them to tell the exact truth about what had happened tonight - nothing more.

They should all repeat the same story - the Colonel had arrived uninvited; they had welcomed him and, with no warning, he’d stabbed Roger and Jane. Jane had only survived because Jed acted to push the Colonel away from her. Jed didn’t try to kill him, but there wasn’t room to stop before they both crashed into the piano. Jed almost died from the impact.

And that thing about someone yelling, “Stop her. She’s killing him!” That was just hysteria talking. No one remembered anyone saying any such thing, but if they did, it was just due to the general confusion. Bess had nothing to do with any of these events. She tried her best to help Roger and Jane, but it was all just too much for her and she left.

That story would cover the facts, but Edie knew there would be other types of questions. She was happy that they let the group stay mostly together. If they had been suspects, they would certainly have been questioned separately.

After they all recounted essentially the same set of facts, Captain Jameson asked one of those other types of questions. “So Colonel Stout had been on vacation and he just showed up tonight with no warning? Why do you think he did this? There’s got to be a reason. What do you think it was?”

He looked towards Edie. He’d become accustomed to her speaking for the group.

Edie started to tell him that she suspected the Colonel hadn’t recovered from the grief of losing Jacob Miller. She started to tell him that the two of them were very close and he suffered as much as anyone when Jacob died; that he seemed to withdraw into himself. She planned to leave the impression that his grief had led to him becoming unhinged.

She planned to do all that, but before she could speak, she heard Jane in her head. They were all connected to her and she was connected to BP.

“Edie, tell him it was Pastor Chuck’s fault.”

For the last hour or more, Edie had fought to retain her composure. The horror of what had happened would cause her to cry many tears in the future, but she couldn’t do that while the cops were here and Bess was in danger. She controlled herself solely through the force of her will as her emotions constantly threatened to fly out of control. She would not have been particularly surprised if she did break down right here and now. She would not have been surprised to feel uncontrollable sorrow or even anger.

But she was certainly surprised at the feeling that Jane’s eight simple words gave her - they made her want to smile. That Stringbean certainly was a smart girl.

The woman stood over them. “I’m Amanda Perkins . . . I’m . . . I’m with Matt. He’s driving around the block. I’ll text him to pick us up when we’re ready to go.

“Matt’s friends said they were looking for a blonde girl in a red dress. Before we go outside, we need to fix that. There are policeman all over the place out there.”

Amanda was wearing a tan jacket. She started to unbutton it. “Here, put this on. Hopefully, it’s long enough to cover that dress. It’s chilly outside so I don’t think anyone will pay any attention.”

She handed the jacket to Tanith and sat. Bess didn’t move.

“Bess, come on now. Put on the jacket. Do it for me, Bess.” Tanith was relieved that their rescue was at hand, but she had to get Bess to cooperate.

She connected to Bess and she didn’t resist this time. Tanith could feel that her emotions were blocked, walled off. “Come on Bess, put it on.”

Bess slid in one arm and then the other. She buttoned every button and tied the belt around her waist. It was quite a bit too big for Bess, but it would have to do.

Amanda took a knit hat off her head. “This’ll cover up the hair.” Bess put it on without having to be prompted.

“Now one more thing.” Amanda reached into her large bag and pulled out a pair of brown shoes. They were flats. “I suspect these are also too big, but it’s all we can do right now.”

Bess took off her red heels and stood up, barefooted. Tanith said, “Bess, put on the shoes.” She slipped into them. Amanda put the red heels in her bag.

“Everyone ready?” asked Amanda. Tanith nodded to her.

“Okay then. I’m going to text Matt. He’ll come by as soon as the lights and traffic allow. I’ll go out on the sidewalk, but you stay inside and watch me through the entrance door. When I see Matt approaching, I’ll wave to you. Come outside then. Matt will stop for just a second. You two get in the back and I’ll get in the front. You okay with that?”

All three of them rose and left the bar. They walked across the lobby. Amanda went through the glass revolving door to the street.

Tanith looked around the lobby nervously. Almost immediately she wished she hadn’t because she saw a policewoman standing over by the main desk. It was getting late enough that the hotel guests were starting to return from their nighttime adventures and the cop was studying each person as they walked across the lobby. Right now, she was looking at a couple who’d just come out of the elevator. Their turn would come soon enough.

Tanith looked away before the cop caught her staring in sudden fear. As she did, she noticed a trace of red below the jacket that Bess was wearing. The dress wasn’t totally covered.

Without thinking, Tanith gave Bess a hug and, at the same time, pulled the jacket down. It had gotten bunched at the waist. As she did, the policewoman looked at them.

She smiled.

“We can only tell you what we know about Colonel Stout. Obviously, he was mentally ill, but we didn’t know that until tonight.” Edie had quickly decided on her approach after she’d received the instructions from Jane.

“He’d been on vacation and none of us heard anything from him while he was away. It was a bit strange, but no one thought a lot about it.

“Then yesterday, Evan Miller received a call from Colonel Stout. Evan, please tell him what the Colonel said.”

Evan, like everyone in the connection, had heard Jane’s idea and knew where this was heading.

He took a step forward to stand beside Edie. “Like Edie said, I got a call from him yesterday. He was a good friend and I was glad to hear from him. He told me he’d be back soon and I told him that I’d be glad to see him.

“Then he apologized for not being in touch. It wasn’t like him to not at least check in. He said he’d been receiving counseling to help him deal with his grief. Captain, you may know that my son passed away recently. It’s been very hard on Juliet and me, but having support from all our friends has really helped. I don’t think Colonel Stout had that kind of support. We offered it, but he seemed to withdraw and want to be alone.

“So I was surprised to hear that he was in counseling. My first thought was that it had helped and now he was ready to resume his life.

“But that thought was wrong. He told me that his counselor, a Pastor Chuck Cleimer, had betrayed his confidence and, instead of helping, had caused the effects of his grief to actually multiply. He said he’d been despondent, barely functional, and that this Pastor was the cause of it all. He said he was going to tell Cleimer what he thought of him and then was never going to see him again. He said he wanted to come back to work.

“Now I don’t know what parts of this are true, or if it was a symptom of some mental illness, but that’s what he said.

“That’s all I know, Captain. He showed up here tonight and seemed to be more like his old self. I’m shocked and devastated at what he did. I still can’t believe it.”

Evan seemed to run out of words. He stepped back to the group.

Jameson looked thoughtful. He’d made a note of the name Pastor Cleimer. He’d heard of him. Now there were at least two celebrities to accommodate. There was the potential for this mess to get even messier.

Still, the facts of this case seemed pretty clear. Every witness had almost the exact same story. The Colonel had done it; that much was certain. The question was now “why,” but the law didn’t require that question to be answered. At least it didn’t require him to answer it.

In his mind, Jameson saw how the Colonel’s actions would be explained. A shocked Pastor Cleimer would express his dismay and astonishment that the Colonel could ever do such a thing. It would be embarrassing to be asked why one of your patients engaged in cold blooded murder, but he’d answer every question and, in the end, the “why” of the case would be that Colonel John Stout had simply gone crazy. It happened.

That would tie the whole thing up into a neat bundle, and the two celebrities involved could get back to being celebrities.

Jameson was almost positive that this is how it would play out.

Chapter Six

Tanith looked through the glass entrance. She could see Amanda Perkins standing on the sidewalk, looking down the one way street for Matt.

She was very worried about being spotted by a cop. There was one less than fifty feet away from them right now. The policewoman hadn’t approached them, so they were probably not going to be arrested right this second, but Tanith still trembled slightly from fear.

She had her arm around Bess’s shoulder. Bess must have sensed her sister’s worry because she connected to her. Bess seemed to be coming out of the almost zombie like state she’d been in. In the connection, Tanith could feel Bess’s confusion and concern.

“We’ll be in the car with your friend Matt very soon, Bess. We’ll be safe then.” She sent Bess a feeling of confidence and was surprised that such a thing was possible. Right now, confidence seemed to be in very short supply.

Through the glass, Tanith saw Amanda wave. It was time to go. She started for the door, pulling Bess along with her.

They entered the revolving door together. That was awkward since two people had to basically step in unison with the ever moving doors. It was easier for one person to go at a time, but there was no way Tanith was going to let Bess go alone. Anything could happen if she did.

Bess was cooperative, so they stepped out onto the sidewalk without any problem. Amanda was still waving. A car was pulling to a stop right in front of her. It would be illegally parked and holding up traffic for as long as it took them to get in. Almost instantly, horns started to blow.

Amanda opened both doors as Tanith led Bess to the rear seat. Just as Bess was bending over to get in, she lost one of the shoes that Amanda had given her. Bess started to stand back up to retrieve it, when Tanith gave her a giant shove into the back seat. She picked up the shoe and slid in beside her.

Both doors slammed shut and the four of them were on their way. A cop on the corner turned at the sound of the horns, but saw nothing unusual.

Matt turned left at the next light, heading away from the hotel. Two police cars passed them, probably returned to their normal duties after responding to the “officer down” call.

Or perhaps they were looking for a blonde girl in a red dress. Matt looked in his rearview mirror at Bess and Tanith. No one had yet said a word.

He realized it was up to him to start. “I . . . I heard from Allen a couple of times when the group wasn’t being watched and he could talk. He told me what happened . . . about Roger and Jane.”

He had to stop talking at the thought of Roger being stabbed and killed. He waited until his control returned.

“Tanith, I never met you before, but Allen said they are all thankful for what you’ve done to help Bess. He told me you were new to the group and yet they felt like they’d known you forever.”

Tanith felt a tear escape and run down her cheek. The thought of her friends, and BP, and these people she’d never even met working together to save her and Bess was almost overwhelming. Several other tears joined with the first one.

She wiped them away and forced herself back under control. She couldn’t break down now because Bess was still her responsibility. Just then, Bess spoke. The surprise of hearing her caused Tanith to jump slightly. “Matt, are you taking me to see Pastor Chuck?”

Her voice was exactly like the old Bess - young and honest and without a trace of pain. In the context of now; of where they were and what they’d gone through, it was shockingly wrong.

Matt felt his chest tighten. His words were gentle. “No, Bess. We can’t do that. You know we can’t.”

Bess didn’t react in any way to what Matt had said. He continued, “Bess, let me tell you some things, okay? Will you listen to me?”

“Sure Matt,” she said, her voice eerily unconcerned.

Matt took a deep breath. He looked over at Amanda. She nodded to him.

“Bess, a few days ago, Roger and Jane saved me. They saved me just as surely as if they had pushed me out of the way of a bus that was getting ready to hit me.

“You know what they did, Bess? What they did to save me? They helped me get rid of a load of guilt that was just too much to bear. They forgave me for what I’d done and they helped me leave Pastor Chuck. I know I would not have lived another day without them. I would have ended it all myself.

“I’ve told Amanda all about it, about the Revelation, the Connection, everything. When Roger and Jane arrived for his meeting with Pastor Chuck, Roger connected to me right there on the sidewalk. Chuck had being doing that to me and I think it had just about driven me crazy. His connection was forced, unnatural, even painful.

“But when Roger did it, with Jane connected too, I just felt their concern and their forgiveness. It was totally unlike what Chuck did when he connected. I didn’t know exactly what Roger did, but right at that second, my burden lifted.

“I stayed in the car with Jane while Roger went inside. She stayed connected to me. I had been sure she would always hate me for what I’d done, but I didn’t feel anything like that from her. She was my friend; just like always. I’ll never forget what they did for me. They saved me.”

He stopped talking, but everyone knew he wasn’t done. It was like Matt was struggling to come up with his next words.

“Bess knows a lot of this, but you may not, Tanith. Over the last few days, I’ve thought of it again and again. It’s amazing how one thing led directly to the next, almost like it was meant to be. I don’t know. Maybe it was. Maybe it was all planned somehow.

“Jane set up our little office buddy group. She was the leader, of course. I think she chose us because we all needed to be with people who accepted us the way we were. None of us were all that close to anyone at work. There were so many political games and petty jealousies that our work lives were . . . well, they didn’t seem all that important.

“Roger was different though. He and Jane really hit it off when they met. I thought maybe she wanted to try him out as a boyfriend, but that wasn’t it. She just liked him because he accepted her as she was. She told me once that guys would often get mad at her because she said something nasty to them without thinking, but that Roger never did. He just made a joke about it. They were good friends. We all were.

“So I was surprised when Jane suggested that Bess join our group. Bess was young and attractive and seemed to be perfectly happy, and at that point, she didn’t even work for the company. She seemed like she probably had hundreds of friends.”

Bess interrupted, “That was after Roger healed me.” She smiled, but no one else in the car did.

“I know that now, Bess. But at the time, I didn’t. By then, Jane knew about the Revelation and knew that it was real. I think she had some instinct that we’d need more people in the group; people with different skills and backgrounds. I think she knew something big was coming even before Roger did. I also think it amused her to have Bess around since she was obviously very devoted to Roger.”

“I love Roger,” said Bess.

They were silent for a few seconds as Matt negotiated a left turn. The only sound was the clicking of the turn signal.

When he spoke, he didn’t comment on what Bess had said. It would hurt too much.

“Everyone was glad to have Bess in the group, especially her dad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Allen so happy.

“I was struggling though. My marriage was on the rocks and I was in counseling with Pastor Chuck about it. I guess I was pretty messed up so that the whole idea of the Revelation threw me for a loop. I got kind of obsessed with it. I kept asking Roger where it was heading, but he wouldn’t tell me. I wanted to be part of the group, but I didn’t want to be involved in anything that was against my faith - and that book that Roger was writing seemed like it could certainly turn out that way.

“During one of my sessions with Chuck, I told him about it. I don’t think he considered it to be very important. He said that I should concentrate on my marriage and, if I was uncomfortable in the group, to simply leave; even if it was for a short while.

“That seemed to make sense to me. On that day Roger and Jane left for their trip to Texas, a couple of things happened. First, I received divorce papers from my wife. I was ashamed to feel relief. I signed the consent form in front of a notary and Fedex’d them back to her that very morning. I contested nothing so it would be over quickly. Just this morning, I received the final court order.”

He paused and sighed. “The other thing I did was to send a text to Roger and Jane to tell them I was done with the group. I was done with my wife and I wanted to be done with this whole Revelation thing. I wanted it all to be over.

“Roger called me immediately and he was so nice. He told me that he understood completely and that we’d always be friends. He made me feel a lot better.

“But that night, I tossed and turned until I realized that the Revelation was still bothering me. Just because I wasn’t in the group didn’t mean I hadn’t read those parts about how life wasn’t supposed to be here and how that creature, BP, had put it here for a purpose. It was stuck in my head whether I wanted it there or not. I realized I had to know what that purpose was. I didn’t want to know, but I had to know. You can see I was messed up.

“Finally, I got up and logged into my work account. I’d set up Bess’s system for her and had given myself privileges to her files in case she needed help. Bess, I promise, I never intended to do what I did. But the access was there and I just had to see if Roger had posted any additional parts to his story.

“I didn’t think of it as really stealing at that time. Roger would have gladly given me the next parts without any hesitation if I’d asked. Before my message went out, Bess would have sent them to me automatically. I realize now it was wrong, but at that time, it didn’t seem to be that way.

“When I checked, another part was there. Roger had written it just hours ago. It was about how humans weren’t meant to travel in space; how they couldn’t ever do such a thing. I got the impression that he received this part of the Revelation when they were on the plane.

“Well, from then on, I checked often. I couldn’t stop myself.”

Matt paused as if he needed to gather his strength. His eyes sought out Amanda’s and she nodded her encouragement.

“There was another installment a couple of days later and I had a counseling session with Chuck the very next day. I thought it would probably be my last one since my marriage was almost officially over. Once again, I spent all my time talking about the Revelation and how it was weighing on my mind. I told him that I was still reading it even though I had quit the group and that I couldn’t help myself. We didn’t even talk about my divorce. He said, ‘Matt, my friend, this Roger Seaton has quite an imagination. That’s all. This whole thing sounds like some low quality science fiction. You need to forget about it.’

“But, even with his advice to me, Chuck must have been curious because he went to see Roger that weekend. I seemed to be so fixated on this and he was a big expert on cults. He told me that he wanted to see if Roger might have some type of magnetism that might draw people to him. The next time I saw Chuck, he assured me that Roger could not possibly be the leader of a cult, that he was just a hack writer, and that I should try and forget about this whole Revelation thing.

“I wanted to take his advice, but I couldn’t. The next time I checked, I found something that I’d never expected - a whole group of new documents written by people other than Roger. Most of them talked about their personal experiences with connecting and with being healed.

“I was shocked. Here were others who actually seemed to believe the things Roger had written about. People who believed that he somehow connected to them mentally and that he had performed some type of miraculous healing. There was a first person account by Jane that detailed exactly how Roger had healed Jed Cunningham; how his skull was crushed and how Roger knelt down and put one hand on his chest and another under his head. She wrote how the healing had started almost immediately and that it all happened within a few minutes.

“This was Jane! It was her writing and I could tell she was telling the truth as she knew it. It was beyond powerful. Jane Mitchell actually believed the stuff in the Revelation. I felt disconnected from reality, like I was in some Twilight Zone movie or something.”

Matt brought the car to a stop as traffic backed up at a toll island. It was going to be bumper to bumper for a while. He stopped talking as he studied the traffic.

As they waited to move, the silence became oppressive. Amanda spoke, “Go on, Matt. Tell the rest of it.”

He turned at looked at her and nodded slightly. “I called Chuck as soon as I could. I told him all about the other people. I told him about what Jane had written. By now, Jed had also written his own account of those events. I told Chuck everything.

“He didn’t believe me. He said, ‘Matt, perhaps your needs are beyond my abilities. I could offer a referral to a doctor who may be of help.’ He thought I was imagining the whole thing.

“That’s when I printed it all out. I showed up at his office and demanded to see him. I guess I was in such a state that he saw me right away. I laid the stack of paper on his desk and challenged him to read it. I told him that here was proof that I wasn’t making it all up.

“I think he read the first few pages just to humor me, but I could tell he was getting interested. He looked up to me and said, ‘Matt, I must admit to being surprised. I hadn’t expected this . . . this document. If you will, leave it with me and I’ll study it tonight and call you tomorrow.’

“The next day he didn’t call me, but Amanda did. She called to set up an appointment with Chuck that afternoon. That was unusual because I’d always had to schedule one with him at least a few days in advance. He’s a busy man. I suspected that reading the Revelation had caused him to want to see me right away

“I turned out to be right about that, but I was surprised to hear what Chuck wanted to do. I’d thought that he’d use what he learned from the document to help me with my troubles. But instead, he wanted to meet with Evan Miller. And he needed me to go along too.

“He explained that this document strongly suggested a cult was operating inside Evan’s company. He asked if I could arrange for the two of us to meet with Evan so that we could warn him about the danger inherent in such a cult. ‘Lives can be ruined, Matt. From what I read in this document, some of these people might already be damaged. I might be able to help them, as I’ve seen this type of thing before, but that’s up to Mr. Miller.’

“I did as he suggested and we showed up at Evan Miller’s office unannounced. He had an open door policy so I got us in. Colonel Stout was in the meeting too. Chuck left a copy of the Revelation and explained how he was an expert in cults. He suggested that Evan consider hiring an expert to investigate. That expert would be Chuck, of course.”

The traffic started to move as they crossed the George Washington Bridge. The tall buildings of the city were behind them now.

“I don’t think they were all that impressed with Chuck or me or the Revelation. They were polite and they listened, but we left after twenty minutes with only a ‘thank you for sharing this information with us. We’ll look into it.’

“I had no idea at the time what would happen simply because we shared that document with them. Even the things that happened tonight . . .” Matt paused and took in a lungful of air. “Even the things that happened tonight would not have happened if I hadn’t stolen those documents.

“So, I’m sorry Bess. Roger and Jane forgave me and saved my life. But I’ll carry the burden of what I’ve done for the rest of my life. I’ll live with it . . . they showed me how to do that, but the burden will still be there.” Amanda reached across and gently put her hand on his.

Matt turned left into Teterboro airport. Allen had told him to proceed to the VIP area. A guard at the gate studied his IPad and told them to proceed by following a yellow line that was painted on the roadway. “This’ll take you to VIP parking. You plane will be nearby.”

Plane? Tanith was surprised to hear about a plane. Were they going to go somewhere to hide from the police? “Matt, what’s going on? Why are we here?”

He was surprised at her questions. “Tanith, I thought you knew. Juliet Morgan arranged for you and Bess to be flown to Little Rock. They said that’s your home. It’s okay, isn’t it?

It was more than okay. To Tanith, the words Little Rock meant her Nanna and her familiar room and the safety that came from both of them. It meant home and comfort - not the nightmare she’d been living for the last couple of hours.

“Yes . . . yes, that’s okay. It’s fine.” She turned to look at Bess. “Did you hear that? We’re going home; back to Little Rock.”

Bess looked at her, and for the first time since they got in the car, her face showed some emotion. They connected to each other at almost the same time. Tanith felt that Bess was surprised and sad. That was more normal since Tanith felt the same way.

Yet, Tanith couldn’t feel much more than that from Bess. There was that wall, still there inside her, still shielding her . . . or holding back . . . something. Tanith couldn’t tell what.

As they stopped and left the car, Bess turned to Tanith and said, “Will Nanna be there? Can I see her?”

Tanith wanted to see her grandmother too and in the worst way. She wanted to be held and to hear her soothing voice and to cry about all that had happened. “Yes, Bess. Nanna will be there. She’ll be there for both of us.”

Chapter Seven

Amanda’s phone beeped. She glanced at it and said, “Your pilot will be here in a couple of minutes. He’s finishing some paperwork.”

She put the phone in a bag she’d been carrying. She handed the bag to Bess. “They said you didn’t have a phone, so just use mine. They have the number. They asked that you not call them until they let you know that the police aren’t watching them every second. They also said you might not have money, so Matt and I put in what we had.”

Tanith asked, “Are you going with us?”

Matt shook his head. “No. We’re going to head back to the apartment building and see what we can do to help. The cops will leave them alone sooner or later. I . . . we want to be there to help in any way we can.”

Tanith felt an immediate stab of fear that Matt and Amanda were going to leave and once again, she’d be alone and responsible for making sure nothing bad happened.

Before the fear could fully grip her, Laird Jensen appeared carrying a flight case.

Bess saw him first. “Hello, Laird,” she said. Her voice was back to sounding eerily normal.

Laird didn’t know what to expect from the people he was going to meet, but he had flown Bess to and from Little Rock before. She sounded pretty much like her normal self.

He answered her, “Hello. I don’t really know much about what has happened. Marina called me and asked if I would take some of you back to Little Rock. I was confused at her request since she wouldn’t normally want to miss a chance to fly. She asked me to not ask a lot of questions. She told me something terrible had happened and that she needed my help. She said they all did.

“I heard her cry on the phone. I’ve never heard her cry before. It only lasted a few seconds, but I knew it had to be something serious, so here I am. I rented the plane and we’re ready. I filed a flight plan showing we will be on a positioning mission. That means I told them I was taking the plane to Little Rock to have it ready for customers tomorrow. If anyone looks, they’ll only see a record of me being onboard.”

“Is Marina all right?” Bess said. This time there was concern in her voice. It quivered.

“I think so, Bess. She’s so strong, you know. She said to tell you and Tanith that she will see you soon.”

Now Laird struggled for control. Marina had actually told him that someone had been murdered and that the cops were looking for Bess. That’s when she broke down, but only for a moment. He remembered her exact next words, “Laird, Bess is . . . fragile right now. We need to let her recover and it can’t be with cops grilling her. Will you do this? Will you do it for me?”

For the first time, Laird consciously realized that not only would he do this for her, but that he’d do just about anything if she asked him.

It was time to go. Laird went to do his preflight as Bess, Tanith, Amanda and Matt said their goodbyes.

It was an awkward moment. Tanith was so thankful that Amanda and Matt had rescued them. Even though she’d only met them an hour or so ago, the thought of leaving them behind was sad.

Amanda offered her hand to Tanith for a shake, but that wasn’t nearly enough. Instead Tanith embraced her. “Thank you for what you did. You and Matt saved us.”

Now it was Bess’s turn. She hugged Amanda gently. “Will you be my new sister?” she said. Her voice was quiet, innocent.

“I think so, Bess, if you’ll have me. But I need to learn more about all this. It’s a lot to take in, you know?”

Bess nodded at her in understanding. She moved towards Matt. He opened his arms to her and welcomed her hug. His eyes were moist. “I’m so sorry, Bess. I’m so sorry.”

Bess knew that he carried a lot of guilt over his theft of the Revelation. But now that she knew the whole story, it didn’t seem nearly that bad. If Roger and Jane could forgive and welcome him back, then she certainly could.

Her hug was strong. “Matt, I forgive you. You are my brother. I see now you always were. Listen to me now, okay?” She stepped back slightly so that their faces were only inches apart. She looked directly and deeply into his eyes.

“Matt, it wasn’t you that caused all this to happen. I know that now. You need to know it too.”

She stepped away from him and turned to walk towards the plane. Laird was waiting for them at the entrance hatch. Her voice changed from loving to cold in an instant.

“But I do know who is really responsible.”

In minutes they were at cruising altitude since there was little traffic at this time of night. Tanith chose the bench seat in the back of the plane. It wasn’t as comfortable as the reclining seats up front, but she didn’t want to be separated from Bess right now. Tanith had been taking care of Bess, but somehow she knew she needed Bess’s strength too.

They sat side by side, as close as they could get; two sisters thinking their own thoughts.

“I need to call Nanna, Bess. I don’t want to show up out of the blue in the middle of the night, and I think we should at least tell her something about what happened tonight. I’m sure she’s already asleep, but I don’t see how it can be helped. Can I use the phone?”

Bess reached into the bag that Amanda had given her. She paused as she looked inside, but dug out the phone. “It won’t work, my sister. We’re too far up, too far away from the cell towers. Let me see if I can log into the WiFi on this plane. Then we could do a Skype call or something.”

Bess sounded normal again. She was in her element - figuring out a solution to a computer problem.

“Looks like Amanda has Skype already installed. We can make a landline call, but let’s text my Dad first. He’s never separated from his phone. What should I say?”

“Don’t say anything that reveals who we are or where we’re going. The police may see the message - we don’t know what’s going on back there. You just want to let them know we’re on our way back to Little Rock, right? Make it simple like, ‘Jensen is doing a good job.’ They’ll understand but the cops won’t have any idea what the message means. Besides, Matt and Amanda will be there before long. As soon as the police leave, they’ll let everyone know we’re okay.”

Bess nodded her agreement and sent the message. In less than a minute, they got a reply. “Understood. Talk soon.”

Tanith reached for the phone. “I’ve got to call Nanna now. I don’t want to because I know she’s going to be upset, but I’ve got to do it.”

She had the phone, but she wasn’t putting in the number. “Bess, what should I tell her? Should I tell her about Roger and Jane and the Colonel? Oh God, she’ll be so worried. The first time I leave home and go to a big city on my own, this happens.”

Tanith was hoping for some help from Bess, but she was just staring ahead, not looking at anything in particular.

“It’s BP. I feel him. He’s worried. He wants me to rest now. I am tired.”

Tanith felt Bess connect to her so that she could experience the presence of BP through her. She could tell that BP was encouraging Bess to let Tanith hear him.

“I do not know how to thank you sufficiently for your unhesitating actions. They most certainly saved Bess from a difficult situation and very likely saved the team from being unable to act on my Revelation.”

Tanith could feel that Bess was weary. She suspected that BP was responsible for that. She remembered reading how BP had made Roger drowsy during the early parts of the Revelation. Bess lay down on the bench seat with her head in Tanith’s lap. She closed her eyes.

“She will rest now,” said BP. “I can feel that the events of this evening have had a profound effect on her and that she is certainly not herself. I do not know how we can help her recover, but I think that we must. We need her to help complete the task I have revealed to you. Her importance to the team is clear now to all of us.

Tanith felt her emotions threaten to spin out of control. She wasn’t speaking out loud, but her mental voice had a tone of anger in it. “Yeah, she’s important. She’s important to her Dad and Jane and me and all the others. Isn’t there anything you can do to help her? Can’t you perform some alien magic trick or something? None of this would have happened if you and your stupid scientists hadn’t screwed up your universe. And now we have to pay the price.”

BP hadn’t expected to be personally blamed for the events of this night. He spoke with a slow tone of sorrow in his voice. “I cannot help her recover, my daughter. I wish I could.”

Tanith felt her temper dissolve into despair. “She’s walled off all her feelings. She can’t stand to face what happened; how Roger died with her right there, trying to heal him. I can tell by connecting to her, BP . . . I can tell she’s retreating farther and farther behind that wall. Soon, it may be too late to break it down. All that will be left is anger - no that’s not right - it’ll be hatred.”

She stopped talking and gently moved a strand of Bess’s hair off her face. “You know she hasn’t even cried, right? She won’t let herself. Oh God, I just hope Nanna can help her.”

With her eyes closed, Bess reached for Tanith’s hand. Tanith took it and said with a tone of resignation, “You go on now, BP. Tell the others what’s happening here. Tell them to call us when they can.” As she spoke, her voice seemed to decline in volume until it was a whisper. She felt BP leave her and Bess alone.

Finally, it was just her and the sleeping Bess in the back of the plane. She realized, almost in surprise, that there was another person who hadn’t really cried. She’d been too busy trying to save Bess, to keep the cops from arresting her.

But now, there was nothing to stop her. She realized she longed for the release that the tears would provide.

Silently she wept for Roger, for Jed and Jane, for Bess and for herself. She wept for all of them; all of her brothers and sisters. She gave herself over to the sorrow, hoping it would, in time, help the pain subside. She’d felt heartbreak before when her mother had died. It didn’t hurt any less now.

As the tears flowed, and the sleeves of her party dress grew moist from wiping her eyes with them, she allowed herself to think about Roger and the party and how they all had such high hopes for the future. She remembered how Bess was almost ready to explode with excitement at the prospect of her date with Roger after the party ended.

She gave herself an hour to grieve and weep.

Then she had to call her Nanna.

Chapter Eight

The morning service was pretty much a bust. There was a good crowd in attendance with the pews being almost filled; that wasn’t the problem. Plus, the message was a good one, delivered with Pastor Chuck’s customary blend of showmanship and religious teachings.

But it was just a bit off. His mind kept going back to that text and the events of last night. Around eleven, the local news had picked up the story as they broadcast live from the street near an apartment building that was owned by Evan Miller. He’d watched in fascination as the whole area seemed to be crawling in cops. It was like they were searching for something outside the building.

So not only was he sleep deprived, but he was also worried about the threat he’d received. His mind just wasn’t on his work and he knew it would show in the collection.

Chuck had a keen sense for such things. The offering would be off today because he couldn’t connect to people and encourage them to dig deep in their giving. He was afraid that his own worries and fears would leak out in the connection and he couldn’t have that happen.

After the service, his normal habit was to personally thank some of the more well-heeled people who had attended, and then retire to his office to enjoy some solitude until it was time for the next and last service. This would be the contemporary service, meant for younger people who were turned off by normal worship. Generally he enjoyed himself at this service - he would speak without a tie and he’d keep it short. That’s what these twenty somethings needed because their attention span was so short. Unfortunately, they were unlikely to make up for the offering shortfall of the morning. They needed to be a bit older, a lot richer and quite a bit closer to their own judgment before they’d be ready to really support the church with their offerings.

Today, Chuck made it a point to catch the eye of Bob Carelli. He wanted to talk to him. After Chuck had spoken to a few people, he walked over to where Bob was waiting.

“Bob, thank you for coming,” he said, shaking hands and smiling. It was his standard after-service greeting.

“I enjoyed the message, Pastor Chuck. It was very timely.” Bob’s words were almost exactly what everyone else said to him.

“Bob, if I may, would you mind coming to my office for a few minutes? I’d like to speak to you.”

“Glad to Pastor, lead the way.”

They walked in silence to the office. Bob sat on the couch while Chuck made them both a cup of coffee from the single serve machine.

Once they were both seated, Chuck started. “Bob, again I’m sorry for calling you at that late hour last night. Those events at Evan Miller’s . . . they’ve been on my mind. I’m afraid I didn’t sleep too well last night.”

For once, Chuck didn’t ask a question. He wanted a report from Bob, but he didn’t want to come right out and ask for it. Bob would get the idea.

And so he did. “No problem at all, Chuck. Like I said, I was up and I’m always glad to talk to you.” He paused for just a second. “I talked to the Captain who was in charge of the crime scene. His name’s Jameson. I thought you might want to know a bit more about what happened at Evan Miller’s place.”

Indeed he did. “They were having a celebration - Evan Miller, his wife and a group of his business associates and friends. Apparently it was quite a festive event; there were even two weddings that were performed by a priest.

“Around nine, Colonel Stout showed up. From what we understand, he was welcomed, especially by Evan Miller and his wife. They’d been friends for a number of years. It appears that he was behaving normally and that no one felt any suspicion or detected any danger from his presence.

“He seemed to be enjoying himself and spoke to everyone there as the party continued. So when he pulled out the knife and stabbed Roger Seaton, only a few people actually witnessed the act itself. However, there doesn’t appear to be any doubt - he stabbed Seaton without any provocation. A woman standing right beside him, a Jane Mitchell, also was cut slightly because she couldn’t get her hand out of the way of the knife quickly enough. She was lucky; her wound is minor, almost nothing.”

Chuck felt a sudden shudder. He remembered how he’d been concerned that the Colonel might resort to violence with him in this very office.

“They did the autopsies early this morning. Stout stabbed Seaton at least 3 times. It was an expert job. Each wound would likely have been fatal. Together, there was no hope.”

Bob Carelli spoke in a matter of fact manner; a cop giving a report of facts. But those facts had a big impact on Chuck.

“By the time Seaton fell, taking Jane Mitchell with him, every eye was on them so we’re certain of what happened next. For some reason, the Colonel raised the knife again, either to deliver another blow to Seaton, or to stab Mitchell. Everyone there believes he was going after Mitchell, but they don’t know why. We don’t even know for sure why he went after Seaton. Maybe it was just blood lust; maybe he would have stabbed anyone who was nearby.

“Mitchell was one of those who’d just been married. Her new husband saw that she was in danger and ran to the Colonel, lifted him like he weighed nothing, and the pair of them slammed into a grand piano at full running speed. He may have saved her life.

“The Colonel was hurt badly by the collision; they both were. The husband was rushed to the hospital with a spleen injury, but he’ll be fine. Stout died on the scene.”

“My God,” said Chuck. It sounded like something you might see in Hell.

“Well, that’s about it. There are a million other details, of course, but the only other thing that was noteworthy was that, in the confusion, someone was heard screaming something that sounded like, ‘She’s killing him.’ A woman named Bess Olman was standing over the Colonel at that time. It’s strange because she left the scene and couldn’t be found. At first, they wanted to speak to her, but now they’ve decided she was just a young girl who was frightened, overwhelmed by events.”

Bob didn’t mention the “officer down” call that led to the hunt for Bess. Those two idiot patrolmen had obviously panicked and he didn’t want to advertise that fact.

Chuck didn’t like the sound of the words, ‘She’s killing him.’ The text had said someone had killed the Colonel by doing something inside him. He started to ask, “And the Colonel? How did he . . .”

Bob Carelli understood the question. “I almost forgot. The autopsy on the Colonel showed quite a lot of internal damage from his collision with that heavy piano. There were several broken ribs and at least a couple had penetrated his lungs. His had a fracture in his spine too. That would likely have been fatal. They also found something that the docs say they’ve never seen before. It seems that every one of the arteries and veins going to his heart had collapsed. They said it was almost like they’d been compressed with some strong force. They couldn’t tell exactly how the collision had done that, but I guess it really doesn’t matter. His injuries were fatal.”

Chuck like to keep the office a warm seventy five degrees winter and summer. But now he felt a distinct chill. He must have been cold, because he shivered.

Carelli slid forward on the couch to get a little closer to Chuck. “There’s another thing, Chuck. I said we don’t know for sure why Stout did this, but those people at the party told the investigators that you were counseling the Colonel. They seem to think it’s because you somehow failed in his therapy - that whatever you did hurt him instead of helped him. The Captain will want to ask you about that. I’m just giving you a heads up.”

“Well, those bastards,” thought Chuck. Their playing at being a cult had bitten them in the ass and now they were trying to drag him into it.

Chuck struggled to keep his face neutral. “I hope you can see both my interest and my reticence in this matter, Bob. I have a duty as a licensed therapist to maintain confidentiality, but as a human being and a man of God, I want to do all I can to help the police and those poor victims. I know they need closure, but I have to be careful what I reveal.”

Now Chuck had another one of his inspirations. The Man upstairs was still looking out for him. “Between you and me, Bob, John Stout was quite upset with Roger Seaton. He believed that Roger had used the death of Evan Miller’s son as a means of becoming friends with him. I think you can guess why Seaton would want to be close to Evan Miller and his wife - it was the money, of course. I understand that Seaton was quite successful in latching onto them and was even living in the building with Evan and his lovely wife.

“Colonel Stout was also quite close to the child so he came to me for help in dealing with his grief, but it seemed that his sorrow somehow became transformed into anger at Roger. I thought we were making progress in therapy, but the human mind is a mysterious thing.”

He paused and made sure he had a pained expression on his face.

“I don’t think I should say more and again, please keep this to yourself. I will, of course, repeat it to your investigator if I’m asked.”

Bob Carelli looked thoughtful. “Thanks, Chuck. I’ll pass along what you told me in confidence. We know what happened and we know the Colonel was emotionally unstable, so I don’t think there will be much of a follow up, but I’ve heard that this Jameson is thorough. I can’t, however, guarantee that those people at the party won’t repeat to the press what they told us about your role in counseling Stout.”

Chuck look pious, “Well, Bob, if they do, they do. It’ll just be one more burden to bear for doing what the good book asks me to do.”

They stood and shook hands. Bob thought that he was indeed privileged to have such a man as his friend. He left his friend alone.

Chapter Nine

Nanna returned from trying to have a talk with Bess. She looked at Tanith and shook her head. “Ain’t no use right now, Tanith. She just don’t want to face what happened. She just wants to sleep, to be somewhere else. Maybe that’s what she needs right now.”

They had arrived at her grandmother’s apartment a little after 3 a.m. Bess had slept for most of the plane trip and seemed to be wide awake when they got home. But as soon as Nanna tried to talk to her, she asked if she could sleep. “Just a little while, Nanna. I’m so tired.”

Tanith should have been tired, but she wasn’t. The stress she’d been under for the last several hours made the very idea of sleep seem impossible. She knew that sooner or later fatigue would catch up with her and she would probably crash hard, but first she needed to make sure her grandmother was okay.

Tanith had called her just before 2 a.m. from the plane using the Skype app on Amanda’s phone. She was worried about Nanna’s reaction to the news that she’d been at a murder scene and was flying home with Bess. It turned out okay though. As soon as Nanna was convinced that Tanith and Bess weren’t hurt, she was a tower of strength, telling her that she’d be waiting up for her and that everything would be all right. Those words of comfort were exactly what Tanith needed.

“But Nanna, Bess is . . . I think she’s in shock. The boy that was killed, she had . . . special feelings for him. Nanna, she saw it happen and now she doesn’t want to talk about it. I’m really worried about her.” Tanith had spent the last minutes in tears, and thought she was done with them for the time being. But with these words she almost broke down again. It took a lot of effort, but she managed to control herself.

“Her heart is broken, child. It happens to all of us, sooner or later. It’s the price we pay for bein’ human. We’ll take care of her when you get home. Don’t you fret, child. We’ll take care of her.”

That arrival back home was bittersweet. There were hugs all around, but Bess resisted Nanna’s attempts to get her to talk. After Bess was in bed, they sat in the small living room and watched the news covering the sensational murder in New York.

“Billionaire Party Murder,” screamed the headlines on the TV. The early morning anchors didn’t actually have many facts, but early risers were getting up on the east coast, so they led with the story. After two minutes of reporting what they knew, they started to repeat what they’d already said - just in a slightly different way.

Amanda’s phone chirped. Tanith saw that there was a text from Jane.

If you are able, please call me.

Jane

Tanith called, and Jane answered instantly. Tanith was amazed that Jane could be so . . . so coherent after what she’d been through. Her best friend had been murdered basically in her arms on her wedding day, and her first words were to see how Tanith was doing. If they had been connected, Jane would have felt Tanith’s appreciation.

“I’m fine, Jane. No, that’s not true. I hurt. I hurt a lot. But I’m here with my grandmother and that helps.”

Next, Jane asked about Bess. It was obvious that she was very worried about her.

“Jane, she’s . . . I don’t know. She’s sleeping now. She doesn’t want to talk about what happened. I . . . Jane, all she wants to do is sleep. I . . . I haven’t seen her cry.” Now tears streamed down Tanith’s cheeks. She couldn’t help it.

There was silence on the line. It dragged on for at least thirty seconds. Tanith could feel through the phone that Jane was working hard on something. Finally, she spoke. “Tanith, my sister, you take care of her the best you can. I have an idea. I’ll talk to you later.”

Tanith rushed to ask about Jed, but it was too late. The line was dead.

It was around noon when Nanna rose, waking Tanith. She’d been nodding off for the last couple of hours as she sat on the couch. Nanna had told her to go to bed, but Tanith wanted to wait until she heard from Jane.

Nanna saw Tanith open her eyes. “I’m just goin’ to fix us something to eat, Tanith. I think maybe some hot soup and a grilled cheese sandwich will work, don’t you?”

The waking was the hard part. It took a second for her to swim out of the fog of sleep, but that effort was rewarded by the memory of the horror she’d lived through. A sharp stab of pain shot through her heart. She remembered her sister, sleeping in her room.

“That does sound good, Nanna.” Tanith tried to smile, to show a brave front to the older woman. She didn’t think Nanna was fooled for a second.

She had a momentary vision of a day long ago where her mother made her a grilled cheese sandwich and soup. Tanith was just getting over being sick with the flu and nothing had ever tasted as good as that meal. Her mother had told her how Nanna had fed her the same thing when she was little. It was their, “Things’ll be all right” meal. Tanith wondered if she’d ever be able to serve it to her own child.

“Probably not on this planet,” she thought.

Comforting sounds of home came from the kitchen as Nanna worked. Tanith had just about decided to go wake up Bess when there was a knock on the door.

The sound of that knock caused her shoulders to twitch in surprise. She’d felt safe here in her home, and now something on the outside wanted to be let in. She thought about simply not opening the door.

Nanna came walking out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Tanith cut her off, “I’ll get it, Nanna.” The old woman stopped moving towards the door, but stood watching in anticipation.

Tanith looked through the peephole and then turned towards her grandmother. There was no expression on her face at all. Nanna started to once again walk towards the door, when Tanith worked the locks and opened it wide.

Jane walked in, put her arms around Tanith, and hugged her.

On the one hand, Tanith was shocked to see Jane here in her home, but on the other, she was relieved beyond description to have her here. If there was anyone in the world who could handle all that lay ahead, it was Jane.

As they embraced, they connected. Tanith could feel Jane’s concern for her and for Bess. Tanith knew there was pain and sorrow in her as well, but they were under control right now. She also suspected that they were just biding their time, ready to make their reappearance without a moment’s notice.

She sensed something else too. It was fleeting - there one instant and not the next. Tanith couldn’t tell what it was.

Too soon, Jane pulled away and the connection was broken. She looked towards Nanna. “Ma’am, I’m sorry to barge in on you this way. I should have called, but I thought it would be better if Bess didn’t know I was coming. By the way, I’m Jane Mitchell.”

Nanna moved slowly towards Jane, her eyes sharp and clear. “Tanith and Bess tol’ me about you. Tanith said you’re the one who took an interest in her, who offered her this job and put her in charge of your big meeting. She said none of them good things would have happened without you.” She continued to move until she was within inches of Jane.

Jane stood motionless facing her. She towered above Nanna, but at that instant, they seemed to be exactly equal in height.

Nanna opened her arms to Jane. “I know you’re hurtin’ too, child. Tanith ‘tol me all about it. You come on in now.”

Jane accepted her embrace with a prayer of thanks.

“Why didn’t anyone text me to let me know you were coming? I’d have made sure Bess didn’t know you were on your way if that’s what you wanted.” Tanith and Jane sat side by side on the couch as Nanna went to make them coffee.

“They don’t know I’m here,” Jane said. Tanith had a shocked expression on her face. “I . . . the cops said they might have some more questions today and I didn’t want anyone else to get in trouble with me gone. Plus, they would have all ganged up to try and talk me out of it, especially Edie. I told them I was going to see Jed. He’s the only one who knows I’m here. He didn’t want me to go either, but he knew there was no use in arguing.”

Jane’s eyes lost focus for a moment. Tanith knew she was thinking of Jed. “How is he? Did you get to see him?”

“No. There wasn’t time. I talked to him though. They want to keep him for a few days, but he says he’s coming home today. I think he will.”

There was silence between them. Finally, Jane spoke, her voice so soft Tanith could barely hear her, “Tell me about Bess.”

Tanith looked pained. “I don’t know, Jane. At first, she wouldn’t say anything; she just wanted to go after Chuck. Then Matt and Amanda picked us up and she started talking. It was so strange - like nothing had happened. I’m so worried about her.”

Jane could see she was struggling for control. She took her hand to help her continue. “Now all she wants to do is sleep. I think that’s because she doesn’t want to think about what happened. It’s like she’s hiding from it.”

Nanna returned with the coffee. She’d heard the last part. “Tanith is exactly right about that, I think,” she said as she sat. “I seen it happen one time.”

Jane asked, “Can you tell us about it?”

Nanna took a sip of coffee, and then her eyes looked into the distance as she remembered a time from long ago. “When I was nine years old, I was best friends with a girl from school. Her name was Kitty. We was real close and our families was too. I didn’t have no sister, but Kitty sure seemed like one to me.

“One day, she won’t at school and the teacher told us that her Daddy had died that very mornin’. He’d fell off a roof he was working on. I cried right then and there for her. The teacher knew we was close, so she sent me home.

“My mamma took me over to Kitty’s house. I remember she made a mess of greens to take with her. When we got to the house, it was real crowded with people from our church and people that knew the family. I’ll never forget how sad everyone was. I never knew grownups could be that sad until that day. I think it was the first time I ever saw my mamma cry.

“But Kitty won’t crying. I was surprised at that. Instead, she just sung to herself. It was a song we sung in our Sunday school class. It was ‘He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.’ We went outside and she just kept singin’ it, again and again.”

Nanna’s eyes were still gazing into the past as she continued. “It was only a couple of days ‘til the funeral. I’d never been to one before. I was shocked to see Kitty’s daddy just laying there in a fancy casket. They’d done a good job with him. Mamma said he looked better than when he was alive.

“There was cryin’ of course, but there was also some laughing as the preacher ‘tol some stories about Kitty’s daddy. I remember crying one minute because my mamma was, and laughing the next for the exact same reason.

“But Kitty just stared straight ahead. I could see her lips move a little bit. She won’t near enough to me for me to hear anything she said, but I was sure she was singin’ to herself.

“She was like that through the whole service, right up ‘till the end. When the ushers went to close the casket and the lid came down over her daddy, Kitty let loose. It was like a dam done burst inside her. She cried and my heart broke for her. I’ll never forget it.”

Tanith had never heard this story. “What happened, Nanna?”

“She grew up, child, and lived her life. She got married and moved away and had a boy. I wrote to her up ‘til she died a few years ago. Cancer, it was. Her boy grow’d up to be a doctor.” She paused in reflection. “Imagine that,” she said with a hint of wonder in her voice.

Jane was silent for several seconds. Nanna’s words seemed to spur her into action. “Mrs. Watson . . . I’d like to see Bess now if I could. Tanith . . . I’d like to see her alone if you don’t mind.”

Tanith was surprised at this plan. She wanted Bess to get better in the worst way and now Jane wanted to see her alone. She’d done all she could to help Bess since the celebration and she didn’t want to be out of the loop now.

Jane felt her disappointment, “It’s not you, my sister, it’s me. I know I’m going to bawl, but I’m going to try to talk to her about Roger; to get her to think about him and what he means to all of us. I don’t think I can handle too many people there when I talk to her. I hope you understand.”

In truth, Tanith didn’t really understand, but she trusted Jane. If Jane wanted things done this way, then that’s the way they would be. Roger had said something similar to her about Jane, but he said it in admiration. That thought caused fresh tears to form.

Jane stood and looked at Nanna for permission. “You go on, Jane. Do what you got to do. She does need to let go of her grief. It’s the only way. Me and Tanith will be here if you need us.”

Tanith rose and took Jane’s hand. She led her to the door to her room. Inside, she could see Bess lying on the bed.

Jane went in and closed the door behind her.

Chapter Ten

Bess was lying on her side, facing away. Jane quietly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She put a hand on Bess’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “Bess . . . Bess, wake up my sister.”

At the sound of her voice, Bess turned over and sat up, blinking her eyes in surprise. “Jane? How did you get here? Did Marina bring you?”

Jane smiled at her. She wished Marina had been at the controls, but she’d flown on a commercial flight, in the middle seat, during what seemed like horrific turbulence. But none of that mattered now. She was here and she needed to help Bess heal.

That was a strange thought. She’d tried with all her might to learn how to heal the way Roger and Shannon and Bess could, but she’d failed. Now, however, it was up to her to heal Bess, and she was the only one who could do it. She wondered at how things seemed to happen for a purpose.

“No, Bess. Marina and everyone else, except you and me and Tanith, are back in New York. Are you awake? I came to show you some things.”

Now she seemed wary, “What kind of things?”

Jane ignored her question. “I’m going to connect to you now. Is that okay?” They didn’t normally ask permission with each other, but Jane wanted Bess to be an active participant in what was to come.

“Yeah . . . I guess.” Bess seemed unsure of her answer.

The connection was strong. Jane opened herself to it. “What am I feeling, Bess?”

There was no hesitation. “You’re worried. Worried about me.”

“That’s right. Now, what else am I feeling?”

It was there, front and center, but Bess didn’t want to acknowledge it. “I don’t want to . . . Jane, please.”

“You feel my pain, don’t you? I hurt because Roger is gone. I hurt because of what happened to him. I hurt because I don’t know if I can lead this group without him.”

She took Bess’s hands, one in each of hers. “And I know I can’t do it without you.” Jane’s voice choked with emotion. Bess tried to move away, but Jane had both her hands in a firm grip.

“Now,” said Jane.

They both felt it at once; the presence of BP. He was inside Bess, but Jane could hear him through her. “Bess, my daughter, I have something to share with you.” His voice sounded strange, almost forced.

BP was strong, so there was no resisting the image he sent to both of them. It was an image of Jacob Miller, at rest with BP looking over him. And in the same place was Roger. He was so close. Jane longed to reach out to him, but she knew she couldn’t. He was there, but somehow, he wasn’t with them. It was like he was asleep - a slumber that would last until they reached their new home.

Jane could feel that Bess was struggling to maintain control. “No . . . Please . . .” She was still resisting.

Tears rang down Jane’s cheeks. “Bess, we almost lost him. After the Colonel . . . afterwards, he connected to me. He was almost gone, Bess. He sounded so very weak. A month ago, he made me a promise and he wouldn’t let BP take him until he made good on that promise.”

Now her tears were running in a steady stream. “Bess, look inside me. Look at my egg.”

Her voice was choked, but this was Jane speaking. Bess obeyed. A single tear leaked out of one eye. Jane could feel she was on the edge of losing control of her emotions.

Bess looked inside Jane the same way she’d done several times before. But this time, the egg wasn’t where it had been. It had moved.

And the egg itself was different. It glowed with its own life - a life that was part Jane and part . . . Roger? Bess realized that Roger had spent what could have been his last seconds giving Jane what she so desperately wanted. There was a new life in the universe, all because of Roger. Jane was pregnant.

Bess felt her control crumble. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of Roger. She thought of the years ahead without him, about the loneliness she faced. For the first time since the celebration, Bess wept. Jane took her in her arms as sobs wracked her body. Her cries were loud with agony.

In the living room, Tanith heard the cries of pain from Bess. She started to get up from the couch, but Nanna took her hand and pulled her back beside her. “Grieving is hard work, Tanith. Best let her do it now. Best let both of them alone for a while. They’ll tell us when they’re ready.”

It was getting late in the afternoon by the time Chuck finished his Sunday duties. He drove his SUV to his home. It was only a mile from the church so he seldom noticed the less than two minute commute, but today he carefully checked to make sure the vehicle was truly unoccupied before he entered. He locked the doors and circled the block around his home, looking for any signs of a threat.

Everything seemed normal. There were no Roger cult zombies lurking around that he could see. He rushed from the car to his front door, checked that the alarm was armed, input his code and went inside. He turned on the perimeter alarm so he’d be alerted if anyone approached the house. For the first time today, he felt safe.

He’d been worried, of course. The news of what the Colonel had done combined with the unveiled threat in the text he’d received was unsettling to say the least.

But when Bob Carelli had described the internal injuries of Colonel Stout, he’d felt his blood run cold from fear. Suddenly, that threat seemed very real. He pulled out his phone and displayed the text message:

Bastard Pastor,

I should not warn you because you deserve what is coming your way.

Tonight, your lack of counseling ethics and your lack of control caused Colonel John Stout to kill Roger Seaton and almost kill Jane Mitchell.

The Colonel is dead now too, but I don’t think what he did was entirely his fault - I think it was yours.

Remember how you read about healing in the Revelation? Remember how Roger could look inside people and manipulate things to help them in some way?

Well, suppose someone did that to you. But suppose their purpose was not to heal, but rather to cause pain and damage and agony.

That’s what happened to the Colonel after he killed Roger. And that’s what’s coming your way.

And as bad as that will be, the vengeance of God will be far worse when you stand before Him in judgment.

Get ready, Chuck. Your time is coming.

Chuck was upset the first time he read the message, but in light of what he now knew, his level of concern jumped off the scale.

There could be no doubt - this was an actual threat to his life. A threat to a man of God, to someone who’d dedicated his life to higher callings, to him! It was just not fair. Even in death, Roger Seaton was still a problem for him - a big problem.

Chuck walked into the large kitchen and went directly to the wine cooler. The members of his flock would be unsettled if he had hard liquor on hand, but they all smiled in appreciation at the harmless glass of wine he offered them on social occasions.

His hand moved past the bottles in the front and extracted a ’97 Pahlmeyer merlot that he kept in the back. A case of this superb vintage was pretty expensive, so he had to be sure that it wasn’t wasted on palates that couldn’t appreciate it.

He poured himself half a glass, looked once again at the text, and added another couple of ounces. He sipped the wine as he considered the message.

The central point was about the healing. Chuck remembered telling the Colonel that the claims of healing by Roger Seaton were bogus - the boasts of a charlatan. But he’d also implied that Roger perhaps did help Jacob Miller at one time, but refused to repeat the miracle. He’d used that as a means of turning the Colonel against Roger. That ploy had certainly worked beyond his wildest expectations.

Chuck was agnostic about Roger’s supposed ability to heal even though it was covered in the parts of the Revelation he had read. In fact, it was covered in great detail with descriptions not only by Roger, but by Jed Cunningham.

And it was almost certain that Evan Miller believed in Roger’s abilities. That was how Roger managed to worm himself into Miller’s inner circle and even make him a willing puppet in Roger’s group of followers.

But, until now, he hadn’t put a lot of thought into this claim; it was just too fantastic. Yet, being able to connect to other humans and experience their feelings was fantastic as well. If one could be true, then both could be true. Chuck refilled his Zalto wine glass. He relaxed just a bit.

So, assuming this whole healing thing was real, then there must be others in that group who had that ability - at least one other. After all, Roger was dead by the time the Colonel was getting his arteries crushed. Roger couldn’t have done it, but someone did. Maybe they all had this power, but that seemed unlikely since there was no mention of healings done by anyone other than Roger in the Revelation documents. No, it seemed likely that only one or two others had developed this ability.

He also realized that the person who had this power was almost certainly female. Someone had called out, “She’s killing him,” while the Colonel was lying on the floor, badly hurt. It had to be a woman.

The fact that there was at least one person running around who could do exactly what was threatened in that text was more than disturbing. Chuck had a momentary vision of his heart, flailing uncontrollably, as its blood supply was cut off. As he lifted the glass, his hand shook just a bit.

So it was possible that the threat was real. The next question was “Who made it?” The text had been received at 10:51 last night. Chuck didn’t recognize the sender’s number. He was handicapped when it came to any type of sophisticated computer usage, but he could certainly do a simple search. He put his laptop on the counter and searched for 212-718-1234.

The very first search result told him this was a fictitious number - it would never be assigned to any real telephone. So how did some Roger-bot send him a text from it? He made a mental note to have this checked out.

The glass got filled for a third time. The wine was starting to work its expensive magic.

There were another couple of things to consider about that note. First was the confirmation that Jane Mitchell had indeed been a target for the Colonel. Even the cops didn’t know that for sure. Chuck remembered how the Colonel had stated that she was second in command behind Roger in his band of drones. Chuck hadn’t paid much attention at the time, figuring that Roger simply wanted a woman nearby to follow him around, look pretty and provide whatever services he desired. He knew how it worked - you let them think they had some responsibility and they’d follow you around like a puppy after its master. He thought of Rachel Reed and, for the first time in hours, smiled.

But maybe he’d been wrong about that, else why would the Colonel want both her and Roger out of the way? It could well be that he believed the group would continue even without Roger, and that she was now in charge. That made for some interesting possibilities. Jane Mitchell probably thought of herself as a modern woman, as capable as any man. But Chuck knew that she’d likely need someone to help her assume the weight of leadership, someone to lean upon who had experience being a leader. Maybe he’d have a chat with this little lady.

The idea of having a chat with someone brought him to the last point about the text. It threatened him with God’s own judgment. That type of hubris likely would only come from a believer. Chuck knew many believers, of course, but he only knew one who had any type of real contact with Roger’s cult - Matt. Could he be the one who had sent the note?

He knew Matt’s number by memory. He pushed the buttons to call him.

Chapter Eleven

Eventually, Jane and Bess returned to the living room. Their tears had dried, but only temporarily. Tanith ran to them, her tears triggering theirs, and all three sisters wept again, holding each other. Nanna left them alone as she went to the kitchen to make four grilled cheese sandwiches.

This time, though, they were tears of healing and they didn’t last long.

As she sniffed and wiped her eyes, Bess said to Jane, “Let me see your hand.”

Jane offered her the hand. She was wearing her diamond and her wedding ring. The sight of them triggered an almost automatic memory of last night. Before it could fully form, Bess reached for her right hand and turned it palm up. There was a red scar running diagonally across her palm. Bess had healed the wound herself, but hadn’t had time to make it completely disappear.

“I’ll make it go away,” she said, referring to the scar.

“No, Bess. No. Leave it just the way it is. It’ll help me . . . it’ll just help me, that’s all.”

Bess rubbed the tips of her fingers gently along the scar, remembering exactly what Jane had done to save Roger. “Anything you say, Jane. Anything at all.”

As the four of them ate their meal, they steered the conversation to everyday matters - to Jane’s schedule, to what she’d brought with her, to how good the food was. Nanna wasn’t a member, so they had to be careful. Midway through, Nanna rose and excused herself.

“It’s about time for me to get dressed. I try not to miss church unless I have to, and I think you girls don’t need me here right now. The six o’clock service ain’t ever real well attended, but that’s okay with me. I don’t think the good Lord minds either. Besides, I think you got some stuff to discuss.”

As she left the room, Tanith watched her carefully. She’d become so used to seeing her grandmother limp and lean as she tried to reduce the pain of walking; but now, none of that was evident. She simply walked straight and true.

Now alone, the conversation didn’t return. The silence threatened to become oppressive until Tanith spoke. “I . . . I think we need to tell her what’s going on - everything. I don’t like holding back from her; trying to make sure I don’t say anything I shouldn’t. Bess could explain everything to her the same way she did with me. Or I guess I could.”

Her voice trailed off in uncertainty. They weren’t connected to each other, but Jane and Bess knew what she was feeling. Once again, Tanith spoke, “I’m just worried about telling her. Maybe she won’t believe it, or maybe she’ll just be shocked by the whole thing. I can hear her now, ‘Tanith, this is monkey business, just like I was ‘fraid of. I like your friends, but savin’ people is the Lord’s work. It surely ain’t the work of some fancy group of people in New York.’”

Now she connected to them. Jane and Bess could feel that Tanith was fearful. “I don’t know what I’d do if she tried to get me to quit the group; if I had to choose between her and you. But I don’t want to keep her in the dark either. I want to tell her everything, to teach her how to connect, to introduce her to the group. That would be so wonderful.”

The silence returned as they considered the problem. Bess almost whispered, “It’s your choice, you know,” as Jane nodded in agreement.

Just then, Nanna returned. She was dressed in a grey suit, ready for church. Tanith had seen her in that outfit at least twenty times. Silently, she promised herself that, whatever happened, Nanna would not have to wear that suit to church again.

Tanith stood up. “I’ll walk with you,” she said.

“Ain’t no need of that at all, child. I feel like a little walk will do me a power of good. And besides, I know you girls got things to discuss. I’ll be fine on my own.”

Tanith nodded her understanding. She gave her grandmother a quick hug as she made up her mind. “Nanna, when you get back, there’s some things I want to tell you - things about us.” She looked over to Jane and Bess. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Bess smiled at her.

They were surprised at her words when Nanna spoke. “No child. I don’t think I want that. I’m old, but I’m not senile. I’ve seen what’s gone on here, how your life has changed so much, how my hip got healed the first time I laid eyed on Bess. I know that God is at work here, I believe that with all my heart. And I think you all are part of His plan.”

“But I ain’t part of that plan in the same way you are. I’m an old woman. I don’t have a lot of time left and I want to spend it knowin’ that you are doing what you’re supposed to do and so am I. So, if you needs anything, I’ll help in any way I can, but I don’t want to be a part of this. I prayed and prayed and I know God ain’t called me to do that. I got my own path to walk. It’s likely got a few twists and turns left in it, but it ain’t the same as yours.”

Tanith was at first shocked by her words, but that was quickly replaced by relief. Like always, Nanna knew the right thing to do and say.

Bess and Jane joined Tanith as they stood on the stoop outside the apartment. They watched Nanna until she turned the corner and was out of sight.

Before Chuck could press the button to call Matt, his phone rang. His ringtone had been put on his phone by the girl intern who had set up his phone book. She was actually good looking, but she insisted on wearing jeans and oversized tops on most days. So when a somewhat less modest specimen came along, he dumped one for the other. He remembered how she reacted when he told her that her services were no longer required. At first, he thought she was going to be angry, but then she smiled. “I’ll finish up your phone then and be on my way. I’m a music major, so I’ll give you a ring tone that has some meaning for a person like you.”

It was a strange one that had three notes played on what sounded like a guitar. He remembered her description of it. “It’s called a tritone with a flatted fifth,” she said, “It’s got a lot of spiritual significance. I think it fits you nicely.” Chuck had never forgotten her description. It sounded poetic.

The display on the phone said, “Capt. Jameson.” Without hesitation, Chuck pushed the button to accept the call.

He used his outgoing, in-control voice. “Captain, glad to speak to you. Bob Carelli told me you might call.” It wouldn’t hurt to remind this cop that he was friends with someone well above him in the food chain.

“Yes sir. Pastor Cleimer, I wonder if you have some time now to talk to me.” He sounded slightly deferential. Chuck was used to that since it was the ways thing should be.

Chuck could hear traffic sounds in the background. “Sounds like you’re driving, Captain. I wouldn’t want to distract you.” Chuck had testified at the state capital in favor of a bill that banned driving while talking on a cell phone. He’d seen one too many women paying no attention to their surroundings as they ran their mouths.

When Jameson answered, Chuck could hear a smile in his voice. “I’m driving home, Pastor - finally. Actually, I’m almost there. I live a couple of miles from your church.

Sometimes, the good Lord made his wishes obvious to Chuck. “Well, Captain. In that case, why not drop by my place and you can have a nice glass of wine while I answer your questions? Or, if you are weary, we could schedule a time for tomorrow - I think I have an opening at eight.” Chuck suspected that Jameson had been up all night because of the damned Colonel, so he was pretty sure he wouldn’t take him up on this particular invitation.

There was a moment’s silence before Jameson spoke, “Sure, Pastor Cleimer. How do I get there?”

Chuck gave him the directions and then set out a bottle of his “visitor” wine.

“This wine is good, Pastor. I think I’m running pretty much on empty, so it really does hit the spot. It was a long night and a long day.”

They were seated in the dim light of the study, Chuck behind a heavy desk made of dark wood. Behind him, shelves were filled with books. The books looked expensive with spines of muted colored leathers, often embossed with gold lettering. Jameson sat, tie loosened, on a large yellow leather chair in front of the desk. A well-worn bible was at Chuck’s left hand.

“I have the advantage then,” said Chuck. “After leading two services and doing what I can for my flock, I’m often weary come Sunday evening, but you certainly must be exhausted. Feel free to ask me anything you’d like so that you can complete your official duties for this day.”

Jameson took him up on that offer with a thin smile. It had indeed been a long day for him. He asked his questions and Chuck answered. Most were about the Colonel, of course. Jameson asked about his state of mind, about what might have motivated him to do what he did. He asked if there had been any hint of violent tendencies shown during their sessions. He asked about Roger Seaton - “Pastor, bottom line, why did he kill Seaton? They didn’t seem to be all that close.”

Chuck answered all the preliminary questions truthfully, but he knew he couldn’t answer this last question with the same degree of honesty. It would sound too strange. In fact, it would sound totally unbelievable. He warned himself to be careful.

He knew this was coming, of course, but it still caused a surge of anger to rise inside him. This whole scene was all because those Seaton butt sniffers had told the cops that he had mishandled his therapy with the Colonel. They’d lobbed a grenade in his direction.

Well then, he’d have to send them a missile back. “Captain, I’m sure you understand that my role as a man of God, and as a licensed counselor, requires that I respect the confidentiality of those the good Lord places in my care. Still, I understand why you ask me this question.

“You’re certain you know what happened last night, you just want to make sure that mental illness is the root and only cause of the Colonel’s behavior and that some other factor wasn’t also in play - such as some type of personal history with Roger Seaton that hasn’t yet come to light.

“I think I can perhaps provide some information on that point, Captain. When the Colonel came to me, he was suffering from overwhelming feelings of grief. This was due to the death of Evan Miller’s son. John Stout was close to the Miller family and this event hit him hard.

“As a counselor, I’ve helped many people in similar situations. Some make good progress towards resuming their lives, while others require much more time to accept what has happened. Yet, given enough time and expert help, people heal. But, in the case of Colonel Stout, he seemed to be getting worse, not better. At first, his symptoms were classic for someone who had experienced a loss. There’s usually some guilt, but normally it’s not serious.

“But with John, his guilt seemed to metastasize to anger. I’ve seen that before, but never to this extent and never was the anger directed at what seemed like a minor player in the whole drama. In his case, he began to hate Roger Seaton. I tried to explore the root causes of his hatred, but before we could really deal with it, he became angry with me and left my care, though I still had hoped that he would return.”

Chuck paused, but Jameson kept quiet, inviting him to continue.

Chuck breathed in a larger than normal portion of air and sighed it out. “I . . . normally, I wouldn’t divulge this type of information, but in light of all that has happened, I’ll provide some information that you may, or may not, have.

“You may not be aware, Captain, that I also lead an organization that attempts to expose cults. No one knows exactly why these keep popping up, but they do. I suspect it may be due to a longing deep in the human soul - a longing for something more.

“Nevertheless, in my sessions with the Colonel, he described to me how a group of seemingly normal people had attached themselves to Roger Seaton. And most amazingly, Evan Miller and his wife became part of that group. I know the Colonel was upset about this - he felt that he had lost not only a child that he had loved, but also that he was on the brink of losing the other important people in his life as well.”

For the first time, Jameson seemed to be surprised. “Are you saying that those people are part of a cult? And that somehow this led to the murder?”

“Not quite,” said Chuck as he leaned back in chair. “I have no doubt that your investigation correctly shows that the Colonel committed the murder. His worry about Seaton was probably a symptom of his underlying mental illness. He was obviously living in a fantasy world where he saw Roger Seaton was a threat. I only wish I had realized just how ill he was, but many of these delusional people are quite good at hiding their delusions. No Captain, I don’t feel the cult aspect of this caused his behavior directly, but I also believe that if that group had not become close with Evan Miller, none of this would have happened.”

Chuck smiled to himself. He was feeling very eloquent now. He’d fired off his first missile, but this was a small one. The heavy artillery was coming.

“As to your question asking if they are a cult, let me ask you this - did they tell you that all of them, as a group, are living in Evan Miller’s house?”

Jameson took another sip of wine and pulled out a notebook and studied what was in it. He would have listed the names and addresses of all the people he interviewed at the crime scene.

“Four of them are from Texas, some others from New York.”

He looked up, “Are you saying that they are lying?”

“No Captain, I believe that they do legally live where they said. That’s easily checked. But the Colonel told me that for over a month, they’ve all been living in that apartment building owned by Evan Miller. They have meetings with each other all the time. Seaton was seen as their leader.

“I must admit that this group has many of the earmarks of a cult, but there is one part I simply could not accept. I couldn’t see Roger Seaton as their leader. I met him on at least two occasions. I visited him at his own apartment because of some things the Colonel had said. I decided that he couldn’t possibly be the leader of a cult; they are normally charismatic, charming, outgoing. They have a way of making you feel special. I got none of that from Seaton. Instead, he seemed passive, weak.

“Later, the Colonel became even more convinced that Seaton was actively directing a growing group to achieve some unnamed goal. By then, he had attracted Evan Miller and his wife along with several other people. Again, I found it hard to believe, so I invited him to meet me at my office. This was just a week or so ago.

“The meeting went badly. He had changed quite a lot. He was brusque, rude and demanding. He told me that he had tried multiple times to get the Colonel to join his group, but he had refused. John Stout told me the same thing. At that meeting, Seaton accused me of keeping the Colonel from joining and demanded that I discontinue his therapy.”

As he spoke, Chuck realized that this was the second time he’d described his meeting with Roger. It got better every time.

“Captain, he became very angry and seemed on the verge of violence, so I had to escort him out. In hindsight, I can see how a fragile psyche could be affected by his . . . his intensity. Perhaps he had indeed taken on a leadership role in that group. If he was the leader, it will be interesting to see what happens to them now.”

Jameson asked, “What do you mean?”

“The literature contains many instances where cults have lost their leader. In some cases, they simply break up and the weak willed individuals who made up the membership search for a new group to join. However, there have been cults that have continued long after their leaders have left them - especially if they have a strong leader available to take over. Someone like Evan Miller, for instance.”

Chuck could see that Jameson was processing the information he’d received. He felt good about the missile he’d launched. He fleetingly wished he could see the Roger-drones squirm when they were asked about their “special” group.

Jameson moved to the edge of his seat in preparation to stand. “Well, Pastor, I certainly didn’t expect to hear some of the things you told me. I guess I’ll have to add that to the list of strange things with this case.”

Chuck’s feeling of satisfaction quickly gave way to a wary interest. “Oh, there are other strange things? Perhaps you should tell me about them. It’s possible the Colonel may have said something that would be of help.”

Jameson appeared to be momentarily uncertain, but his wine glass still had a couple of sips left in it. He sat back in the chair and sighed. “Please keep this to yourself, Pastor Cleimer. It’s kind of an open secret since lots of people know about it, but we’d like to keep it out of the press.”

Chuck didn’t want to interrupt him, so he just nodded in agreement.

“We had two officers who were nearby Evan Miller’s building when we got the call that there was some type of violence there. When they arrived, the crime scene was chaotic. There were at least three people down, there was a lot of blood, people were crying; it was a mess.

“The two responding officers did a good job. They quickly called for paramedics, got the people sorted out and concluded that the likely killer was himself dead or at least incapacitated. Their initial radio report got the ball rolling on our end with me getting the duty to go take charge. I left immediately and was a few minutes away when every on-duty cop with a radio received an ‘officer down’ alert. That’s why we’ll be lucky to keep this out of the press.”

Jameson frowned at that thought as he finished the wine. “The paramedics got there first and determined that two people were beyond help and one had only a superficial wound. They were packing up when one of the victims, a Mr. Cunningham, passed out. They rushed to his aid, but they were being hampered by people crowding around them. The officers attempted to move them back so that the paramedics would have room to work, but . . . first one officer, then the other and even one of the paramedics passed out. They just fell to the floor like they’d been knocked out cold.

“Now here’s the strange part - all of them, the two officers and both paramedics initially, swore that a blond girl in high heels and a red dress knocked them out by just touching them. After the first officer when down, the other one called in the ‘officer down’ alert, but he claims she came after him and then knocked him out too.

“She then took out one of the paramedics in the same way. The other paramedic claimed he backed off and saw everything.”

Chuck couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. “Was she angry with them?”

Jameson shook his head. “No, it didn’t seem that way to the paramedic who was still standing. He said it was like she wanted to get to Cunningham. When she did, she touched him with her hands for less than a minute and that was it. All the others crowded around and in the confusion, the girl left the apartment.”

Chuck felt that the temperature in the room drop by at least ten degrees. “So, have you questioned her? What’s her name? The Colonel may have mentioned her.”

“No, we’ve not found her and we really aren’t looking all that hard, though we sure did right after all this happened. They think she just panicked and left and the officers were just mistaken.” Jameson didn’t want to admit he thought they had passed out on their own.

Chuck’s mind was racing with this information. Could it actually be? “Captain, how is Mr. Cunningham?”

“That’s another strange thing. The paramedics were certain that he had no more than a 50/50 chance and that his spleen was badly damaged. Apparently, he’d pushed the Colonel into a nearby piano just as he was raising the knife to kill another victim - a Ms. Mitchell. She suffered only a superficial wound, but the Colonel likely died from the collision and Cunningham was badly hurt.

“Or so the paramedics thought. When they got him to the hospital, the doctors found his spleen to not be badly damaged at all, though they were surprised at the amount of blood in his abdomen. I just talked to the doc in charge before I left and Cunningham is up and claiming he’s ready to be released. They say he’s a very lucky man.”

“Indeed he is,” thought Chuck.

“Well, I’ve got to go. Thank you, Pastor Chuck, for the information and for the wine. I really don’t know why those people brought you into this. It sounds like Colonel Stout just was mentally ill. It happens.”

Chuck walked him to the door and as they shook hands, he said, “Captain, people who suffer such a bad shock often grasp for an explanation, something that will help them make sense of whatever awful event they experienced. This group may be especially susceptible to that type of thinking for some of the reasons we discussed here tonight.”

Jameson nodded knowingly. “The cult aspect, right? I’ll have to think about what, if anything, to do with that. People have a right to their own lives, but not if it causes harm to themselves or others.”

Chuck connected to him, ever so gently. He sent him a feeling of togetherness, of confidence in his ability. “If I may, I would suggest a private talk with Evan Miller. He may be looking for a way out given the traumatic events of the last day. Please tell him that I would be glad to offer my services. I’ve helped many good people escape the clutches of an evil cult.”

Chuck broke the connection. It had been so easy. Perhaps he was getting stronger. He made a mental note to practice often tomorrow with Rachel.

But for now, he had several chilling items of information to consider. For one, it appeared that this Bess Olman had somehow felled those cops. And it was likely she used this power at a much higher level to actually kill the Colonel. The text message had said as much.

It was also likely that she had healed Cunningham. For the first time, Chuck believed that Roger had actually been able to heal. His conversion from skeptic to believer hit him hard as he realized that Bess Olman likely had that power too and had used it on Cunningham. And given her heroics in getting to Cunningham to heal him, it also seemed reasonable that Olman was possibly the only remaining member of the Roger cult with this power.

All this was disturbing enough, but there was another, even more alarming aspect to this whole mess.

Someone was very angry with him. That person had sent him a threatening text.

And Bess Olman was out there somewhere.

As he locked the door and rechecked the alarm, Chuck decided to postpone his call to Matt. The embryo of a plan had started to take shape in his mind and he had a lot to think about.

Chapter Twelve

Jane should have been asleep in seconds since she hadn’t slept in almost thirty six hours, but her mind kept returning to various things that had happened over that time. She tried to push the memories away and just escape into sleep, but it was like they had a life of their own - demanding that they be relived before they would go away and let her sleep.

Strangely, the memories weren’t of the murder or of her dancing with Jed in her beautiful white wedding dress or of anything else that had changed her life forever.

They were of Charlie.

Everyone in the group knew that Bess and Tanith were in Little Rock. Jane had come up with the plan to get them out of New York by asking Matt to help, but Marina, Juliet and Allen had put all the pieces in motion.

When Jane announced that she was going to the hospital to be with Jed, everyone tried to talk her out of it. She just stared at them as they protested.

“You’ve in shock; you can’t go out alone.”

“Suppose the cops come back, we told them we’d stay here and be available for questions.”

“You should be here in case something happens with Bess and Tanith. Matt said she was acting very strangely. We’re all worried about her. What if she needs you?”

She let them all speak until their words were exhausted. “Edie, if the cops ask for me, try to stall them. If you have to, tell them I’m with Jed; that I’m a basket case gone to my husband for comfort and that they should have some decency and leave me alone for a while.

“For the rest of you, they’re done with us for now. Tomorrow is Sunday so it’ll probably be Monday before they decide if they have more questions for us. I don’t know why they would - we told them everything. I know it’s hard, but you should try and rest.

“As to Bess and Tanith, they’ll be safe in Little Rock soon. Tanith is in charge and has done a terrific job so far in a very dangerous situation. I texted her to let me know directly if anything happens, but I don’t expect it - they’re safe now. The cops called off the search for her so she’s not in any physical danger. They need the rest of tonight and tomorrow to heal in peace and quiet - we all do. So don’t call them until you hear from me.”

Jane waited for just a split second to make sure nothing else needed to be said and then turned and left. She couldn’t tell them what she really had in mind, it would be too messy. Marina would demand to go along as pilot, Edie would want to argue about it for an hour and the others would all have their own reasons why she couldn’t leave.

And, most importantly, there was no way she was going to tell them that she was pregnant and that her child was going to be instrumental in helping Bess. Her baby was only hours old, but she already had a big part to play in helping the Connection.

She slipped into her apartment and packed the minimum in her oversized purse. Her great grandmother’s glove was still inside from her last time out with Roger. The memories of that day caused tears to threaten to flow, but she forced herself to finish and leave. She would not cry now. Maybe later, but not now.

She took the stairs and this triggered another memory of Roger grousing about her making him take them. It was a good memory, but she couldn’t appreciate it; her nerves were too raw, the wound left by his passing too fresh. She pushed the memory aside. It seemed that the ghost of Roger was with her everywhere.

In the lobby, Charlie was sitting with another security guard. He rose when he saw her start for the door. “Ms. Mitchell, there are news trucks out there. If you need to go out, let me escort you out the back and through the alley.”

She was surprised that he knew her name. She almost decided to leave by the front door anyway since that was what she’d planned on doing, but she saw the concern on his face - a concern for her. She nodded and the two of them left by the back door.

They walked in silence towards the hotel at the end of the block. When Charlie spoke, his voice was a whisper. “Ms. Mitchell, I . . . I don’t know what to say. I swear I didn’t see anything strange about the Colonel. He seemed normal so I sent him up. I keep playing that again and again in my mind; trying to find something that I missed. It doesn’t matter though; I should have called and announced him.”

He was obviously hurting. “I don’t know why he killed Mr. Seaton. He was such a nice young man. A couple of weeks ago, I had a pretty bad backache. He was heading out the building and noticed that I was standing a bit stooped. He saw that and asked if anything was wrong. I told him it was just a backache caused by old age.

“He smiled and said, ‘let me try a little trick I learned from a TV chiropractor.’ I thought he was joking, but he put his fingers on my back and gave just the slightest push. I don’t know what he did. It was so gentle, but I felt better immediately.” His voice trailed off but he wasn’t quite finished, “I should have called.”

So Roger had been up to his old tricks - healing people and then never saying a word about it to anyone. Jane wondered for a second how many others that boy had helped.

And now Charlie was hurting again. Jane didn’t have the ability to heal even though she’d tried to develop it, but she thought she could help Charlie.

She stopped walking and turned to him. She connected to him, gently. She let him feel her concern and her certainty. “Charlie, it wasn’t your fault at all. If you had called, every single one of us would have invited him up. We were anxious to see him. What he did . . . well, he did it on his own.”

She felt his burden lessen. She broke the connection and they resumed their walk. Soon they arrived at the hotel cab stand. One appeared almost immediately since it was quite early in the morning.

Charlie opened the door for her. “Ms. Mitchell, I don’t know what . . . I just want to say ‘thank you.’

Before Jane could respond, he shut the door and the cab pulled away. Charlie watched until it was out of sight.

Chapter Thirteen

Jane woke because of the smells. She’d been bedeviled by waking memories so that she couldn’t fall asleep. But eventually she slept deeply - so deeply that her consciousness seemed to return in stages. First was the most primitive stage - she realized she was hungry. That had to be because she hadn’t eaten anything but a grilled cheese sandwich in almost twenty four hours.

No, that wasn’t quite right. She’d had a few bites of wedding cake. She’d shared the piece with Jed. He’d kissed her with cake on his lips and it tasted so good.

In an instant, full consciousness arrived and with it came the memories of what had happened at their celebration. It was vexing that some part of her brain kept returning to those events even though she pushed them aside again and again. For most of last night, she woke every hour or so from a dream reliving her dance with Roger. In her dream, he was being slow and uncertain about making her pregnant so that she had to push him.

And then the dance would be over and she’d see herself reaching for the Colonel’s wrist. Every time she knew it was coming and every time she failed to stop him. That’s when she woke.

Tanith’s apartment had only two bedrooms, so Jane had slept on the couch. Bess and Tanith had offered her their beds, but the couch was better - she wanted to be alone.

As she sat up, she realized that, from now on, she would be alone regardless of who was with her. Being in charge - being the leader - was a weight that no one could carry for her. She remembered waking up many mornings and thinking of things to suggest to Roger. She’d come up with a lot of ideas, but it wasn’t the same. He was in charge then. It was up to him to decide which ones to accept and which to reject.

But now she carried this burden, and she had to carry it alone. She longed to at least talk to Jed about it. It would help, she knew.

She reached for her phone when it chirped to indicate she had received a text.

How is Bess doing? And Tanith? And you? Call me when you are awake. We need to talk.

It was from Edie. Jane wondered how in the world she knew where she was. She touched the main button and told the phone to call Edie.

Nanna heard sounds of life from her living room and looked in from the kitchen. She saw Jane sitting on the couch, her hair a mess from sleep, her long legs bent at the knees with her bare feet on the carpet. She smiled at the sight and went back to preparing breakfast for them all.

Edie answered on the first ring without bothering with a greeting. “Are you okay? Did you get any sleep?”

Jane started to ask Edie how she found out about her trip, but changed her mind. As Roger’s second in command, she could let loose with a cutting remark if she wanted to, but as the leader, she had to be more restrained. Edie was worried about her. She deserved a real answer.

“I’m okay. I haven’t seen Bess or Tanith yet this morning, but they were doing as well as could be expected last night. Bess is back with us. She was holding it all in, but she cried it out yesterday. Tanith too.”

That wasn’t quite enough for a leader. Her friends deserved to know as much as she could tell them. “I did too,” she said.

“Well, you weren’t alone in that, Jane. It was grim here after the cops left. Jerry Wu had been stoic the whole time, offering his help and answering more than his share of the cop’s questions. He was good at it too - he said just enough and not too much. He’s got good judgment.

“But at about eight last night, just out of the blue, he broke down. Shannon held him while he wept. Father Tom has been a rock. He talked to everyone and his words were so comforting. I don’t know what we would have done without him.”

There was silence on the line for a moment, then Edie continued, “And I owe you an apology, Stringbean. When you left, I tried to understand. It was your wedding day and your husband was hurt. But I felt you were being selfish. We needed you here.

“I should have known you weren’t going to visit Jed. That shows how off kilter I was. So, I owe you an apology.”

Jane smiled and she was surprised that she did. “Don’t call me Stringbean,” she said.

“And how did you find out where I was? I think I know, but go ahead and tell me.”

“Your husband isn’t a very good liar. I called him this morning and he was all, ‘Ah’s’ and ‘Oh’s’ and ‘Well’s’. First you were in the bathroom, then you were getting him some coffee. It didn’t take much pushing to get him to confess. He wanted to anyway. He’s worried about you.

“He also wants to get out of that hospital. The doctors would like to keep him for another day or two, but he says he’s fine and wants to be with his friends. He said he would have left already, but he couldn’t without revealing your little secret.

“I know you did this to shield us if the cops came back and demanded to know where you were, but you should have told me about it regardless.” Edie had a scolding tone in her voice that only lawyers have.

“Anyway, I talked to Jameson this morning and they’re done with us. They are satisfied that the Colonel did everything and that he was insane. The investigation is more or less over and they’ve released the apartment. They want a couple more things, but I’ll tell you about that in a minute. Should I tell Jed to come home? And let everyone know where you are?”

This decision was an easy one. “Yeah, Edie. Go ahead and tell them. I’ll call the big lug after we’re done and set him free. Now what about Jameson?”

“Like I said, he’s done with us as a group. But he still wants to talk to Bess. He wants her version of the events just like he got from everyone else. My guess is that he’ll try and push her with some leading questions, but I’ll be there and we’ll have time to prep her. I think that part will be okay.”

“What’s the other part?”

“It seemed strange until I thought about it. He wants to talk to Evan - alone or with Juliet, but no one else. He made it sound like a request and asked if I’d pass it along. I told him I would since he could certainly ask Evan for a meeting anytime he wants to.

“I was struggling to figure this out when he asked if we were all living in this apartment building - all the people at the party. I told him that we had all been invited to visit in this building by Evan and we’d all been invited to the party. That’s when I understood.”

“That damned Chuck,” hissed Jane.

“Exactly. We sicced the cops on him, so he told them we were all living here like some big happy cult family. I’d bet a drink on that - and I don’t drink.”

This was unsettling news. Jane felt the weight of leadership increase by a few pounds. “So what do you think?” she asked.

“I think we should ask Evan what he wants, but I’m guessing he’ll do this. I think he should too. If there’s an allegation on the table, we need to take care of it. I’m pretty sure we can turn this around on the good pastor. I can hear Evan now, ‘Captain, it was exactly this type of reckless talk that we think led to the Colonel’s final spiral. And we still think it’s malpractice on the part of his so called therapist. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who suffered because of him filed a civil suit against Chuck Cleimer.’

“Since Jameson is talking to Chuck, this little threat of a suit will likely get back to him and put Chuck on notice that’s he’s in some jeopardy.”

Jane was thankful for Edie’s suggestions. “Okay let’s do that, but only if Evan is willing. And I don’t want it to happen today; we’re all too fragile right now. It can wait a day or two. If Evan agrees to the interview, tell Jameson that.”

Edie said, “Check. I’ll take care of it. Now, one last thing, Matt and Amanda Perkins arrived here just as the last of the cops left. They told us how they helped Bess and Tanith. Amanda said she went into the hotel and covered Bess up with a coat and hat. She timed it so that Matt was at the curb in his car when they walked out. Amanda made it sound like it was no big deal, but I think she put herself in jeopardy for us. She could have easily been caught trying to aid the escape of someone they thought had assaulted two cops - it would have been grim for her for a while at least. Certainly they would have taken her in for questioning.

“I think we should invite them into the group. I knew everyone here agrees, and if you do too, let’s do it when you return.”

This would get them two closer to 340. “Fine, Edie. I hope they accept our invitation.”

Their Connection business completed, when Edie next spoke, it was not in her lawyer voice. It was the voice of a woman, concerned about a friend. “How . . . how did you help Bess? The last we heard, she either wouldn’t speak or was laughing inappropriately. We’ve been worried sick about her - especially after what she did to the Colonel and to those cops.”

Even though they were using their secure phones, Edie said that last part in a whisper. “It was BP, Edie. I asked him to be with me when I saw Bess. She was asleep and when I woke her, she was shocked to see me. Then BP connected to her and let her feel Roger inside him. He was there, Edie. I felt him too. He’s still with us. We’ll see him again.

“That’s when the dam broke for Bess . . . and for me too.”

Jane heard what sounded like a sniff from the other end of the line. “I think we could all use a little of that certainty,” Edie whispered.

That triggered an idea for Jane. It took only a second to fully form. “Edie, tell Shannon to call for BP. I know he’s never come to her directly, but tell her that, when she’s ready, to call for him. I’ll alert BP and let him know to be hovering around there. She can do it, I know she can. Once he’s connected to her, she can share the connection with everyone there. You’ll all be able to feel Roger in him. Tell her to call me if she wants, but that I’ve got faith that she can do this. I know she can.”

There was a pause. When Edie spoke, her words were soft. “Thank you, Stringbean. You’re going to be a good leader.” There was that sniff sound again.

She broke the connection.

Chapter Fourteen

Chuck arrived at his office a bit later than normal. He’d been up a good part of the night thinking about what he now knew about this cult - and even more time thinking about the many things he didn’t know about them. It was frustrating.

He’d come up with a plan though. The good Lord had come through for him again.

His first sight upon entering was of Rachel Reed. He smiled at her, both because he’d been thinking of her and because she looked somehow better today; fresher, perhaps a bit more attractive. Her lips were still a bit too thin, and her eyes a bit too close together, but she’d obviously put some effort into trying to overcome those handicaps. She’d done something with her hair too. It was an improvement.

His appraisal of her appearance was limited to her top half since she was sitting behind the reception desk. What was his Gal Friday doing sitting there? Chuck looked the question at her.

“Amanda called, Pastor. She quit. She says she’s not coming back.”

Chuck considered this news. So old prune face was gone. It was what he had wanted, but it was a bit of an affront to simply leave him this way. It was so like her - literally thoughtless in every sense of the word.

“I am surprised that she would leave without at least giving us notice. I must say I’m a bit disappointed after all I’ve done for her. But nonetheless, my dear, God calls on all of us to be forgiving, so I shall certainly try my best.”

Chuck connected to her at that moment. It felt good to be able to basically connect at will. Rachel offered no resistance. Instead, he felt she welcomed the connection.

She smiled and then looked away. Chuck felt a conflict in her. She had to do something and she didn’t want to. He said to her, “Go ahead, Rachel.”

“There’s something . . . she said some other things. Some things that are not very nice.”

Chuck turned up the wattage. “Tell me what she said.”

He could feel that she welcomed the stronger connection. She invited it into her.

“She said that I should leave too. She said I’d been decent to her, but that you were a jerk.

“This next part is strange. She said they all blamed you for what happened with Colonel Stout. I didn’t know what she meant. She asked me, ‘Didn’t you see the news?’ I told her I wasn’t really a news kind of girl.”

She paused and Chuck could feel her struggle to continue. He sent her a strong feeling of desire - a desire that she get on with it.

“She told me about . . . about what happened. She said that you were responsible. She was really mean. Then she said that I should leave too. She said, ‘Take my advice, Rachel. Get away from there and away from him. He’ll keep you around only as long as you’re young enough and dress sexy enough.’

“I tried to think of what to say, but I was so shocked. She just hung up.”

Two words of her report had jumped out at Chuck. In his mind, he could see them in bold and italics. “Rachel, my dear, I want you to think for me. Think hard. Did Amanda actually say the words, ‘They all’ when she was talking about blaming me?”

Chuck could see the focus point of her eyes shift upward as she searched for that memory. It took a full three seconds. “Yes, Chuck. She said that they all blamed you. I wonder what she meant.”

Chuck was pretty sure he knew, but he needed some time alone to consider it. First, though, he had to access what damage that damned Amanda had done with her little chat with Rachel.

Before he could think of what to say, Rachel spoke. Chuck could tell she was anxious to move on from this talk of blaming him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I called the temp agency to get a receptionist. They are sending over someone. They said she’d been here before. I . . . I can cancel if you’d rather I just stay here.”

Her voice trailed off. Chuck could feel that she was worried he’d demote her back to receptionist. There was no way he’d do that. He had plans for this girl.

Still, it was an opportunity to further lift himself in her eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of such a thing, my dear. You’re my administrative assistant, my right hand, my Gal Friday. No, I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Chuck could feel her relief and gratitude like it was his own. God, she was so deliciously transparent, so anxious to please him. So perfect. But there was one more thing he wanted to clear up. He didn’t want it to plant itself in her apparently tiny brain and fester. “Rachel, about what Amanda said - you know, about being young and . . . “

She cut him off before she could finish. She’d never done that before. Her eyes were locked onto his. He could feel her pulling in the connection, offering even more of herself.

“Chuck, I have thought about that all morning. It keeps coming back to me, again and again. So, I want to know a couple of things.”

She sounded determined and that probably wasn’t good. Was she going to go all ‘female’ on him, demanding respect and acting offended at the very thought of being treated like a desirable object?

He could see her struggle to say something. When she finally spoke, her words were rushed, “First, am I young enough?”

Chuck was taken aback by this question. He started to stammer, “Of course, my dear . . .”

She cut him off for a second time. She rose and walked from behind the desk until she was facing him. She was close enough to touch. She held her arms away from her body, palms outward, facing him. She stood with her legs slightly apart.

Out of habit, Chuck studied how she was dressed. She had on a very tight sweater that was cut just low enough to be appealing. Her skirt was also tight so that the difference between her bust, waist and hips was obvious. The skirt ended below her knees, which was usually a disappointment, but not today. It had a zipper on the front that went from the bottom, almost to her waist. It was unzipped just enough so that one leg was visible to mid-thigh. That leg ended in heels.

Chuck swallowed. She really had tried to improve her appearance. He waited for her to speak. “Chuck, the second question is . . .”

She paused. Chuck could feel her hesitation, but also her determination to get out what she wanted to say.

“Chuck, the second question - Is this sexy enough?”

He smiled his answer to her. It was all that was needed.

Amanda Perkins was in awe, but it was hard for her to pinpoint any one thing that was responsible for this feeling. It was just a generalized feeling of awe at so many things - at what they had done last night, at Matt, and at her new friend, Marina.

It was well after midnight when she and Matt arrived at the apartment building. They found the members of the Connection crowded into one of the vacant units. Amanda was amazed at how everyone was so nice to her, so welcoming. Matt told them how she’d agreed to help Bess and Tanith without any hesitation - just because he’d asked. She told a watered down version of events where she went into the hotel and helped Bess leave by basically covering up her blonde hair and red dress. No one believed it was as easy as she implied - they all knew she’d done something really difficult and probably dangerous. And she’d done it for them. Even though they were in obvious pain, she was thanked personally by everyone.

She’d met Roger, but she didn’t have a bond with him the way the other’s had. Since she was in the least amount of distress, for the next couple of hours she circulated among them, trying to help in any way she could. Sometimes it was with a cup of coffee, but often with just a few words of support along with a willingness to listen.

As people began to leave in ones and twos to sleep, Amanda found herself and Matt sitting together in the apartment living room with Marina Gonzales. Matt had never met her before tonight, but he knew of her from his reading of the Revelation documents.

Marina had been grim since they’d arrived. She’d smiled when she introduced herself, but that smile was fleeting, perfunctory. Now she looked troubled, but appeared to be totally under control. Amanda knew she was the last one there for a reason. She sensed she needed to talk.

“Marina, Matt told me you are an airplane mechanic. There can’t be too many women doing that kind of thing.”

Life flashed momentarily in Marina’s eyes at the mention of her job. She was proud of what she’d accomplished. “I’m . . . I’m a pilot now,” she said quietly. “I fly the group around.”

That explained a lot to Amanda. A pilot had to be calm in difficult situations; they had to display confidence to those around them and not succumb to their fears. They had to be fully in control of themselves, but they were human too - they just couldn’t show it. Self-control was an ingrained habit to them. “Well, good Lord, Marina. That’s impressive. The group is very fortunate to have you.”

Amanda was good with people. She just wanted to get her talking. She suspected that Marina would take it from there.

It took almost a minute before she finally spoke. “It was Roger. The first time I met him, he listened to me; to what I had to say. And then - after everything happened and we all joined the group - he went out of his way to make sure I had everything I needed to get my certification.”

Marina was looking straight ahead, staring into space. “He didn’t have to do that,” she whispered, almost to herself.

Amanda spoke, her voice low and soothing, “Matt told me Roger did something for just about everyone.”

Marina nodded. “He . . . I loved him. We all did, especially Jane and Bess. God, please let Bess and Tanith be all right.”

Amanda recognized that Marina had changed the subject. “You said that the first time you met Roger, he listened to you.”

Marina’s eyes became unfocused. She was remembering. “That night - I’ll never forget it. He was a handsome boy who arrived with a girl and I figured he’d be stuck up or a player - you know how some men can be. But he changed into these ridiculous swimming trunks and was so honest and sweet. I told him more about myself in an hour that night than I think I’ve ever done with anyone else - at least before the Connection.”

A tear appeared and ran down her left cheek. Its mate soon ran down her right cheek. “He . . . he just accepted me. Just as I am. He accepted me.”

It was time. Amanda embraced her and Marina started to shake.

She wept.

By mid-morning, they all reassembled in Jerry and Shannon’s apartment. The kids picked up vibes from the adults and were subdued, playing together quietly in one of their rooms.

Like last night, they all came over, one by one, and spoke to Amanda and Matt - words of thanks and encouragement, of friendship. Marina spoke to Amanda last and then hugged her. Amanda hadn’t been hugged in . . . well, she couldn’t remember when.

Edie spoke in whispered tones to Shannon, off in a corner. When she was done, she gave her hand a squeeze and asked the group for its attention, “I have an announcement to make,” she said. “But first, I know we’d all like to thank Matt and Amanda for what they did last night. I don’t know how things might have worked out without them, but I do know it would probably have been even worse.”

Without any cue that she could see, the members of the Connection started to applaud Matt and Amanda.

For the first time in a long, long time - perhaps the first time ever - Amanda felt like she belonged. Even though the group hadn’t asked her yet, she knew that if they did, her answer would be “Yes.” She looked at Matt and he smiled at her.

Chapter Fifteen

Bess and Nanna walked out of the kitchen carrying plates to set the table. “Morning Jane,” Bess said. Her voice sounded like it should - it had life in it along with some pain. It sounded normal.

Jane was surprised. “I didn’t know you were in there, Bess. I . . . I was just talking to Edie.”

“I heard you on the phone, but I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m an early bird. Roger is too. Nanna was teaching me a little cooking. I made some pancakes, but they’re probably awful.”

Nanna smiled, “Now child, ain’t no such thing. I watched you make them. They gonna be fine, just fine.”

Maybe Bess didn’t sound as normal as she’d thought. “I was talking to Edie. My blabbermouth husband told her where I was.”

Bess giggled. That was more like her. Jane thought that none of them would ever be truly normal again. At that moment, she felt a giant void inside her. She missed Roger and it hurt, but people depended on her now. She couldn’t let them down.

The table was just about ready when Tanith walked in. “Just in time to eat,” said Nanna. “Thank the Lord some things ain’t changed.”

Tanith smiled at her joke sheepishly. She gave her grandmother a hug and then turned to Bess and hugged her.

Then it was Jane’s turn. As Tanith embraced her, she said, “Thank you, my sister.” They’d talked last night, trying to exhaust themselves so they could sleep. Jane had told them about the cops, about leaving secretly to come here, about how Jed was almost back to normal because Bess had healed him.

The breakfast was delicious. Jane was used to fruit or yogurt in the morning, but here it was eggs and bacon and pancakes. She took an egg and a slice of bacon. She saw Bess watching, so she took a pancake too. Bess grinned. “I’d probably gain 20 pounds if I lived here,” she thought. And then she remembered that she was almost certain to gain 20 pounds or more soon. She smiled to herself.

After the dishes were put away, Jane called a meeting in Tanith’s room. “Tanith, what did you have planned for today?”

Tanith struggled to make sense of the question. “I . . . I don’t know, Jane.”

“I mean, what did you have planned before . . . before all this happened. You were going to fly home on Sunday. Roger put you in charge of finding us a building. He knew you were the best one for that job and nothing’s changed about that.”

Now Tanith understood. “I was going to rent a car and drive to an old industrial area that has some big old buildings. I was going to start by just looking around, taking some pictures, that type of thing.”

Jane nodded, “Yeah, let’s do that. We’ve had quite a blow, but we’ve still got to build this crazy BP device - or at least get ready to build it.”

Bess perked up instantly. “Oh yes, Jane! Do you think we could work faster and get this done even quicker than seven years? I can’t wait to get to our new home with all of us together again.”

Jane knew that she meant she couldn’t wait to be together with Roger again. “I don’t know, Bess. We’ll try for sure. Let’s get dressed and hit the road.”

That presented a problem because the only clothing Bess had with her was her red party dress. Last night, Bess had carefully folded it and put it in a drawer without a word. Jane suspected that she would never wear it again.

Tanith invited her to take her pick from her closet. “There’s not a lot of nice things - mostly jeans and work clothes.”

“Can I wear these?” Bess said. She was holding one of Tanith’s chauffer’s outfits. The pants were black and the shirt white. Her company required her to wear a man’s tie, but without it, Bess would look fine.

“Sure, if that’s what you want,” Tanith said.

The three of them took turns in the single bathroom, but managed to be done in less than an hour. Jane imagined one of Jed’s jokes about females taking so long to get ready and that made her miss him even more. She texted but hadn’t called him yet - she planned on waiting until she could get a few moments alone.

Even though it was cool in New York, it was going to be a hot day in Little Rock. Tanith chose a pretty blue and grey sleeveless dress and Jane wore the light green slacks and matching top she’d packed.

Bess and Tanith were almost the same size - just about the same height and weight - but that weight was distributed a bit differently. The pants fit her okay, but the shirt that fit Tanith perfectly was a tight fit for Bess. “I hope I don’t pop a button,” she said as she took her turn to do a final inspection in the hallway mirror. Tanith and Jane looked at each other and Jane rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

Nanna saw them out. “You girls be careful now, hear?” Tanith knew she’d be at least a little bit worried until they returned. That was part of being a Nanna.

The third building they rode by appeared to be a good candidate. It was in an industrial area near downtown, on a lot separated from the other buildings by a rusting fence. It had probably been a factory of some sort a hundred years ago, but now it appeared to be abandoned, though other buildings in the area were obviously still in use. This was not a trendy area like Riverfront Park; instead it was left over from a time when the workers walked to their jobs from their homes. A ditch with a thin trickle of smelly water provided a barrier between this industrial area and the run down houses visible on the other side.

The building itself was tall enough to be three stories, but the large windows were placed where a second story would be. Jane thought this was probably to provide natural light to the workers on the first floor. The windows were in bad shape with panes missing and paint peeling, but the brick exterior of the building appeared to be sound. Jane took a few pictures and sent them to Jed. She looked at the fence, but didn’t find any easy way to get inside.

“I can climb over,” said Bess.

Tanith and Jane replied instantly and in almost perfect unison, “NO!”

All three of them laughed at their nervousness. It felt good.

Jane’s phone beeped with a text. She held it up so she could read it.

Looks pretty good, Darling. That loading dock will come in handy. Send me one of you. I don’t want to forget what my wife looks like. I miss you, Snugglie.

That boy had more than a bit of the romantic in him. Jane made a mental note to tell him to knock off using their pet names in texts. Their phones were secure, but you couldn’t tell who might be looking at the screen. All it would take would be for Bess to see the word “Snugglie” and everyone would be calling her that. Stringbean was bad enough.

“Jed said that this place looks pretty good. What do you think we should do now, Tanith?”

“There’s a sign on the fence over that way. Let’s check it out. Maybe it’ll have some contact information or something.”

They walked over and read the sign. It said, “Investment Opportunity. 18,000 Sq. Ft. Overhead Crane, Great Location for Manufacturing.”

At the bottom was the name and address of the person offering the property followed by a stylized signature. It said, “Ya’ll come now! Neal Diamond Philips.”

Chapter Sixteen

The sign on the office door said, “Neal Diamond Philips, LLC. Ya’ll come on in now!”

Tanith led them into what looked like a reception area. There was a desk with a phone. Both were covered in a thin layer of dust. There was no computer monitor.

A partially closed door was behind the desk. The sound of soft, rhythmic snoring reached them through the opening.

After a few seconds, Bess coughed loudly. The snoring stopped with a final liquid gulping sound. Neal Diamond Philips appeared almost immediately.

He was a short man with a round face and small eyes that moved from one of them to the other. He had a large belly and his belt circled it at the widest part. He was wearing a white cowboy hat that was dingy in more than a few spots. Unnaturally black hair was visible below it. His eyes, finished with their horizontal scan, now studied them vertically.

He smiled his approval with large regular teeth that seemed almost too white. “Well, lookie here. My my. Neal Diamond Philips is happy to see such fresh flowers in his office. Yes he is. You girls here on bidness?”

Jane thought of at least three suitably caustic answers to that question, but this was Tanith’s show.

She took a second to force out an answer, “We’re here to ask about that old building at 16 Ironwood . . .”

He cut her off and looked at Bess. “Oh yes, that beautiful brick building. You girls got a good eye. That’s a diamond in the rough. Come on into Neal Diamond Philips’ office and we can chat about it for a spell.”

He led the way into a larger room that also could have used a good cleaning. On his desk was a pile of papers pushed off to the side and in the center, a bottle of some type of liquor. Jane had never heard of the brand and it certainly wasn’t Scotch.

He found three chairs scattered around the room and arranged them in front of his desk. One had cushions and arms, the other two were just metal folding chairs.

Before they sat, he said, “Well, ladies. You all surely know my name. It’s right on the door, you know.” He laughed and his belly shook. “I’d be pleased to make your acquaintance too. Who have I got the pleasure of meeting with today?”

This time Tanith didn’t hesitate. She had been worried about being tasked to find them a building, so she’d done her homework. Roger had put her in charge of this and there was no way she was going to fail. “My name is Tanith Watson and this is Bess Olman and Jane Mitchell.”

“My my. Jane and Bess and Tammy. Such pretty names for such lovely ladies.”

Jane looked at Bess. Her eyes had narrowed and her lips were set in a thin line. She connected to her. This was just the kind of sexist jerk that Jane knew rubbed her the wrong way. Jane trusted Bess, but with all that had happened it seemed prudent to keep a mental eye on her. She sent her a feeling of calm. Bess was feeling slightly angry. On a scale of one to ten, she was about a two.

Neal Diamond Philips gestured to invite Jane to take the cushioned seat, but she sat in a metal one. Tanith took the good chair and Bess finally sat as well, never taking her eyes off him.

He walked behind his desk and sat. He seemed surprised to find the bottle there. “I don’t suppose any of you girls would like a snort? I keep this for clients. After a hard day of finding them just the right property, some of them likes a little pop, you know?”

He was met with silence. He said, “All right then,” as he put the bottle away in a drawer. As he did, he added, “I hope you girls don’t mind that I wear my hat. I don’t never take it off - got a little follicle problem up top. I guess I should be thankful though; all the other parts below that work just fine.”

Bess’s anger level jumped to a four. Jane let her feel that she was amused at this buffoon. It helped and Bess dropped back to a three.

“So let’s get down to bidness. What do you girls want with an old factory building? I got a new listing for a shop in downtown that would make a great lingerie store. The place is crawling with females at lunchtime, working in them big office buildings.”

Bess went back to a four and Jane put her hand on top of Bess’s, just in case.

Tanith spoke, her voice icy. “We aren’t interested in a store. We are going to manufacture some things, so we’re interested in that building at 16 Iron . . .”

He cut her off again. “What you planning to make, Tammy? There ain’t much the Chinks in China can’t make at half the price. Won’t be worth a damn, but they can make stuff, that’s for sure.”

Jane was connected to Bess, but the connection went both ways. Now Bess felt Jane prepare to explode. She removed her hand from under Jane’s and put it on top. She squeezed and it helped. Jane kept quiet.

Tanith asked, “Are you still representing the owner of that building and how much is it?” The temperature of her voice had dropped below freezing.

Neal Diamond Philips chuckled, “You are interested in that place, aren’t you? Well, the old boy who owns it is kind of strange, thinking that area is going to get real trendy and that the place would be good for some nice apartments. They’d have to move out most of the inhabitants in the area for that to happen, but you never know.

“So he’s not in any real hurry to sell. It would take $3 million to get that place. I think it’s probably worth every penny, ‘specially if you can get rid of the riff raff around there.”

Jane’s emotions had been in turmoil for days now, first with her wedding and then with what had happened at the celebration. Because of that, she had to fight to control herself as she wanted to tear this jerk to shreds with her words. She could feel Bess was concerned about her. That realization deflated her anger like air escaping from a balloon. She was the one who was supposed to be looking out for Bess, not the other way around.

“Thank you, Mr. Philips,” said Tanith.

“Now Tammy, no need to be formal, you call me Neal Diamond Philips and . . .”

She cut him off. Her voice had reached absolute zero. “Now you listen to me, Mr. Philips. First, my name is not Tammy, it’s Tanith. Let me know if you need it spelled for you.

“Second, you may NOT call me Tanith. I am Miss Watson to you. I only let my friends call me by my first name and you are certainly not one of them.

“Third, you can quit with the lies. No one would ask $3 million for that building. I haven’t even seen it inside, but I’m sure it’s a mess. It’ll likely have to be gutted. I looked up other sales in the area and most of them go for less than a half million and they’re likely in far better shape.

“Fourth and final. If you have any desire to get a commission on the sale of that building, you had better get off your fat behind and call the owner and tell him that you have a potential buyer. Tell him that, depending on our inspection, an offer of less than $500K is imminent and we are prepared to close with no delay.

“Now, do we understand each other?”

Neal Diamond Philips was sweating. These modern women could be real ball busters. This one was young - they must start training them early.

“Yeah, Tam . . . I mean Miz Watson. I understand. I do apologize; I was just trying to be friendly. I didn’t mean to . . . well, you know.”

He was shocked at this turn of events, but it appeared there might be a little commission in this thing, so it was time to get to work. “When, ah, Miz Watson, when would you like to have it inspected? I’ve got a buddy who can do it for you.”

Tanith didn’t take her eyes off him. She crossed her legs and he made it a point not to look. All she said was, “Bess?”

Bess got out her phone and started tapping. Jane had returned both of their phones to them. “I found at least three inspection firms nearby that have really good reviews. One says they are available with a day’s notice.”

Tanith stood and everyone followed her lead. “Thanks, Bess. Now, Mr. Philips, should we be at that property tomorrow at 2 p.m.? Do not waste our time. If an offer of less than a half million isn’t wanted, just tell us now and we’ll find some other property or maybe we’ll call the owner ourselves.”

That should have made Neal Diamond Philips angry, but it didn’t. These girls weren’t his type at all; they were too pushy, too libbed out. He just sighed. “Yes, Miz Watson. I think he’ll entertain such an offer.”

Without another word, Tanith led the way out of the office.

Once they were outside, the three of them collapsed in laughter as they hugged Tanith. Their joy didn’t last long since their loss was still fresh, but it did feel good to laugh and momentarily forget their pain.

Jane led them to their rental car. “That was so great. When you told him to get off his fat behind, I thought I’d break into a cheer. Great job!”

Tanith was grinning from ear to ear when Jane’s phone signaled that a text had arrived. Bess saw her face reflect surprise and concern. Jane walked away from them and made a call. “Something’s up,” she whispered to Tanith.

In less than a minute, Jane returned to them. Bess and Tanith waited expectantly. Jane looked at her phone again as if to see if the message was still there.

Finally, she spoke. “Can we go back to your place, Tanith?”

There had to be more. They waited.

“It’s Jed. He’s there.”

Chapter Seventeen

Wendell arrived from the temp agency and the office returned to normal. Chuck wasn’t sure if it was Miss or Mrs. Wendell, but it really didn’t matter since he referred to her as “Madam” or “Wendell.” She was thin and stately with a long nose and a permanent glare that seemed to be stuck on her face. Chuck thought she was probably close to sixty but looked ten years older. She was competent though. He told her he’d need her for at least one more day and possibly longer.

Mondays were usually hectic with a planning meeting for next week’s services along with his normal load of people needing his counseling help. Chuck wished he could be relieved of this burden for just today, but instead he threw himself into the work. It kept his mind off the fact that he didn’t know what those crazies in the Roger cult were up to. He’d fix that, though, one way or another.

Wendell left at five on the dot without a word. The office was quiet; no phones were ringing, no sounds of office machines doing their assigned duties, nothing. He started to call Rachel and ask her to come see him, but thought better of it. He’d connected with this girl a number of times now, so he thought he knew her pretty well. She would come to him on her own. It was better that way. He glanced at his Breitling and waited.

It took eight minutes before there was a soft knock. The door opened slightly and her head appeared through the crack. “Are you busy? Can I talk to you?”

“Of course, my dear. Let’s sit on the couch.” He vowed to give her no more than two minutes for whatever was on her mind and then the real meeting would start.

She sat close to him, but she stared straight ahead into the room. Her posture was ramrod straight. “Chuck . . . Pastor, about this morning. I . . . I want to apologize for being so forward. I’m not usually that way, not at all. But since I’ve been working here with you, it’s like I can’t help myself. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Chuck had expected that she was worried about something in the office - maybe she couldn’t understand her computer or something. But this was not that kind of thing at all. In fact, it was a perfect opening to what he’d planned to discuss with her.

He connected to her and sent her a feeling of fondness. He made it just strong enough so that she relaxed a bit and turned to look at him. She’d refreshed her makeup. She was still no beauty queen, but at least it didn’t hurt to look at her.

“Rachel . . . my dear . . . there is nothing to apologize for. You are a woman and I am but a man. We are living through extraordinary times and we share an extraordinary gift. It is only natural that you should feel . . .” He paused.

He felt her anticipation as she waited for his next words. He could tell she hungered for them. He let her wait a moment more. “It is only natural that we both should feel something special for each other.”

She was completely transparent to him. She felt relief mixed with expectation. She crossed her legs and turned slightly towards him. Chuck could have sworn that the zipper on her skirt was slightly more unzipped.

Here was the moment he’d been waiting for. “Rachel, have you ever been married?”

Her feeling of relief was instantly replaced with one of surprise mixed with a healthy dose of expectation. “No Chuck. I’ve never met the right person.”

He held out his hand and she took it. She felt his absolute sincerity, his total honesty and openness. It was exactly what he wanted her to feel.

He gazed into her eyes. When he spoke, his voice was wistful, almost a whisper. She leaned fractionally closer to him. “I have, my dear. I lost my wife several years ago. Marriage is a wonderful institution; at least it was for us. When she passed, I thought I would never have feelings for anyone else, but I think God doesn’t want us to be alone. I think he wants us to share our lives with someone else - someone special.”

Chuck realized she was ready. He thought he could probably ask her to do literally anything right now and she would obey without hesitation. He’d never experienced such a feeling of power before - it must be something like what God feels.

He started to move on to the next part, but decided to sink the hook just a bit deeper. Why not?

He used his thumb to stroke the skin on the back of her hand. He sent her a feeling of physical interest, of surprise at himself for feeling that way. It was what she had been hoping for. Her lips parted slightly and he could see the tip of her tongue through them. He realized he could hear her breathing. Her emotions had become very simple - she felt desire.

Oh yes, she was so ready. Time to move on.

Chuck added to his complex mix of emotions a new one - worry. He increased the power of the connection. He felt her concern instantly. “What is it?”

He didn’t answer, but let her feel some embarrassment from him. “Tell me, Chuck. You can tell me anything.”

He made it appear that the words were hard to get out. “It’s that group that I fear Amanda has gone to join. When she used the word ‘they’ I knew she was referring to them - the ones I told you about earlier, the ones who were involved in the murder over the weekend.

“I told you that I thought they were dangerous since they used their ability to connect to enrich themselves through Evan Miller. But now, they have accused me of being involved in the murder that happened on Saturday. They told the police to question me and they did.”

Her desire was forgotten for the moment; it was replaced with shock. Chuck was quick to put her mind at ease. “Oh, don’t be concerned, dearest. I told the police all I knew about the Colonel and that’s that. But here is the bad part - I wanted to tell them about . . . that cult, but I couldn’t. I wanted to tell them how they had the ability to share feelings in an unnatural way and how they were using it to enslave Evan Miller and lord knows how many others.

“But I couldn’t. They would think me crazy and would certainly not believe me. I just don’t know enough about them. I don’t have any proof of what they’ve done; what crimes they may have committed. I don’t even know how many there are or what their plans are. Right in this very room, Roger Seaton boasted that they had something big in mind, but I have no idea what it is.”

Now he sent out sadness and a feeling of impotence. She responded as he knew she would - she was searching for something, anything, that would fix this problem and let them return to their previous conversation.

“Chuck . . . dear . . . Is there anything I can do to help?”

She called him ‘dear.’ How cute. “There may be, my dear, but I hesitate to bring it up. It’s too much, even for someone as giving as you.”

A look of determination settled over her face. “Chuck Cleimer, you tell me what I can do to help. I mean it, you tell me.”

It was the first spark of spunk he’d ever seen in her. He realized he liked it. He hid that from her and instead provided her a feeling of resignation. “Very well, dear. Do you remember what Amanda said when she called? What she advised you to do?”

She found that memory reasonably quickly. “She told me I should quit.”

He smiled and shifted closer to her. Now their shoulders, hips and thighs touched ever so slightly. “Just so, dearest. I know it’s hard to do, but imagine you did quit. Imagine you ran to Amanda and to her new cult friends. Imagine yourself crying about how that awful Pastor Chuck screamed at you for no reason and made awful comments about your appearance. How he called the agency to complain and they fired you and now you have no job and little money.

“But most of all, Rachel darling - most of all, imagine yourself telling them how Chuck was doing things - things in your head. How you felt you were losing your mind. Imagine you told them you needed their help.”

This was genius, of course. He suspected that Matt would fall all over himself in an effort to help a fellow ‘victim’ of that mean old Pastor Chuck. Plus, Rachel was built a heck of a lot better than old prune face and that might come in quite handy.

This was also the tricky part. It was possible she’d break down in tears right here, sobbing about how she couldn’t do such a thing, that it was beyond her. Yet, he’d done all he could to overcome her reluctance; it was up to the good Lord now.

She moved her head even closer to him. They were inches apart. “And I’d try to join them and find out what they are doing - find out whatever I can and report back to you. Is that right?”

He nodded and she continued with hope in her voice, “And then the two of us, we’ll . . . we’ll have time to . . .”

He let her feel his anticipation. “My dear, we’ll have all the time in world.”

Her lips parted again as she moved to kiss him. He hadn’t planned on this, but one couldn’t hurt, could it?

Chapter Eighteen

The trip back to Tanith’s place was made mostly in silence. Bess had a million questions, but it was obvious that Jane wanted to be alone with her thoughts. After one or two short answers, Bess got the hint and was quiet the rest of the way.

When they arrived back in the neighborhood, Tanith found an open spot on a side street. She expertly parallel parked the big SUV. As they exited the vehicle, Bess studied the space they were parked in. “I’d never be able to park in this little space if I tried for a hundred years.”

Tanith laughed, “It’s not so hard. I could teach you, but not with this car.”

That was funny, but Jane didn’t laugh. She was studying herself in the large rear view mirror. She brought out a brush and used it, then refreshed her lipstick.

Tanith and Bess moved to her side, Bess said quietly, “You look fine, Jane. Come on now, your husband is waiting.”

They started to walk, Tanith on one side of Jane, and Bess on the other. Jane’s voice was soft, “I can’t believe they didn’t call me or let me know or anything.”

Tanith answered her just as quietly, “It’s called a surprise, my sister.”

“Yeah,” said Bess, “And if I know Juliet, I’ll bet she’s arranged at least a day or two for you two to be alone.” Her voice trailed off when she spoke those last words. They brought back memories of her own planned date. “I’ll have that date with you soon, Roger. You can bet on it,” she thought to herself. It helped.

They turned the corner and, down the block, they could see Jed sitting on the stoop looking the opposite way. Jane connected to both of them and let them feel her thanks. She walked faster now as she said, “We won’t have that long, but we do have until 2 p.m. tomorrow. That’ll have to do.”

Tanith started to object; to tell Jane they could handle the meeting, but she felt Jane’s determination. She’d made up her mind and there was no need to argue. She was, after all, The Girl That Would Have Her Way.

Their footsteps announced their presence. Jed turned and saw them. He rose slowly, his position on the step making him seem to tower over the landscape. Several feet before they arrived, Bess and Tanith stopped. Jane went on alone.

Jed stepped down to the sidewalk and faced Jane. They seemed to study each other. Jane was concerned because Jed had been in the hospital until just a few hours ago. He hadn’t had the face to face support that the members of the Connection provided for each other. They’d cried together and started to heal together, but Jed had been all alone, coping with his grief by himself.

Jed put his hands on her waist, and gently lifted her until their eyes were on a level with each other. It felt effortless, normal. The last time he’d carried her was after she’d been stabbed. It had hurt to lift her then; he remembered how he’d almost passed out from the pain.

But not now. Now his wife was here, just inches away. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but only one word came out. He said, “Darlin’,” and that was enough. They kissed.

As they embraced, Bess raised her phone and called Juliet. She held the phone so Tanith could hear too. Juliet answered almost instantly, “Bess! I’m so glad to hear from you. How are you doing? Everyone has been worried.”

“I’m okay, my sister. I was kind of, like messed up, but Jane helped me. She came all the way here to help me.”

“And she didn’t tell us she was coming. I know it was because she thought we’d fight her on the idea - we were all total wrecks at the time. I don’t know where she gets the strength.”

The thought of what Jane had done caused Bess’s tears to well up again. They seemed to be there all the time, just under the surface, waiting for any excuse to start flowing. Tanith took her hand and that gave her the strength to push the sorrow aside - for the moment.

She tried to put some life in her voice, “Jed’s here. He’s with Jane. They’re, well, you know.”

Juliet laughed, “I think I probably do. I made them a reservation at a place called An Enchanting Evening. It’s a completely modern mountaintop log cabin with a hot tub, fireplace and porch with rockers; supposed to be very romantic. It’s a ways out - the map says about thirty minutes from you. Is that okay?”

Bess looked to Tanith for that answer. She nodded, “I know where that is. It’s an easy drive. They can take the SUV. The GPS will take them right there.”

Bess smiled at the thought of a romantic getaway. It reminded her of the dinner she had with Roger.

“I’ll text Jed and Jane the address. I only reserved the place for two nights, so tell them to change it to more if they want.”

“I hope they decide to take a few days, but we’ll see,” Bess said. She told Juliet about their meeting with Neal Diamond Philips and Jane’s determination to be at the meeting tomorrow. “You know Jane, once she makes up her mind, she can be a bit stubborn.”

“Tell me about it,’ said Juliet. “Well, hopefully they’ll go back to the cabin after the meeting. Anyway, I have a reservation at a hotel for you and Marina and Tanith. I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do.”

“Marina?” said Bess.

“Haven’t you seen her? She demanded to fly Jed out there. She said she wanted to be ready when Jane decided to return. Jed told her that they could just fly commercial, but she wouldn’t have any part of it. She used her Captain’s voice and I think he was a bit intimidated.”

“Is Laird out here too?” Suddenly, Little Rock seemed to be crowded with Connection people.

“No, he returned the plane here after he dropped you off. He’s reached his allowed number of flight hours, so he can’t fly for another couple of days. Marina flew out by herself. She said it was perfectly safe in the Beech and Laird agreed.

“She was supposed to have started her training today, but I called them and they’ll take her when she’s ready.”

By now, Jed and Jane were sitting on the steps, holding hands and talking softly. “I think our lovebirds have come up for air, Juliet. We’ll go talk to them and get them on their way.’

Jane was obviously conflicted when Bess and Tanith told her about the cabin. “Oh Jane, it’s supposed to be so romantic! You’ve just got to go!”

“I don’t know, Bess. It’s a long way away and we’ve got to be back tomorrow for that . . .”

Tanith cut her off abruptly. She was frowning. “Now you listen to me Jane. Roger put me in charge of finding the building here and, unless you’ve changed things, I’m still in charge. I’m glad to have you at the meeting, but there is no reason for the two of you to stay at the Holiday Inn when Juliet found the perfect place for you. Now take these keys, walk that way, take the first street to the right and use the big black SUV parked about half way down the block. Juliet sent you the address. Now I don’t want to hear any more of this monkey business - take off you two.”

For once, Jane didn’t know what to say. She looked at Jed, “Okay with you?”

He smiled. “Sure, Darlin.’”

Before they left, there were hugs all around. Jane whispered into Tanith’s ear, “Thank you, my sister.”

When they entered the apartment, they found Marina and Nanna deep in conversation.

Nanna looked sheepish when she saw them. “I’m about to talk this young lady’s ear off when I ought to be actin’ like a good host. She tol’ me she’s a pilot and actually flew a plane all the way from New York to here. She did it all by herself. Imagine that.”

Marina stood and embraced Tanith and Bess. “You okay?” she whispered to Bess.

“I’m doing better now.”

The three of them sat side by side on the couch.

“Tanith, Nanna seems to be quite the airplane buff,” said Marina.

That was news to Tanith. Before she could respond, Nanna spoke, “Ain’t no buff at all. It’s just that seein’ a young woman flying a plane, well I’m just impressed, that’s all.”

“She was just starting to tell me how she could spot a Lockheed Electra. She said it was her favorite plane. That sounds like an airplane buff to me,” said Marina with a smile that went from ear to ear.

“Can you really do that, Nanna?” asked Bess. Nanna had been preparing to stand up, but now she sat back and told them about the Electra.

“I must have been no more than six or seven years old. The family moved to a little house near town ‘cause Daddy got a job at a sawmill. Today, that area is the suburbs and it’s chock full of rich people’s houses, but back then, there was just a scattering of small places real close to each other with just a little patch of green yard. The neighbors was nice and I walked to school with a bunch of kids every day.

“After work, Daddy would walk home, talk to Mama for a while, and then eat supper. After that, it was his habit to sit on the porch for a spell while Mama cleaned up the dishes. I’d sit out there with him and finish up my homework. He wouldn’t talk to me until I was done, but when I finished, we’d talk about all kinds of things - mostly stuff I was learning in school.

“The house was a couple of miles from the airport. They had regular passenger service and most nights, I’d hear a plane coming when it was only a tiny dot in the sky. ‘One’s comin’ Daddy,’ I’d say to him. I could always hear it first because I had a young girl’s ears and that sawmill was a noisy place. I think all that noise down there hurt his hearing.

“’Sure, Button,’ he’d say. He called me Button. ‘What kind is it?’”

“I didn’t know what planes was called, so I’d make up a name. I’d say ‘that one is a Ford’ and that one is a ‘RCA.’ He’d laugh. He had a deep laugh that went all the way down inside him.

“One day, I’d just finished my homework right there on the porch, when he got up and went inside. He won’t gone long. When he came back, he gave me a brand new coloring book. He told me he’d bought it for me. The cover said it cost five cents and it hadn’t ever been colored in.

“It was a book about airplanes. There was drawings of all kinds of ‘em. I counted them all - there were sixty seven planes in that coloring book and each and every one was labeled with their name.

“From then on, every time I saw a plane I’d try to match it up with them pictures in that book. Pretty soon, I got where I could recognize most of the planes that flew over - at least the ones that flew over real regular like.

“Daddy would always smile when I’d point out a plane and say, ‘That’s a Nesmith Cougar or that’s a Cessna or that’s an Electra.’ The Electra was my favorite ‘cause that’s what Amelia Earhart flew. There was two kinds; one that had two tails sticking up in the back and a real big one that had four engines - Mama said that one was loud enough to disturb the devil himself.

“I’ll never forget one time Daddy said, ‘Button, I guess when you grow up you’ll be ridin’ in some of them planes. Maybe you’ll even fly them your own self.’”

She looked at Marina now with a hint of wistfulness in her expression, “Daddy was right about a lot of things, but he was wrong about that. I never did get to ride in no airplane, though I surely do enjoy seeing them fly over, even today. They’re hard to recognize now though ‘cause my old eyes ain’t so good.”

It took them all a few seconds to return back to their present time and place. Nanna’s story had transported them all to the Little Rock of long ago, a place of humble houses with tiny green yards, and little girls who dreamed of airplanes.

“I never knew any of that, Nanna” said Tanith, her voice low.

“Lord child, you young folks don’t want to hear a constant stream of remembrances from an old woman. You got you own memories to make.”

Bess wasn’t done with the story, “Why did your father call you ‘Button,’ Nanna?

She smiled, “Ain’t no mystery to that, Bess. When I was born, Daddy said I looked cute as a button. Lord, look at me now. Things sure has changed.”

Nanna changed the mood. “Ain’t it about time you girls get goin’ to your fancy hotel?”

Tanith was surprised to hear this. She’d been worried about telling her grandmother that she wanted to be with her friends.

Nanna saw the surprise on her face. “Marina told me that someone in New York was going to make you a reservation. I love havin’ company, but I know you girls got business to discuss and I admit I was right embarrassed to have Jane sleep on that lumpy couch last night, even if tonight will likely make it worth it.”

Bess giggled. “I was a bit worried when I met Marina and Jed. I had a picture of people sleepin’ all over on the floor. That’s when Marina ‘tol me what the plan was. Jed was so nervous and fidgety that I ‘tol him you’d be along shortly and he could wait on the stoop if he wanted. I ‘spect he’s okay now, though.”

Tanith said, “Are you sure, Nanna? It’s okay?”

“Of course it is, child. You girls go on now.”

“Thanks, Nanna. I’d better pack an outfit for tomorrow. I don’t know if we’ll get back here before our meeting. Marina, you want to see my room?”

Marina followed Tanith and Bess was left alone with Nanna. She studied the old woman, “Nanna, Marina told me she’s always been fascinated with airplanes, even when she was just a kid - just like you.”

Nanna nodded to her and smiled, “But there’s a great difference, Bess. You girls live in a different world. Things has changed so much; ain’t nothing women can’t do if they sets their minds to it. One of these days, girls like you and Tanith and Jane and Marina will be running the world.”

Bess smiled as she rose to go join Tanith and Marina, “We just might, Nanna. We just might.”

Chapter Nineteen

Juliet had booked them two rooms at the Hyatt. They had two adjoining rooms with a connecting door - a door that wasn’t closed all night long.

First they had taken a cab to Target so Bess could pick up some clothes and necessities. She seemed to pick whatever she saw first - she bought jeans, a pair of dark slacks and a couple of shirts along with a pair of flats. Bess bought two bags of items, but it had only taken her about twenty minutes. Tanith remembered the last time they’d been shopping; they’d spent three hours to get only three outfits.

Marina had Connection cash, so she paid for everything and added a generous tip for the cab drivers. Tanith smiled at that.

When they arrived at the hotel, they discovered that one room had two beds and the other had a queen. “You be the queen,” said Tanith to Marina. “Bess and I will be your lowly twin servants.” They all laughed.

Later that night, they all sat cross legged on the queen bed, talking. Tanith and Marina wore PJs, while Bess bought gym shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in.

Bess told Tanith about the time Roger took her and Marina out for some time away from the Connection. “I think we were both a little jealous, because we were really catty with each other. Roger didn’t even notice though.”

It was a sweet story, but it triggered tears in Tanith. She’d only known Roger a very short time, but she loved him the way they all did and her nerves were still raw with all that had happened over the last two days. It didn’t take much to make her weep, and of course, she was joined by Bess and Marina.

As they dried their eyes, Marina said, “Sometimes I can go a whole hour without thinking of him. But it really helped today when BP let us see him.”

Bess was surprised, “You saw him? How did that happen? Both Jane and I were here.” Other than Roger, they were the only two that had directly connected to BP.

For a few seconds Marina looked like she was struggling with her answer. Eventually, she smiled at them and spoke, “I probably shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to tell you a secret. I promised not to tell Jane, but I didn’t promise not to tell you. Will you keep it to yourselves?”

Tanith and Bess looked at each other as if they were gauging who was the bigger blabbermouth. They grinned, “Sure we will, now spit it out, my sister.”

Marina sat back on a pillow and stretched out her legs. “This morning, I was with Edie when she was talking to Jane. Jed had told her where Jane was, and Edie was checking to see how things were going down here.

“I could only hear one side of the conversation, but Edie got real sad at one point so that I thought she was going to cry. She’s been a rock, that’s all I can say. She handled the cops and took charge because she had to.

“Anyway, Jane said something that cheered her up. When they were done, Edie told me to come with her. I had no idea where we were going, but I went.

“We ended up at Jerry and Shannon’s apartment. Jerry had taken the kids out to a park and we found Shannon alone. She didn’t look good; she was really pale.

“Edie noticed it too and asked Shannon if she was okay. She said she’d been up with the kids most of the night - they were upset at how the grownups were acting. She said that Kari kept coming into their room - she’d just slip in and stand there silently holding her favorite blanket until Shannon or Jerry took her back to bed. It was hard on them too.

“Well, that seemed to explain how Shannon looked. Edie then told her what Jane had said. I was shocked. Jane wanted Shannon to call BP and have him connect directly to her and then, through her, let the others feel Roger still living inside him. Jane said that it made things so much better to know, for certain, that he wasn’t really gone for good - that we’ll see him again.”

Bess’s lower lip quivered slightly. “It really helped me,” she said, almost in a whisper.

Marina continued, “Shannon seemed to be as shocked as I was. She said, ‘Me? I . . . I don’t know if I’m strong enough.’

“Then Edie said, ‘Jane thinks you are.’ She made it clear that was enough for her. ‘Jane promised to contact BP and have him standing by. I guess he’s probably here now.’

“I looked around the room like I might be able to see him. No one else noticed. Shannon stood up and said she’d try if Jane wanted her to. She looked a little unsteady so Edie stood on one side of her and I stood on the other.

“She didn’t waste any time. She called out for BP. He must have been there all the time because she got a look of surprise on her face. She looked at me wide eyed and then she collapsed. Her knees just totally gave way and she fell straight down. Both Edie and I caught her and Edie carried her to the couch all by herself. She yelled for me to call Juliet and tell her we needed to get Shannon to a doctor right away. Neither Edie or I knew any doctors in New York.”

“Oh my God,” said Tanith.

“Is she all right?” Bess said, her lip quivering even more.

Marina smiled at them. “She’s fine. This is a good secret, not a bad one. Let me finish and you’ll see.”

Bess and Tanith relaxed just a bit. Tanith was surprised to find that Bess was holding her hand.

“Well, before I could call, Shannon came around. She’d heard what Edie had said about a doctor and told her it wasn’t necessary. Edie told her that something was obviously wrong with her and that she absolutely had to see a doctor. Edie can be a bit pushy at times, if you know what I mean.

“Shannon sat up and smiled at us both. Now here’s the big secret. She said, ‘I always feel terrible from almost the first minute when I’m pregnant. I’d just thrown up five minutes before you arrived, so I guess I’m a little weak after all.’

“It took me a few seconds to make sense of her words and then it was all clear. Her face had a look of happiness on it. She said, ‘But I did connect to BP just now. I felt him in my head! I’m sorry to faint, but I did it! Jane was right, I am strong enough.’

“Edie said, ‘that stringbean usually is’ and we all laughed and hugged. I was still concerned about her though and asked her again about seeing a doctor. She told me that Roger had looked inside her just a few days ago and everything was just fine. He even let them see that it would be a boy. Roger promised not to tell anyone and, like always, he kept his promise.

“Shannon said she would tell everyone soon, but that they all needed some time now without more drama. She made us specifically promise to not tell Jane. She said, ‘she’s got enough on her mind right now and I don’t want to be treated special. As soon as I get through this first trimester, I’ll be fine for months. I want to do my share and she’ll need all of us.’

“Well, that’s the big secret, what do you think?”

Bess and Tanith were stunned. They had certainly not expected this, but the thought of a new life starting amidst all the sorrow and heartache of the last few days was more than welcome, it was joyful - and joy had been in short supply.

They laughed and hugged and came up with names for the newest member of the Connection. Bess wondered that two of her sisters were now pregnant and she was the only human in the universe who knew about both of them. For a fleeting second, Bess felt a twinge of jealousy. She had never seriously thought about becoming a mother. Intellectually, she knew that she probably would someday, but that day seemed a very long time away in the future.

Out of the blue, she had a memory of some things Roger wrote about in the Revelation - about how he would envision his glands squirting some kind of juice into his bloodstream. Bess had always thought that was a funny thing to imagine, but now she felt something she’d never felt before and she knew that some gland had been triggered by Marina’s story. It was just a touch, the smallest amount, but she knew it would happen again one day and would be far more powerful - it would be a longing. A longing to be a mother.

Her next thought was of Roger. In her mind, she started to tell him all about it, but she stopped and the feeling disappeared.

Chapter Twenty

“Absolutely not. You are simply not ready.”

Rachel got that pouting look on her face that totally reversed all the good that her new makeup regimen had accomplished. Chuck guessed the whining would be next.

He was right. “But Chuck, we can’t wait forever. If we wait too long, they’ll be suspicious. They’ll want to know why I hung around with the supposedly mean Chuck Cleimer for days and days. The longer we put this off, the harder it will be to pull off.”

She smiled at her unintended sloganeering and moved even closer to him. She ran her hand through his hair.

That type of behavior would have been unseemly in the office, but he simply could not properly prepare Rachel there - there were too many interruptions. By early afternoon, he told Wendell to cancel the rest of his appointments and then leave when she was done with that chore.

She added a tiny bit of insolence to her scowl, “Fine, but I’ll put in for full hours. I didn’t come all the way out here for half pay.”

He nodded his agreement. He just wanted her gone.

When he told Rachel he’d like to prepare her for her role as a member of the Roger cult, she’d tried to think why that was necessary, “But Chuck, darling, I’ll just do exactly what you said. I’ll tell them I need their help because you were doing things to - to my head.”

She really didn’t understand, but if she was to have any chance behind enemy lines in Rogerland, he knew he’d have to be patient and explain it all to her.

“My dear, I don’t believe you fully appreciate the potential for harm that exists with these people. Their ability to connect is quite advanced - why Roger himself sat in this very room and tried to connect to me. I blocked him, of course, but nevertheless I could feel the evil that was in him. Look at what they did to the Colonel, my dear. The poor man fought back in the only way he could.

“If they realize you are there to spy on them - well, it could certainly be dangerous. I’ll give you a list of all the members that I am familiar with, but several of them are females and I know for a fact that Roger was connecting to them and that more than one of them thought they were in love with him. It’s quite sordid, and I hesitate to even say it, but for your own good I feel I must - I would not be at all surprised to find some, or even all, of the females pregnant over there. It’s possible they may try to enslave you in the same way if your deception is discovered - or worse.”

Rachel was shocked at this. Chuck connected to her and let her feel his deep concern - a concern for her. “So dearest, we must prepare. You must learn how to cloak your feelings so that they will not be able to detect your deception. You are so honest and open with me, but we must reserve that for only our times together. You must also learn to broadcast false feelings so that they will perceive only those feelings that you want them to receive.”

She had agreed to this training, of course. She would agree to anything. He gave her directions to his home and asked her to walk quickly - like a resident out for some exercise. He didn’t want to be seen bringing her to his home.

When she arrived, he’d opened the door and escorted her inside before she could even ring the bell. A fleeting look outside found no one in sight.

No sooner had the door closed than she embraced him and offered her lips. He accepted.

Chuck had not actually missed the physical part of a relationship with a female. His wife’s illness had precluded that for quite a while, and when she passed, it was almost a relief to not have to deal with any of it. Women were demanding in so many ways that it was quite tiring. He threw himself into his work and it occupied his life quite nicely.

But now, some long dormant part of him appeared to have wakened. What had started as a single kiss had become more - much more.

He took her hand and held it. “My dear, let us concentrate on the facts. First, you have made remarkable progress in less than a full day. I will admit that your ability to disguise your feelings is now quite good. I believe you have a talent for such things.

“But your ability to send over false feelings is not as advanced. This is the key, Rachel. You must be able to convince them that you are feeling one thing when you are, in fact, feeling the opposite.”

The pout expanded. “But Chuck, I can do it.”

“No you can’t, my dear. You’re not good enough yet.”

“Am too.”

Chuck sighed. “All right, my dear, let me propose a test. When you are able to pass it, I will agree you are ready.”

Her face lit up, “A test! Let’s do it now, darling. I’ll pass, I know I will.”

Chuck took her in his arms, his lips inches from hers. “All right, dearest, send me a false feeling. Send me hatred - an intense hatred for Pastor Chuck Cleimer.”

He felt her surprise at the nature of the test, but immediately tried to comply. Chuck kissed her gently, his hands pulling her too him.

She actually did a reasonably good job of it for several seconds. Chuck would feel cold anger from her, but it didn’t last long. As the kiss progressed, her feelings of hate became less convincing, more artificial - obviously false.

He pulled away ever so slightly. He could hear her breathing. “See?” he said gently.

She nodded and this time her lips sought out his. “I do my love. Let’s keep practicing.”

At five minutes before two, Jed and Jane were nowhere in sight. That was fine because Neal Diamond Philips hadn’t shown up either.

Marina, Tanith and Bess stood in front of the gate that led to the factory. Through the fence, they could see the paved driveway divide as one part went towards some parking spaces in the front and the other ended at the loading dock in back. There were weeds growing in the numerous cracks in the roadway. Windows that must have been twelve feet tall were placed regularly along all three sides that they could see of the building. The wood on them looked weathered and several had individual panes missing.

“Kind of rough looking,” said Marina.

Tanith agreed, “Yeah, that it is. I hope the inspector gets here soon. No way we’re going to talk a deal unless we know the place is salvageable.”

Bess looked at her phone to see if she had any messages. There was nothing new from anyone. “When I talked to them late yesterday, they promised to be out here as close to 2 p.m. as they could. They said they’d certainly be here before 2:30.”

The three of them were all alone. The cab driver had asked if they would like him to wait until others arrived, but Tanith told him “no.” This place was a bit secluded, but it wasn’t dangerous. She looked at Bess - and of course, they had Bess.

Bess had dressed in casual slacks and a man’s style shirt. She had always been style conscious, but now she didn’t seem to pay a lot of attention to her clothes. Tanith wore the long skirt outfit she’d bought for their meeting. Her sisters had seen her in it, but she didn’t have any other feminine business outfits.

Marina had packed only casual clothes, so she wore tight Capri pants and sandals with a sleeveless top. Bess told her she looked “summery.”

That was a good choice because it was a hot day. They moved over towards some shade when Bess said, “I hear someone coming.”

An SUV appeared around a bend in the road and Tanith recognized it as the one she’d rented from her former employers. It pulled to a stop facing the locked gate. The passenger door opened and Jane got out. She was wearing her skinny jeans.

Jed opened the driver’s door and got out, but before he could join them, they all heard another vehicle approach.

It turned out to be a land yacht, specifically an eighteen foot long, 1984 red Cadillac Deville. Its large white walled tires crunched over pebbles as it approached and, as it came to a stop, the front end bobbed up and down until it finally calmed itself into motionlessness. The paint was faded all around, except for the left rear fender which was a much darker shade of red. The only things that looked new were the large expanses of chrome that seemed to outline the car. It shone brightly in the afternoon sun.

The driver’s door opened with the screech of a metal hinge that had gone too long without oil. Neal Diamond Philips climbed out, still wearing his cowboy hat.

“Well, lookee here,” he said in what was almost a bellow. “Looks like we got us a whole passel of folks to look at this fine property. More’s the merrier. That’s what Neal Diamond Philips says. More’s the merrier.”

He walked over to Jed with his hand out. Jed took it and introduced himself. “Glad to meet you Mr. Cunningham. Round here, we normally call each other by our first names, but I understand that you people like a little more formality.” He looked at Tanith and his eyes narrowed just slightly. “That’s fine with Neal Diamond Philips, it surely is.”

His eyes scanned the others, only pausing on Jane for a second. They then reached Marina and his smile got wider. He strode towards her with his hand out. “Howdy there, ma’am, I guess you know my name by now. And who might you be?

“I’m Marina Gonzalez,” she said as she shook using only the tips of her fingers.

“Oh, Gonzalez! The guy who details my car is a Gonzalez, fine man.” He paused as if he was studying his memory. “Como estasMaria?” he said as he continued to hold her hand. He was almost the same height as Marina so that they eyes were at about the same level, but his were looking down at her chest.

She smiled sweetly and withdrew her hand. “Hola señor Philips. Mis hermanas me dicen que eres un cerdo real.”

For the first time in any of their memories, Jane giggled.

Neal Diamond Philips raised his eyes and announced, “Now that’s just fine. Well, I guess we got the pleasantries out of the way so it’s time to get down to bidness. Let me unlock this here gate and we can have a look at this fine property.”

He worked the lock and opened the gate. It squeaked slightly less than his car door. He motioned to Marina to enter, “Ladies first.”

She walked by him quickly saying, “Gracias, culo gordo.” Late last night, Bess had described the scene in Philips office and Marina laughed so hard she almost fell off the bed.

“You’re welcome!” he said as he stood aside for Tanith.

Shortly afterwards, the inspector arrived and he and Jed went off to check the foundation. The rest of the Connection members went inside followed by Neal Diamond Philips. The inside was one large open area with what turned out to be small offices that protruded out from one wall. The large windows were on all four walls and they let in lots of light. They started several feet off the floor and reached nearly to the open ceiling. Tanith thought they were designed this way so workers wouldn’t be distracted by being able to even see the outside world.

Overhead, a series of tracks crisscrossed the ceiling with one large pulley hanging down over the center of the floor. “This must be the crane,” Tanith said to no one in particular.

“That it is Tam . . . Miz Watson. Looks solid too. This place used to be a bag factory. They made them paper sacks that you’d get at the dime store and take your lunch in. They’d get big heavy rolls of paper in here and move them around with that crane. Today all the bags is plastic. Probably got robot factories in China that makes them a million at a time.

“Anyway, when they closed, some old boys started making saddles and other horse do-dads here. That why they built these offices. Had some heavy duty sewing machines in here and used the crane to move big piles of leather from one to another. They made a go of it for a few years and then moved some where’s else. I don’t know where exactly, probably China or India or one of them places.”

They split up as each of them examined parts of the building. It didn’t take a lot of effort since it was basically open space. At the back was a more permanent looking structure. Tanith started to peek inside, “That there’s the bathroom, Miz Watson. I wouldn’t recommend using it right at this time.”

Jane studied each of the offices. They were small and empty. They’d have to be removed and something a bit more substantial built for meetings or whatever. The building was certainly big enough to make the device from the plans BP had given them, but it would also need a lot of work. It would be expensive and would take time - it was the time that Jane worried about.

On the wall in the last office, was a calendar. It had only one sheet on it - from December 1989. Someone had written notes or reminders in the blocks for several of the days that month. They were written in a feminine hand. There was “get turkey” and “Doctor” and “School Play.”

On December 24th, Jane read, “Last day here. Never to return. God bless us all.”

They spent almost two hours there before finally huddling together - all except Neal Diamond Philips. He was sitting in the shade in the driver’s seat of his caddy with the door open. He was out of earshot.

Tanith looked at Jed, “What do you think?” She knew the inspector was the expert, but she wanted the opinion of her brother first.

“Tanith, I think it’ll do if we want to spend the time and money on it. Jim, go ahead and tell us what you saw.”

The inspector looked at his notes and seemed to be reading. “Foundation is good, no signs of sagging or cracking. That’s the most important thing. Roof has a good strong pitch so I can see it pretty well from the ground. It’s metal and hasn’t been painted in a while, but it doesn’t seem to be rusted and there are no signs of large leaks inside. Like everything here, it’ll need some maintenance, but it can be done.

“Brick needs a bit of pointing here and there but it’s sound. The bones of the building are actually not bad. Now, the windows are pretty much shot. They are rotted in many places and need lots of small panes of glass. They could perhaps be restored, but it would probably be just as cheap to replace them.

“Inside, those offices would have to be removed and the bathrooms completely gutted and redone. Electrical and plumbing will have to be updated. Other than that, there’s not much wrong in there. I can’t really tell about the crane, it looks okay, but I’d need to get a lift truck in here to examine it up close before I can be sure.”

It was a long list of things, but nothing surprising. Tanith asked her next question, “Now Jim, I’m not going to hold you to this. I just want a ballpark guess based on your experience with such things. To fix this place up and bring it up to modern standards as well as build some offices and meeting rooms inside - what’s your guess as to what it would cost.”

Jed had told him that they were planning on doing metal work of some kind in here and that they’d need to have an idea of the cost before they put in an offer. “Well, as long as all you want is a guess - you might be able to get by with a million, but two million would make this place usable for another hundred years.”

They all considered that number. Bess whispered to herself, “but we only need it for seven.”

Marina paid the inspector in cash for today’s work and Jane hired him to do a formal written inspection of the building. They were told it would take about a week. She offered a fifty percent bonus if it was done in three days, and Jim agreed.

As he drove away, Neal Diamond Philips came walking over. He pulled out a stained handkerchief and wiped his forehead with it. He then blew his nose loudly.

“Well, folks. I hope it’s good news. Neal Diamond Philips is hot and ready to deal.” He grinned at Marina when he said that, showing off his too large and too white teeth.

Tanith glanced at Jane and received a slight nod from her in response. It was still her job to get the building.

“Mr. Philips, do you have a price in mind?” she said.

He realized that, of this whole group, he was going to have to deal with this ball buster. Oh well, at least she wasn’t yelling and throwing a fit like she did yesterday. Control could be hard to come by for some of these females.

“I sure do, Miz Watson. I talked to the owner just this morning. He had big plans for this place, but they been slow to work out, so he’s ready for you nice folks to take it for only 500K.”

Tanith frowned and he quickly added, “He won’t real keen on going that low, but Neal Diamond Philips told him you folks wanted to restore the old girl and then make stuff inside her - right here in the good ‘ol USA. Right there, that’s what did it.”

He smiled at Tanith. The girl won’t half bad looking if you liked her type.

Tanith took a step closer to him and he took an involuntary half step back. “Did you see the same place we did? We’ll offer $299,000 contingent on an acceptable inspection report which will be done in three days. We can then close anytime, for cash.”

This was a problem. He had indeed met with the owner that morning, but he hadn’t quite told them exactly what had really happened. The owner was ecstatic to have a chance to unload this dump. It had been on the market for ten years with one agent or another. Neal Diamond Philips had signed a contract to sell it a few years ago for a five percent commission, but that had long since expired, so now he was working on a handshake basis with the owner. He told him that they might get as much as $500K, but that it would likely be lower.

“I tell you what, Neal. If you sell it for under $300K I’ll pay you 3%. But, if you get more than $300K, I’ll pay you 8%. Now I really don’t care which - just get out there and sell the damn thing. Every year I’ve been paying taxes on that property for nothing.”

He was so close to the bonus round, he could taste it. The only problem was that this girl didn’t look real flexible. Women could go all stubborn on you with no notice. He’d have to play this carefully.

“I appreciate the offer, Miz Watson. I got my car phone right here to call the owner, but I’m ‘fraid he’d skin me alive if I went to him with an offer that low.” He held up his phone to confirm the power it possessed. He flipped it open with one hand. Bess giggled at the sight.

“But don’t ever let it be said that Neal Diamond Philips ain’t willing to negotiate. No sir, all he asks is that both parties give a little. How about we split the difference there Miz Watson? That makes the price $400K. You’re getting’ a bargain,” he said hopefully.

Tanith didn’t need him to do the math for her. She just stared silently at him.

After ten full seconds, the silence became too much. “Now come on, we got to be able to go up just a bit, don’t we?” He looked at Marina, but got nothing but a stare from her. Next he looked at Jane and quickly decided she wouldn’t be coming to his rescue. Lastly he looked at Jed. Perhaps this big cowboy could talk some sense into these females.

But he didn’t say anything either. Neal Diamond Philips pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his entire face. He returned his attention back to Tanith. “Now it just ain’t fair, Miz Watson,” he said, his voice pleading. “Can’t you come up just a tad, just a hair?”

Tanith took another step towards him. His only reaction was to slump his shoulders.

“I might go slightly more, but you have to agree to three things.”

His voice had a defeated tone. “What are they?”

“First, if we make a deal today, you leave the keys with us so we can get the inspection done without you being around.”

He started to feel a sliver of hope. This was easy enough. “Sure,” he said.

“Next, you agree to not come to the closing.”

That was a strange request, but he didn’t mind at all. “No problem.”

“Lastly, take off your hat and apologize to Marina.”

Right at that moment, he despised this Tammy girl almost as much as he did his ex-wife.

But he was stuck. He removed the hat and put it over his heart. “I’m sorry,” he said to Marina. He had no idea what he was sorry for.

The contrast of the pure white scalp and jet black long hair on the sides was comical, but Tanith didn’t smile. He put the hat back on.

“Okay, Mr. Philips. We’ll go to $330K.”

Neal Diamond Philips should have been happy. He should have been jumping for joy over this nice commission.

But he wasn’t. He had a sudden sense that, as much of a ball buster as Tammy Watson was, the others in this crew might even be worse.

He accepted their offer and got out of there as fast as the caddy would take him.

Chapter Twenty One

The dust from Neal Diamond Philips’ hasty retreat was still in the air when they all embraced Tanith and congratulated her.

She was embarrassed by all the attention. “I . . . I was shaking like a leaf. I was so scared that I’d blow it and we’d have to find something else.”

“No one could have done better,” said Jane.

Jane led them all to the SUV. They climbed in and she started the car and put the AC on high. It was hot outside. “Bess, can you call Juliet and see who’s around? I’d like to have a little Connection meeting if we can.”

“Sure. I’ll get it done in a jiff,” said Bess as she tapped on her phone.

Soon, Bess was talking to someone and explained what Jane wanted. “They’re all there except Amanda and Matt. They were exhausted after having been up for almost two days. Juliet made them leave to get some rest. Everyone else is there; they were curious how our meeting would turn out. Juliet is gathering them together now. I’m putting the phone on speaker.”

In a few seconds, they heard Juliet’s voice. “We’re all here, Bess. Tell Jane we’re ready for her.”

Jane smiled at each of them in the car, one at a time. She began, “I think this is the first time we’ve had a real Connection meeting since . . . since Saturday night. I know we’re all still hurting, but we know what we have to do and we know how long we have - we can’t afford to wait. Roger wouldn’t want us to.”

At the mention of Roger, Bess felt a tear run down her cheek. She didn’t wipe it.

“Today, we took the first real step - we have the building we’re going to use to build this device. Jed says it should be fine for our purposes and Tanith did an absolutely magnificent job of finding it and making the deal. I’ll let Marina tell you exactly what happened later, but trust me, it’s a story that will be a Connection legend.”

Bess was sitting between Marina and Tanith in the back seat. She grinned at Marina, that single tear seeming to defy gravity on her chin.

“But this is only the first step of many. Last night, I thought of some things we should start on right away. I’ll just list them. I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m assigning these tasks without talking to you, so if you have a problem, speak up.”

She paused and heard nothing but silence. The Connection was waiting for her.

“Okay, then. I think Jed should stay out here and keep the building project on track. He tells me we’ll need an architect to do a design so that the builders will be able to quote on the job. I’ve asked him to push hard to get it done as quickly as possible - if we’re done early with building this . . . this thing, then fine. But we cannot be late.

“But we also need to get the machines we’ll need for inside the building. Jerry, I’d like you to get started on that. Make a list, find out delivery times, work with Jed to have stuff arrive as soon as it can be accepted down here.”

Jerry Wu sounded happy to have his role defined, “Sure Jane, you can count on me.”

“I know I can, my brother. Now Edie, please take charge of the legal aspects of buying this building. I don’t trust these good old boys down here and I know you won’t let them get away with anything.

“You got it, Janie.”

That woman just could not call her by her real name. Jane ignored it since Edie would be Edie. “Marina, I want you in training as soon as is practical - and Laird too if he needs it. Do you think you can get him to work for us - or even join the group?”

Marina blushed and Bess took her hand, “He’s . . . he’s already type qualified on the G450 but I think he’s due for a recurrent - a refresher course. As to joining, well, I think I might be able to do that,” she said in a quiet voice.

“I hope so. We need another pilot for sure and we still need hundreds of new members.

“Next, Tanith. It looks like you’re our properties person. I’d like you to take care of all the permits and other things we need to get construction happening absolutely as soon as possible here.

“I’m thinking we will need a building somewhere else too - Denver would be fine, but it’s up to Bess. I want to set up a datacenter. It’ll be our communications hub and we’ll run our web site and do whatever we need to do to keep track of everyone. Bess, you’re in charge with Evan and Matt providing support and resources.”

Marina squeezed Bess’s hand. She’d just been tasked with setting up a nationwide network, building a web presence and creating a database to keep track of the membership of the connection. And her support person was going to be the multi-billionaire owner of a high tech company. It didn’t seem possible. “We’ll do our best, Jane.”

“As you can see, I think we need to spread the organization out. Having us all in one place has been a blessing, but it also makes us an easy target if anyone wishes us harm - we saw that on Saturday. As soon as we publicly announce - if we do, that is - we’ll have the attention of all kinds of people. I want us to be spread out and careful.

“Evan, it’s kind of hard to assign you any other tasks because of your notoriety. Every time you step out in public, you’re recognized. Any ideas?”

There was silence from New York. Jane pictured Juliet and Evan exchanging glances.

“Jane, Juliet and I have been talking. After the press from over the weekend, the company stock dropped almost four dollars. Having my name attached to these non-company activities is really not fair to the stockholders or employees. It’s regained most of that loss today, but I think it’s time I announced my retirement from active management of the company. I think the markets will applaud that move since I’ve been there from the beginning and they always like the arrival of fresh blood. I’d like to then work with Edie to set up an offshore source of funds so that you can have access to whatever you need without it being obvious the money is from me or even from the Connection church accounts. And I’ll be glad to work with Bess on anything I can help her with. Being away from the company will actually free me to do more things.”

Jane was surprised that Evan was giving up his place at his company for them. However, the surprise didn’t last long. “All right Evan, I understand. Let’s you and Juliet and Edie and I meet to discuss a plan in a day or two.”

“Shannon, as of now, you and Bess are the only two who can heal.” She purposely didn’t mention that they could also kill. “I’d like you to be in charge of examining any new recruits for this ability. See if it can be taught. I have not given up on learning how to do this yet. If you can put up with me snapping at you in frustration, please work with me on it.”

Jane looked at her phone. She’d put some notes in it to refer to. “Allen and April, I’m sorry about your honeymoon.”

“It’s fine, Jane. We need to be here with everyone. We’ll steal away one of these days.”

“All right, then. I’d like both of you to work with Bess on our messaging and recruiting. It’ll take the hand of a good salesman to figure out how to approach all the people we need to get to join. And April, it’ll take a reassuring manner to convince them to join us. Also, I’d like you to make sure Matt and Amanda are brought in the right way and then put them on your team too.

“Okay, I’m almost done. Juliet, I’ve got maybe the hardest job of all for you. I want you to do whatever it takes to help me not make too many mistakes. I don’t care if you have to yell at me, or lock me up in a room - tell me when I’m wrong, when I’m being stubborn, when I’m not seeing the big picture. I promise, my sister, I’ll listen to every word you say.”

It was surprising to hear Jane admit she might need help, but it bordered on shocking to hear her ask for it, humbly and before them all.

“I’ll do whatever I can do for you, Jane,” Juliet said softly. Each and every one of them felt the same way.

For a moment, Father Tom thought that he’d been forgotten. He was wrong about that. “Tom . . . I tried to think of a better way to say it, but I couldn’t. I’d like you to be the person that anyone can approach with any kind of problem knowing that they can trust you to do the right thing. I’d like you to offer advice to any of us, to look over any of our shoulders, to point out any mistakes we make - hopefully before we make them. I’d like you to do the things a priest would do.”

Jane paused and both groups were silent. When she started again, her voice was softer, less sure of itself, more human, “Tom, I know I didn’t express that right. I’d never ask anything of you that would compromise your commitment to your faith. I guess I want you to be our conscience, someone we can rely on to tell us “no” if we are straying.”

Tom wondered at the workings of God. For most of his life, he’d been trained as a priest, but had never been allowed to actually be one. Now these wonderful people, his friends, were calling him to serve. It was as if God had saved him for this moment.

Jane spoke and they could all feel her burden, “I’m sorry, Tom. I didn’t say it right . . .”

“No Jane, you said it perfectly, beautifully. I’ll gladly do my best to lend an ear if anyone needs to talk, my shoulder if anyone needs to cry, and my advice, whether anyone wants it or not. That’s about as good a job description of a priest as there is.”

In the SUV, Jane ran her fingers through her hair. It wasn’t in her eyes, but old habits die hard. “Thank you, Tom,” she said softly.

When she spoke again, her voice had regained its strength, “Okay my friends, that’s it. I’ve run on long enough, now it’s your turn. Who has questions or comments?”

No one said anything. Jane looked at Bess and got a smile back. “Good or bad, that’s fine,” she said, encouraging them to speak up.

Again, the silence stretched on until Edie broke it. “Jane, do you mean to tell us you spent last night putting this plan together? Girl, maybe you need to have a little session with Father Tom to discuss wifely duties.”

Two sets of laughter, separated by eleven hundred miles, merged inside the SUV. Jane laughed too; she couldn’t help it. Jed whispered that she was blushing and that made her face even redder.

It took a while for order to be restored. When Jane spoke, it was with happiness in her voice. “Well Edie, if you must know, that plan only took a part of last night and I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to decide if I need to consult with Tom. I doubt I will, though.”

Bess giggled in the back seat. It must have been contagious because Tanith and Marina joined in. Jane continued, “But since you’re so curious, counselor, I’ll give you a full report when I see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Instantly, the phone made sounds that indicated several people in New York were speaking at once. Bess said, “No Jane.”

Jane let the noise die down. “Now listen everyone. There’s nothing I’d rather do than stay at that wonderful place Juliet found for us, but we can’t let up - not ever. Seven years seems like a long time, but I have a feeling we’re going to need every bit of it. The plane to New York will leave here tomorrow at 9 a.m. under the command of Captain Gonzalez. Bess and I will be on it. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

That was final and they all knew it. Jane was anything but indecisive. “We’ll see you then,” said Juliet as she ended the call.

Jed leaned over the center console and hugged Jane. Tanith and Marina looked away, but Bess smiled and took it all in. He whispered in Jane’s ear, “You did great, Snugglie.”

When they parted, Jane put the car in gear and took off with a screech. “I didn’t catch that last part - what Jed said.” It was Bess.

Jane took her eyes of the road for a moment and stared at Jed. Her eyes became slits. “Someone should be glad of that,” she said. “Very glad.”

Chapter Twenty Two

By 8 a.m. everyone was at the airport. Marina left them to go attend to her preflight duties, while the rest of the group went to a coffee shop in the general aviation terminal.

Jed ordered the Lumberjack special with eggs, bacon and pancakes. Jane remembered the last and only time she’d made him breakfast - he hadn’t particularly liked it. She ordered a bowl of fruit and a yogurt. Jed smiled at her.

The waitress looked a question at Bess and Tanith. “Oh, we’ve already eaten. But I’ll have a coffee if you don’t mind,” said Tanith.

“Yeah, I’ll have one too,” echoed Bess. “Coffee down here is pretty good.”

They were mostly silent until after the drinks arrived. They were close enough so that the momentary quiet wasn’t awkward.

After her first sip, Bess spoke up. “So . . . how did you like the cabin? I looked at pictures of it on the net. It’s looks so romantic, like the coolest place ever!”

Jed grinned at Bess and Tanith, “Well, it won’t real cool in there. Kind of warm, actually.”

Bess and Tanith both laughed as Jane gave her new husband a painful sideways kick to the shin. “I guess it’ll take a while to get used to being married,” he said. “I just hope my ankles can take it.”

Jane changed the subject. There was no telling what that boy would say. It was like he had a short circuit between his brain and his mouth. She realized she had her work cut out for her - and she looked forward to every minute of it.

“Tanith, thanks for getting the SUV. We accomplished a lot on this trip, but we needed a car for sure. Little Rock isn’t like New York; here you really need a car. I want you to buy one.”

Tanith wasn’t sure she understood. Jane’s words were no more expected than if she’d told her to get in the cockpit and help Marina fly. “You want me to buy a car?” She repeated what Jane had said to give herself time to consider what the words meant.

“Sure, Tanith. You bought a big building, didn’t you? Just get what you need, but we’ll have people coming and going, so a big SUV is probably the right choice. Jed, you need one too.”

“Yeah, darling’,” he agreed, “but mine ought to be a pickup for hauling and stuff.”

Tanith was still shocked. “But . . . it’ll cost a lot. You want me to just go out and buy a car? Should I get a new one or used or what? Should I get three written quotes and . . .”

Jane cut her off. “Tanith, the money isn’t important. Sure we need to be careful, but in reality we have plenty of money. Evan and Juliet are taking care of that - with Edie’s help to keep it all tidy.

“What we don’t have is time. If we need something to help us move the ball forward, then we simply need to get it. You and Jed need wheels out here. The streets aren’t filled with cabs and things are spread out a lot. Therefore you need something and therefore you should get what you need. Talk to Juliet about how to pay, but you two get vehicles.”

Tanith nodded her understanding with a smile. Jane didn’t coddle her - she treated her like a capable person and trusted her to decide things on her own. It felt good.

Soon their orders arrived. Jane stared at Jed’s plate and shook her head slowly. “I hope you’re planning on doing some real labor today to work off all those calories. I won’t have a fat husband.”

“I don’t think you saw a whole lot of fat back up at the cabin, but I did see a whole lot of skinny.”

Bess and Tanith giggled. Jane thought to herself, “I won’t be skinny for long.” She put her hand on her stomach, just at the spot she had so often placed Roger’s hand.

They said their goodbyes at the door that led to the parking area for all the planes. Non-passengers weren’t allowed to go outside.

Jane and Jed kissed and whispered to each other. He watched her go with a smile on his face. After the hugs, Tanith didn’t feel like smiling. As she watched her sisters leave, she felt alone. Her vision blurred.

“Well, I guess we got our orders from the Lord High Janie herself, Tanith. Let’s go get us some vehicles before she comes back with a whole passel of other plans for us to listen to. You got any idea where we should start?”

Tanith felt better almost instantly. Jed was so funny and he and Jane were so happy. Momentarily, she wondered if she would ever find someone that she could love in that way.

She quickly pushed those thoughts aside. They were the thoughts of a romantic young girl, not a capable adult.

“I think I know just the place,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Marina met them at the base of the stairs. To Jane, they seemed rickety - like a single step would cause them to collapse in a heap. Suddenly, she felt her own heartbeat.

“Bess, can you go ahead and climb aboard? I want to talk to Jane.”

Bess got a quizzical look on her face, but didn’t say anything. She just smiled and went up the stairs. Jane watched her disappear into the flying beast. It was like it had eaten her.

Marina held out her hand. “Ready to go? It’s early, the skies are clear and our flight should be smooth today. I’ll do my best to keep it that way.”

Jane took her hand, but didn’t move. “It’s always the first step that’s so hard, Marina. I don’t know why I’m like this. I feel like such a baby.”

Marina sensed she wanted to talk for a moment. “How was the flight out here? When I learned you snuck out and flew by yourself, I was so worried. You should have told me; I’d have found a way to fly you.”

“The flight was awful. It bumped and groaned the whole way. I could feel the wings getting ready to snap off at any moment. The pilot said there were “little bumps” but they felt like earthquakes to me. I was a mess the whole time. And I couldn’t tell you, it would have looked too suspicious for both of us to just disappear. The cops would have noticed and would have demanded to know what was going on.”

Jane took the first step, and then the next. “I’m all right now, Marina. With you at the controls, I know we’ll be fine.”

Jane entered first and took the comfortable seat next to Bess. Marina closed the door and secured it. She knelt at the cockpit entrance because the ceiling was so low. “I’m not going to make any kind of pilot’s announcement. Just make sure your seat belts are tight for takeoff. Once we get to cruising altitude, you can talk to me on the intercom or come to the cockpit entrance if you want to see a real girl flying a real plane.

“I’d love that!” said Bess. Jane gave Marina a brave smile. Satisfied, Marina turned and took the left hand seat and started her checklist.

Jane buckled up and crossed her legs. Bess was watching. Their seats were only inches apart in this small plane, so she unbuckled and turned to face Jane. “Jane, let me help you,” she said.

She released Jane’s seatbelt and pulled it lower before relatching it. “It needs to be lower on you hip bones so they will take the stress if we have to stop quickly. We don’t want your stomach to be compressed. Go ahead, pull it tight now.”

Jane knew she was concerned about the baby. She connected to Bess and let her feel her genuine thanks. She had an idea. “Bess, if you don’t mind . . . can you look inside me? I mean, to see how things are, ah, progressing? I’d like to see too, just like before.”

Bess smiled and offered her hand, which Jane took and placed on her stomach.

Bess looked inside. It was easy to do and felt so natural to her. She quickly found the spot with the brighter light, that light was how Bess saw the baby inside Jane.

“Jane! She’s grown! Can you see? She looks fine!”

At that moment, Jane felt her first love for her child. It was no longer an egg that was a part of her, or an abstract idea that wasn’t quite real. Instead it was a new creation, one that would soon enter the world as an individual like no other. It was a part of her and a part of Roger, but her daughter was her own person with her own set of potentials.

And with her own mother; whose love for her erupted like a volcano.

Bess could feel it too. It was intense, almost too personal, but Jane didn’t hold back; she shared it all with her sister.

“She’s so beautiful,” said Jane softly. “Thank you Bess.”

They ended the connection and Bess returned to her seat. Jane turned to her, “Thanks for keeping my secret.”

Bess grinned from ear to ear. “You know you can count on me, Jane. Say, is something wrong with Marina? It’s not like her to want to have a private talk.”

Jane knew she was referring to the little scene where Marina had to make sure Jane wasn’t going to throw a crying fit about getting on the plane.

“I do know I can trust you with secrets, Bess. I trusted you about how Roger was going to touch me inside. I trusted you with how I was pregnant and with how it happened.” She paused, as that thought was still very painful.

“I guess you are my ‘keeper of secrets.’ Well, I have another one for you.”

Jane told her about her fear of flying; how Roger had learned about it and how he had helped her. She told how Marina was now the only one who knew about her phobia. She told Bess how much Marina cared and how she went out of her way to make sure Jane was comfortable.

It felt good to share that part of herself with someone else. Over the last few months, ever since she’d found out about the Revelation, she’d often been surprised at how such sharing made her feel better. Roger had taught her that.

“I guess I’m the official ‘keeper of secrets’ then” said Bess with a smile. As the plane started to move, she listed in her mind the secrets she held:

Jed’s condition

Jane’s plan to get pregnant

Roger’s final act

Shannon’s pregnancy

And now Jane’s phobia about flying

“Yep, I’m the keeper of secrets now, for sure,” she thought to herself.

Chapter Twenty Three

Jane had never been so busy for so long in her life. When she was in school - even in grad school getting her MBA - she’d had busy periods; times where she had too much to do in too short a period of time. But those periods were few and far between.

When she started working in the “real world,” she still hadn’t been stressed with the type or amount of work she had to do. If anything, it was even less challenging since no one was going to assign a grade to each and every piece of work she did. In big companies, no one expected newly hired finance people to do all that much.

She remembered how Roger would actually work for, at most, an hour or two a day. He seemed to be perfectly content with spending the rest of his time idly goofing off; studying ball scores or watching the X-Files.

That thought brought a fresh stab of pain and loneliness. She still missed him so much.

She thought back a few days to when she’d attended Roger’s funeral. Everyone wanted to go, but his parents had chosen a small church for the service and a whole group of Connection people would have been too conspicuous. She went alone. It was better that way for Roger’s parents - and for her.

As soon as she walked into the church entranceway and was signing the remembrance book, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Are you Jane Mitchell?” It had to be Roger’s mother. She had Roger’s eyes.

“Ah . . . yes, ma’am. I worked with Roger.”

“Please, dear. Come with me.”

She led her to a private room where they both sat on a little couch. A man entered - again obviously Roger’s father. Jane swore to herself that she wouldn’t cry, but she felt her tears threaten to start.

“Roger never told us a lot about his friends, but he told us about you. He was so glad to work with you. He said you were the smartest person he knew and that you were his best friend.”

Jane’s control was wavering. “I . . . he was a good man, Mrs. Seaton. He had a lot of friends. We all miss him.”

She nodded. “Call me Shirley and this is Roger’s father, Edward. Jane, can we ask you something?”

“Ah . . . sure, Shirley.”

“This man that . . . the man with the knife - do you know why he did it? It’s awfully hard losing a son this way. It shouldn’t happen. Parents should not have to bury their children. Do you know why he did it? The police think he was just crazy but we’re worried that maybe Roger was . . . mixed up in something. You know, something bad.”

Jane had her hands in her lap. She felt a drop of water hit one of them. She took Shirley’s hand and reached for Edward’s. “Now you forget about that, both of you. Roger was a good man - as good a man as you’ll find. Put you mind at ease. Colonel Stout was just crazy - he could have picked anyone at our little party. I was right beside Roger when it happened. I fell to the floor and even though he was hurt, he touched me and I could feel his concern for me, not for himself. That’s the way his was.”

It was close enough to the truth.

“Thank you, Jane. Thank you for sharing that with us. It helps, dear, it really does.”

They all dried their eyes and Jane sat in the back during the service. As she left, she vowed that before they all left Earth, she would make sure these good people knew what happened the night of their celebration.

Painful thoughts of Roger had become less common over the days since she and Bess and Marina had returned to New York and she had attended Roger’s funeral. Instead of happening every few minutes, now she sometimes went several hours without thinking of him - and sometimes those memories were even good ones.

The memory of Roger goofing off triggered pain, but it quickly changed into a happy memory and she smiled, picturing the two of them working in their little cubicles.

Roger may have been content to while away most of the day, but that type of idleness was torture for her. She wanted to be doing something - something with some importance, some meaning.

That was probably why she became so close with Roger. At first, he was just a reclamation project - the boy had a lot of things that were right about him, but he was so easy going, so lacking in seriousness. Bringing him around kept her interest for quite a while.

And when he starting receiving the Revelation, her interest in what was happening to him had intensified to unprecedented levels.

But even then, most of her days were spent in boring repetition of useless tasks. She wanted to do more; to make her mother proud of her, to achieve something on her own. She remembered feeling the press of time - how if she was actually going to amount to anything in her life, she couldn’t wait for many more years.

Today that feeling that time was slipping away from her was stronger than ever, except that now, she knew exactly how much time she had left. As their time on Earth wound down, she could almost physically feel each second pass, never to be available to her again.

The members of the Connection were all busily fulfilling the roles and duties she’d assigned to them. She felt slightly ashamed that she’d not assigned herself any specific tasks, but on mornings like this one, she realized it was the right thing to do since she ended up being involved in just about everything.

Earlier, she’d had a report from Edie about the meeting Bess and Evan had with Captain Jameson. According to her, things had gone well. “You should have seen Evan, Stringbean,” she said. “He told him that Chuck’s obsession with cults caused him to see them behind every bush. He made it sound like Chuck was the one who needed therapy. He said Chuck probably pushed the Colonel over the edge with that kind of talk. I think that part is done.

“And Bess did her part too. She told her story exactly as we planned and never got flustered once - even when he asked her point blank why someone yelled, ‘Stop her! She’s killing him.’ She did great.”

Jane had given up trying to get Edie to stop calling her Stringbean - at least in public. Her next meeting, via their secure video phone connection, was with Jed and the architect he’d hired. They had a first draft of plans and wanted to see what she thought.

What she thought was that she missed him. She considered asking him to fly back for a few days. They’d been married over a week and they’d had less than two days together - it wasn’t fair.

“Stop that whining,” she said to herself. Fairness had nothing whatsoever to do with saving the Universe. If she didn’t see her husband again until they reached their new home, then that’s the way things would have to be.

She looked at her phone display, expecting it to light up with his call. It did light up, but it wasn’t a call from Jed - it was from her mother.

“I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I’m ready. You know it and I know it.”

Chuck looked either unsure or opposed. Sometimes, Rachel had a hard time reading him, even when they were connected. “But my dear, perhaps a few more days?” His voice trailed off.

“Out of the question,” she said. It wasn’t like her to be so assertive, but Chuck had trained her to push back when someone pushed you. He’d told her it could help her when she tried to get accepted into the Roger cult.

She was ready - ready to go over to Rogerland, as Chuck called it. Ready to make them believe she desperately needed their help; ready to steal all of their secrets and return them to Chuck along with proof - video and audio recordings she’d make with her new cell phone.

Mostly, she was ready to complete her assignment, because that meant she and Chuck could be a real couple. They could see each other publicly. They could let the world see them fall in love so that the announcement of their upcoming marriage would not be a surprise to his congregation. He’d actually proposed to her already in his own way.

The last week or so had been hard work and frustrating with the training he put her through. He’d made her practice connecting so that she only shared what she wanted to share - even if the feelings she shared weren’t really her true feelings. He’d gone over a thousand “what ifs” and made her role-play with him a hundred times.

She’d been slow to learn, but now she was truly ready. He’d given her the ultimate test this morning and she’d passed with flying colors.

Sometimes, in their role-play, he’d be very mean to her. He explained that if Bess Olman suspected her, she would be very forceful. The first few times, when he said, “Rachel, you are the dumbest woman in the world,” she’d almost broken down in tears. He’d patiently explained that she needed to let him feel her warmth and happiness even when he was putting her down in the most awful way.

It was hard, but she did it. She slowly learned to control what others felt from her. She was most worried about Bess Olman because Chuck said she had a special power to cause pain, but after this morning, she felt she could handle any of the members of the cult of Roger - she’d studied all Chuck knew about them and knew that if she could fool Bess, she could certainly handle any of them.

She had to handle them - it was the only way to have her dreams of being with Chuck come true.

Actually, she’d been with him almost constantly ever since she kissed him that first time in his office. She’d been surprised at herself, but even then she realized what she wanted.

She wanted to merge herself with him so that the two of them became truly one. She wanted to leave her old self behind and become a new person - the person he wanted to spend his life with.

That was how she knew she was ready - how she had passed the ultimate test. In their time together, she’d told him everything. She held nothing back. She told him that her father had left when she was only eight. That her mother couldn’t find a job, so they had to live on welfare in bad parts of town.

She told him what her mother had said to her on the day of her high school graduation, “I don’t have a fancy gift for you, Rachel, but I do have something even better - some true advice.

“You’re on your own now, but don’t plan on it being easy. You inherited my looks, which is a damn shame, and you inherited your father’s brains, what little of them there was. But at least you filled out nicely. While you’re young, use it to find a man, preferably with money or at least a job. Give yourself to him; latch on and don’t let go. Treat him like your king and learn to serve him. Do exactly what he tells you and do anything he asks to please him. It’s the only way you’ll get by in this world. But listen to me, Rachel - don’t wait. Soon enough, things will start to sag and those curves will fill out. Just don’t wait, hear me?”

Now, sitting up with Chuck’s arms around her, she remembered her mother’s words again. At first, she’d found boys quite interested in her, but they weren’t interested in having her latch onto them. They wanted to look and touch, but that was all. Over the years, she had just about given up on finding a man she could give herself to.

But that first time she met Chuck, something happened. She knew now that he’d connected to her. And even though he did it without asking, she loved him for choosing to do it to her. He felt her helplessness, her lack of grace, her embarrassment over her very plain looks. And he still wanted her! She could tell he was pleased and within hours she had resolved to hold nothing back - to give him whatever she had to give. This was the man she would join with; the man she would lose herself to. The man who would make her whole. But first she had to become his spy in the Roger cult. And before that she had to pass his final test.

When the test started, she didn’t even realize it. He started with, “Rachel, my dear, let me feel your happiness.”

This was easy. She connected and sent him a feeling of happiness. She didn’t let him feel her true feelings - she sent him one that was slightly less than what she really felt. That was part of the test.

“Rachel, do you remember what your mother said? Send me a feeling of alarm and then remember.”

She did just that. It was no problem for her.

“Now send me a feeling of love. Not too strong - like you might feel for someone you are just starting to love.”

Sending him love was easy, too.

“Now, Rachel dearest. Please listen to me. That feeling is perfect. Do not change it an iota - by even a small amount. Keep it exactly the same, regardless of what I say. Do you understand?”

“Yes, darling. I understand.”

She waited patiently. She had no idea what was coming next, but she was ready, whatever it was. She would not change the feeling she was broadcasting.

When he spoke, his words were harsh. He sent her feelings that signified his words were the absolute truth. “Rachel, your mother was right. With no makeup, and your hair not combed, you aren’t even close to pretty. In fact, you aren’t even close to plain.”

The effort required to maintain the feelings of love went up quite a lot for her, but she forced herself to make sure that he could not feel any change in her.

He looked her over, slowly from her head to her feet. “Your mother warned you about waiting too long to play your one trump card, didn’t she? She predicted you’d begin to lose your physical charms at some point - well, that point looks like it was reached a couple of years ago.”

That didn’t hurt any more than his comments about her looks. She knew she was ugly. She didn’t allow her feelings to change by even half an iota.

He gave her time to collapse in tears, but her feelings were unchanged. He moved closer so that his lips were almost touching her hair. He whispered to her, “Now listen to me, Rachel. I’m just using you. I’m using you in more than one way, but the most important is that I’m using you to help me take over the Connection. After that, we’re done. I might keep you around or I might not, but you will never be close to me. I’ll probably take Bess Olman as my partner and force her to love me exactly as you do now. She’s young and strong and I understand is good looking. Not like you. At best, I’d let you watch.”

Now it got hard. She felt his absolute honesty, but she also knew that it was a test - and he wanted her to pass. It would please him and she lived for that. All he felt from her was her unwavering love.

He smiled and the hard voice was gone, replaced by the patient voice of a tutor to a pupil, “My dear, tell me you love me.”

“I love you, Chuck Cleimer,” she said as she threw herself into his arms. He had no doubt it was true.

Chapter Twenty Four

As Jane reached for her phone, she felt a pressure on her shoulder. Without waiting, BP entered her head. “Hello Jane. I’d like to discuss . . .”

Her eye shot sparks into the empty area in front of her. “Listen BP. I’ve got a call here from my mother. I’ve got to take it.”

There was a half second pause that caused her to wonder if he was looking up unfamiliar words - words like “mother.”

“Very well. I’ll wait until you are done.”

She started to tell him to get out of her head, but the phone rang for the fourth time. She sighed and answered. “Hello, Mother.”

For a full second, there was nothing but noise on the line. Jane wondered what her mother was waiting for. A pause like this usually meant she was carefully choosing her words.

When she spoke, Jane was startled at the tone of her voice; it was soft and full of concern. “Jane, are you all right?”

It was a simple question, but a truthful answer would not be simple - not simple at all.

She felt a momentary flash of shame because she hadn’t told her mother about Roger and the Connection and the problem with the Universe - or about anything else that had happened. She’d told herself it was mostly because when things really started to get crazy, her mother had already left on her yearly trip to tend to the breeding activities of some of the most expensive horses in the world. From late June until the end of September, she might be in some hamlet in Eastern Europe or in some palace in the Middle East.

Her mother was busy and they normally didn’t communicate much during her trips. Plus, Jane had her own life to live and she’d never been one to call her mother every day to chat.

But none of that, not the smallest part, could explain why Jane hadn’t called to tell her she was getting married. She’d thought about calling her, or even sending her a text. She actually wrote one a few days before the wedding:

Mother,

I hope things are going well on your trip.

I have some news for your return that, I believe, will make you proud of me. It appears I may accomplish something important after all.

And I am getting married in a few days.

I will explain everything upon your return.

Love,

Jane

She shook her head to clear such thoughts. Jane knew she hadn’t told her mother what was happening because she would not believe a word of it. Jane suspected she would listen patiently to her talk of aliens and connecting and saving the Universe and then she’d borrow a private jet from one of her rich clients so that she could get home quickly and take charge of whatever treatment was needed for her daughter.

She’d kept her mother in the dark about her new life until she could meet with her face to face - until she would introduce her to the Connection and to her new son-in- law. She wanted to hold her hand and connect to her and let her feel her sincerity as she told her everything.

But that didn’t seem likely to happen. Her mother was waiting for her to speak.

“Uh, yes . . . Mom . . . uh, I’m all right.”

“Damn!” she thought. “I’m starting to stutter like Roger did when he got flustered.”

Her mother’s voice was still unnaturally soft, “I just got back from almost three weeks out in the bush with very little communications. I’m in Auckland now at my hotel. I checked on you and found a news story that you were injured and that your friend was murdered at some sort of affair at Evan Miller’s place. I’m checking on flights back now, but tell me what happened.”

Jane wondered at the fact that, even in New Zealand, her mother was still keeping tabs on her. “Mom, there’s a lot to tell you, but not now. You’re scheduled to return soon anyway, I’ll explain everything then and . . . “

“Jane, tell me what happened.” That sounded more like her Mother - it was a command from on high.

Her phone indicated the call from Jed was coming through. As much as she wanted to hear his voice, she needed to take care of her mother first. Jane wanted to let her know she was truly all right, but there was no way she could explain to her what had really happened - not all of it anyway.

“Okay Mother, I’ll tell you some things that have happened. After I do, I want you to complete your work there and return home as scheduled. Let me know when your plane is supposed to arrive and I’ll have you picked up.”

She paused to let that sink in. There was nothing on the line but noise. “I did attend a celebration at Evan Miller’s apartment almost two weeks ago. There were a number of reasons for the event, but one of them was to allow a group of my friends to witness my marriage ceremony.

“And yes, the ceremony was completed and I am today a married woman.”

Again, Jane paused. And again, her mother was quiet, waiting.

“After the ceremony a delusional guest attacked Roger Seaton. You remember him - he and I went on a date with Sylvia and her fiancé a few months ago. I’m sure you got a complete report.

“Roger was killed with a knife. I tried to stop the murderer, but he was a strong man and I was too weak and too slow. I was wounded very slightly in the hand, but I’m fine now.”

This time, Jane paused to allow herself to get her emotions under control. The thought of Roger and the knife as it entered his neck was almost too much. Thankfully, her mother remained silent, waiting for her to continue when she was ready.

“Mom . . . my life . . . it’s changed a lot. I’ll tell you about it when you get home. I’ll introduce you to all my friends.”

Jane’s voice indicated she was done, at least for the moment. Her mother was ready with questions, “Did you marry Roger?”

Now Jane smiled and it felt good. “No, Mom. I loved Roger, but not that way. I married a man you will like, I think. His name is Jed Cunningham.”

“Are you still in New York, working at Evan Miller’s company?” Jane was suspicious of this question. It might mean her mother would show up, unannounced, in a couple of days.

Jane added some grit to her voice, “Listen to me, Mother. As I said, things have changed and I can’t explain it all to you now. I’m fine, believe me. Just finish up with your work and I’ll see you soon. Don’t come home early, it won’t change anything.

“But I’ll tell you a couple of things more so you’ll understand why I don’t have the ability to explain the whole story right now - it would take too long and I want to do it face to face with you. Besides, I know I’ll cry, probably more than once, and it’ll be easier for me - and for you - if I can hold your hand or hug you when I tell it.”

Jane hadn’t said such intimate things to her Mother since she was a little girl. Momentarily, she marveled at how she had changed. Her mother must have been surprised as well, “Jane, of course . . .”

Jane cut her off, “Mother, I said I’d tell you a couple more things. First, I don’t work for Evan Miller any longer. It’s not been announced yet, but he quit his own company and now he looks at me as the leader of a new organization. In effect, he works for me.

She let that sink in. “And second, mother, I have spent exactly two nights with my new husband since our marriage. Our new organization demands that I be here and he be somewhere else. That is common knowledge among those that see me as the leader of this new group. But what is not common knowledge is that I am pregnant.

“You are going to have a granddaughter.”

Jane knew that her mother would come to one of two conclusions: first, that her daughter was seriously ill; or second, that Jane was finally engaged in something that mattered. It was what her mother had wanted for her from the time she was born.

Her voice was full of uncertainty and hesitation. “I . . . I understand, Jane. I’ll try and wrap things up here and see you soon. I’ll send you my itinerary. I . . . I don’t . . . I.”

Jane came to her rescue, “I’ll see you soon, Mom.” She hung up in wonder. It was the first time she’d ever heard her mother stutter.

“Well, I think you handled that very well. I could feel your discomfort. Yes, it was a fine performance.”

Talking to her mother had made Jane forget that BP was waiting in her head. She felt a momentary burst of annoyance that he had witnessed such a private conversation. It was like being unknowingly watched by someone as she showered.

But she hadn’t told him to leave, so it really wasn’t his fault. Still, he now knew about the baby. It seemed that soon everyone would know.

She almost smiled at the obviousness of that thought. “That was not a performance, BP. That was a private conversation that I allowed you to overhear. And I am warning you, you had better not share any of it with anyone. Is that clear?”

BP answered instantly, “Of course it’s clear, Jane. Just as I did with Roger, I’ll never share anything with others without asking your permission. He is the one who decided to report on our conversations - not me.”

He sounded defensive and slightly hurt that she would say such things to him. “And as to the child that is growing inside you - I was there at its conception if you remember. I’ve known about it all along.”

Now she was feeling a twang of guilt. He felt it and continued, “At least Roger chose a more advanced method of initiating the . . . the event. Your normal methods are quite primitive as I’m sure you will admit.”

That was just about enough for her. “Is there anything else? I’ve got a meeting to get to.”

Her discomfort was payback for snapping at him. When BP continued, his voice contained a hint of satisfaction that rubbed her the wrong way.

But there was nothing she could do about it. “Ah yes, your husband. Well, what I have to tell you will involve him more than most in the group.

“Remember when you and Roger and Bess reacted so negatively to my plan to have someone in space to manipulate the focusing device? Each of you told me to try and find another way to accomplish our goal. I remember you were quite blunt with me.”

His feelings had been hurt and now the big baby wanted to make sure she knew it.

“But all of that is in the past because I have indeed found another way. I spent many hours studying what might be done. The answer, when it came to me, was deceptively simple - but it can be done, Jane. It can be done from Earth - no space travel will be necessary.”

Jane was good at reading the tiny inflections of emotion in BP’s mostly toneless voice. She could tell he felt pride.

Before she could ask any questions, he continued, “We will need to build two of the devices. One will provide its focus and will be pointed at the second. This will provide a beam over three hundred percent more coherent than the original design so that we will be able to aim it up through the atmosphere. It will be defocused slightly because of that, but it will still ignite the reaction in the dark energy that will return this universe to normal.”

Jane considered his words. Maybe he was onto to something here. The space travel part - finding a way to launch the donut shaped focusing device had been the most difficult part of his plan, by far. None of them were confident that they could pull it off.

But now BP had removed that requirement. It sounded like this could indeed be progress.

“And what about the human operator?” BP had told them that the beam needed to be constantly adjusted to keep it in almost perfect focus. Since he couldn’t do those adjustments directly, he planned on having a human do it via a connection to him. The problem was that the human was in real danger of getting vaporized before BP could take them inside him.

BP was obviously waiting for this. “There is good news on this point as well. Even though we will have two focusing devices, only one human operator will be needed.”

That wasn’t really what she was asking, “BP, listen to me. Will that human - even if they are on Earth - still be in danger? I told you I absolutely did not want to put any of my brothers or sisters in such a dangerous situation.”

BP sounded resigned to having to answer. He knew it would likely get to this point and that Jane would ignore his good news and focus on this small point. She was like that.

“Jane, my daughter, there is no other way. I have still more improvements to the plan that I am working on, but not this part. Even if I shared a design for a robotic control system to manage the focus, it could not be built on this planet for at least a hundred years. The materials that are needed are not today being mined. The factories and procedures required to form them into the parts that we need don’t exist. One hundred years is the minimum amount of time before it could be done. As of now, we have less than seven years and I am working on reducing that.”

Being a leader meant many things, but at that moment, it meant Jane had to accept the reality of the situation. She might feel like ripping into BP and demand that he work harder to find another way, but she knew he was telling her the truth. It was tough, but she accepted it. She had to.

BP could feel her acceptance and also the pain it caused her. “My daughter, I’m sure we will have a volunteer and I will do my utmost to rescue that Connection member before it is too late. I feel confident I will be able to take them to me in the same way I did Roger and Jacob.”

Jane was envisioning that time in the future when someone had to climb into that contraption of BP’s. She knew that if she asked for volunteers, every hand would go up.

But she knew she would not do that. This would be her final act as the leader of the Connection - on this world, at least. She saw herself hugging her almost seven year old daughter as Jed took her hand and led her away.

A single tear streamed down her cheek. BP felt her sadness and said quietly, “I’m sorry, Jane. It is the best I can do.”

She sniffed once as she reached for a tissue. She kept a pack with her at all times now. “I know, BP. I know,” she said, just as softly.

The moment was broken by the sound of a familiar song. It was “Princes of the Universe” and it was her ring tone. She always imagined it was spelled “Princess.”

It was Jed calling back. “BP, you can stay and see what Jed and the architect have come up with if you want. But if he starts talking any kind of mushy talk, you leave my head, get it?”

“You need only touch your shoulder and I will leave you, Jane. That is the agreement I had with Roger and I will gladly honor it with you.”

She nodded at no one and answered the call. The plans looked good and Jed said that the place would be perfectly adequate to make two of their “pieces of art.” For twenty minutes, the closest he got to mushy talk was to call her “darlin’.” She loved the sound of it. It felt like it was her name.

When the business meeting was done, Jed took her off speaker as the architect started to pack up. He took this opportunity to say, “I miss you so much, sn . . .”

Jane touched her shoulder and felt BP leave.

She hoped he left in time, but she realized she didn’t care all that much. “I miss you too,” she said.

Chapter Twenty Five

Soon after her return to New York, Jane announced that the Connection would have a full group meeting every day at 3 p.m. in her apartment. Evan and Juliet’s place on the sixth floor was being almost totally redone and wouldn’t be available for a few days yet. Jane knew they had a tendency to hang out with each other, but she wanted them working, not socializing. This single formal meeting with a one hour time limit served to make that point. She’d initially wanted it to be only thirty minutes, but Juliet suggested they would need more time.

It wasn’t as if they didn’t see each other - there was generally always a visitor or two in her apartment or at Shannon’s or up on the sixth floor. Business was getting done, decisions were being made; they seemed to be making progress. Today’s 3 p.m. had been sparsely attended as people were out making things happen.

Since the apartments they lived in had all been furnished for visiting business people, they each had a desk off in the corner. Jane had hardly noticed hers before, but now this became her normal place to work and meet. She remembered how her meetings with Roger would inevitably be on the couch and they would connect and share with each other whatever was on their minds. She also remembered his meetings with Bess on his couch as well. She smiled to herself - the more formal desk worked best for her.

Jane had just thought of Bess when she walked in, frowning and looking at her phone.

Jane had grown tired of answering knocks at the door. Now, when she was available, she just propped it open with a book and everyone knew to just enter.

Her voice sounded strained, “Jane, I’ve got Amanda on the other line. She just received a call from someone who has been working in Pastor Chuck’s office - the woman who he calls his Gal Friday.”

Jane knew Bess would not appreciate a woman being called such a thing. It made her angry.

“Her name is Rachel Reed. Amanda said she was crying, almost hysterical.”

Now her voice took on an entirely different tone. It was a cold as ice. “Jane, it’s that damned Chuck. He’s been connecting to her and he won’t stop. Now she’s all messed up. It’s like with Matt - she says she can’t take it anymore.”

Jane pointed at a chair and said, “Put her on speaker.”

Bess did as she was told. She sat the phone between them on Jane’s desk.

“Amanda, it’s Jane. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Jane? I . . . I’m sorry to bother you, but I didn’t know who to call. Matt is out with Evan somewhere and . . .”

Jane cut her off. “You are welcome to call us anytime Amanda. Now tell me about Ms. Reed, where is she?”

“She’s here with me. She looked up my address at Chuck’s office. Right now I’ve got her calmed down, but she says she can still feel Chuck - that he’s in her head and she can’t make him go away. I’m afraid to leave her alone, Jane.”

Bess spoke up, “I’ll go get them.” Her voice temperature had dropped another few degrees.

“You stay right here, Bess. Amanda, can you get a cab and bring her here, or should I send over Charlie to pick you up?”

“I . . . I’ll take care of it, Jane. We’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, my sister. If you need anything call me or Bess or anyone.”

Jane hung up. Bess was staring at her. Jane connected and almost wished she hadn’t. Bess was angry, deeply angry. The very idea that Chuck Cleimer was still out there, still doing his evil deeds, made her want to make him stop in the worst way.

Even in the connection, their eyes were locked on each other. “Jane, you have so got to let me go over there and take care of him once and for all. I promise I’ll make it quick and . . .”

Jane cut her off with her softest voice. It was more than enough. “Bess, you know you can’t do that.”

She rose and offered her hand to Bess. She led her to the couch. They sat side by side.

“It’s not him I’m worried about, Bess, it’s you. After what you . . . after the Colonel, you paid a high price. I know you haven’t been the same since.

“But that was necessary. I didn’t realize it at the time, but you really saved us all that night. If the Colonel had lived just long enough to tell his story, things would have blown up in our faces. We would not have been able to contain the police or the press. I don’t think we would have been able to fulfill our mission.

“So what you did was necessary. There was no other way. But going after Chuck is different and we both know it.”

Bess looked away, her jaw set. In their connection, Jane could feel that her anger had not really subsided.

Jane released her hand and rose. She went to the kitchen and got out two glasses. She put in a lot of ice and poured a couple of ounces of Scotch in Bess’s. She put ginger ale in hers. She returned and sat beside Bess, this time even closer.

“Here,” she said.

Bess’s lips were compressed in a thin line. She reached for the glass still staring into space.

They both took small sips. Jane waited until Bess took another. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. “Bess, I went to Roger’s apartment this morning. I don’t really know why - I just felt like I wanted to. I used my key; he was always exasperated that I would just drop in.”

Jane felt Bess’s anger start to decrease. “I sat on his couch. His laptop was still there and there was a scotch bottle on the counter. I think he put it there for your date. No one had touched anything. It felt so familiar, like he was in his bedroom and would soon appear wearing those duck pants he liked so much and put his hand on my stomach. I cried Bess. I guess that’s why I went. When I woke up, I realized I hadn’t cried a single time in the last couple of days. I think today, in Roger’s apartment, I cried for him for the last time - at least on this world. I guarantee I’ll cry with joy when I see him again.”

Bess took another swallow. Her eyes were moist as she again looked at Jane. “There’s something I wanted to tell you, Bess. I was going to save it until we ready to go to our new home, but I think it’ll help you now.”

Jane let the suspense build for several seconds. She felt that curiosity had replaced anger inside Bess. “It was right before . . . just before we started that last dance. I went up to Roger to tell him that the big moment had arrived and I saw that you were watching us like a hawk; he did too. I connected to him as he reached for me, but at that instant, I felt something that I’d never felt from him before.

“We became very, very close when we connected. I tried my best to not hold anything back from him and I know he did the same with me. It had become, well, different - it felt like a kind of super connection. We could almost hear what the other one was thinking.

“I know that sounds strange. But right then, right before he took me in his arms, I knew he was thinking of our new home and about the baby I would have. He saw me and Jed and our daughter, but we were away from him - quite a distance away.

“Then I saw that he was standing there with you, Bess. He had his arm around your waist. I could feel his love.”

Tears streamed down Bess’s cheeks. “And both of you used your free hand to hold onto the hand of a child, one on each side. That’s what was on his mind, Bess.”

Jane looked deeply into Bess’s eyes. “That’s why you can’t go after Chuck. We will likely all have challenges in the time we have left here, but we can’t let them change us too much - we certainly can’t let them damage us. Roger will remember the Bess who thought everything was ‘grand,’ who used too many exclamation points and who had an innocence about her that made him want to be close to her.

“If you give into your desire to get revenge on Chuck, you’ll not be that girl any longer. I’m afraid it would harden you; probably fill you with even more anger as you realize what Chuck actually cost you. I’m afraid that the Bess I love, the Bess Roger loved, would be gone.

“You and I, my sister, we can’t let that happen. Promise me - promise me now; you will not do anything to Chuck. I need you as you are, we all do.

“And Roger will too, on that glorious day when we are finally all together again.”

Jane saw her lip quiver, and expected that Bess would weep, but instead she wiped her eyes as she took both glasses and put them on the table beside the couch. She turned towards Jane and embraced her with a hug so powerful that Jane had to think to breathe. “God, Jane. Thank you. I understand now and I promise, . . . I promise I’ll do just what you say.”

Chapter Twenty Six

Ever since she rang the bell at Amanda’s apartment, Rachel had been terrified. She’d told Chuck, again and again, that she was ready; that she would do fine. But that was in the safe confines of his arms and this was the real world.

When Amanda opened the door with a surprised look on her face, Rachel almost ran away. She realized she probably would have, but she was frozen in fright.

Since she couldn’t run, she did what turned out to be the next best thing. She cried.

The tears cleared her mind enough for her to tell her story. That part was easy because she and Chuck had rehearsed it so many times. The words flowed almost automatically through the tears. She described how Chuck had mocked her, how he had done something to her, inside her head. How he wouldn’t stop. How he was doing it now.

That last part was a late addition to the script, but Chuck thought it lent a greater air of urgency if Rachel was still being mentally assaulted even at a distance.

He had warned her, “But don’t overdo it, dearest. I doubt people can really connect over such distances, so they’ll think it’s just your hysteria that is making you believe I’m still connecting. Back off of that claim once you are inside. And don’t forget, whatever you do, keep that phone recording.”

Rachel considered herself a pretty normal phone user. She could text and call and download a game now and then. She could use the built in GPS app and do some basic web surfing and take pictures. She knew she was no expert, but she was light years ahead of Chuck.

“You just point this camera at them and hit this button to start the recording,” he’d told her like it would be the most natural thing in the world.

She knew how to take pictures and videos, but she couldn’t be seen doing it. She did an experiment where she started the phone recording and then just left it with a blank screen. It stopped within an hour with a “memory full” message.

“Chuck dear, I think we need to go down to the store where I bought this. There’s a young guy there. He told me that if I ever needed anything ‘special’ done to the phone, he could do it. I had no idea what he meant and I think he sensed that. He told me he could make it work on different carriers; let it load software not from the official store, that sort of thing. I don’t know what else to do - I can’t be obviously starting up a video app whenever they say something important. What do you think? Can we do that?”

Chuck had frowned at her. He had little patience for discussions of the technical aspects of phones. “You do it, Rachel. I’m somewhat recognizable and it’s probably best that I not be involved. Also, as I told you, I’m still concerned about Bess Olman. If she confronted us when we were out in public, I might have a hard time defending you.”

As she was leaving to walk to the train station, he told her, “Oh yes, I think it would be best to pay cash for this . . . this service. No need to leave a paper trail.”

It had cost $600. Rachel had that much in her account - barely. But with her new job, she knew she could afford it. Besides, Chuck would reimburse her if he remembered. This was such a trivial amount to him, he might not even think about it.

The kid got excited when she described what she wanted. “I’ll root it first, then install Double Aught. That’s a spy app. It stays in the background, normally not visible, though it’s possible that an expert user can see that something unusual is running. To start recording audio, press and hold the volume down button for three seconds until it buzzes in your hand. To start video recording, do the same with the volume up button. When in video mode, you’ll always be recording audio too. To stop, just press the same buttons until you feel two buzzes. There are other settings too, but you have to change those with the screen on and the app visible.”

He showed her how to set the phone to record audio or video only when it heard a sound or when it sensed movement. He showed her how to check on available memory. “I put in the max this phone will support - 128GB. You can record days of audio and about thirty hours of video with fairly decent quality. Just download every night to a computer or pop in a new memory card. I also put in a higher capacity battery. You’ll still need to charge every night, though.”

She left with four memory cards which accounted for the majority of the cost. She didn’t think she’d be able to take along a computer to download to. Besides, she didn’t own one.

She’d started the recording right before she rung the bell at Amanda’s. Her test recordings had shown that having the phone in her purse resulted in poor quality, noisy, muffled recordings. This presented quite a problem; she couldn’t be constantly carrying the phone in her hand, pointing it here and there.

She found the solution while watching TV. A commercial came on for a product called ‘The Wonder Purse.” It showed a woman at her front door. She was carrying a bag of groceries and struggling to find her keys in her purse. Her hair had fallen down over her eyes as she struggled. Rachel understood the problem; she’d been there. Eventually, the woman dropped the groceries and they scattered all over. She looked angrily at her purse. The solution was the Wonder Purse. It had separate pockets for just about everything - your wallet, credit cards, makeup - everything a woman might carry around with her. It even had a place for keys on a retractable reel - a quick tug and your keys appeared.

But, for Rachel, the most wonderful thing was the phone pocket which was on the outside of the purse. It was made of a coarse mesh material - almost like a net. In the commercial, the woman could see her phone without having to remove it. She could even reject a call by touching the screen through the large openings in the mesh. The woman now had perfectly styled hair.

“Chuck! That’s it! It’s just what I need to keep the phone recording. I can even sit my purse down so that the phone is pointing where I want it to point. No one will realize it’s recording them. Oh Chuck, get it for me, please!”

It was $19.99. They’d probably ding him for shipping too, but it did seem like it might work. “Certainly, my dearest. Anything for you. Now which color would you like??

There were three choices. She didn’t want to make the wrong one. “What’s your favorite, darling?” she said.

He connected to her and let her feel his mild disappointment at her inability to make a decision. She felt ashamed. “Now Rachel, it’s your purse. Which do you like best?

She knew he had a favorite, but she had no idea which one it was. She guessed. “Well, my love, I suppose any of them would do, but the grey is . . .”

She saw lines form on his forehead. It was the wrong one. “The grey is a bit too formal. Now the blue, it will go with just about . . .”

The lines deepened. “Anything, but I think everyone will have one of those. Chuck, darling, I think I’d like the red. Is that okay with you?”

The lines on his forehead disappeared, replaced by a smile. “I think that’s a perfect choice, my dear. I love it.” He reached for her and she responded eagerly.

During the cab ride, they were mostly silent. Rachel slumped against the door and looked out the window, while Amanda patted her hand, “You’re not the first one he’s hurt,” she said, “My friends will help you the way they helped me and Matt.”

Rachel didn’t respond. She took the time to compose herself and prepare for what was to come. When she and Chuck had discussed their initial contact with Amanda, they didn’t know for sure if she would immediately take her to meet the entire cult. Rachel had been prepared to force the issue by getting worse and worse - screaming and tearing at her hair and saying she wanted to kill herself.

But none of that had been needed. Instead, Amanda almost instantly made a call and used the name Bess as she talked. It had to be the dangerous girl who had been after Chuck. Chuck believed she actually killed the Colonel and maybe even Roger Seaton himself, but he cautioned her not to mention this to any of the cult robots she might meet.

Soon, it appeared that Amanda was talking to Jane Mitchell. Chuck had said that she was likely the concubine of Roger Seaton, but it seemed like she gave some type of order because Amanda told her she understood what she was supposed to do.

Rachel wondered why someone like Jane would be issuing instructions. Perhaps she had moved in with Evan Miller and thus had some influence. Chuck had warned her that these people might seem very strange.

Her phone was only recording audio when the taxi arrived at a nice looking building in an upscale neighborhood. Rachel had practiced turning the video recording on an off, so she was able to switch it on now without a problem as they left the cab. The Wonder Purse made it easy. The kid at the phone store had warned her that it might be a good idea to only record video when there was something to see, since it would drain the battery quicker. So far, she had video of Amanda and the inside of her place. She held her purse so that she’d be recording the apartment building.

Just inside the entranceway, was a desk with several video monitors behind it. A guard rose to look them over. Amanda said, “Hello, Charlie. We’re here to see Jane. This is Rachel Reed. She’s expected.”

Rachel was surprised at the security. She’d never seen such a thing in her apartment building. Perhaps this guard was here as much to keep people inside as to watch those who entered. She felt a shiver of fear. Chuck had warned her, again and again, that these people were dangerous. He described how Roger Seaton himself had tried to connect to Chuck and how it was only his strength that kept him at bay. She shivered again as she realized her only defense was her ability to project false feelings into these cultists. It seemed now like a thin reed to grasp onto, but she and Chuck had prayed together that it would be enough.

The guard lifted a phone receiver and hit numbers. Her purse was over her shoulder, so Rachel turned to make sure it was recorded. She also made sure the phone could “see” the hallway and elevator beyond.

“Jane says come on up to her place,” said the guard named Charlie. He stepped aside to let them pass.

Inside the elevator, Amanda pressed “2” and up they went. Rachel had a fresh attack of nerves. She leaned against Amanda and whimpered, “I’m scared.” It was an effective part of the act and it was also the truth. Why were they taking her to see Jane Mitchell? Would Evan Miller be there, expecting to audition her for a spot in his harem? Chuck had not prepared her for such a thing, but she knew she would not let him down. Whatever happened, she would send out feelings of acceptance - and keep on recording.

They exited into a hallway. There were four doors; one was propped open slightly with a book. Rachel turned so that the phone would be able to take it all in.

Amanda must have thought she needed help, because she took her hand and gently pulled her towards the door. Her hand was warm; unlike Chuck’s, whose were always cool.

Without knocking, they entered. There were three people sitting on chairs arrayed in front of a couch. “Rachel Reed, this is Jane Mitchell, and Bess Olman and Father Tom Harrison.” Amanda indicated who each person was. Rachel clutched her bag in front of her, using it as a kind of shield, all the time making sure it was able to see these people.

Jane Mitchell wasn’t at all like what Rachel had imagined. She was tall and thin and had a stylish shorter hairstyle. She wore a nice blouse with tailored slacks and medium heels. She didn’t look like a concubine - more like a professional in an office.

Bess Olman was closer to what she expected. She was blonde and young and men would think her pretty in a tomboy kind of way. She looked like the type who always had boys chasing after her; the type who would let some of them catch her. She wore a sleeveless top that revealed toned arms along with skin tight leggings and flip flops.

Father Tom was a surprise. He actually looked like a priest with his graying hair and kind eyes, but he was wearing normal casual clothes.

Amanda led her to the couch and they both sat. Rachel made herself small, her legs tightly together and her bag on her stomach. She stared at the floor.

The one they called Father Tom spoke first. His voice was gentle, soothing, “Rachel, I know you are upset, but you are among friends now. Amanda told us a bit about what you said Pastor Chuck had done to you. We are familiar with him; our friend Matt suffered from exposure to him as well.

“But Chuck is nowhere near here, Rachel; just us, your new friends. Would you like to talk about it?”

Chuck had a friend in the police department who had sent a copy of the police report. They had used the list of names and other information to help her prepare for when she met them. He had been surprised to find a catholic priest on the list. “I know that our Roman brothers are not immune from following false teachings, but I am nonetheless surprised to find a priest caught up the web of Roger Seaton. If you meet him, be especially careful my dear. He’s likely some type of pervert; so many of them are.”

This wasn’t what Rachel was expecting. She looked from person to person. When her eyes met Bess’s, she was greeted by a warm smile.

“I . . . I don’t know what to say. Chuck . . . he was in my head. I couldn’t keep him out. After a while I didn’t want to.” She broke down in tears. It seemed like a good time.

Bess Olman came over and knelt in front of her. She was blocking the camera. “Rachel, Father Tom can help you. Just give him a chance. Would you like a water . . . or coffee? Here, let me take your purse.”

She’d been clutching it tightly. “NO!” she said. It was too loud. “I feel him. I feel him now.” If things got dicey, this was her lifeline. Rachel realized she’d called attention to the Wonder Purse. She opened it and took out a tissue; it had a special compartment for them. She dried her eyes and placed the purse above and behind her, on the back of the couch so that it could see a lot of the room. “I’d like water, Bess. And thank you,” she said with a quiver in her voice.

Jane asked, “Bess, is it possible?” She was referring to her claim that Chuck was connecting to her right this minute.

Bess looked uncertain, “I don’t think so, but I could check, I guess.”

They both looked at Father Tom for his opinion. “I think we have to know,” he said.

Bess remained kneeling in front of Rachel. She reached out with both her hands, offering them to Rachel. She hesitated, but allowed Bess to take her hands. Her touch was gentle. Her nails were painted blue.

“Rachel, what Chuck did is called connecting. When done between people who love and respect each other, it’s a wonderful thing. It just lets us feel what the other person is feeling. We don’t know why Chuck causes people problems when he does it.

“If you will allow me, I’m going to connect to you right now. I’m going to do it the right way so that you will know me in a far closer way. I’ll know what you are feeling too, if you’ll allow it. If Chuck is truly connected to you right now, I’ll sense it. If not, you can be relieved that you are free of him. Is that okay with you? Can we give it a whirl?”

It was happening already. Chuck had told her that they were probably busy connecting to each other close to twenty four hours a day and that she had to be prepared to mask her real feelings with almost no notice. She hadn’t been here ten minutes and already they wanted to get inside her head. Well, she’d practiced a lot for this moment. She’d even passed Chuck’s final test.

“Yes, go ahead if you want,” she said with resignation in her voice.

When Chuck connected to her, it was sometimes almost violent in its intensity. But now, with Bess, it was so very soft - one minute she was her normal self, and then, almost without realizing it, she was feeling support and concern from Bess.

She sent out confusion and fear. That was easy enough for her to do.

“There Rachel. That’s not bad, is it? I can feel how upset you are, but do you feel my confidence? You’ll be fine, and if you decide to join our group, you’ll be my sister. I hope that happens.”

Rachel changed her broadcast to one of surprise and then hope. It was what Bess would want to feel from her.

Bess gently broke the connection and rose to face Jane. “There’s nothing in there,” she said.

It only took her a fraction of a second to realize what she’d said. She looked at Rachel in surprise, “I’m so sorry, Rachel. I didn’t mean that. I meant that Chuck isn’t connecting to you, not that there’s really not . . . you know . . . stuff in there. You are free of him.”

Rachel couldn’t help herself. She smiled at Bess. Everyone else chuckled at Bess’s unintended joke. It was funny - Chuck had told the same joke to her many times.

That night, they slept in Bess’s apartment. Rachel was offered her own, but Bess seemed to be sincere in wanting a roommate. In one way, it was nice to have Bess as a roommate because they stayed up late and talked and got to know each other even more. Amanda positioned the Wonder Purse to record it all.

But in another way, it made things a bit more difficult. She had to swap the memory card and plug in the phone to charge the battery. Bess was with her every minute until she finally left to get ready for bed.

Rachel quickly retrieved her phone, slid out the used memory card and slid in a new one. She put the used one in its own little pocket in the Wonder Purse and made sure to again start the video recording. She found the charging cable, but in horror, realized she’d not packed the black charger thing itself. She felt like crying again because Chuck would be so mad with her.

“That’s a nice phone, can I check it out?” Bess had reappeared and she hadn’t even noticed. Bess held out her hand. Rachel couldn’t think of anything to do except hand it over.

Bess had changed into a gray tank top with a pair of pink shorts with white polka dots. On the tank top, “A girl of many talents” was written in a feminine script.

She turned on the phone display and studied it. “I thought about getting one similar to this for . . . for me. It’s nice and fast. Can you unlock it so I can check it out? I’m kind of like a phone geek.”

Rachel had to think fast. The Double Aught app was hidden behind an icon that said, “Pay bills” so Bess would probably not stumble upon it, but she didn’t want to take that chance.

“I’m sorry, Bess. It’s just that - well, it’s embarrassing.” There was silence as Bess tried to make sense of what she’d just heard. “See . . . ah, Chuck asked me to take a selfie and send it to him. I did, but he wasn’t satisfied. He kept asking me to - ah, you know, to send him one without . . .”

Even without a connection, Rachel could feel frigid waves from Bess. “He is such a jerk,” she said with cold fury in her voice.

“He made me put the picture as the background on my home screen. It was to ‘remind me how things were between us.’ I’ve wanted to erase it, but I just couldn’t. I think I can now though. I just don’t want anyone else to see it.”

The phone beeped and an empty battery symbol appeared on the display. Bess handed it back. “If I can find a charger that is. I forgot mine.”

“Don’t worry, Rachel. I’ll get you fixed up. I promise.” Bess opened a drawer to search for a charger. Her voice sounded determined.

Chapter Twenty Seven

“You couldn’t get out or even call me for two days?” Chuck’s voice betrayed his annoyance. Actually, he didn’t try all that hard to conceal it. He’d been worried about her; that she had switched sides and had told them everything.

“I wanted to, darling! I wanted to talk to you so much! But there was one of them with me the whole time and once they started connecting to me, I had to be on guard every second to make sure they only felt what I wanted them to feel. I’m sorry, Chuck. I really am.”

She sat on a chair and he stood above her. Her eyes looked up, pleading, “I . . . I think you’ll be happy with what I recorded,” she offered.

That was happy news, but he didn’t let her feel that from him. Instead, he connected to her and let her feel his disappointment. She responded with sadness and shame. He knew her feelings were genuine.

He could also tell that she hadn’t switched sides; she was like a puppy, begging for attention. He decided to toss her a treat which was followed by an instantaneous vision of her with a tail. She was wagging it energetically. “Dearest, I supposed I was just worried about you.” He sat beside her. She moved close to him. “The thought of those . . . those people trying to break your will and make you submit to them . . . well, it was almost too much to bear.”

As he moved to embrace her, Chuck felt her eagerness for his touch. She had missed him. He realized that he actually had missed her too - at least he’d missed this part of her.

It was taking forever for the video to transfer from the memory cards to his computer. “You must be doing something wrong, Rachel, can’t you speed it up?”

He was impatient to see the video with his own eyes. Her descriptions of what had happened over there were interesting, but who knew what important details she had failed to comprehend.

“I think it’s slow just because these video files are big, darling. I don’t know how to make it go any faster.”

That last part was certainly true. He changed the subject, “So, they asked you to join and you demurred . . . you told them you needed time to decide.”

“Yes dear. They asked me to join their group. They call it ‘The Connection.’”

“And you believed they were sincere?”

“Yes, they would be happy to have me join.”

“But you didn’t find out what they are up to - we still don’t know the last parts of their revelation or if they can really heal.”

“No, they didn’t tell me that. They told me about the alien and how he had revealed things to Roger Seaton and how they had a task to accomplish. They said it would save things - it would save life itself.”

“But they didn’t say exactly how they were going to do this and you didn’t ask, is that right?”

A mild accusation had crept into his voice. Rachel felt it. “I’m sorry Chuck. The opportunity wasn’t there. The time wasn’t right. I’ll have to go back. I promise I’ll do that. It’s strange over there, but I want to succeed for you, I really do. Bess told me how Roger had healed Jed Cunningham, but she didn’t say anything more about healing after that.”

It annoyed him when she failed to get basic information, but he didn’t let her feel that. Her part in this drama was certainly not complete. “I think the biggest surprise - one that I find almost hard to believe - is your report that Jane Mitchell is the leader and that Evan Miller actually defers to her, offering suggestions, accepting her decisions. Perhaps you read the situation wrong.”

She reached for his hand and put it on her cheek. It felt cool, dry. “I don’t think so, dearest. Jane is the leader, but she’s not the boss. What I mean is that they are all close - they call each other brother and sister. She doesn’t snap orders at them, they kind of all talk it out and seem to come to an agreement, but her word is final.”

“You sound like you actually admire them. Were you tempted to join?”

She sat up straighter, “No, Chuck, I was not. I was there to do a job. I admit that if I had met them earlier - before I met you - I might have joined.

“But that’s because I wouldn’t have known better. I wouldn’t have been working for you. We wouldn’t have . . . what we have between us; the future you described. Nothing is more important than that.”

It was almost midnight before the video was ready. By then, Rachel was very tired and openly yawning. She told him that Bess Olman liked to stay up late and that she was way behind in her sleep.

He heard her words but they meant nothing to him. She could sleep when the damned video was ready.

Finally, she said, “Chuck, here they are. You can tell the date and time they were made from the file names. This number is how long they are. See? This first one is me getting to Amanda’s apartment. It’s only 20 minutes. This next one is when we arrived at the apartment building. You just double click and it’ll start playing. You can speed it along by just dragging on this horizontal bar.”

She must think him an idiot when it came to computers. Chuck considered himself quite competent with them even if he didn’t use them all that much himself - that’s why he had Gal Fridays.

“That’s fine, my dear. You run on now. You must be weary. Pick any of the guest bedrooms.”

He was too busy studying the screen to notice her leave without another word. Soon, he heard snoring coming from down the hall. He rose and closed the door.

The videos were not bad. Sure, Rachel had screwed up now and again as she got a shot of a wall or some wild motion as she moved her purse. But generally they managed to take him inside the world of the Connection. He found a yellow note pad so he could jot down the things he learned.

The first video showed Amanda’s apartment. It appeared to be small and cramped - perfect for old prune face. He stopped the playback when Rachel broke into her crying act. Her squeals were like those from a child - annoying.

The next video was much more interesting. It showed the security in Evan Miller’s apartment building. Chuck saw the guard pushing buttons on a phone. He could almost make them out. He wondered if the video could be somehow blown up and slowed down so that he could decipher the numbers.

The next part surprised him. For the first time ever, he saw what Jane Mitchell looked like. He found the pause button and clicked on it.

She was seated and modestly dressed. Her clothes showed some style and fit her well. She looked thin and tall. Not his type, but not hard to look at either. She had a certain look about her - perhaps she could be the leader after all.

Bess Olman was more like it. Again, he paused the video to study her. She supposedly had the power to kill and yet she looked like an attractive college girl. She had her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Chuck preferred a more formal hairstyle, but it did allow him to focus on her face. Its parts were all up to standard and she was wearing lipstick - something he’d had to remind Rachel to do after she started working for him.

Her body was more than acceptable. The skin tight leggings she wore let him see just how perfectly her thighs were proportioned to her calves and ankles. Her top half was also rather exceptional - certainly as good as Rachel’s. If he took over the Connection, he decided that Bess would be his Gal Friday. That is, once he learned how to do whatever pain inducing trick she could perform.

Lastly, the camera showed a picture of a man they called Father Tom. So this was the priest he’d read about in the police report. He certainly had that priest look about him. When he spoke, his words were comforting, soft. Chuck wondered if he’d had any training as a counselor.

Soon, Rachel turned on the waterworks again. He started to fast forward when Bess Olman rose and moved right in front of the camera. The image of her chest filled the computer screen.

He hit pause and left it there for a long time.

At 9 a.m., his alarm went off. Chuck was not a morning person, so six days a week he slept in. The seventh was his day to “bring in the sheaves,” as he called it - on the Sabbath, he had to be up with the sun for a hard day’s labor.

He said a silent prayerful “thank you” for letting today not be that day. He was just starting to think about rising, when Rachel, knocked on his door. “Darling, should I bring you coffee?” Her voice sounded hopeful.

He wasn’t even up and she was already pestering him. He remembered how his wife had been like that too. He started to say something hurtful, but thought better of it. Rachel would have to return to the lion’s den soon - today if he could arrange it. He needed to keep her focused and determined, not distracted and crying because he had given in to provocation and yelled at her.

“Dearest, I will be out in a very few minutes. And having coffee with you on a fine morning sounds wonderful.”

“Oh Chuck, it does! I’ll have everything ready.” His words must have had the desired effect - she sounded happy.

He sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for the yellow pad with the notes he’d made late into the night. He brought it to his bedroom so that Rachel wouldn’t see what he’d written. It occurred to him that she had to know everything on these yellow sheets since she lived through even second of that video, but he didn’t like the idea of her reading his handwriting and knowing what he thought was important. The less she knew about him, the better.

He hadn’t watched all the videos, but he had accumulated almost three pages of facts that he had learned from watching them. He’d put a check mark beside the items he considered the most important.

And he wasn’t done - even though most of the videos chronicled normal mundane events and could be quickly scanned and ignored, there were still at least another hour or two of potentially important parts he needed to watch.

One of the best sources of checks had been when Bess Olman and Rachel were alone in her apartment, getting ready for bed. Their talk was mostly mindless female chatter, but it also contained many interesting tidbits. Females had a tendency to speak freely with each other in such situations and reveal all kinds of personal information.

 Tanith Watson is a member and best friend of Bess

 She is in Little Rock, living with her beloved grandmother (NOTE: !!)

 The group just purchased a building there - why?

 Jane Mitchell is married to Jed Cunningham

 Jane Mitchell has key to Roger Seaton’s untouched apartment (NOTE: confirmation of affair, does Cunningham know?)

 Jed is in Little Rock, setting up some type of facility in their new building (NOTE: Have Rachel explore this. What type? Why?)

 Bess has possession of complete, up to date, version of the revelation (NOTE: R says she would never be able to get it)

 Bess will set up a data center in Denver

 They need hundreds of members (NOTE: for what? Have Rachel find out)

 Matt and Amanda are members.

 Amanda is having trouble with connecting (NOTE: probably too dumb)

 They have their own pilots and are buying a G450. (NOTE: when possible, change to G650)

 NOTE: Have Rachel get outfit of tank top and pink shorts with polka dots.

All told, it was an impressive list, even though Rachel hadn’t yet found much information about the healing/hurting ability, or exactly what it is they planned to do. She would simply have to keep at it. Perhaps she needed a few more hints about their future life together to motivate her.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Today’s full group meeting was attended by the entire Connection. Jane didn’t mind if people skipped the meeting to do more important things, but when word got out that another one of Chuck’s victims had surfaced, everyone was there to get an update and discuss it. Jed, Tanith and Marina were all there via their phone’s video link.

Bess was just completing her description of their time together. “I like her. I think she’s been lonely for a long time, but she seems better now. It was awkward though since she isn’t really a member yet; I didn’t know exactly what to tell her. I mentioned that Roger had healed Jed, but then I wasn’t sure if I should have done that, so I didn’t say anything more about it. Of course, I didn’t tell her about what we are planning.”

“Do you think she’s been damaged by Chuck?” asked Matt. He was holding Amanda’s hand. “With me, it took healing by Roger before I could start to return to normal.”

“She seems like she’s healing all by herself,” answered Bess. “As soon as I connected to her, I could tell she started to feel better. I felt a lot of appreciation and surprise at how nice we all are. She said that Chuck had told her we were cultists, unable to think for ourselves. I think she’ll be okay.”

“Do you think she’ll join?” This was from Marina.

Bess thought her answer for a couple of seconds, “I’m not sure, my sister. She . . . she might or she might not. I didn’t get the impression that she was anxious to be a part of our group - instead I felt she was anxious to have some friends - people who will care about her. I’m not sure that makes sense, but that’s what I felt.”

They all waited for Marina. “I think we need to nail down exactly what we say to prospective new members and also to people who join from now on. I tried to tell Laird about us but I realized I didn’t know what to say. Talking about alien Revelations might spook him. I was afraid he’d turn down my invitation.”

The idea that someone would be offered membership in the Connection and not accept was so foreign that it took everyone a few seconds to consider what they’d just heard.

Finally, Edie sat up straight and said, “It shouldn’t be a surprise that some people will not want to join. The very first time you tried to recruit a new member, he refused - and thank God he did.”

That prospective new member had been her ex-husband. “And I agree with Marina, we do need to decide what to share with people. How about this - new people, people not yet members, get told the Revelation but without any mention of why we are here. They aren’t told about healing either. Like any church, we tell them our basic beliefs; but in our case, not all of them.

“Once we invite them to become a member and they accept, we tell them about healing and see if they have that ability. We also explain that we will be called in the future to join together in an act to save the universe, but we don’t tell them exactly how it will happen. We don’t tell them about the thing that Jed is building either. I don’t like the idea that hundreds of people know that we are going to shoot a powerful energy beam up through the atmosphere. I’m pretty sure that several government agencies would look down on that type of endeavor.”

“But I already told Rachel about how Roger healed Jed,” Bess said.

“It’s no problem, Bess. She knew that anyway. She said Chuck showed her the Revelation documents that he has. He also told her that Roger wanted him to join the Connection in the worst way, but that Chuck refused.”

Now Shannon spoke. “That bastard,” she said quietly.

They all looked at Jane to see what she had to add. “Anyone disagree?” she said to the group. “Then let’s do what Edie suggested. When we see Rachel again, we’ll welcome her if she wants to join, but we won’t tell her everything.”

Chapter Twenty Nine

It was very frustrating. She’d been welcomed when she called to ask if she could return to the apartment building. Before she left, they had offered to let her read about the Revelation and help her understand what it meant. Father Tom had said, “Once you know these things, you will be better able to decide if you want to join us, Rachel.” He really was nice. Rachel guessed that most men of God were.

Again, they offered her a room and this time she accepted. She hoped to be out of here in a day or two at the most, but having a private place she could retreat to would be very nice. She could tell them she was studying the documents they gave her, but in reality, it would be a break for her. Sending out false feelings and making sure you never slipped up was hard work.

Plus, the privacy allowed her to call Chuck. Her first words to him were, “Darling, I miss you so much!”

At first there was silence on the other end. “Are you sure you are alone? That it’s safe?”

His voice was matter of fact, “Yes dear, I’m in my own apartment. There’s no one around.”

“And what have you learned?”

She wanted to hear words of love from him, but he was all business. She pushed aside that thought - he knew best. “I’m afraid not much. Every time I try and bring up healing or whatever it is they are planning for the future, they change the subject. They are very nice about it, but none of them will discuss these things - even Bess. It’s very frustrating.”

“Perhaps you are not trying hard enough, my dear. Perhaps you are not sufficiently focused on getting this little chore behind us so that we can meet the future together. Perhaps you would rather be there with them than here with me.”

His words caused Rachel to feel a physical pain in her gut. It was sharp, piercing. Tears formed beyond her control. “Chuck, I . . . you know how . . . “

He cut her off. “I suppose you are indeed performing at your highest level. It’s all I can expect.”

He paused. She wiped her eyes. Her mind seemed to be a blank. “I have been continuing to look at the recordings you made and there may be another way to discover what their secrets are without them simply telling you. However, it may require a certain bravado - courage - on your part, my dear. Are you prepared to make the attempt?”

Wiping hadn’t helped. The tears streamed down her cheeks. He was disappointed in her. “Chuck, I am. I’ll do anything. You just tell me, dearest. Please tell me what to do.” She was pleading.

“Very well then. I noted two things in the videos you made. Separately, they don’t amount to much, but together they have the potential to get us the answers we seek. Do you know what they are?”

She wanted to try and guess, to please him, but nothing would come to her. “No, darling, I don’t. Please tell me.”

“The first was in your little pajama party with Bess Olman. She told an anecdote - a story - about how she had surprised Roger Seaton by wearing a very suggestive outfit in preparation for a date. You were laughing at his surprised reaction to her, but I was thinking. Bess described how, before she left, she learned that Seaton was writing another document; a more complete version of the Revelation. She arranged to store it in a safe place.

“That’s the first thing. Next, Bess told you how Jane had gone into Roger’s apartment to weep. I could see you were touched, but happily, I was able to understand the import of what she had said. That’s both things. Do you see now?”

Rachel knew she didn’t. Her silence answered his question. “I suppose not. I’ll spell it out for you, Rachel, my dear. I want you to find where Bess Olman is storing that complete revelation document and bring it or a copy to me.”

Her stomach pain increased sharply. She had a momentary vision of being sick, right there in her new apartment. “I can’t, Chuck. She’ll probably keep it in her phone and in the cloud. I asked about the phones just an hour ago - they all have exactly the same one. Bess told me how she’d designed the security, how everything was encrypted. Unless she decides to cooperate, there’s just no way to get into her phone - it’s impossible.”

“I suppose you can’t be expected to do the impossible. If the phones are out, how about this cloud you mentioned. Do you know where it is? How to get into it?”

Rachel realized he didn’t know what the cloud was. She started to explain, but decided against it. “My darling, if anything it’s more secure than her phone. It’s a dead end. I’m sorry.”

She put her hand on her stomach, made a fist, and pushed. It helped.

“Well then Rachel, there is but one other way. And please, think before you react. I do NOT want you to tell me it can’t be done. I do NOT want to hear it’s impossible because I know that it is not.

“Rachel, my love, I want you to get the key to Seaton’s untouched apartment and copy that revelation document off his computer and bring it to me. Any questions . . . darling?”

She’d been crying from fear of what lay ahead for her when Bess knocked on the door. She quickly dried her tears, got herself under control, started the phone recording, and answered the knock. Bess stood there is a sports bra, gym shorts and sneakers.

“Hi, Rach, I just got back from a run and . . .” Her feelings may have been under tight control, but her puffy red eyes gave her away. “Rachel, what wrong?” asked Bess as she entered without asking. She hugged Rachel. “You can tell me,” she whispered.

She had to think fast. She led Bess to the couch and they sat. She sniffed. “Bess . . . it’s Roger. I was just reading what he wrote about when the Revelation was just starting. And I remembered all you told me about him. He just seems so - you know - nice. I wish I’d known him. I know it’s silly to cry for someone I never even met, but . . .”

Now Bess sniffed. “I wish he was here now, Rachel. You don’t know how much I miss him. I’ll tell you a secret - sometimes I can feel him, like he’s just in the other room.”

Rachel nodded. Her phone was recording. “I know you loved him, but Jane did too, right?

“Not in the same way. Not the way she loves Jed. But they were close - I can only hope to be that close to him in the . . . to be that close to someone in the future.”

“You said she even had a key to his apartment. Are you sure they didn’t . . .”

Bess laughed. “I’m sure. Jane keeps two keys in that little table beside her entrance door. I think she used Jed’s a lot more than Roger’s. No, they were just like the best friends ever.”

Rachel remembered a stray fact from her two nights with Bess as they stayed up late, talking about anything and everything. Chuck wasn’t the only one who could turn an unimportant fact into something important. “Do you and Jane still have a scotch late in the day? Drink a toast to Roger?”

Bess smiled, “Not lately. But that doesn’t sound bad. Do you like scotch?”

“Sure,” said Rachel with a smile and a final sniff. She’d tasted it maybe once.

Bess reached for her phone and thumb typed. A ding sound followed almost immediately. Bess held up her phone. It was a text from Jane.

Sounds like a great idea. You and Rachel come on down when you’re ready. Let’s keep it to one or two though. I might start bawling again.

Jane

When they arrived, the book was still holding the door open. Jane called out from the bedroom, “I’m getting changed. Bess, will you do the honors?”

Chuck often spoke of how the good Lord looked after him. Perhaps He also looked after those who loved Chuck. It could not possibly be better - with Jane in her bedroom and Bess in the kitchen, she’d be alone.

“Sure, Jane,” called out Bess. “I’m on it.”

As soon as Bess left the room, she slid open the drawer in the little table beside the main entrance. She felt a stab of fear - Jane could come walking in right now or Bess could come out to ask a question. She had to be fast, but her hands started to shake.

The drawer squeaked slightly as she slid it open. Momentarily, she froze, but the sight of the two key cards was enough to spur her into action. She reached into the Wonder Purse and removed her own key card. It was identical to the ones in the drawer. Now she only had to choose which one to take. She was no math whiz, but she knew her odds were 50/50 if she simply chose at random.

But she knew that Jane had used the key to get into Roger’s apartment just a couple of days ago. One of the keys was lying slightly on top of the other. She took that one and left her own card in its place. She closed the drawer carefully and made her way to the couch.

Before she could sit or put the card away, Jane appeared. Rachel said, “Oh!” and dropped the key card at her feet.

Jane walked over and picked it up and handed it to her. “Your apartment all right?” she said. She had a hint of southern accent.

Rachel forced herself to calm down. “It’s fine, Jane. I’m just not used to fancy key card locks. I’m afraid I’ll lose it.”

She put the key into the Wonder Purse and positioned it so that her phone would have a view of the couch and a nearby chair.

Jane was wearing yoga pants that rode low on her hips. Her feet were bare. “Well, it’s no problem if you do. Jed lost his about a hundred times. The guys down in the entrance way can make you another.”

Just then, Bess returned with the drinks. Rachel could tell that Bess and Jane exchanged some type of unspoken communication. Bess said, “It’s okay, Jane.” Jane took a sip of her drink and smiled.

Soon they were talking and laughing with each other like old friends. Rachel realized how much she wanted to belong to - to someone. She knew she would belong to Chuck soon; especially if she could bring him that document. Then she’d have everything she’d ever dreamed of.

After their third drink, Bess told a joke and they were all laughing so hard it hurt. Edie walked in and surveyed the scene, “I swear. I need to check up on you girls more often. I leave you alone for a couple of hours and I find you sloshed and swilling booze.”

That made them all laugh even more. Edie made herself a ginger ale and joined them. The conversation continued for quite a long time, but just before the party broke up, Rachel asked Bess, “If you don’t mind me asking, where did you find those pink polka dot shorts? They are so cute!”

Chapter Thirty

She had set her phone for a 3 a.m. alarm. When it went off, Rachel almost silenced it and went back to sleep. She had a headache and she’d only been asleep for about three hours.

But she couldn’t do that. She was so close now. Getting the key was the hard and dangerous part. By comparison, she should be able to slip into Roger’s place pretty easily.

She got up, put on a robe and slipped her phone and her new key card that the guard downstairs had made her in the pocket. She decided to go barefoot since it would be quieter. She opened her door as quietly as she could though it still made a mechanical sound when it opened.

Rachel knew someone might hear and investigate, but she was ready for that - she’d say she woke up crying and lonely and was going down to see if she could room with Bess again. These people were all so close and comfortable with each other, she knew her story would be believed.

But no story was necessary as the hallway was quiet. She walked silently on her toes and opened the door to the stairway and listened for any noises. There was nothing.

The metal edges of the stairs were cold on her feet, but she hardly noticed as she began to hurry. This was the part when she was most exposed for the longest length of time. The two flights of stair took her less than a minute.

The stairway door was almost right across from Jane’s. Rachel prayed that her door would not be propped open; that Jane would be asleep in the bedroom, far away from the hallway.

Chuck’s prayers for the good Lord to watch over her must have been working because there was no problem getting into Roger’s place. The only sound was the mechanical “zing” of the door lock opening, but no one stirred because of it.

Once inside, she gave her eyes a minute to adjust to the lack of light. A large window looked out over the street below, but it was almost completely covered with curtains. Not much light came in, but she was able to make out the outlines of everything in the apartment. They all seemed to be very much alike in their basic layout.

The desk was in the corner. A laptop sat on it, still opened but dark. There wasn’t enough light for her to be able to read the symbols on the keys, so she wasn’t certain which one to press to bring it to life. She considered using the lamp that was on the desk, but rejected that idea. A sudden light might be seen under the door or by anyone outside.

Of course - her phone! She pressed the button to activate it. The resulting glow allowing her to see which key was labeled “Power.”

The laptop booted slowly, its screen giving off enough light for her to see things in more detail. As she waited, she looked around. There was the couch that Roger liked to use to romance his women. Bess had admitted being there with him and Rachel had no doubt that Jane had too. Bess may not believe that Jane and Roger . . . were together, but Rachel knew how things worked between a man and a woman.

Just then, an incredibly large band broke into a song. She dropped her phone in fright.

It was the startup sound for the laptop. It wasn’t actually very loud, but in the quiet of the apartment, and with her being afraid to begin with, that sound just about caused her to lose her nerve and run back into the hallway.

In two seconds, the music was over, replaced by silence. Rachel listened with an almost animal intensity, searching for the slightest sound that might indicate she was about to be caught. Momentarily, she wondered what would happen if she was. Perhaps Jane would connect to her in such a way as to scramble her brains. Chuck had said such a thing could happen, “She’s probably strong,” he’d said to her as a warning against getting caught. “With you, she wouldn’t have to do much at all.”

But the walls were thick in these old apartment buildings and all she heard was silence. Her luck seemed to be holding.

Rachel had taken a class on Word at the community college, so she knew how to look at the history of files that had been used. There it was! The last file accessed was named, “seaton - full narrative - revelation.” She clicked on File and then Open.

A window popped up that said, “Enter Password to Open File.” It took Rachel several seconds to understand what it was talking about. She’d never seen this before.

She knew about passwords, of course. She had one for her computer back at Chuck’s office. It was a jumble of letters and numbers. She kept it on a post-it note stuck to her monitor, but there was no obvious password visible here. The only thing written down was “Egg Hunt 3 p.m.” on a notepad. She tried that as the password, but it didn’t work.

She tried to guess the password. She input “12345” and “Roger,” but none of them worked either. She felt like crying. All this effort and danger and she was going to fail because Roger Seaton was a stickler for security.

She could, of course, take the entire laptop, but that was almost certain to be discovered sooner or later. She decided not to do that until she talked to Chuck in the morning. She could come back tomorrow night if she had to.

Finally, she searched the drawers of the desk. All were empty except for one - it had a memory stick in it. Her excitement building, Rachel plugged it in looked at the files it contained.

There it was! A file of the same name was on the memory stick. She used Word to open it and it opened with no request for a password! She wondered how Seaton had let this copy go unprotected. It was dated a week earlier than the one on the laptop itself, so maybe his obsession with security came later.

It didn’t matter though. She’d done what Chuck asked! He would be proud of her and she would be happy - no, they would be happy together.

But first, she still had to get out of this nest of cultists. She shut down the computer and, once again, she was startled by some sound it made before it went dark. Her luck held and no one seemed to notice.

Ten minutes later, she was back in her apartment. It took her a long time to finally fall asleep, but when she did, she dreamed of pain.

It had been almost noon by the time she was able to take the train and then the bus to get back to Chuck’s house. He seemed a bit cross when she called him because he was already at the office and had a busy schedule, but he made time to come home and open the door for her.

“You should have stayed another day, they might get suspicious.” Chuck was looking for a USB port on his computer so he could see what was on the memory stick.

“It’ll be fine, darling. When I got there I told them I might have to leave at any time - I told them my brother was coming to help me and I wanted to be with him alone at my place. They all said they understood and I believed them. I can still go back if I need to.”

“And you told them you would join? We didn’t agree for you to do that.”

His tone implied that she’d done something beyond her instructions. “Chuck, I didn’t have time to call or anything. I asked Bess again about Roger and his healing and she so much as told me that they discussed this only with members. I waited a couple of hours, then broke down in tears and asked to join. They accepted me without any hesitation right then and there. They told me about healing and about how they had something important to do. Bess tried to see if I could heal, but I guess I can’t. You can see it all, darling. It’s on the recording. I hope you don’t think I stepped out of line.”

“Well, I suppose not. I’ll watch that part carefully, however.”

After several attempts, he found the port that mated with the memory stick. The file list appeared. It contained two files. “I copied the password protected one on here too. I thought we could ask that tech guy at the phone store if it could be opened.”

“Of course it can be opened,” said Chuck. “You just need to know what you’re doing.” He double clicked one file and it asked for the password. He clicked “cancel” without trying to guess what it was.

The next one opened in Word normally. It was quite a long document. He quickly scanned a page here and there. It appeared to describe, in detail, the things that Roger had seen and done.

Chuck smiled, “This looks very promising, my dear. It will take a while to read all this though. Do me a favor, please. I need to get back to the office and I’d like to be able to study this there. While I’m getting ready, copy these files onto this computer for me, would you? I’ll take the memory stick with me.

He went into his bedroom and studied his reflection in the mirror. Things were proceeding as planned. If the document contained the actual secrets he was looking for, then he would know everything about the Connection and would have video proof of it all.

With any luck, he’d call Congresswoman Margaret Rymes this very afternoon to ask for a meeting.

Chapter Thirty One

Chuck was satisfied that he was able to get right through to Margaret’s Chief of Staff. He suspected that few people could talk to this gatekeeper without having to first talk to a whole group of underlings. Since this was a confidential matter, he’d placed the call himself from his office.

“The Congresswoman is in Africa on a fact finding trip until Sunday, Pastor Cleimer. Then she has to be in Washington for several days. I could schedule a meeting in her office there. It’s 2354 Rayburn. She has an hour at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.”

Damn. Didn’t anyone need sleep anymore? He sighed to himself in resignation, “That would be fine.”

“Okay, Pastor Cleimer, I have you scheduled. Will there be anyone with you? And can you give me a summary of what you would like to discuss - so that Congresswoman Rymes can be prepared?”

“There will be two of us - myself and Ms. Rachel Reed. I’d rather not say what we would like to discuss - it’s of a personal nature and Margaret will not need to be briefed.”

People on their “Special VIP” list got treated very well. Chuck was on that list. “Very well, Pastor. I will send you a form to provide some information on Ms. Reed. This will help speed her through security.”

Chuck knew they would do at least a cursory background check. He had no doubt that Rachel’s would turn out to be largely blank.

After the call, Chuck thought about the fact that he had over a week to wait before his meeting. He was disappointed, but there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. He decided it would at least give him more time to really dig into the revelation document.

He touched the spot on the screen that caused the video to resume playback. Bess Olman and Jane Mitchell were laughing along with Rachel. Chuck had watched them drink straight liquor. He had the sound turned down since their female chatter distracted him from the images.

Bess leaned forward. Her back muscles looked toned.

Chuck reached for the phone and called Rachel. He would tell her about their meeting in DC soon - when the time was right.

For now, he had other plans for her.

“My dear, I want to offer my congratulations on your efforts. The document you brought to me is exactly what I was looking for.”

She beamed as she shifted even closer to him on the couch. “It confirms many of my suspicions, but I must say I was wrong about one point - I now believe that Bess Olman can indeed change things inside people. I believe that Roger Seaton used this power to heal, but I am convinced that Bess used it to kill the Colonel. Your recordings make that clear to me, my dear.”

Rachel smiled and nodded in agreement. She had refreshed her lipstick. “They won’t talk about it, though.”

“I think I understand why, dearest. It’s quite a power to have, and it is one I mean to acquire - with your help.”

“I’ll do whatever I can,” said Rachel with uncertainty in her voice. “You know that, Chuck,”

“Certainly I do, my dear, certainly. I read how Bess described her experience when she learned. She said it was easy. I think we can certainly learn if she can. With your permission, darling, I’ll connect to you now and we can begin.”

Rachel smiled and he forced himself to focus on her face. “You don’t need my permission, Chuck.”

“I know,” he said.

He connected with her and began.

“Try to think, Rachel. When you were connected to Bess, how did it feel? How was it, you know, different?” He spoke with an accusatory tone, but he didn’t care. Two hours of effort trying to learn to see inside her had led basically nowhere. He should be seeing inside Rachel right now and instead all his saw was her face.

She looked ashamed. “Chuck, I . . . it felt, well, it felt nice when she connected to me. She was concerned about me and I could tell she felt some anger at you . . .”

Ever since Seaton was killed, he’d been worried that Bess was coming after him. She - or someone in that cult - had sent him a text threatening exactly that. The realization that she was still angry with him was enough to make him redouble his efforts to learn how this trick was done.

In his mind, he saw himself and Bess standing face to face. She tried to connect to him, but he would not allow it. His best defense against her power was his even greater strength. He envisioned himself effortlessly connecting to her and then looking inside. She could hide nothing from him. He’d show her just a portion of his power and it would cause her to cower in fear. She would surrender to him and he would be generous with her.

His daydream ended abruptly. He noticed Rachel’s lips moving before his brain decoded her words. “She . . . they all do . . . they blame you for what happened there. They think you connected to the Colonel and it caused him to go crazy. They said you did the same to me and Matt, but that I got out in time. They said they want to help me and I believe they are sincere.”

Chuck started to order her to stop spouting such nonsense, but he could tell she wasn’t quite finished. “I’d hoped to be done there, but if it’s that important to you darling, I’ll go back and try again to learn how to look inside like Bess does.”

Chuck was glad he’d let her prattle on. This was actually a pretty good idea. “I think that may be necessary, my dear. However, you should not go back for a day or two since you told them you were spending time with your brother. But we can’t wait much longer than that because we have a deadline we must meet. I have a surprise for you, my love.”

He told her about the meeting with Congresswoman Rymes. “You want me to go?” she said. “I . . . Chuck, what should I wear? I don’t know . . .”

Her cut her off in mid prattle, “I’m sure you don’t, but I will make certain you look presentable and are well prepared. After you met Margaret before, she called me and told me that she was very impressed with your . . . your potential.”

“Oh Chuck. Thank you. I was just an office girl until I met you. You’ve already changed me so much and now this surprise - well, I’ll do my best. I promise, my love.”

She rose and faced him, “And I have a surprise for you too, darling.”

In the guest room, she changed. The pink polka dot shorts were fine, but she hadn’t been able to find a tank top with the same saying that Bess had on hers. She’d had to settle for one that said, “Make Room For These.” She so hoped Chuck would like it.

She put her hair into a ponytail and wondered how she might look as a blonde.

“Just another week,” she thought as she refreshed her makeup. “One more trip to see Bess and then our meeting in D.C.”

But first, they had a couple of days. She went to give him his surprise.

Chapter Thirty Two

“Thanks for subbing that ginger ale the other night. At first, I thought you brought me Scotch.”

Bess laughed, “No drinking for you, my sister. Not for at least eight more months anyway. Besides Rach and I managed to drink your share.”

Now Jane laughed with her, “That you did. She really loosened up that night. I’m so glad she joined. Too bad she can’t heal.”

This was a sore subject with Jane. She’d sat in as Bess tried to show Rachel how she could look inside people. She’d done everything that Rachel did as Bess tried to get her to see that “door.” It hadn’t been there for Rachel and it still wasn’t there for her. It was a disappointment, but it would not keep her from trying again - or for a hundred more times if she had too. She knew she was being stubborn, but she didn’t care.

Bess’s phone rang. Her ring tone was the theme from Rocky. “It’s Marina!” said Bess with delight. Since their return from Little Rock, she’d been in Delaware training on the G450. The training was intensive and Marina wanted it done as quickly as possible so they hadn’t seen her, even on the weekends, for over two weeks.

Bess put her phone on speaker and answered, “Yo, Marina. I’m here with Jane. We’re just shooting the breeze.”

“Great! I wanted to say ‘hi’ to both of you anyway. This afternoon I take my final checkride and I’m a little nervous. I wanted to hear your voices and take my mind off of it for a few minutes. I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too,” said Jane. “And don’t worry about that check ride thing. You’ll probably be the best student they ever had.” Jane’s respect for Marina’s flying ability knew no bounds.

Marina laughed. “I doubt that, Jane, but I do expect to pass. I’ve been kind of out of the loop. I understand Rachel joined, but she’s going to stay at her own apartment? Is that right?”

Bess answered, “Yeah. She’s not going to be part of our, you know - inner circle. She’s going to be like most of the folks from Little Rock, and like Courtney and her parents in Grand Rapids - they’ll live their lives and be ready when we call them. Rachel is out of a job with Chuck, thank God, but I think she’s going to be all right. She told me she might want to go back to school. She took a few courses, but never was officially in college.”

“And Chuck himself, is he going to victimize yet another person? Can’t we make him stop?”

Jane felt a cold blast from Bess. She took over. “I think we have. Edie wrote him a letter on behalf of Rachel. Wait ‘till you read it, Marina, it’s a classic. She told him that Rachel had ‘suffered significant damages as a direct result of his harassment of her; sexual and otherwise.’ She demanded that Chuck continue to pay her salary for six months and that he not engage in this type of activity with any other employee - or else.”

“Or else what?” asked Marina.

“Or else she would file the mother of all harassment suits against him and would have him served on Sunday, right in front of his congregation.

“Yesterday, Rachel told us Chuck agreed to everything.”

“So, he’s finally taken care of?” asked Marina.

“We’ll have to see,” said Bess. “We’ll have to see.”

Talking with her friends did help. Marina was concerned about the check ride, of course. Having an instructor sit behind you and watch your every move as you respond to emergencies and land in difficult conditions was enough to make anyone nervous.

But she was confident that she would handle whatever The Big Jerk would throw at her. That was the name he introduced himself with and that’s what he liked to be called. On her first day he’d said, “I don’t care if you are a special student. I don’t care how much money you have and I don’t care if you want to finish early. If you do not meet my standards - which are quite high - you will NOT be getting your type rating from me. You can call me The Big Jerk because that is what I will be to you. I will get you up early and keep you up late. I’ll fill your head with facts and figures until you think it can’t hold any more and then I’ll make you prove to me that you understand what it all means. I’ll make you prove it where it matters - up in the air.”

Actually, most of that proving had taken place on the ground in a simulator. She’d done actual flying in her G450, of course. But it wasn’t a good idea to practice engine out takeoffs and low visibility landings in a real twenty million dollar plane.

She’d been stunned when, midway through her training, Edie called and told her that they were completing the purchase of her plane. Edie even called it “her” plane. “Laird will supervise the testing and final handoff if you are okay with him doing it. I know the two of you already looked it over, but he’s having Gulfstream maintenance go over it inch by inch before we close the sale. They should hand you the keys in a couple of days. That sound all right to you?”

Could this really be happening? “Ah . . . sure, Edie. That’s just about perfect.”

“Oh and one more thing - the previous owners had painted the name “Jewel” on the nose. I told them to remove it or paint over it, but something just occurred to me - do you want to have them put on another name? It’s your plane, you can name it whatever you want.”

Marina was a great fan of classic science fiction. She loved, “When Worlds Collide” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and all the rest of those classics from the 1950s. “Edie, I know it’ll sound strange, but can we name it ‘Bellerophon?’ That was the name of the ship that took colonists to another planet in a movie I really like. We could call her ‘Belle’ for short.”

“And it was also the name of a slayer of monsters. I like it, Runway. Consider it done.

Marina smiled long after she hung up. Edie liked to give people nicknames. The first time they’d met, she’d said Marina was a ship’s captain and Jane was a runway model. She nicknamed Jane something else - which she was forbidden to use, but did anyway - and Marina had become Runway. She liked it.

Two days later, she was studying when there was a knock on her door. It was The Big Jerk. He tossed her a thick envelope. “The keys to your new plane, your highness. You certainly must have money by the bale to be buying a plane before you even finish with my training. I’m surprised you didn’t go ahead and get a G650 - it’s only, what, about forty or fifty million more?”

Marina felt her cheeks redden. “I didn’t . . .”

He cut her off. “I had a look at the interior. It’s got some nice looking seats in the back. I hope they are comfortable because, except as my student, that’s the only place you’re going to ride until and if you pass my course.”

He was being especially jerky today. She decided not to answer. He’d been completely professional with her and was, without a doubt, the best and most demanding instructor she’d ever had. She liked him even if he was a big jerk.

He started to leave, but turned back to her, “And that name. It’s from ‘Forbidden Planet’ isn’t it? I like that movie too.”

It was the first time she saw him smile.

She and Laird arrived for their check rides at exactly the same time. Marina had spent two weeks in very intensive training in order to become qualified to fly the G450, but every active pilot that flew people around for pay had to take refresher training at least once a year. It was called recurrent training. That class normally took five days and ended with the same checkride that Marina was going to take. The Connection was paying for Laird’s recurrent.

They were going to take their check rides together. In reality, they would do it twice, once from the left seat as Pilot in Command and once from the right seat. It would take several hours.

Normally, when they met, Laird would bend over and at least give her a kiss on the cheek, but today there were flying and were both all business. Besides, he’d been kind of cool to her recently. Ever since she tried to tell him about the Connection, he’d not been the same. In training, she hadn’t had time to think much about it, but soon she would have to sit down with him and have a talk.

But not today. Today was all about flying and nothing else.

The test started with an oral exam. The Big Jerk asked a lot technical questions about the aircraft systems, but she handled them all. Next, they did weight, balance and fuel calculations. A lot of that was automated in the G450, but pilots needed to know how to do the calculations manually - just in case.

Finally, the three of them entered the simulator. Marina had trained for hours in the thing and felt pretty confident. The problem was that, while the simulator was very lifelike inside, it was nonetheless a big computer that could be programmed to make bad things happen very quickly. In the real world, an engine out event was an emergency that happened once in thousands of flights. In the sim, they could hit you with a flameout, and reduced rudder control, and a malfunctioning air speed indicator all at once. “Million to one” events were common in the sim and she had to be ready for them.

“So who wants to go first?” said The Big Jerk.

Marina didn’t hesitate. “I will,” she said.

“Good. If you crash and burn early, I might get home in time for lunch.”

Under the ever watchful eye of The Big Jerk, they brought the machine to life. Step by step, she and Laird pushed all the buttons, checked all the gauges and made sure everything was working fine. It was the normal procedure they would use whenever they flew.

“Checklist complete, Captain,” said Laird. He smiled at her. As an experienced and active pilot in this type, his checkride last year had also been with The Big Jerk and it had been fairly quick and easy. He also knew that he would throw some curve balls at Marina.

The view had been of their home airport in Wilmington, but it abruptly changed. The sky went from blue to frigid white in an instant. The white continued on the ground. “Welcome to Anchorage, Captain.” He said that last word as if it hurt him to call her that. “Let’s see if you can perform a takeoff without dragging the tail. Taxi to runway 7R and hold.”

She repeated her instructions into her microphone and did what he said while watching other traffic carefully. It was snowing and there were not only planes, but also other equipment moving around the airport. The simulator was so lifelike; it was possible to almost forget that you were not flying a real plane. She could even feel the bumps from the expansion joints in the taxiway.

Marina held short of the runway as instructed. When she hit the brakes, she felt the plane slip slightly. She had never felt such a thing in the real world. Powerful motors suspended her and Laird in the simulator “cockpit”. Their motion make it seem exactly like she was really in Alaska and the surface really was a bit slippery.

“Tower, do you have a conditions report?” she asked on the radio.

“Only that we are open and above minimums.” He was being a jerk. A real controller would have offered a bit more. He added, “Belle aircraft, cleared on 7R. After takeoff, contact departure control, 118.6. Good luck.”

He called her plane Belle! He must have guessed that was what she’d call her. He was trying to distract her. “Nice try, but no cigar,” she thought as she pushed the throttles forward.

Laird called out their speed as the plane accelerated. At fifty knots, the plane lurched violently and the master caution light came on along with the “bong bong bong” sound that indicated some significant problem. The display indicated an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment.

This was the first curve ball. Marina knew she had to abort the takeoff and that she had to do it quickly. If she took much more than a second, The Big Jerk would fail her right here and now.

“Abort, abort,” called Marina.

“Abort,” repeated Laird. It was important that both pilots confirm they knew what was happening.

Marina pulled the throttles fully back which stopped their forward acceleration. The plane wanted to pull to the left, so she quickly deployed the other reverser. Next, she applied the brakes gently. There was plenty of runway ahead, so there was no need to risk sliding on the slick surface.

The plane slowed almost to a stop when their world changed. Instantly, they were flying in clouds. “Now let’s see a landing,” said The Big Jerk without a word about what had just happened.

For the next two hours, he set up scenario after scenario and challenged Marina with problem after problem - sometimes with multiple problems at once.

Then, with no warning, he said, “Okay Laird, you’re the Pilot in Command. “Let’s try an ILS approach to Honolulu.”

The scene outside the cockpit changed to beautiful pacific waters with thick clouds ahead. As she worked to help Laird with the checklists, she wondered at the fact that her own test was so abruptly over. She’d worked so hard to get to this point and The Big Jerk hadn’t even said a word about how she did.

During her entire checkride, Marina felt calm. But now, as she and Laird sat across from The Big Jerk in a small conference room, her nervousness returned. She had a sudden mental image of herself being told that she’d probably pass next time. She resolved that if that happened, she would give The Big Jerk a firm handshake, make a date with Laird for later, and then return to her hotel room and cry for at least an hour.

She shook her head slightly to clear it of that painful vision. The Big Jerk was looking at Laird. “Good Job today. You passed easily. I hope to see you next year.”

He then turned his gaze towards Marina. Her eyes met his. She was in firm control again so they were steady.

“I know you could have had your pick of instructors with what you paid. Probably some would have finished you a couple of days quicker than I did. I’d like to know, Marina, why did you pick me?”

That was easy to answer, “Laird recommended you.”

“Didn’t he tell you that I wouldn’t cut any corners regardless of how much you paid?”

“He did.”

“And didn’t he tell you that I was very demanding and not afraid to flunk a student?”

“He did.”

He nodded as if he expected these answers. “And didn’t he tell you I was a big jerk?”

Marina smiled. “He did indeed,” she said. “I knew all those things; that’s why I wanted you.”

He produced a four inch square piece of paper and slid it across the table towards her. It was her temporary airman’s certificate. It was exactly like her old one except for two differences.

One, it had the letters G-IV on it meaning she was type qualified in the G450.

And two, it had his signature attesting that she had successfully passed her test. He signed it “Seymour Janke (TBJ).”

As they rose to leave, she couldn’t help herself. She did what she’d learned from Bess - she hugged The Big Jerk.

Chapter Thirty Three

“Anyone want to take a little trip to Little Rock?”

“Yes!” squealed Bess. “I so miss Tanith!”

“When?” asked Jane.

“It’s our plane and I’m your pilot. We can go whenever you want.”

Marina and Laird were at the coffee shop at the airport. They’d just left their debriefing. Marina wanted to pull out her Airman’s Certificate and stare at it, but she’d be embarrassed to do that in front of Laird. It would be too juvenile, too girlish. She could feel it there in her purse, though.

“I’m putting you on speaker,” said Bess.

“So, how’d it go, Runway? Ace yet another test?” It was Edie.

“Well, they don’t give out number grades, but I did good enough to pass. We both did.”

Jane said, “Is Laird there with you?”

He answered, “Yes, I’m here, Ms. Mit . . . Jane. She won’t tell you but I will - Marina did really great today. Even her instructor was impressed, and that’s hard to do.”

Jane had started to ask Marina to warm up the jet right now so she could finally get to Little Rock. In her almost three weeks of marriage, she’d spent a grand total of two nights with her husband. That was getting old in a hurry.

But tomorrow was soon enough. She knew that Marina and Laird might want to celebrate after what they’d been though together. “How about we meet you there at the airport about eight? Can the two of you handle that?”

“We’ll be there with bells on,” said Marina.

“Wear whatever you want,” said Jane. “You’re the Captain.”

Bess giggled. Jane told a joke. Roger would be pleased to hear that.

The meeting in Congresswoman Rhyme’s office had not started well. She had just returned from a committee meeting that had devolved into a pissing contest between her and the ranking member. He had a habit of pretending to show her respect when his eyes and body language shouted the opposite. Men like him got under her skin, but she knew there wasn’t much she could do about him today. Give her time, though, and he was going to wish he’d been a bit more congenial.

So she’d been distracted and Chuck had started off telling her some crap about an unbelievable story that he said he could prove. She’d been prepared for him to ask for some type of favor; that was what her office was for, after all. She was too busy to listen to fantasy stories.

“In a nutshell, that’s it, Margaret. This group has a power that allows them to connect to each other mentally, two of them can heal or kill using only the power of their minds, and they can combine their power in such a way as to create a powerful beam.”

She started to rise and thank him for dropping by, when he said, “I’ll now prove all this to you, my friend.”

At first, she felt like someone was watching her - someone just out of sight, someone hidden from view. But it wasn’t that, it was Chuck. She could feel him. And what surprised her even more was the realization that he could feel her.

“What . . .” She wanted to speak, but she was overwhelmed by Chuck’s feelings. She felt his pride and . . . something else. Something more subtle.

“Margaret, you’re fine. I’ve just connected to you. It’s not dangerous and you can control what you share. It’s one of the powers of this group. I’m going to add Miss Reed to our connection now and you’ll also be able to experience what she is feeling.”

Rachel smiled at the Congresswoman and took her hand as she entered the connection. Chuck had been very clear about this point - she needed to take her hand and hold it and she needed to let Margaret feel her concern and empathy.

Chuck had even told her exactly what words to say at this point, “I know it feels strange, but it’s kind of wonderful too, isn’t it? The first time I connected to Chuck, I just couldn’t get enough. I wanted it all the time.” She sent her feelings of total sincerity. That was easy, because it was true.

Very gently, Chuck broke the connection. On cue, Rachel let go of Margaret’s hand.

It took her only a moment to begin to think of reasons why this could not be happening.

Chuck was prepared for this. “Margaret, I have proof. Real proof of all I’ve told you.”

He went on to explain how Rachel had pretended to want to join the cult and how she had recorded their meetings and procured their most secret documents. Rachael took out her phone and showed videos of the Connection as they told her about parts of the Revelation. It showed them connecting.

“Can either of you do the kill . . . I mean the healing?”

Chuck knew this question was coming. “No, Margaret. We have not been so blessed. But we do know which two of the cultists can perform this miracle.”

She became pensive, looking into space. “Chuck, I need to know a lot more about this - a lot more. But it seems to me you don’t have proof of anything. All I see is some video of people staring at each other, smiling and looking all dreamy. You claim you have a document that details all their plans, but offices in this very building churn out documents full of lies every day. I don’t think your document will convince me of any of this.

“I do admit, though, that this connecting thing is interesting but, like I said, I need to learn more about it. Is it just some parlor trick, or are there some real uses?”

She looked at Rachel. “For national security, I mean.”

After a long moment, she turned her attention back to Chuck, “Now this healing ability - that would be almost beyond wonderful if we could actually control such a power. But I need to be convinced and nothing you have here convinces me.”

Chuck looked forlorn. He’d obviously thought that any doubts would be swept away by his “evidence.” Or maybe not - otherwise, why bring along Miss Reed?

“Miss Reed, are you as capable as Pastor Cleimer in the art of connecting?”

“Oh no, Congresswoman. Not at all. I can do it, but not like Chuck. No one is like him.”

“I’m sure that’s true. Could you do it now? Connect to me, I mean? Just the two of us?”

One of the most powerful members of The Congress of the United States held out her hand for Rachel. When she took it her skin felt soft and warm.

At first the connection was tentative, like Rachel was finding her way. But soon, she could tell what the young woman was feeling. She felt her uncertainty, her discomfort, but most of all, her desire to please. It felt exactly right.

Being a successful politician meant that Margaret instinctively controlled her emotions. Rachel felt her gratitude and her curiosity until she released Rachel’s hand indicating she wanted to end the connection.

“Well, my old friend,” she said to Chuck, “I must admit I didn’t expect to have a meeting of this magnitude. It’s almost overwhelming. I certainly need to understand it better and I think that will take time. I have another appointment in a few minutes, but will your schedule allow you to stay here and answer questions later? Perhaps over the weekend? I have at least a thousand things I want to know about running through my head.”

Chuck was pleased. Margaret was always fast on her feet. “I’m sorry, Congresswoman. My weekends are spoken for by a higher power. I’m sure you understand.”

He paused just long enough to appear to have an idea. “But Rachel could stay and brief you. She’s been working for me, but it appears that her encounter with the cultists may have resulted in her being unable to publicly fulfill her duties in my employ. They think she is one of them, so she can’t be seen with me.”

“Well now,” said Congresswoman Rymes with a smile. “Rachel, would you consent to stay and bring me up to speed on this . . . this opportunity? I know very little at this point, but I believe it could be important for our country. Do you think these people could be a threat?”

She’d been asked two questions. She answered the second, “Ah . . . ma’am, no, they don’t seem dangerous, but they are planning on something. And I know they have people scattered here and there and are looking for more to join them.”

Margaret smiled at Chuck, “See Pastor? That’s just the kind of insight I need. Could you possibly spare Rachel for a while? If she’s willing, I may be able to find her a position in my office or on one of the committees. I recently had a girl leave me, so there’s an opening.”

Rachel looked at Chuck with a shocked expression. She’d been worried about this meeting, but it had gone well. She had just started to think about traveling back home with Chuck and now she was facing the possibility that she would be left behind, all alone.

Chuck responded, “If I know my Gal Friday, she’ll do whatever she can for her country. Isn’t that right, Rachel?”

When she just looked confused, he added, “I’ll see you soon. It won’t be long.”

Rachel nodded in resignation, “But I don’t have a place . . .”

Margaret cut her off. “Don’t even think about it, my dear. This is not only potentially of the greatest importance, but it also needs to be kept strictly between the three of us. You’ll stay at my apartment because you can never be sure who’s listening in a hotel room. I’ve got plenty of room and I’m often not even there, so you’ll have lots of time to see the sights if you want.”

“Well, I guess . . .”

“Fine, then that’s settled.” She pushed a button on the phone. Four seconds later the door to the meeting room opened and an attractive blonde with a very short haircut entered.

“Rachel, this is my chief of staff, Alexandra Woodruff. Everyone calls her Alex, of course. Alex, you know Pastor Chuck Cleimer, and this is my new friend, Miss Rachel Reed.”

She walked over and shook hands with Pastor Chuck and then extended her hand to Rachel. Her handshake was firm. “Always glad to meet new friends,” she said in a low voice.

“Alex, could you arrange to have Rachel taken to my apartment? We will have meetings later. See that she has everything she needs.”

“Certainly. I’ll take good care of her for you.” She smiled at Rachel with a set of perfect white teeth. Rachel realized she wasn’t wearing any makeup and that her skin was also perfect.

“Rachel, I’ll see you later. Right now, I’d like a final word with Chuck.”

Alexandra Woodruff led her to the door. Rachel turned at the last moment, her face showing uncertainty. Chuck knew she was worried about being left without him.

He went to her and embraced her. He whispered in her ear, “This is the big leagues, my love. Do what is necessary. Do it for me; for that future we discussed. It’s all in your hands now.”

Rachel nodded to him and left with Alex. The door closed behind her with a thudding sound.

“The key is finding some proof of this ability to inflict damage or heal. Without that, I find a lot of this very hard to believe.”

They were again seated at the conference table, just the two of them. “Now Margaret, you know me. I’m not easily fooled. I’m telling you this is the real deal. There are two of them who can do it; a Bess Olman and a Shannon Wu. Their founder could do it too, but he was killed, as you know.”

“Yes, I read about it. So tell me this - if they can heal, why didn’t they heal him? What was his name?”

“It was Roger Seaton. They tried, I think. But John Stout inflicted massive wounds. He died before they could heal him. Apparently the healing isn’t instantaneous.

“But I’m convinced that Bess Olman killed the Colonel in retaliation. The coroner’s report shows that all his coronary arteries were compressed - actually sealed as if someone of great strength had reached inside and squeezed them shut. I also think she rendered at least two police officers unconscious when they tried to stop her escape. The police had a massive manhunt out for her because the officers said that she had assaulted them and knocked them out. Both of them were big guys and she is about five six and a hundred twenty pounds.”

Margaret looked pensive as she took this all in. “If she can really do this type of thing, maybe we should bring her in and question her as a potential national security threat.”

Chuck’s face twisted into a frown, “Would you use Homeland Security?”

“Heaven’s no. They’re barely able to cop a feel at the airport. No, I have another group in mind; one more . . . dependable.”

“I think that’s a bad idea Margaret; at least until we know more about this power she has. What would you do if you sent a dozen agents after her and she knocked them all out?”

“Well, at least that would prove this whole thing is real. But you’re right Chuck, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we’ve got to know more.”

Chuck seemed disappointed in her skepticism. “I think you’re focused too much on the ability to inflict damage aspect of this. I think the ability to heal might be even more powerful. You could use this power to inflict pain and force someone to do something, but how many thousands would do literally anything in exchange for a healing?”

She saw his point. “Or millions,” she thought to herself.

“Or millions,” Pastor Chuck thought to himself as well.

“I can see your point, Chuck. You’re obviously ahead of me on this. That’s why I need Miss Reed to bring me up to speed. I think we’ll have a busy weekend.”

She paused, but Chuck had no reaction. “We still have a few minutes. How can we prove this is real?”

They sat in silence, struggling to come up with an idea, until Margaret sat bolt upright. “I’ve got it! I know how to prove whether this is real or not and I know who can do it for us.

“Her name is Rachel Reed.”

Chapter Thirty Four

Jane was in that state halfway between sleep and wakefulness. She almost seemed to be floating.

Actually, she almost was as she slouched in the hot tub, water up to her shoulders. The smell of bacon being fried reached her and it seemed like she had an important decision to make - should she eat some?

It was Jed’s turn to make breakfast and so he got to choose what he made for them. On the first morning after they returned to their cabin hideaway, she’d told him that he had to eat a healthy breakfast and he’d responded that she had to cook it.

That was a cut on her cooking. She’d started to fire back with some smart remark when she stopped herself. If she was going to live with this big ape, she had to compromise. She quickly realized that this was better than arguing - a lot better. So today, Jed was the cook and she’d agreed to enjoy whatever he made. Tomorrow the tables would be turned.

She was thinking of granola when she felt a weight on her bare shoulder.

“Hello, Jane,” said BP. “Are you bathing?”

She was jolted wide awake. “No, I’m not bathing,” she said, her eyes becoming slits.

“Fine. I would like to show you a vision of some very interesting information. Now, please allow me to take control of your motor functions.”

Jane looked at her robe. It was within easy reach, but you can’t put a robe on under water.

“BP, turn your back,” she said.

“I don’t have a back, Jane.”

She thought she detected just the slightest tone of amusement in his voice. She started to touch her shoulder and send him away, but instead she rose from the water and put on her robe. The thin material became instantly moist.

Jed heard her get out of the water and came out onto the deck. “It’s not quite ready, Snugglie. It’ll take a few more minutes.”

The sparks that shot from her eyes surprised Jed. “What?” he said.

“We have a guest, Jed. BP is here, in my head.”

She had warned him to never call her that when anyone might overhear. Still, she couldn’t blame him for not seeing an invisible alien, could she?

“I blame you for this,” she said. “Now sit down with me and let’s see what BP wants. You and I can discuss it later.”

Jed smiled. “Sure, Darlin’.” He knew she’d be over her pique in a few minutes. You just needed to wait her out sometimes.

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze as she connected to him. Now he could hear BP through her.

“First, I must apologize for interrupting your . . . your time together. I connected to Bess just this morning to ask her opinion and she advised against contacting you right now - at first I didn’t understand, but she explained it to me in great detail. She said I should leave you alone unless it was important. I believe I have important news, so here I am.”

He seemed quite full of himself today, almost back to his old self. He waited for Jane to accept his apology.

After a full ten seconds, she said, “If it’s important I want to know about it. Go ahead, tell me your news.”

“I will need to connect to your motor areas like we did before. I have a large amount of information to implant, but, of course, you must allow it.”

“I’d prefer ‘share’ to ‘implant’ if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, my daughter,” he said. Now she could swear he had a smile in his voice.

They felt a slight pressure inside their heads - it was BP asking to be allowed access. Both Jed and Jane agreed.

“Ah, that is perfect. Should I demonstrate by controlling your hands as before?”

Jane’s left hand rose. “That will not be necessary,” she said with ice in her voice.

Her hand returned to its previous position. “I am sending you a series of very detailed images. They contain the information I have been working on for the last few weeks.

“The main focusing rings are the most challenging piece of the entire mechanism and I am satisfied that your team will have them done ahead of schedule.

“But there are slightly over a thousand other parts that make up the mechanism. These range from common items such as nuts and bolts to specialized electronic assemblies.

“The documents you now see list suppliers and specifications for each of these items. Every one of these suppliers is capable of providing the parts listed in a fairly short period of time. The longest lead times are about a year.”

Jane felt that Jed was stunned. “Jane, this means that we could have all the parts we need delivered to the new factory starting almost right away. I hadn’t told you because we aren’t exactly sure; but Jerry, Evan and I are convinced that the rings themselves will be done early - maybe way early if we put some money towards speeding things up and work on nothing else. It looks like BP may have made that possible.”

He looked at her in wonder, “Darlin’, we could have this thing ready in a year.”

Jane had texted Bess and asked her to set up a video conference with all the members of the Connection. That had taken about an hour. During that time, she’d sent BP away with instructions to return when Bess was ready; she’d dressed and eaten bacon. “I’ll be as fat as a beach ball soon anyway,” she thought. It really tasted good.

As they waited for everyone to assemble, she and Jed sat side by side on the wooden porch swing and held hands. The view from their high vantage point was beautiful with the trees mostly bare of leaves, but the air was still warm.

Jane had mostly been a girl from the suburbs, but when she was growing up, she and her mother spent an occasional weekend in the Great Smokies. Her main memory of those times had been the trees - they seemed to cover every square inch as far as you could see. The places that didn’t have trees - the clearings, paths, and roads - seemed to be feeble attempts by humans to trespass on such a vast expanse of tall, green life.

“Honey, do you think the new world will have trees?” Her voice was soft.

Jed picked up on her mood. All of a sudden, their time left on Earth had decreased by over eighty percent. The reality that they would actually be leaving soon was sinking in. “I . . . I don’t know Darlin’. When BP showed us what it was like, it seemed like we were all inside some sort of building. I don’t remember a lot of details; just how wonderful it all was. That one little taste was enough for me, though - I want to live there with you in the worst way, but I have no real idea what it’s like.”

Jane nodded her agreement while staring into the little valley below. The last few days had been a surprise. After what happened at their celebration, she’d been convinced that she would never be truly happy again - at least until they all reunited with Roger in the new world.

But she had been happy, here in their little cabin on top of a little mountain. Just the two of them. She’d spent hours each day on the phone and computer doing Connection business, but that only took up part of her time. The rest had been spent with Jed and it had been better than she had hoped. They’d only argued a couple of times and she’d apologized once and so had he. The making up was nice. It was all nice.

Could the new world really be better than this? She decided it was time to find out.

“A year!” said Shannon. “That’s so close.”

Jane had told them BP’s news.

“Oh my,” exclaimed April.

Half of Jane’s screen showed the group in New York, and the other half was focused on Tanith and Bess.

“Tanith, can you hear us?”

“Roger Dodger, Jane. You’re loud and clear.”

Jane tried not to smile but she couldn’t help herself. “And happy birthday, my sister. I wish we could all be together to celebrate, but I’ve got a feeling we’ll be pretty busy for the next year. How about we schedule a real celebration in the new world when you turn twenty one?”

With that, everyone smiled and offered their congratulations and best wishes. Bess whispered, “Roger will be there too.”

“Okay, I want to talk about the new world now. BP, are you ready? Go ahead.”

She felt him enter her head. “Now, can you connect all of us together? You’ve done it over long distances before.”

“Yes, Jane. I will.

He assisted her in the long distance connection. Soon they all could hear BP through her and they could all talk to each other via the connection. Their phones weren’t really needed, but it was nice to be able to see each other.

“First, BP, can you go ahead and share that information you gave to Jed and me with the rest of the group?”

“No, my daughter, not connected this way. I must be closer to them to be able to control their motor functions and transfer such detailed information.”

“All right. As soon as we’re done, go to Bess and share with her and Tanith and then fly to Shannon and share with everyone in New York.”

“I can do that, Jane.”

“Fine. Now BP, I want to know what is going to happen once we are ready to leave - once we fix the universe. I imagine the whole group of 340 will be in a single spot - maybe a big parking lot or something. We’ll combine our energies and you’ll control the beam using the thing we are building so that it starts the chain reaction. Is that right?”

“Yes, Jane, I think we should call it the Concentrator. That is exactly right.”

“So what happens after that? Will we leave right then? Go home and pack? Or what?”

“You must go willingly, but I do miss my home and hope we can leave immediately.”

Jane paused. Jed took her hand and squeezed. “So what will happen exactly? Imagine someone is watching us from a distance when we leave Earth. What will they see? Will we disappear?”

BP was silent for a moment as if he was deciding how to answer. “I will inquire of each of you if you are prepared to go with me. When you agree, I will take the part of you that is life and place it securely inside me for the trip. This is where Roger and Jacob are now.

“Your body will then collapse.”

Jane frowned, but this wasn’t too unexpected. “And when we get there? We will be our normal selves with all our memories and personalities intact?”

“Of course.”

“And our bodies? You said having a body was optional in your universe, but I think we’ll probably want one. Will we look like we do now?”

“If you wish. Or you could be older, younger, taller - basically whatever you want.”

Jane could see a lot of unsmiling faces. Before, they had seven years until they left Earth; it seemed to be far in the future. But now, their leaving was close at hand and it was disconcerting. She saw that Tom wanted to say something. “Go ahead, Tom,” she said. “Ask your question.”

“Thank you, Jane. BP, Edie and I never experienced your demonstration of what the new world would be like. I don’t think Tanith has either. Everyone who was there on that mountaintop feels a longing to go to your home - Jerry told me he was completely convinced that this is where we were meant to be. Not here.

“But right now, I’m not convinced. To me, it looks like we will be leaving behind a world full of people. I want to ask about that too, but first, can you show us our new home?

BP seemed to take a slight amount of time to think of an answer. “Yes, Tom, I can. But allowing you to experience my home without actually travelling there is not an easy thing for me to do. Basically I must open myself up to let you see my memories of it. For me, this procedure is quite fatiguing and fills me with an intense longing to be back where I belong. I can do it, but I would ask that it be done infrequently and with groups.”

Jane thought Tom looked slightly sad on hearing BP’s answer. “I think that will help all of us,” he said. “Now, if it’s okay, I’d like to ask about those who will be left behind. If I understand the process, only those who have been connected to you or to us will be able to leave as . . . as ourselves. But your original plan was to take all life back with you, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Tom, that is correct. But Roger and Jane objected to that plan because all those I don’t know - all those I’ve never connected to - would be returned as life just as I originally brought it here from my universe. I planned to return all of it to where it belongs; but individuality, memories, and personalities could not be transported.

“As you know, I agreed to abandon that plan, though leaving behind life in this terrible place is painful to me.”

“I understand that, BP, but these people, these individuals, deserve a choice. We can’t let you just take them and discard the parts that make them who they are.”

Tom continued, “You say you can only take people intact, like Roger and Jacob, if you know them. And you can only know them if you’ve been connected to them. If I had a hundred new people right here with me, and they wanted to, could you connect with them and invite them to go with us?”

Now BP sounded pensive, “It took me almost four billion years to find Roger. It is very hard to find humans who can actually communicate with me during a connection without practicing the skill on each other first. I found a few others like Roger much earlier in time, but the ability to make the focusing ring just wasn’t there - your technology hadn’t advanced enough.

“But to know someone and be able to invite them to return to my home is a different type of connection. It doesn’t require that they be able to hear me speak. So yes, Tom, I could issue a blanket invitation to your group of one hundred. They would feel only a faint questioning, something they normally would not even notice.

“But if they know the nature of that question ahead of time, and they sincerely wanted to answer in the affirmative, I could then take them with us.”

Tom paused and looked around. Shannon raised her hand. She was holding Jerry’s, so it went up too. “I get what Tom is saying! Suppose, just before the 340 of us combine our energy - suppose we release everything; all the information from the Revelation, our plans, the reason for it all, everything.

“It could be like an invitation! We could invite everyone to go with us! We could tell them exactly what to expect and BP could be there to . . . to take those who accept our invitation.”

Shannon realized she had become excited. Her pale skin reddened as Jerry beamed at her. Everyone in the Connection was thinking about the ramifications of this new idea - this invitation. To Jane, it solved the nagging issue of leaving behind almost the entire population of the Earth, but there was something else . . .

“If it’s not timed exactly right, it’s likely to get us all arrested.” Edie said. “Think about it - a group of people with some type of sophisticated looking device plans to use it to save the universe by shooting a powerful beam through the atmosphere and into space. I’m sure there are at least a dozen laws against such a thing. The FBI, homeland security and lord knows who else won’t believe us, of course, but they’ll fall all over themselves to come see us in person. After Waco and Ruby Ridge, they won’t take any chances.”

Now Jane spoke up, “Not to mention that we will be inviting people to come with us by the millions and leave their seemingly dead bodies behind. I remember Hale Bopp and so will they - Edie’s right, the authorities will be all over us, for sure. I think that means we’ll have to wait until basically the last second to issue our invitation.”

Jane paused to let anyone else speak. When no one did, she asked, “BP, what do you think?”

He answered and they all heard his voice. It sounded neutral, but serious. “Jane, I . . . I always had trouble using your names. Roger noticed and even wrote about it. It was because, even since humans appeared in their modern forms, I tried to not get too personally involved in their lives. To me, it seemed like they lived mere seconds and then they were gone. Becoming close to individuals in this hostile universe was a recipe for pain, so I avoided it.

“Even by the standards in our home universe, I am old. In our home, individuals eventually tire of living - at some point, they have done everything they want to do. When they are ready, their life simply returns to the pool to be used again. I suppose you would call it recycling.”

They felt a bit of something almost like a slightly sad chuckle. BP had made a joke. “So, the prospect of leaving behind so much life is very painful to me. I am in favor of any plan that will result in being able to take that life back with us, in whatever form.

“But I must caution everyone that the most important part will be played by the 340. They will repair the universe. They will make it possible for me to take them with me back to our common home. In this task, we cannot fail.”

Jane was amazed at how things had changed so quickly. When she woke up today, she had to run to make things happen in time. Now she had to sprint. “I have one more question. Tom, you and Shannon came up with this idea of disclosing everything and issuing an invitation. I think it’s a good one. But how many people do you think will accept our invitation? Will it be tens of millions? More?”

Shannon said, “I have no idea, Jane. They won’t have the advantage of having known one of us and having connecting demonstrated to them personally. I doubt it will be tens of millions.”

When Tom spoke, it was with an air of slight sadness. They could all feel it. “I doubt it will be many at all, Jane. Pulling this off will be like threading a needle in the dark. We’ll be very lucky to get many of them through the eye, but I still think we have to try.”

Chapter Thirty Five

It was like old times - for the first time in weeks, every member of the Connection was in New York. Jane had called them all together for a series of meetings to discuss new roles based on their one year timeframe.

Tanith felt slightly disappointed when she was told that they likely wouldn’t need many properties given their new schedule. She and Bess had been in Denver and it had been great; finding them a building and helping Bess get ready to set up a datacenter was important work and the two of them were good at it.

But Jane was right. If they were going to leave in a year, they had to focus on only three things. She’d passed out a sheet with these goals on it just this morning and it made perfect sense. They had to:

Recruit over 300 additional “core” members of the team. This group would gather together and combine their energy to fix the Universe.

Push hard on having all the pieces of the Concentrating Ring delivered and assembled in Little Rock

Prepare and launch a media blitz right near the end designed to educate humanity as to what they were going to do and why. Issue an invitation for all to join and go to our new home.

After BP had connected them all together and Jane announced the potential to leave Earth much earlier than planned, Tanith had been worried. The idea of leaving for good, of leaving her home and probably her grandmother, was too much. She confessed to Bess that she didn’t think she’d go.

Tanith asked Bess not to tell Jane. “I’ll still be able to help and be part of the 340. I just don’t want to go and there’s no need to burden her with worrying about a chicken girl like me.”

Bess had kept her word. She’d not told Jane, but she had called Father Tom. “We’re supposed to confide in him, Tanith. Jane said so. I told him you wanted to talk, not what it was about. He’ll keep your concerns to himself, but talking to him helps. I . . . I’ve been doing it. He’s been helping me a lot. I’ve . . . I’ve told him things I haven’t told anyone else, even you.”

Tanith had called him and he was so nice and easy to talk to. Almost without realizing it, Tanith told him of her fears of leaving Earth behind. She told him about how her Nanna didn’t want to hear about the Connection. She surprised herself by blurting out that everyone else in the Connection seemed to have someone “special” in their lives and she didn’t want to get to their new home and be all alone.

Jane was on the phone when Tom arrived at her place. She pointed him towards a chair and held up one finger to indicate she’d just be a minute. “Okay, then. If they have to hire a couple more people to make it happen, tell them we’ll cover it. Sure, that’s fine, whatever it takes. See you soon.”

She sat the phone down on her desk. “That was Jerry. BP’s list of suppliers is a good one, but none of them have ever heard of us so sometimes it takes some convincing. Jerry, Evan and Jed are working hard on whittling down that list and getting commitments. The first actual deliveries to Little Rock will start next week. Jed tells me the place will be ready to at least store some materials by then.”

Tom listened patiently as he studied Jane. She looked normal, stressed but not overly so. He regretted that he had to add to her load, but he didn’t think it would be a hard decision for her. He was prepared to answer her questions since he’d discussed his idea already with Marina - and Shannon had contacted BP and he was on board too.

“Go ahead, Tom,” she said, her voice gentle.

“Jane, remember when I asked if BP could show me and Edie and the rest of the new people the new home? I know time is short, but I’d like for BP to show all of us - all the people who were in rehab with Edie and me, Courtney and her parents - those of us who have never seen this new home.”

He stopped because Jane opened her mouth to speak. She obviously had a question. Tom had been impressed with her ability to separate the important from the trivial on more than one occasion. He knew her questions would be good ones.

But instead of speaking, she looked above his head and her eyes lost focus. He’d seen her do this before. One day, he wanted to ask her about it, but not now. He waited.

It only took a few seconds before she looked directly at him and smiled. “Good idea, Tom. Make it happen as soon as you can.”

So that was that. He started to rise and thank her.

Before he could, Jane spoke, “Tom, if you’ve got another minute . . .”

He knew what that meant. He sat and crossed his legs, waiting until she was ready to talk.

“I . . . I told Jed last night, Tom. He’s on top of the world and about to bust to tell everyone, so I guess it’s got to get out. I’m pregnant, Father Tom.”

Tom wouldn’t normally have been shocked at such news, but he was now. A few weeks ago, he and Jed had been alone and were talking when Jed had said something that led Tom to believe he would have difficulty fathering children. He’d actually told Tom they’d have to adopt because he knew Jane wanted at least one child.

As far as he knew, no one else was aware of this - except Jane, of course. His face erupted into a smile and rose to meet her half way. As they embraced, he thought, “It could be a real miracle. It must be.”

They walked over to the couch and sat. “Jane, I’m so happy for you and Jed. I can see on your face that this is happy news for you too.”

“Oh Father, it really is. I’m surprised it occurred so quickly, but I guess things happen for a reason. At first, I was worried about getting pregnant with all that’s going on, but by the time the day comes to leave, I’ll be ready. All of us will.” She put her hand on her stomach.

He turned towards her. He could make decisions too. “Jane, you know that when you or anyone tells me something in confidence, that I will respect that. I promised to keep a certain fact from you until I was told it was okay to talk about, but I think your news changes things and she’ll be glad to have someone else to talk to about her pregnancy.

Jane looked puzzled. “I’m talking about Shannon.”

Her mouth made an ‘O’. “You mean? She and Jerry?”

Tom laughed and nodded.

Jane bounded off the couch. Her sandals made an extra loud sound as she went to her desk and picked up her phone. Tom saw her touch the screen. He knew who she was calling.

Two days later, Marina and Laird landed the G450 in Denver to pick up Bess, Tanith and the rest of the people from Little Rock who had gathered there. They were going to then fly to Grand Rapids and meet up with Courtney and her parents. Edie, Tom, Matt and Amanda had been on the flight since it left New York at 8 a.m..

Bess didn’t really have to go since she’d already experienced the new home, but Tanith wanted her to go and Jane said it was okay.

When they arrived in Grand Rapids, they had a joyful reunion with Courtney and her parents and then boarded a bus that Juliet had arranged for. It took them west, all the way to Lake Michigan.

That evening, they all stood on a small bluff above the lake and watched the sun slowly set over the vast expanse of blue water. It was a chilly fall evening, but for once, the wind wasn’t blowing off the lake. Everything was calm as the stars began to appear, at first one by one, and then seemingly by the hundreds.

It was Edie’s turn to experience BP for the first time. Bess could have done it, but Edie thought she was strong enough now. “Tom, you and three or four other burly guys get ready to catch me if I pass out and collapse.”

Tom smiled at her. Her new life agreed with her because she’d lost at least twenty pounds since she’d stopped drinking and had joined the Connection. One or two men would be more than enough.

As the last light of the sun disappeared, she felt BP on her shoulder. It was a weight, not too heavy, but unmistakable. In an instant, he was in her head. She had a moment where she was disoriented, but it passed quickly.

BP spoke to her. “Hello, Edie. I am ready for you to connect to them.”

Edie spoke to the group, her voice a bit louder than normal, “Ah . . . everyone. I think we’re ready. Bess told me we should join hands and then I’ll connect to each of you and, hopefully, you’ll be able to hear BP through me.”

For the next hour, BP showed them the wonders of their new home. It felt so right, so natural. Living on Earth was, by comparison, like living in a cave stocked with food and water - you had everything you needed to live, but life itself was confined and one dimensional. By contrast, the new world was full of light and color with endless opportunities and no boundaries in sight.

When they returned to Earth, BP wished them a good trip back and then left. He sounded tired.

Tanith cried because she’d been so moved with the whole experience. For the first time, she truly knew beyond any doubt that life was never meant to be in this universe. The longing she felt to travel to her new home out there beyond the stars was powerful. Bess hugged her and whispered encouragement in her ear.

“Bess, when am I going to talk to Nanna? I’ve just got to make her understand about the Connection. She’s got to go with us, you know? Should I ask Jane if you and I can go talk to her? She loves you, my sister, I can tell.”

Tanith knew she was just babbling because she was nervous. Bess had already told her to discuss it with Jane, but not now - to wait a week or two until things calmed down a bit.

Tanith was braiding Bess’s hair as she fretted when Bess’s phone rang. One of her college friends called to see if she wanted to see a movie. “I’d like to go, but I’ve got a close friend from out of town staying with me. Can you get her a date?”

Tanith shook her head vigorously at Bess, but it made no difference. “Yeah, he’ll do fine. We’ll meet you at the coffee shop on the corner at seven.”

So now she was nervous about going out on a blind date on top of everything else. She’d never been on one before and it was only her trust in Bess that caused her to agree to go.

Bess was wearing jeans and a sweater. Tanith wanted to wear the same thing, but some female instinct told her that was a bad idea. “Wear the skirt,” said Bess. “I think he’s a leg man. May as well give him a thrill.”

Tanith didn’t think her legs were all that thrilling, but she had to wear something. She tugged on the skirt and chose a matching top.

She had just about decided to change back into jeans when Bess’s phone rang. “It’s Rachel,” said Bess.

She touched the screen, “Hi Rachel.”

Bess listened intently and then spoke, “Sure Rach. We’d be glad to have you, but my friend Tanith is in town and we’re going out tonight. You can still come over, but we won’t be back until after midnight for sure.”

Tanith frowned at that.

“Tomorrow? Yeah, that’s fine Rach. See you then.”

Bess looked thoughtful. “She wants to come over and spend some time with us - not just us, but with the group, you know? She’ll be over in the a.m.”

Tanith started to say, “Now Bess, about these boys . . .”

She cut her off, “I agree 100%, my sister. It’s time we girls went out to play with the boys. I know Roger won’t mind.”

She held out her hand and Tanith took it. They walked towards the door.

Chapter Thirty Six

“Chuck, darling, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

He stifled his initial inclination to tell her to stop the whining. Instead he smiled and took her hand. She always liked that. “Rachel my dear, we’ve been through all that. God chooses people for His own mysterious purposes. Often, we can’t know why someone is chosen, but our lack of understanding doesn’t change anything.”

He paused and slid closer to her. They shared a bench seat at a family style restaurant. “I talked to Margaret several times over the last few days. She thought you understood the importance of the task you’ve been assigned - the importance to our entire country.”

The mention of the Congresswoman brought a look of anguish on her face. It wasn’t at all attractive. “I know Chuck, I know. She told me all that. But she kept wanting me to connect to her; like all the time. She said the three of us had our own group now and that we needed to know just how much a threat these people in New York are.”

“Margaret is a wise and powerful woman, dearest. She’s right, you know.”

Rachel remembered her mother’s advice - “Find a man with money and stick to him like glue. Do what you have to do to keep him. Have no regrets.”

That last part had been the hardest. “I know Chuck. I’ll do what I have to do. I’m ready now.”

They rose and she kissed him. Chuck watched her leave to walk to the bus stop. It was the best angle for her.

For the first time in weeks, the entire Connection met in Evan and Juliet’s apartment. An army of cleaners, painters and carpenters had transformed the place. Before, the main room had been almost totally open with the furniture defining separate areas. Now, the room seemed smaller, more intimate. A new wall that stretched half way across the open space provided a feeling of separation. Totally new furniture and flooring added to the effect. The room was modern, fresh.

In the “rear” section, an open area in the center dominated the space. It would easily accommodate a grand piano, but there was nothing there. “I just couldn’t,” said Juliet. “Maybe one day I’ll want a piano, but not now.” The “rear” section was where Roger had been killed.

The Connection gathered in the “front” section. There was still plenty of room.

They had a morning business meeting to discuss what could delay them from fulfilling their destiny and leaving Earth. The list was mercifully short. There were a number of items still to be worked out, but generally things seemed to be on track.

After that, everyone stayed. Shannon and Jane were the center of attention and they spent almost an hour laughing and talking with the group and whispering to each other. Soon, they were surrounded by all the women of the Connection as Bess told them about their dates last night. The howling of the women made the men smile, wondering what was so funny.

Rachel stood on the sidewalk. She willed her legs to carry her to the entrance of the apartment building, but they refused to obey. She looked at her left hand. It was shaking.

“This is silly,” she thought. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and thought of Chuck, of their future together. She walked inside.

Charlie looked her over. Ms. Morgan had called to tell them to expect Rachel Reed this morning. He’d seen her before and it was certainly her, but he still looked her over carefully, searching for unexplained bulges or any signs of a weapon. Never again would anyone go upstairs without him worrying about it.

Rachel took his stare as a normal reaction from a normal man. Most men’s eyes quickly traveled downward from her face. She was wearing a slim knit dress that gave him some things to study. Chuck had made her try it on for him. He’d told her it had to be a very light color. “Peach will do just fine, my peach,” he’d said. It took her a second, but she laughed at his joke.

Charlie made a short phone call and then said, “They’re waiting for you, Miss Reed.” He took her arm and led her to the open elevator door. He pressed “Six” for her.

Bess and Tanith were waiting as the elevator door opened. “Rach, you won’t believe the great news! Both Jane and Shannon are pregnant! They’re due almost at the same time! Oh yes, I’m sorry, this is my best BFF, Tanith Watson. Tanith, this is Rachel Reed.”

Rachel took her right hand off the Wonder Bag that was hanging from her shoulder and shook. Her phone was recording.

Inside, she was greeted by everyone warmly and was introduced to Jed. Jane had described him to her, but she was still surprised at how big he was. His handshake was, however, gentle.

So far, no one had tried to connect to her, but she was ready when they did. They would only feel her happiness and relief to see them again.

She went over to speak to Jane and Shannon. All the women of the Connection were gathered around them. Both of them seemed to glow. Obviously, they were happy.

As they chatted, Rachel felt her self-control start to slip. She was alarmed to realize that she was losing the ability to hide her emotions. She was quickly overwhelmed by a powerful feeling that seemed to slip into her without her even knowing it was coming. What she felt was jealousy - the pouting, foot stamping, “IT’S JUST NOT FAIR” kind. These two women were attractive and smart. They had husbands who gave them babies, and good friends who cared about them. They had everything she’d ever wanted.

The jealousy smoldered until it erupted into flame. Rachel was startled at the intensity of it.

“Is anything wrong?” asked Shannon. Rachel realized her hair color was natural and the jealousy flames crept up a notch higher.

It was hard to reassert control, but she had to. Chuck would never forgive her if she failed him now. Little by little, she pushed the jealousy deep down inside. “No, I was just thinking how much I’d missed you guys, how you helped me when I needed it.” Her control was back, but tenuous. Hopefully they wouldn’t try to connect right now.

Jane smiled at her, “So, is Chuckles the Clown staying away?”

Edie added, “And is he paying you?”

The mention of Chuck brought back her full control. So much was riding on her. Without realizing it, she put her hand on her stomach. “Yeah, he’s not been seen and I am getting paid, though I just interviewed for a job. I might get it.”

Jane rose, “I want to hear about it, but first, let’s go in the kitchen and make some lunch. I’m hungry.” She reached out with her hand to Shannon. “Come on, my sister, you’re a lot further along than I am, I’ll help you up.”

Shannon grinned, but ignored Jane’s hand. “I’ll remember that offer when we’re both at eight and a half months. We should start a pool on who pops out a baby first. My other two were both a little late. I think I’ll bet that we get it done within a week of each other.”

Rachel had to work hard to keep her flame of jealousy from again flaring. She would never be accepted into this group like the others. Her only chance was with Chuck.

Bess said, “I’ll set up the pool and send you all a link! It’ll be so much fun!”

Congresswoman Rymes wasn’t sure exactly how this part would play out. “You’ve got to be patient, Rachel. Look for your opportunity and take it when it arises, but don’t push things. If it takes a day or two, that’s fine, but it’s got to look natural.” She’d been idly playing with Rachel’s hair when she said this. Rachel had mostly managed to block out those memories.

But now she could hear her voice as clearly as if she was in the kitchen with her.

“I love what you did in here,” said Marina. “It’s totally different.”

Juliet looked around as if to confirm that things really had changed. She smiled. “I just wanted it to be fresher, I guess. The old place had too many memories.”

They were all quiet for a moment. They knew exactly what she meant.

Rachel had never seen the old place, but this kitchen gleamed with what looked like new appliances, countertops and cabinets all in a space that was easily large enough for all of them. They were separated from the “front” room by a long counter so the men could see inside the kitchen if they looked. There were high seats on the other side of the counter, inside the front room. Rachel put The Wonder Purse on the counter and positioned it so her phone would have a good view of the entire kitchen.

A few years ago, Rachel had developed a crush on Bobby Flay. She’d seen him on TV one day chopping some vegetables while talking to the camera. She was amazed; his hands chopped with a speed and precision that took her breath away, and all the time, he seemed to be talking directly to her. To Rachel, he was the perfect man - handsome, accomplished and rich. She thought of him often and dreamed of being in his arms. In her dreams, he was shy and she had to encourage him to reach for her. He always did and she always awoke just before they touched.

She decided to become a good cook. She knew, in the light of day, she’d never be Mrs. Flay, but most men appreciated a woman who could cook. She bought all Bobby’s recipe books and learned to make some of his dishes.

She thought she had actually become fairly good at cooking. Once, she’d invited a man from her office to dinner and he’d accepted. She’d worked all afternoon to make him a great meal, but when he arrived he wasn’t really hungry. He came by a few more times, but she didn’t bother to cook again. Strangely, she mostly remembered his smell.

Her daydream was interrupted by Juliet. “Tanith, can you get the glasses and ice?” She was assigning jobs.

Rachel made sure to get the job she wanted. “If we’re having a salad, I can chop the veggies. I learned how from Bobby Flay.” Edie’s eyes narrowed, “On TV, of course. I watched how he did it.”

“Sure, Rachel,” said Juliet. She opened the vegetable bin in the fridge and handed her tomatoes, celery and cucumbers.

“Oh yeah! Cucumber is my absolute favorite,” said Marina. Bess and Tanith giggled in unison.

Rachel started on the tomatoes. She sliced them carefully into quarters and then eighths. All the pieces were uniform. Next, she cut the celery into almost perfect half inch pieces. She put the tip of the knife on the cutting board and raised and lowered the back edge as she slid the celery under the blade. It made a quick staccato sound with each slice.

Her mind was almost a blank as she worked, but now the words of Chuck came to her. “Do what Margaret said, dearest. I know it’s hard, but do it for me darling, do it for us.”

The cucumber was next. She quickly chopped off one end by lifting the blade and then lowering it like she was chopping wood with an ax. It sliced a perfect thin slice, then another and another. After each slice, her left hand slid the cucumber towards the descending blade.

It was time. As the blade came down, she moved her hand just a bit too far. The knife cut into the flesh across her thumb and two other fingers. Juliet had good knives and they were sharp. The cut was deep. The bleeding started instantly.

Rachel held up her hand with a shocked expression on her face. The blood ran to her wrist and dripped onto her dress. Chuck had instructed her to be sure to let the camera see and to be sure that the blood was on the dress. “It’ll add an air of authenticity, dearest,” he’d said.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Edie. They all rushed toward Rachel. Edie put her arm around her waist and held her as Rachel felt her knees buckle.

By now, the men knew something was wrong and they tried to crowd into the kitchen.

Edie shouted, “Give her room! Shannon and Bess, come over here. Let them through!”

Rachel couldn’t help it. She started to cry. It wasn’t really because of the pain; it was because she realized she had kept her promise. She’d promised Chuck to do whatever he asked and she had. She’d done it at Margaret Rymes’ apartment and now she’d done it here. She cried because she was afraid she might have to do more things.

Shannon studied her hand. She used a kitchen towel to wipe away blood, but it instantly came back. “It’s deep,” is all she said. She and Bess connected to each other and then to Rachel.

They both looked inside her and found the cut. To Bess, it looked like a red river, running over its banks. Bess could see that Shannon saw it clearer, more realistically. “Go ahead,” she said.

Shannon touched the wound and willed it to heal. She wiped away blood again, but this time it returned only sluggishly. She continued to “push” the flesh to return to its original form. There were some nerves that were cut, a major vessel was cleanly severed and, of course, the skin itself. Shannon worked on all of them.

The group watched in silence as the cut seemed to disappear. It was all done in full view of Rachel’s phone.

Shannon wiped the hand one more time with a fresh towel. Rachel held it in such a way that the camera saw smooth, unbroken flesh.

Congresswoman Margaret Rymes pressed the “pause” button. Shannon’s smile and Rachel’s hand froze on the display. “My God,” she said with a tone of wonder in her voice.

She reached out to Rachel; her open palm an invitation for Rachel to offer her own hand. Rachel started to move her right hand when Margaret said gently, “Other one, my dear.”

Rachel actually smiled at herself as she put her left hand on top of Margaret’s. The congresswoman put on half frame glasses and leaned close to study her hand. “Remarkable,” she said. “There’s not a mark or even the hint of a scar. Remarkable.”

“I told you so,” said Chuck. “Now we have proof.”

“Perhaps we do. Rachel, how did you leave things with them? Do they suspect anything?”

“No, I don’t think so, ma’am. They called me “sister” and made some jokes about being clumsy, but I don’t think they suspect anything is wrong.”

“Well, that’s excellent then. Rachel, you did a superb job. I hope Chuck has given you plenty of . . . congratulations.”

“He has, ma’am. You know him, always giving.”

She took off her glasses and laid them on the table and smiled, “Indeed, Rachel. So, Pastor, how do you propose we proceed?”

Chuck looked uncertain. “I thought you would have an idea, Margaret. You said there was an organization that you might call on. Maybe we should arrest one or more of them and make them cooperate.”

“It may come to that, but I hope not. Such interrogations can be . . . distasteful. Leave this new video with me and I’ll put it with the rest and share it with a person who may be of assistance. I think we are indeed lucky to have someone as resourceful as dear Rachel who is still on the inside with them, someone who can keep us informed.”

Margaret saw the frown on Rachel’s face. “Oh no dear. You don’t have to go live with them or anything. I think it would be good if you stay in touch, though. Talk to them via phone and perhaps go see them occasionally. I’m especially interested in this plan of theirs to secretly lift some object into space. My committee has jurisdiction over such things. I doubt it could be done undetected, but I’ll guarantee that in a few weeks it will certainly be impossible - even with Evan Miller’s money. I’ll see to that.”

Chuck frowned, “A few weeks? How long do you think this will take? I want to learn how to do this healing thing, Margaret. You know what this can mean.”

She did know that. “My friend, things take time around here and this must be handled in just the right way. It might take a year or more before we drain this swamp and acquire their abilities. And Chuck, even if you had the power to heal today, I wouldn’t let you use it publicly.

“Sure, you could create quite a sensation in that church of yours, but that’s not what I have in mind. Even if you managed to accumulate a million followers - and I doubt you could - it would be a real circus with thousands of pitiful people begging for a cure. Imagine what it would be like.

“No, we need to use this power sparingly; only on the right people - and never in public. We need to control five people or a hundred or a thousand; each of them leaders who are followed by thousands - or millions. That’s the way things are done around here and it takes time.”

Rachel only focused on the talk of taking a year. Did that mean she was stuck being their spy for all that time? Was her future with Chuck going to be put off for that long? Suddenly, she felt trapped, but there was nothing she could do about it; her only way out was with Chuck.

Margaret must have sensed her turmoil, because she turned towards Rachel and connected. Her feelings were familiar to Rachel, though she’d tried to forget about them. She could have refused the connection, but she didn’t.

“My sweet Rachel. You should be proud to have such a role to play.”

Her eyes turned towards Chuck momentarily, “So I have two friends who are concerned about a delay in reaching our . . . goals. I can understand your impatience.” She looked back towards Rachel, “But we all have our roles to play. Sometimes those roles require sacrifice. Are a few months - even a year - too much of a price to pay for what this could mean for our country?”

In the connection, Margaret felt Rachel’s shame at her selfishness. “There, there dear. Don’t be ashamed. I promise you that you will have what you deserve and I’ll arrange for you to have it as quickly as I can.”

Rachel received a feeling of almost overwhelming sincerity. Her doubts where replaced with resolve.

“That’s better, my dear. Now, I have to go give a speech somewhere in flyover country. I’ll be gone tonight, but will be back late tomorrow. I’d like you both to stay, if you can. I plan on discussing this with someone who can help us. He will probably want to meet with both of you. Your ability to connect is quite convincing and I think he’ll begin to see the possibilities if all three of us are there to connect to him.”

She reached and pushed a button. In less than five seconds, Alexandra Woodruff appeared. Today she was wearing a slender black suit with a light blue blouse. Her already short hair was gelled straight back so that her ears were totally uncovered. A thin diamond strip dangled from each ear. “Yes, Congresswoman?”

“Alex, would you mind arranging for Pastor Cleimer to use my apartment for tonight? Drop by and make sure he’s got . . . everything he needs.”

“Sure. Glad to do it.” Her smile lit up the room.

Rachel was just starting to wonder about what she was hearing. “And Rachel, would you mind staying with Alex? I think you’ll find her place is nicer than mine. Plus it wouldn’t look right for you to stay in the same apartment with a Pastor.”

Just at that moment, Rachel felt something new. Actually, it was a new person. Alexandra Woodruff had connected to her and, in a second, Chuck joined as well. She felt pressure - pressure to go along, to agree to whatever it was they wanted her to do.

In an instant, she realized that is exactly what she had promised Chuck on multiple occasions. She gave up and nodded.

Chapter Thirty Seven

John Smith looked like her grandfather. Rachel barely remembered him, but her overall impression is that he had been pretty much white all over. His face and head had been covered with white hair and she remembered he wore a white hat. Her one other memory was that her grandfather smelled of cigarettes. As far as she could tell, John Smith didn’t smell like anything.

The last couple of days had been mostly a blur. When she first arrived at Alexandra’s apartment, she was amazed at how modern it was; how everything was so tasteful and expensive. One entire wall was seamless glass which provided a view of the tree lined streets below and several monuments that rose over the city. In the distance, Alex pointed out the white glow that was the White House.

Rachel remembered that she’d been very nervous; that when Alex had taken her arm and led her to a couch, she’d been shaking. She remembered being thankful that Alex left her alone to go make them a drink and she remembered it was sweet and fruity.

After that, she was sure that Alex had connected to her and asked her a question. She was pretty sure she’d done what Alex asked, but her memories seemed strange - like they might not be real.

When she woke this morning, she’d actually felt good. Alex was standing over her. “Come on, Sleepyhead,” she’d said, her voice low. “You’ve got a meeting.”

The meeting took place in Congresswoman Rhyme’s private office, just the four of them around a small meeting table.

“So, John, have you had a chance to look over the material I sent? I know it’s a lot to swallow.” Margaret seemed relaxed this morning.

“Yes I have. And Margaret, let me say that if it had been from anyone else, I would have tossed it. I read the claims and viewed the ‘proof.’ I assume you will provide some sort of demonstration as the final convincer?”

“Of course. Chuck, will you do the honors?”

Chuck had expected this, but he was still nervous about it. He was used to being called upon to pray, but being asked to connect to someone totally new was not something he’d done all that often. Still, he was stronger at it than either Margaret or Rachel, so the task fell to him.

He knew it would be easier if he touched John Smith, but the thought of holding his hand was not at all appealing. Besides, his hands look frail and bony, with a big blue vein visible near the surface. His right hand felt cold when they shook.

Chuck remembered how hard it had been to establish a connection with Amanda. He prayed that this ‘John Smith’ wasn’t as dumb as she had been.

At first, the connection was hazy, but it was there. Chuck sent Smith a feeling of good cheer, almost a ‘hello.’ In return, Chuck felt almost nothing. The connection was there without a doubt, but from John Smith he felt mostly a dark chill.

“Ah, Mr. Smith, you have to allow it if you want me to be able to know what you are feeling.”

“I read about that,” he said. His words even felt cold to Chuck. “I will attempt to send you a feeling of excitement. See if you receive it, Pastor.”

He did receive the feeling, if faintly. “Shall we add the others?” asked Chuck?

Smith nodded, but before Chuck would act, Margaret said, “I’d like to get Alexandra in here with us. Dearest Rachel was kind enough to practice with her, so we can have five people in our connection.”

A push of a button summoned Alex, who sat beside Rachel. The connection was expanded to include them all. Under the table, Alex took Rachel’s hand.

Rachel was quite accomplished at controlling what feelings she shared. She sent out confidence and calm.

The others presented a swirl of feelings so that it was sometimes hard to identify which of them came from what person. Still, it was a connection; similar but not quite the same as the ones she’d had with Bess and the others. There, the feelings were obviously sincere. Here, they felt somewhat unreliable, almost artificial.

John Smith spoke, his voice a raspy whisper, “Remember the meeting where they learned the final parts of the Revelation? How they focused somehow and created a beam of energy? Pastor, try to lead us to do that. Aim at that vase in the center of the table.”

Rachel felt Chuck’s uncertainty. “I’ve . . . I’ve never done such a thing, Mr. Smith, but I will attempt it.”

Soon it became obvious that the attempt would be unsuccessful. None of them had any idea how to combine the way Roger Seaton had been able to do with his group.

John Smith broke the connection. He seemed to be a fast learner. “Congresswoman Rymes, I’d like to discuss an item with you, but it will contain classified information. You are cleared, but our other friends here are not. May we speak alone?”

Alex led Chuck and Rachel from the room.

“I’m not sure I should get my team involved with this, Margaret.” John Smith took out a silver case and extracted three pills. He swallowed them dry.

“How can you say that? This is exactly the kind of thing Omni was created for. What good is that billion dollar budget if you can’t move on something like this? It’s perhaps the biggest opportunity either of us has ever seen.”

“And that’s just it. My team doesn’t normally take the point on an opportunity; instead we influence it from afar.”

Congresswoman Rymes knew better than that. “Bull.” she said, her voice heavy with skepticism, “When it suits you, you directly pursue an agenda just like all of us. Don’t try to act like you’re just some type of manager with manicured nails and shiny shoes. You and I know what the real story is - your team was designed to make sure no agency could become too powerful. You have your people in every major agency and a lot of minor ones. You use them to gather information and pull strings - and, when you decide to - you use them to take more direct action.”

He shrugged and stroked his beard with a bony hand. “That may be true, Margaret, but I prefer to keep my hands nice and clean. Instead of reining in some agency, in this case I’d be using them to further an agenda. It’s just not normal.”

She still wasn’t satisfied, “All right then, if not Omni, who should I trust to develop this opportunity? What do you think the CIA would do with it, or the NSA, or God forbid, Homeland Security. If they had agents with this kind of power, Omni would be swept aside in an instant - you would lose your influence. And if you tried to resist . . . well, you might find your arteries shut off unexpectedly. Listen John, you’ve got to take the lead on this . . . for both of us.”

He rose. The act appeared to cause him pain. His back never quite reached the vertical. “Thank you, Margaret. I surmised as much myself, but I wanted to make sure you were committed to what is ahead. It will be a dangerous time for both of us, but perhaps also a profitable one. We must, of course, keep this totally to ourselves - what do you think we should do with that pair waiting outside?”

He was referring to Chuck Cleimer and Rachel. “They are under control. We’ll know when they are no longer needed, but for now, they still have a role to play, I think.”

Margaret handed him his cane. It had an ornate silver head with the letters, “CTR” embossed in it with what looked like emeralds. “Fine, but keep them away from that group for the moment - until we need them. I think I will begin with that facility in Little Rock. We need to know more about it.”

“How long until you get started?”

“Everyone wants their miracle yesterday. I need to find the right . . . assets to put into play and then make certain they understand what they must do. It’ll take at least a month, maybe two.”

She frowned, but he didn’t notice. He turned towards the door without another word and waited for Congresswoman Rymes to open it for him.

Chapter Thirty Eight

“Shannon is still wearing everything she always did and I can’t fit in my skinny jeans anymore. I’m going to be gigantic.”

Jed smiled at his phone. That set her off even more. “It’s easy for you to sit down there in Little Rock, dreaming about holding your daughter, while I’m up here ballooning up by the second. You won’t recognize me the next time we get together; I’ll be the one that looks like a blimp. Now wipe that grin off your face, Mr. Cunningham.”

He didn’t even try to comply. “Ah Darlin’, I can’t wait to see you startin’ to fill out. I like portly women - I don’t know if I ever told you that.” She was twelve hundred miles away so he was safe from getting a kick.

Jane realized she may as well change the subject. “How’s Jerry doing with the camouflage?”

“Good. He found a bunch of scrap metal pieces in all shapes and sizes. He’s got ‘em scattered around outside and he’s welded up a bunch of triangles to make a sculpture. Anyone who comes by will see enough junk lying around that they’ll be convinced we’re artists. He thinks he’s actually going to sell one of his creations.”

Jane smiled, “And the shipments?”

“We’ve been getting in a box or two just about every day for more than a month. It’s short lead time stuff - off the shelf hardware mostly. The suppliers are checking in and updating us constantly - that private site Bess set up makes it easy for them to keep us informed and earn that fifty percent bonus you promised ‘em. Jerry thinks that next week we’ll get in some of the cast pieces.”

“Great. Are the contractors going to make their Christmas deadline?”

“I think so, Darlin’. They got almost two weeks to go and they look like they’re about done. Once they’re out of the way, we can really start to get ready to build.”

Jane’s voice became soft, “Juliet reserved our cabin for a whole week around Christmas. I told her it was too long, but she ignored me.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a mutiny on your hands, Snugglie. I guess we’ll have to surrender and spend that week up there in heaven.”

It was like heaven to Jane. “We can still drive back to the factory and work. Hey, I just had an idea - maybe we should invite everyone to a Christmas party at the cabin?”

Jed frowned at the phone. “Darlin’, I’d love to have a celebration, but maybe we should wait until . . .”

He was right. The last time they’d all been together in celebration had resulted in the worst night of her life - and it was her wedding night.

“You’re right. I guess . . . I guess I forgot. Jed, things have been going good for a while - I forgot for just an instant.”

She paused and ran her fingers through her hair. “Anyway, Bess keeps pestering me to let her see the cabin - to get in the hot tub. Maybe we’ll have her and Tanith over.”

“Sounds great.” Jed saw an unfamiliar person in a business suit ask one of the construction workers a question.

“Looks like we got a salesman here. I’ll give him the boot.”

“No hon, I’ve got a meeting and I’m already late. You go ahead and do what you have to do. I love you.”

Before he could answer, she hung up.

After a handshake, Jed was surprised to learn his visitor was from the EPA. His very official looking ID said so.

“Glad to meet you, Mr. Cunningham. This is just a courtesy inspection - we do it for every new industrial facility sooner or later.”

Jed was annoyed to have this fed looking around. “What are you inspecting, Mr. Hodges?”

“Just call me Carl. It’s really pretty simple and normally takes an hour or two. We check that the proper permits are in order and that procedures are followed. We make sure that hazardous materials are correctly labeled and handled and that emergency plans are in place.”

Jed was pretty sure that Edie had handled all that as they were getting their permits. “Well, Carl, as you can see, we’re still under construction, but I think our lawyer left a binder with all that in it.”

Hodges sat his briefcase on the floor, opened it and removed a tablet. He tapped it a few times. “Let’s see, that would be a Ms. E.D. Porter on behalf of the Church of the Connection, is that right?”

Jed frowned. He knew they had to file a bunch of documents, but having a stranger talk about Edie and their church was still disconcerting. “Maybe I should call her.”

Hodges smiled, “If you like. But I just need to see that binder. It’ll be quicker to let me make sure everything is ship shape.”

The office was being painted, but Jed removed a tarp off of a desk and they sat. A computer screen lit up until Jed pressed a key to put it to sleep. “Yes, Mr. Cunningham, this looks to be in good order.” He tapped some more on his tablet. “Now, may I see your hazardous materials paperwork? I noticed welding equipment.”

Jed pulled out his phone. Jane would skin him alive if he didn’t call Edie. He put his thumb on the screen, tapped it and waited with the phone to his ear.

When she answered, Jed told her about Carl Hodges and his inspection. “Put me on speaker and turn on the video,” she said.

“Mr. Hodges, I’m Edie Porter.” Hodges could see her on the screen and he assumed she could see him. He didn’t frown. “Ms. Porter, good to meet you.”

“The same here. Now, Jed tells me you’re doing an inspection. We’ll be glad to cooperate, of course, but the place isn’t even finished.”

“Oh, that’s quite all right. I just want to inventory the hazardous materials, check for MDS sheets, that type of thing. I’ll come back when you’re done if necessary, but given what I’ve seen so far, that likely won’t be needed.”

“Well then, Mr. Cunningham will be glad to show you what is required. Jed, if you have a question, call me.” With that, she hung up.

As soon as she finished with Jed, Edie called Bess. She answered almost instantly, “Hi Edie.”

“Bess, I need something pretty quick if you can.”

“Shoot it to me, my sister.”

“Okay, can you find any information on a Carl Hodges? I don’t have a middle name. He supposedly works for the EPA in or around Little Rock. I’d say he’s about forty.”

She could hear Bess typing. “Let’s see, there are several people with those two names in or near Little Rock. A couple are too young and one is too old. Hmm . . . maybe he’s Carl A. Hodges? Let’s see, he owns a home there, got some award from the local Kiwanis Club for helping teens.”

Edie could see her put a pencil in her mouth and then twist her hair into a bun. She pushed the pencil through it and started typing again. “Let me check on associations with the EPA.

“Here it is! He got a bonus last year of $8K from the EPA. Apparently they have to disclose that publicly. I say he’s with them, all right. Did you doubt him, Edie?”

“Just being careful, Bess. Thanks for finding that out so fast. I swear, girl, you are a wiz with computers. Talk to you soon.”

“Okey Dokey,” said Bess before she hung up. Edie smiled to herself, partly at Bess and partly in relief. Having the feds snooping around was concerning, but this guy looked to be legit. She’d talk to Jed after he left to see if he had any concerns.

Things had finally been going smoothly and she didn’t want anything to upset their plans.

John Smith sounded, if anything, older on the phone. “Margaret, I have the report from my agent. I chose him because he can be quite observant and he didn’t disappoint.”

Congresswoman Rymes was alone in her apartment. “So what did he find out?”

“That something is certainly being assembled there and it’s not religious artwork. First, the person in charge was the one who had apparently escaped death twice because of his membership in this group.

“He noted that Jed Cunningham has a phone that requires a fingerprint identification before it can be used. I would bet they all do.

“Next, Agent Hodges managed to get a look at a computer screen before it was blanked. He focused on it, but it was only there for a split second. There was a drawing on the screen - like a CAD drawing - very detailed. It was of a round object atop a stand of some sort. The title was probably Concentrator. I believe that fits with what we know about their device.

“The construction of this facility is close to completion. Cunningham told him they’d be done by Christmas. As you know, they claimed to be planning to create religious metal sculptures inside. I must say this is a brilliant ploy. Indeed, scattered around the outside are many rusting pieces, but inside the place is neat and clean. There is a metal pile of scrap in each corner, but they are out of the way as if they are simply props. We have pictures taken with the tablet of the oxygen tanks and OMR-D items that allowed us to study the main space.

“Not all their inventory is metal scrap. There are almost three dozen boxes that appear to contain hardware, bushings, metal rods and other such items. These are all new and unpacked and are stored carefully and neatly. I would guess they will be used to manufacture this machine, this Concentrator.”

“I don’t understand,” interjected Margaret. “How do they think they can lift such a thing into space? I have sent an alert to every launch facility to be on the lookout for unapproved cargo. Unless they have some deal in China, I don’t see how they can reasonably expect to get that thing in orbit. Maybe, just maybe, they could have done it earlier, but not now. I closed that door.”

“Perhaps they have other plans now. The documents you provided have no information for the last three months or so. Maybe things have changed. Has Miss Reed heard anything?”

“No. She calls them every couple of days, but Bess Olman is tight lipped. I’ve encouraged her to become closer with an even younger girl, Tanith Watson. She claims they are all good friends, but there’s no hint as to any change of plans. All they tell her is that someday, they will all get together and do something important. Tanith implied it would be soon after the birth of the two children. She also let slip that Jane Mitchell and Cunningham would spend Christmas at a cabin in the nearby mountains. I already found it and texted you the address.”

“And how did Hodges do in answering the question about who fathered Jane Mitchell’s child?” This had been a brilliant idea of Margaret’s. They knew that Seaton planned on being the biological father and that he was dead, but they didn’t know if he’d actually impregnated Jane Mitchell before he was killed.

“After the inspection was done, he mentioned to Cunningham that he had to go pick up his teenage daughter at school and asked if Cunningham had any children. He was relieved that the inspection was over and that it had been painless. It made him talkative. Cunningham told him that he had one on the way. According to Hodges, his pride was obvious with no hint of any concern.

“Hodges expressed the thought that having kids was a miracle and Jed said, ‘Yep, it sure is. It’s quite a miracle.’ In Hodges’ opinion, and mine too, Cunningham thinks he fathered the child. Of course, we don’t know for sure one way or another, but I expect to know the answer soon. With national health care, doctors all upload their info to the cloud, and we’re there to watch. At her next checkup, we expect to have conclusive evidence one way or another.”

Margaret was satisfied - she was more than satisfied. It had been a long wait, but things were progressing. “And your next move, John?”

“To wire the cabin and factory, of course. I’d like to place a transmitter in their apartments too, but that is probably too risky. We’ll see. I would also like to get my hands on one of their phones - preferably Jane Mitchell’s, but we’ll have to see if an opportunity presents itself. We’ll also try and monitor all their internet traffic, but that may be problematic. Hodges had a usb stick to insert a key logger into the machines in the office, but was never able to be alone.

“Beyond that, I suggest we exhibit patience and see what we can learn passively. If more direct action is required, we can always do that, but once we commit to that course, it will be difficult to keep them from knowing we are on to them.

“I will arrange to monitor any of their places we can get into, their computers and anything else they use - their credit cards, bank accounts, etc. I think within six months we will either know all their secrets or we will need to move forward with more direct plans.”

Another six months? Margaret frowned, but there was not much to be done about it. Smith knew his business, after all.

Chapter Thirty Nine

It was Christmas Eve and the air was cold in the mountains. Jed and Jane sat by the fire and looked over the twinkling lights in the valley below them.

At the door, Bess and Tanith were arguing. “You go first!”

“No, you go first. It’s too cold.”

Jane looked at Jed, “Hon, is this the way it’s going to be with children? Maybe we should think again.”

Bess laughed, opened the door and pushed Tanith outside to the deck. “At least you’re wearing a one piece, all I’ve got is this bikini,” she said laughing as she joined her. They stepped into the water together - at first hesitantly. But as they realized how warm and inviting it was, they plunged in up to their necks.

Margaret put in a call to Chuck. When he answered, she said, “Merry Christmas, Chuck. I have a present for you. Got a pencil? Go to this IP address 192.168.1.1. When you get there, use the one time password, ‘MerryMerry2021.’ You can thank me later.”

She hung up. Chuck had no idea how to go to such an address, but he was an expert at asking his phone questions. He spoke to it, “How do I go to IP address 192.168.1.1?”

“Password please,” the phone responded with its slightly robotic female voice.

“MerryMerry2021,” he said. The phone filled the password field with “Marrymarrytwentytwentyone.”

“I’m sorry, that is not correct. Would you like to type it yourself?”

He thought that this phone girl was just about as dumb as Rachel. “Yes, I’ll type it,” he said. He remembered why he hated to text. It took him several tries.

But eventually he got the right combination of capitals and numbers and the display changed to darkness. Along the bottom and right edge were slider bars. He pushed the one on the bottom to the right and was surprised that the display brightened a lot. He was looking at a deck of some kind. There were trees around. Was that a tub built into the deck?

He moved the vertical slider and the display zoomed. Bess Olman filled the screen. Beside her was Tanith Watson. They were talking and laughing. They took turns standing and then dropping back into the water. Chuck zoomed even more.

He would certainly have to thank Margaret for this.

“You’ll come on in out of that cold and make yourself to home.” Nanna held the door open.

As they entered they all recognized the smell. It didn’t matter if they grew up in Atlanta, or New York or Texas or right here in Little Rock - it was the warm smell of home.

Nanna was cooking dinner for them. At first, Jane was concerned that hosting her and Jed and Beth and Tanith would be too much, but Tanith assured her that her grandmother would “be in seventh heaven” at the opportunity to make a real Christmas dinner. “When I was young, we used to have big dinners on Sundays and especially on Christmas. People would drop by and visit for a while. But the last few years, it’s been mostly just us. I know Nanna would love for you all to come. With her, the more the merrier.”

Bess immediately went with Nanna into the warm kitchen. “Can you show me some cooking tricks, Nanna? I so want to learn.” she said.

Jane looked at her watch. Her mother would be here in a few minutes. Jane knew that because she was always on time.

Their meeting in New York had actually gone well. Jane took her mother through the apartment building introducing her to everyone along the way. The Connection members all knew what was up and they greeted her warmly, but without any small talk except that Juliet invited them to dinner later than night.

That was part of the plan. After the introductions and tour, Jane took her mother to her apartment and talked to her. She remembered that, when she was growing up, her mother would say at least two words for every one she spoke, but not today.

Today, Jane spoke almost uninterrupted for two hours. She explained how it all started, how Roger had embarked on a course of action that would change the world, and how she had become part of it all. Early on, she connected to her mother. It was awkward at first, but not for long. She felt her mother’s concern for her, but Jane sent her love in return.

She told her everything - about BP and the healing of Jed and how Roger couldn’t help Jacob. When she told her about her wedding night, she cried and her mother did too. She didn’t tell her about Roger’s final act.

She spoke about the problem with the Universe and told her what they planned to do about it. She told her about their new home.

When she was finished, Jane was surprised to find herself being held by her mother as they sat side by side. She sat up and looked directly into her eyes, “Mom . . . What do you think? Any questions?” She so much wanted her mother to believe her - to understand her. Jane remembered feeling this way on a long ago afternoon when she was in high school.

Her mother smiled and embraced her. She whispered, “So, we have less than a year left here. Is that right?”

Jane checked the time again. Jed grinned at her, “Darlin’, Marina will get her here.”

Jane snapped at him, “I’m not worried about that!” Almost immediately, she realized she’d been thoughtless. She was getting better at keeping her tongue in check - a leader had to. “I’m sorry, Hon. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. Do you think this is . . . you know, too much? I told her that Nanna didn’t want to know about us.”

“If you mean do I think your mother will enjoy having Christmas dinner with us, then yes I do. Carol is a great woman, a great mother in law, and she knows what to say and what not to say. I don’t know what it is with you two - everything will be fine.”

She leaned over and kissed him. It was the natural thing to do.

“Oops, sorry!” said Tanith who was bringing them glasses of sweet tea.

She was embarrassed at interrupting them.

Jed grinned, “That’s all right. It’s hard to look at me and Janie without finding us kissing or something. Don’t pay us no mind.”

That got him a kick.

When the doorbell rang, Jane was the first one there to answer it. Her mother stood in the entranceway looking elegant in a black pants suit. They embraced and then Jane hugged Marina and Laird. Just his week, he’d formally joined the group. Jane kept a running tally in her head - with the others bringing on friends and family, they were up to forty - with exactly three hundred to go.

As they were taking off their coats and saying their ‘hellos,’ Nanna appeared, wiping her hands on her apron. “You must be Doctor Mitchell. I think I would have known you was Jane’s mother even if we won’t introduced. There’s a strong likeness.”

“I’m Carol, Mrs. Watson. Don’t bother with the ‘doctor’ part - I’m just a horse doctor.”

Nanna smiled and shook her hand. “All these young people call me Nanna, which is just fine with me. But down at the church with all the other old folks, I’m Edna.”

Nanna led them to the living room; a few extra chairs had appeared. “Jane ‘tol me ‘bout what you do, Carol. How you was the first woman to do it and how you’re the best. She’s awful proud of you, but I guess you know that.”

“I’m proud of her too, Edna,” Carol Mitchell said quietly. Jane felt for Jed’s hand.

“Well, I best get back to my cookin’. Bess is rolling out some biscuit dough and I got a turkey just turning brown - got to keep an eye on it. Ya’ll just relax and I’ll send Tanith out with some appetizers directly.”

“It’s not a Thompson’s Turkey is it?” said Jed. He went over to talk to Laird in time to avoid Jane’s reaction.

Tanith brought out the appetizers. “I love these,” she said. “They’re fried pickles and Comeback Sauce.”

No one rushed to try one. Tanith looked in the kitchen to make sure her Nanna wasn’t watching. “Now come on, my friends. I know it sounds strange, but try them - I think you’ll like them.”

Tanith stared directly at Bess until she put two on a plate with a little bowl of the almost orange colored sauce. Everyone watched as she dipped and took a tiny bite.

Her face broke into a smile. “They’re really super good!” she said. The tray was empty in just a few minutes.

Later, Jane noticed her mother deep in conversation with Tanith. “Hon, what’s going on over there?” she asked, nodding towards them. “Mother has a look on her face that means she’s up to something.”

“I’ve seen that look before,” said Jed.

The dinner was wonderful. Having eight people at the table was a bit of a squeeze, but no one minded. They talked about many things, but Nanna was especially interested in Marina and Laird. She wanted to know how they became pilots, what kinds of planes they had flown, how it felt for such a slip of a girl to be in charge of a giant plane.

When they were done, Bess said in amazement, “Nanna, the biscuits. They’re all gone.”

“I ‘tol you that you was doing a good job, child. Ain’t nothing better than a hot biscuit as part of a good meal. ‘Specially around friends.”

She rose, “Now you young people relax and me and Tanith will get this taken away and washed up. I’ll send her out with coffee shortly.”

Carol Mitchell stood and went to her side. “Edna, if you don’t mind, I’d like to help you in the kitchen. We can let the others think about how great a meal we just had.”

Now this was just wrong. First, her mother was actually going to wash dishes, and second, she was going to let Nanna do it too. Nanna had cooked - she shouldn’t have to do the dishes.

Jane started to speak, but before the words could start her mother put her hands on her hips and shot her a look that said, “I know what I’m doing. Hold your horses.” Her mother had said that expression to her many times as she grew up. Jane resigned herself to silence.

“Well, sure Carol. I’d be right pleased to work with you. I ain’t done dishes with many doctors.”

Jed and Laird helped carry the load into the kitchen, but soon they were all seated back in the living room. The conversations were muted. Tanith looked worried and Bess took her hand after they whispered something to each other.

They seemed to take a long time to do the dishes. Twice Jane started to get up to go check on the progress in the kitchen and twice Jed told her to be patient. “If you know what is going on, Jed Cunningham, you had better tell me.”

Her threat didn’t work because he claimed he didn’t know why it was taking so long.

Finally, after over an hour, her mother stepped out of the kitchen. She said in a quiet voice, “Tanith, your grandmother needs you now.”

Instantly, tears started to stream down Tanith’s cheeks. “Please come with me,” she said to Bess. They walked into the kitchen together.

Jane was quiet as her mother sat and sighed. She didn’t bother to ask any questions - it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

“I . . . She’s part of us now.”

Jane tried to understand the meaning of those words. “Tanith asked me to talk to her. After she saw the new home with BP, she knew she couldn’t leave her grandmother behind. It was tearing her up - either her grandmother had to be part of our group, or Tanith had to stay behind.

“She asked me to talk to her and I did.”

From the kitchen, they could hear crying. Jane was shocked almost beyond words, “Mother, what did you say to her?”

“I told her the truth, all of it. Plus I told her that, in the end, Tanith would leave with us and go to a better place. And that if she wanted to see her granddaughter mature into the person she was meant to be - if she wanted to be a part of it the most wonderful adventure in all of history - she had to decide to join us.”

“And she said ‘yes?’

“Yes, Jane, she said she would join.”

Chapter Forty

Springtime at the cabin was a riot of colors; the sky blue, the trees turning green and the flowers doing their best to make rainbows on the Earth itself.

At seven months, Jane was totally into maternity clothes. The backaches and general feeling of ‘fullness’ were getting old. She thought that her overall disposition may have become just a tiny bit bitchier.

“Jed, I’m so big I’m about to pop. My mother called me a mare.”

Jed smiled, “She did not. Stop exaggerating. You’ve got a ways to go yet - almost eight weeks. Besides, I like those maternity clothes, they’re sexy.”

That was the last thing on her mind. She shot him a look, “Keep your hands to yourself, mister. If I do get through this, I may not ever let you touch me again.”

He smiled, but it quickly turned into something else. He heard a car coming. The little road to the cabin was one lane and was only used by people coming here. They were about to have visitors.

A big black SUV slid to a stop on the gravel right behind their own car. Tanith got out of the driver’s door and Bess followed. They were both in town this week, working out of the factory.

“Hey guys!” yelled Jed. His enthusiasm ended abruptly as he saw the looks on their faces.

Bess spoke while turning on a tablet. “Hi Jed, Jane. We just dropped by to see how things were going.”

Bess and Tanith got very close to them, as if they were going to have a group hug. Bess turned the tablet so they could see. It said:

We found a bug in the factory. I’m almost positive it’s an audio and video transmitter. There’s at least one more we found. I think this cabin may be bugged too. Come with us. We need to figure this out in a safe place.

Jane looked startled but didn’t say anything. “I guess you guys forgot our appointment,” said Bess, slightly louder than normal.

Jed nodded to them as Jane left to get her bag, “Yeah, I don’t know what happens to us up here - we just forget about everything.”

Bess was rapidly writing with a finger on the tablet screen. She kept it close to her chest so it couldn’t easily been seen.

Follow us. Don’t talk in the car. We don’t know if it’s safe.

They drove for thirty minutes until Tanith pulled into a park. They stopped at a picnic table and sat. It was chilly and Jane had only a light jacket over a sweater. “I’ll be fine,” she said when Jed asked if she wanted his coat. She did sit very close to him.

“Do they know about this in New York?” she asked.

“Yeah, they do,” Bess said, looking at her phone. “I called Edie and told her. The voice encryption on these phones is quite good. I’m sure it was safe. I also called Shannon and Evan. I suggested they gather up everyone who’s there and go to the park a couple of blocks away from the apartment building. I told them I’d get you and then, when we were ready, I’d send them a text with an innocuous message. It’s a signal that they should leave. Should I do it now?”

Jane nodded her agreement. “How did you find the bug?”

Tanith answered, “It was just luck. We were working in the office, when one of the lights in the ceiling went out. I climbed up on a chair to change it, but I couldn’t see how to do it. It wasn’t a normal screw in bulb. Bess said to look for something to pull and so I pulled on this little black button thing. It came out and was dangling from wires. I thought I had really screwed things up, but the next thing I hear is Bess climbing up beside me. She’s the one who figured it out. She pushed it back in its hole and changed the bulb and then we went outside. That’s when she told me what she suspected.”

Bess added, “I went back in and looked. There’s another one in the dorm.” The dorm was a room with eight single beds separated by large wooden wardrobes. “I tried to act normal, like nothing had happened. I looked in the factory too, but the ceilings are high - I didn’t see anything in there.”

Edie asked, “Do you think they fell for it?”

“I don’t know, Edie. They couldn’t see what we saw with the wires dangling down and everything. To them, it would probably look like Tanith shook the fixture a bit as she tried to change the bulb. Unless our faces gave it away, I doubt they know we found the bug. Heck, they may not have even been watching at that moment. We found two bugs and there probably are others. I wonder if they could monitor them all twenty four seven?”

“Depends on who is doing the monitoring,” said Edie. “I’ve been worried about this for a while - that some government agency would detect that something strange was going on and would get curious.”

“But who would leak anything? Not one of us!” Bess had a determined look on her face.

Now Jane spoke, “We can’t be sure. We’re still adding people even without a real push for recruitment. It might be one of them, or it might be . . .”

Bess cut her off. “It might be that bastard Chuck Cleimer,” she said. Her right fist clenched and unclenched as she stared at the phone.

Jane continued, “Right now, that doesn’t really matter. We need to decide what to do about it. Bess, can those bugs be . . . detected? Can they be found without alerting whoever is watching and listening to us?”

“I don’t know, Jane. I’ll have to make some calls.”

“Okay, you do that, my sister. But that brings me to the next point. When you make those calls, you can’t make them from our normal places - if there’s an important call, we need to make it in a place where our privacy is assured.”

She stopped talking and looked into space. Jed saw her eyes lose focus. Bess started to say something, but Jed held up his hand to stop her. “Let her think, Bess.”

It only took thirty seconds. Jane sat up straighter. “There’s another aspect to this. If we can find the bugs, we can avoid them when we have something we don’t want our watchers to see. But we can also use it another way - we can feed them disinformation. We can let them overhear things that will confuse them or put them on the wrong path. We only need less than four months. We just need to keep them confused and off our trail for that long - and I know it won’t be easy.

“Besides, they may know a lot, but there are at least three things they don’t know - the exact time and place where we’ll get together, and the exact design of the Concentrator device. I don’t think they’ll do much until they know those things.”

Shannon appeared in the display. She was finally looking pregnant. Jane thought she was beautiful. “Do you think they have the apartment building bugged too? Charlie is back there watching the kids for me. The other guard was told that no one was allowed entry until we return, but I’m worried about them.”

Edie asked, “Have you had any strangers inside?”

“No, not at all . . . well, except for the cleaning lady. And we’ve had deliveries. Jerry ordered a pizza the other night. My God, they could have put one right in our bedroom, couldn’t they?”

Jane smiled at her. “Well, Shannon, we don’t know until Bess figures out how to check for them. Until then, assume you’re being watched.”

Chapter Forty One

“Margaret, you must have patience. Moving before we are ready could lead to failure, John Smith said with a tone of condescension in his voice.”

A senior member of congress knew when someone wasn’t answering her questions directly. “I only wanted to know how much longer you thought this would take. It’s been months - surely you have some idea.”

Chuck didn’t like the way this meeting was starting. The restaurant was fine, the view was spectacular, but the company left something to be desired.

He chimed in, “Margaret’s right. It doesn’t look like we’re doing anything.”

Smith seemed to be considering whether to speak to him. If anything he looked older and more frail than before. A thick hair protruded from his left eyebrow. “I hope we get our hands on that device before the old fossil kicks the bucket,” Chuck thought.

Margaret was studying the view. In the distance was the dome of the Capital and, beyond that, the White House. “Could you do it now? Arrest them and question them, I mean.”

“I could, but I shall not. Things like that can get . . . messy. At the moment, they are scattered here and there and it may be difficult to round them all up. No, it’s best to wait until they come together. We’ll be there to take them then. In the meantime, we will continue to watch and listen; they may still let something important slip.”

Margaret relaxed and ate. Through the window, the White House looked to be very far away. In her mind, it was much closer. She turned her attention to Chuck, “What’s up with Rachel? Alex says she’s doing okay in her job down here, but she’s grown a bit tired of her, so we haven’t seen her in a while.”

Chuck had grown more than a bit tired of her; tired of her calls and crying and threats to end her life. He’d been forced to tell Wendell to never put her calls through and his new Gal Friday had blocked her calls on his cell phone. “I’m afraid I may be estranged from her, Margaret. Perhaps I should have continued our . . . relationship, but it appeared she had completed her part of our endeavor, so I thought it best to allow her to find someone more suitable.”

Rymes smiled. “Aren’t you just the perfect gentleman?” she asked.

“So the only bugs in the apartment building were in Juliet and Evan’s place?” Marina asked.

“Yeah. Bess hired a company to teach her how to check in a way that wouldn’t advertise she was looking. They sold her some type of spectrum analyzer or something built into a laptop. They found them easily in Juliet’s place, but nowhere else other than the factory. We figure they snuck them in during the construction after . . . you know, our celebration.”

It still hurt to think of it. It probably always would. “Bess wanted to check the cabin too, but I told her to forget it - we weren’t going back there anyway. Plus it amuses me to think of some guy staring all day at his screen showing an empty cabin.”

Marina changed the subject, “And you? You look great, my sister.”

“Yeah, sure. Everyone says ‘you glow.’ My mother won’t stop with that kind of talk. But my back hurts and I’ve got cankles like you can’t believe and I bet I’ll have stretch marks from my neck to my knees. I don’t know how Shannon does it - she’s so calm; never complains. We spend a lot of time together. Her bet is that we both deliver in twenty six days.”

Marina grinned, “I’ve got my money on you delivering in exactly thirty one and her in twenty seven. I’m trying for the daily double.”

Jane laughed, “I’ll tell you why I asked you to stop by. How’d you like to learn to fly a 747?”

“What!” exclaimed Marina.

Jane explained that they may need to fly the Connection somewhere right at the end of their time here on Earth. “When Roger and I met you in Texas, Jerry told us that these planes can carry upwards of 400 people. That’s enough for our needs.”

“No Jane, it won’t work. We have less than three months to go. I’d have to be in training for a good part of that and I’m flying most days now for the group. It would be best to just hire pilots. It can be done.”

Marina looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “Jane, are you thinking of flying us all somewhere - somewhere safe - for the combining? All 340 of us? Is it because you think someone might be after us at the last minute?”

“It’s possible,” said Jane softly.

“It won’t work, Jane. Those planes can’t just disappear. Especially after what happened to that Malaysian flight, there’s all kinds of monitoring on planes like this. The second we took off, they could know it and they could track us five different ways and be waiting for us when we land. No, it won’t work.”

Jane was disappointed, but she’d half expected this reaction, “I understand . . .”

“But there’s another way,” Marina said. She moved her chair nearer Jane and took her hand. She explained to her how it could work.

Jane was shocked. “No, Marina. No way. Not in a million years.”

Marina connected to her and let her feel her conviction. They sat there for a long time in silence until Jane finally said, “God, please let this be over soon. I don’t think I can handle much more. Marina, why does it have to be me making these decisions? It’s too hard.”

A tear streamed down Marina’s cheek. “I think you were born for it, my sister.”

It took another thirty minutes, but Jane finally called her mother. Bess had provided her one of their secure phones.

“Mom, I’ve got Marina here with me. I want you to keep this conversation to yourself, okay?”

“Oh course, Jane.”

“Good. Mom, we need to buy a big plane - preferably something like a 747. Marina tells me there are a good number available, but I don’t want anyone to know we own the plane - at least right away. Edie says we have a good sized stash of money outside the country that can’t be traced to us, so we can pay for it.”

“I’m no international finance expert, how can I help?”

“A couple of years ago, you told me that one of your rich horse owners - an Emir or something - had one he was tired of. You said he was ready for a newer model. Can you check and see if we can buy it? It needs to be in the states right away for an inspection by Marina, but we can pay for it as soon as it’s here and before the paperwork is signed.”

“Get it done quickly before anyone notices, is that it?”

“Yes, Mother, that’s pretty much it.”

“Marina, is she being straight with me on this? I know that under current, ah, conditions, we’re keeping little secrets. This seems to be a pretty large one.

“She’s doing what’s right, Doctor Mitchell.”

“If you say so. All right, Jane. If you’re sure, I’ll make the call.”

“I’m sure, Mother. I hope to God we don’t need it, but I’m sure.”

Chapter Forty Two

Exactly twenty six days later, Jane went into labor at three in the morning. Juliet had made all the arrangements at the hospital and for their trip there. Since Jane woke with contractions that were about fifteen minutes apart, there was plenty of time. After three of them, she woke Jed.

“Hon, it’s time,” she said.

He’d been snoring, but he sat bolt upright in bed. “Time? You mean . . .”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.” Men could be really dense sometimes. “I’m going to get dressed. I promised Juliet we’d call her so she could have a car take us. Would you do that?”

Instead of answering, he rushed to her side. “Jed, listen to me. I’m okay. Don’t worry. The last time I checked, women had been doing this for quite a while. You just call Juliet. She said one of the guards would drive us to the hospital.”

When she returned from getting dressed, her bag was sitting beside the door, ready for her to take. Jed had been staring out the window to the street below. He came to her and kissed her gently. Her belly felt large between them.

Just then, a contraction started. He saw it in her face and took her hand. “Breathe Darlin’, breathe.” He breathed in and out himself as if she needed someone to show her how.

The pain lasted less than a minute. “Jed, I’m fine. It’s not too bad. But I want you to promise me that you’ll tell me if I’m embarrassing myself and that you’ll leave the delivery room if I ask you to.”

He lifted the bag. “I don’t care what you or anyone else says. There is no way I’m leaving you. No way at all. You can bank on that.”

She realized that this was one time her orders would not be obeyed and she didn’t mind at all.

Downstairs, the Connection had gathered for her sendoff. Everyone was in robes and slippers. Bess had bunny shoes on with long ears on each side.

Even those who weren’t there were saying “Good luck!” and “We’re thinking of you!” on their phones as Bess streamed a video feed to them.

The last one to appear was Shannon. She was just as big as Jane, so that when they hugged, it was almost like they were far apart. “You shouldn’t have come down here, Shannon.”

“I wouldn’t miss telling you that I love you for the world,” said Shannon.

“I love you too, my sister. I’ll see you soon.

She got in the car and Charlie closed the door on her and Jed. As they left, she remembered something Roger had said to her. It was a short and simple statement that she’d never really understood until this moment. He’d said he was amazed to live in a world with such people in it. He’d said it with awe in his voice. Jane felt that very same awe right now.

At exactly 3:06 p.m. Haley Carol Mitchell Cunningham entered the world. Her stay on it would be short if all went as planned.

At exactly 3:57 p.m., Shannon Wu checked into the room next door and prepared to have her third child. It took slightly over eight hours before Kyle Seaton Wu appeared.

The two babies hadn’t been born on the same day, but Shannon was the closest, missing being correct by minutes. She won their pool of sixty five dollars.

Alarm bells woke Jane. She’d been deeply asleep, having been up to feed Haley just a couple of hours ago. She noted the clock said 4:30 as she reached for the ringing phone. Why in the world was Jed calling her now? She’d sent him home so that they could both get some rest and he wasn’t supposed to return until seven at the earliest.

Still, it would be good to hear his voice. Last night, he’d been so sweet and gentle with their precious child - and he did it without telling a single joke or calling her ‘Janie’. It was a side of him she hadn’t fully expected.

“Hi hon,” she said into the phone with love in her voice.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Cunningham, but I’m not your husband.”

Any residual effects of sleep left her instantly. “Then who . . .”

“My name is Smith, John Smith. I apologize for waking you, especially after what was undoubtedly something of an ordeal, but I find that many people are more focused when they are awakened from a deep sleep. I trust you are now alert.”

“What do you want?” she said. She was indeed alert - alert and frowning into the semi darkness of her room. She sat up straight, which caused her pain.

“I simply want to have a talk with you and then I want you to answer a question. I think you will find it a simple one.”

“Who are you, really?” Her voice was sharp.

“Now Mrs. Cunningham, it would be best for you to listen without interrupting. You’ll know when it is your turn.

“However, I will answer your question. I work for an agency that . . . let’s just say we try to be aware of threats to the public. You appear to lead an organization that may pose such a threat. I’d like you to cooperate with me and tell me all about it.”

Did he think she was a quivering female that would be scared by a voice on the phone? “There is no way,” she said, “You’re wasting your time.”

“We shall see, Mrs. Cunningham. I know quite a bit about you and your group. I know about the Revelation and your plans. I’ve had a source inside almost from the beginning, but there are always questions that could best be answered with your cooperation.

“I also know that you are planning on your little ‘fix’ very soon. I could have you arrested - all of you - and put an end to this threat, but I’d like to do it without being unpleasant. Surely, you can see that your position is tenuous at best.”

“Yeah, Mr. Smith, I do see things. I see that you haven’t arrested us, which means you don’t know what you need to know and you’re worried that we might pull this off. I see that you think I might cave if some mysterious voice calls me with vague threats. I hope you see something too, Mr. Smith. I hope you see it won’t work. Not with me. Not ever.”

“I was told that you had more than average - how shall I put it? - ‘spunk,’ especially for a female.”

Jane thought of Bess and how she’d want to roll up her sleeves and sock this guy for saying such a thing.

“However, I didn’t fully plan on you ‘caving,’ as you say, merely at the sound of my voice. I have another inducement for you; one that will be hopefully more persuasive.”

His tone triggered some gland to release a substance that caused her to feel fear.

“I’m sure you remember your wedding, Mrs. Cunningham. I understand it was quite a disappointing night on more than one front. But that wasn’t the case a few days earlier, was it? I’m curious - was your infidelity the culmination of a long standing affair - one last fling for old times’ sake? Or did you succumb to Roger Seaton’s advances due to his plying you with Scotch? I suppose you could have been the aggressor, demanding he service you, but it really doesn’t matter, does it? Roger Seaton is the father of your child and I can prove it.”

Her mind was racing.

“I can almost hear you thinking, Mrs. Cunningham, looking for a way out. Don’t strain yourself; your doctor’s records are uploaded to a server that my group has access to. Oh yes, the proof is quite conclusive.”

Jane thought of something to say. “Is Chuck Cleimer behind this?” she asked.

He seemed surprised that she would ask about Chuck. “I don’t think the status of the good pastor should be your concern at this point in time.”

So he was involved. That was something at least.

“My understanding is that you and Mr. Cunningham have been happy as man and wife. You’ve had your quarrels, but I suppose no more than normal.

“Is he the jealous type, Mrs. Cunningham? Most men are, you know. I dare say my news would be shocking to him, perhaps even devastating. Regardless of his reaction, your marriage will likely never be the same, even if it survives. From now on, whenever he sees your child, he will think just that - it’s your child . . . and your best friend’s. Not his, Mrs. Cunningham, not his.

“Why put yourself through that? All I ask is for your cooperation. Join with me, with my group. Teach us what you know. Help us use your power to defend this country, to make the world a better place. Let your name be recorded in history as a patriot, not as a lowly whore.”

Several seconds passed before Jane spoke. “Why call me? I mean, why call me now? You could have done this months ago. It’s because we’re so close, isn’t it? And you’re worried that somehow we’ll pull it off.”

“Let me be clear, Mrs. Cunningham. There is no possible way for you to accomplish what Roger Seaton wrote about in his Revelation. We will simply not allow it. I called you this morning to offer an alternative to arrest and . . . questioning. Take my offer. You have another life to be responsible for now. Surely your duties as a mother are more important than trying to act like some female General. Take the opportunity, my dear, call for your baby and feed her. Feel her warmth. You can have all that by just cooperating. You can have what every woman wants for the rest of your life - a husband who loves you and a child.”

Jane allowed a quiver in her voice. It wasn’t hard to do. “I . . . I need to think. Can you . . . call me tomorrow at the same time? I need to decide.”

“I have heard that you can be decisive, Mrs. Cunningham. However, I understand your need to consider carefully what I’ve offered. I will call you tomorrow for your decision.”

There was silence for just a second. “But Jane, please make the right decision. Your future and the future of your family depend on you.”

There was a click. By the time Jane replaced the phone, her eyes were unfocused and she was looking into space.

Chapter Forty Three

When Jed arrived, he pushed open the door to her room with breakfast for her in a bag. The hospital didn’t have the brand of yogurt she liked, so he brought her some.

“Hi Snu . . .” he stopped in mid word. Something was up. She was thinking deeply the way she does.

He’d learned to leave her alone when she was doing this, but now he was conflicted. The baby would be brought over in a few minutes. Should he ‘wake’ her or let her finish exploring wherever she was.

He didn’t have to decide because her eyes focused on him and her face broke into a smile. He sat beside her on the bed. “What’s up?” he asked.

“When will they bring in Haley?”

“The nurse told me in a few minutes. She said to expect a hungry little troll. What were you thinking about just now?”

She reached up to kiss him. “We’ve only got a few weeks - maybe seven if all goes well. I was trying to plan out how we’ll get to the end and do what we need to do.”

“But Darlin’ - there’s so many things we don’t know. Things that could happen.”

She kissed him again. Twice was unusual, but he didn’t mind. “I know,” she said. “That’s why it’s taken a while.”

“How long you been at it?”

“For a while. I stopped and called Bess and had her come over and do a bug sweep with that new toy of hers. But other than that, I’ve been hard at work.”

“A bug sweep? Here?”

“I’ll tell you about it later,” she said with a note of finality in her voice.

“Now listen here, Jane. You need your rest. You can do your heavy thinking tomorrow or the next day. Now you need to just relax.”

Before she could say more, the door opened and a nurse pushed in a wheeled carrier containing a baby that was squealing at the top of her lungs. “Sounds like her mom,” said Jed with a grin. If Jane could have kicked him, she would have.

Haley was hungry, but she fell asleep while eating. Jed put her gently into the bassinette. Once again, Jane offered her lips and once again, Jed accepted the invitation.

In mid kiss, there was a quiet knock on the door and Shannon and Jerry peeked in. “Jerry was like that after our first one too,” Shannon said.

“I ain’t changed a bit, either,” said Jerry and they all laughed.

They had little Kyle with them and they put both babies in the same bassinette. The two sets of parents watched them sleep in silent happiness.

Until Jane spoke. “Why don’t you boys go lift weights or something? The two moms need to talk.”

“How about some eggs and bacon?” asked Jerry.

“You don’t have to ask me twice. I was pretty sure Jane would make me eat her yogurt.”

They left grinning.

Jane and Shannon sat on the bed, side by side, watching their babies.

“Do you hurt?” asked Jane.

“Only a little. It usually gets better pretty quickly. How about you? In much pain?”

Jane smiled, “I feel like someone hit me with a baseball bat - down there, you know? And God, Shannon, my stomach is a flabfest. It’s like it hangs down to my knees.”

Shannon laughed. “I think you’re exaggerating just a bit. You look fine to me.”

Jane got a serious look on her face. “Thanks, my sister. You do too. Now, I wanted to be alone with you so I could ask you something. If I . . . if I wasn’t around, would you take over the group? Would you make sure we save the Universe?”

Shannon was shocked speechless. She pulled her long red hair over one shoulder. “What’s wrong, Jane. Tell me now.”

“See? That’s why you are the perfect choice. You don’t beat around the bush, you just act from instinct - and your instincts are good.”

Jane told her about the call she received this morning from John Smith. She didn’t mention anything about his threat to tell Jed about Roger.

“He said he could arrest us now and take us away somewhere, but I think we’re safe until the Concentrator is finished. I think he wants us and he wants that device and he’s going to wait until he can have both.”

Jane then laid out her plan for the next few weeks. She told Shannon about the diversion, about how they would sneak out the Concentrator, where they would combine. She told her about a last resort plan she had.

“You can’t be serious!” exclaimed Shannon. Her face was a picture of pain. “No Jane, no! There’s got to be another way. I’ll talk to Edie and Evan and . . .”

“No, Shannon, don’t do that. I want the two of us to be the only ones who know the full plan. It’s better that way. I think both of us are strong enough to pull it off, but I’m not sure about the others - even Edie. They might hesitate at a critical moment, when I know you would act.”

“But Jane, it’s too much. At least in the first diversion, we know what will happen, but in the second, the ‘last resort,’ you might not make it. They could take you somewhere that BP couldn’t find. You might not go with us to the new home.”

Jane looked at her child. Haley’s hand was open. She reached over and touched her palm with her fingertip. Reflexively, the tiny fingers curled around her finger.

“BP,” Jane called out loud. “Can you hear me, BP? We need you.”

They waited for almost two minutes before Jane felt him enter her mind. She connected to Shannon.

“Jane and Shannon, I was impressed with your birthing techniques. I had never witnessed one of these events close up before and I must say that . . .”

“Shut up, BP,” commanded Jane. “We don’t have time for your nonsense right now.”

“As you wish,” he said. His voice had no emotion, but she could swear she heard him pouting.

“Listen up then. When I called you just now, it took almost two minutes for you to arrive. Why so long?”

“I am old, Jane. Being on this planet is fatiguing to me. I spend a good deal of time floating in space, thinking of my home. I suppose you would think of it as sleeping.”

“So if we call you, Shannon or I or Bess or whoever, will you always hear us and come?”

“If I have connected to someone directly or indirectly, I am attuned to hear them.”

“Can you hear them if they are in a cave? If they are in a metal building? If they are hurt or weak or in pain?”

“If they are too weak, Jane, I may not hear them.”

Jane looked thoughtful. “Okay, I understand. I want you to know that we are entering a dangerous period. There is a group that I think will attempt to stop us from combining. I’ll fill you and everyone else in on it later, but for now, I want you to be especially attentive and quick. If we call, we need you. Come running.”

“I can certainly not run, my daughter, but I shall come quickly.”

Jane touched her shoulder to send him away. “See? As a last resort, my plan can work. If they are closing in after you all disappear to make your way to the meeting point, I’ll show up at the cabin. I’ll have Bess check to be sure, but I’m positive it’s bugged.

“They’ll come after me and I’ll keep them occupied while the 340 gather around the Concentrator.”

Shannon didn’t look convinced. “Jane, they could . . . they could make you talk; torture you or rape you or God knows what. It’s too horrible to even think about.”

The tiny fingers were still holding tight. “I know that, my sister. I just need to hold out for a few hours - a day at most. BP will be there to take me along after he’s done with the 340. And don’t worry; it’s a last resort plan anyway. I just want to know that if, for whatever reason I’m not around, that you will take over.”

They were still connected. Shannon could feel Jane’s determination and her confidence in her. “I won’t let you down Jane, or the Connection either. And I promise, if I am ever called on to lead - and I pray I’m not - I’ll get all of us, including you, to the new home.”

This time, when they hugged, they were close. As close as they’d ever been.

Chapter Forty Four

They were alone finally. It was Jed’s turn now. Haley made occasional gurgling sounds and punched the air in her sleep.

“Hon, I want to talk to you. It’s serious.”

“Sure, Darlin’,” he said.

“This morning I got a call. It’s what led me to be thinking when you arrived.”

She told him all of it except for the blackmail threat. Jed was angry, “I can’t believe these bastards. Maybe we should go ahead and unleash Bess on Chuck. I think you’re right, he’s certainly involved in this somehow.”

“I already talked to her about that. She’s not going to kill him. I made her promise.”

She connected to him and his anger cooled almost immediately. It was replaced by love.

“Hon, there’s something else. He told me that if I didn’t cooperate with him, he’d reveal a secret. A secret about me.”

She could feel his surprise. “Now Jane, I don’t . . .”

She cut him off. “You know about Roger’s ‘full’ Revelation document, right? The one that had all his personal observations in it?”

“Yeah, Darlin’. I know about it.”

“I had Bess send me a copy today. I found an entry he wrote less than a year ago. I want you to read it.”

She handed him her phone. Jed started to read.

“Come on in and sit yourself down,” she called from the bedroom. I sat on the couch facing a little hallway that ended in her bedroom. This place was beautifully decorated, but it was different from mine. I could see her bed since the door was open. “I’m changing for dinner. Be with you in a minute,” she said. Just then a pair of jeans flew past the door opening and landed on the bed. She’d been wearing them earlier. My lizard brain woke up from its slumber, trying to decide if there was any danger about.

“Where’s Jed?” I asked. It seemed like a good question.

“Oh, he’s still out shopping. I talked to him a few minutes ago and he’s about done, but Marina is buying out the place. He’s carrying her packages for her.”

Just then a shirt or blouse or something landed on top of the jeans. I felt my lizard brain supply a squirt of nervous juice into my system.

“I’m going to show you something now. Tell me what you think, okay?” My lizard brain wanted to react, but it didn’t have time as Jane appeared in the doorway. I don’t know what my brain expected, but it took a full two seconds before I realized she was wearing a dress. It took a few more seconds for me to realize how beautiful she was in it. I was used to seeing her either in her business clothes or in her casual/jeans look, but this dress screamed out, “I’m a girl. Look at me.” It was a very feminine look. And it sure had my attention.

She wasn’t wearing shoes, so she lifted on her toes and spun so I could see her from every angle. The skirt flared slightly. She seemed excited. “I’ve never paid this much for any outfit, Roger, but I saw it at Saks and I just couldn’t resist. It’s a Burberry. It’s supposed to be a casual dress, but I just love it. It’s going to be my wedding dress.”

It looked nothing like a wedding dress to me though it was very, very white. It had half sleeves and a neckline that showed just a little skin. Her small waist was highlighted by a black leather belt, which also made her legs look very long. The skirt part looked short, but it was only a few inches above her knees. Jane wasn’t a voluptuous girl, but this dress showed off her curves in the best way.

I liked it, but as a wedding dress? I didn’t even know for sure that she was getting married. She was staring at me, waiting for me to say something as I struggled to find the right words. Instead, I started to stutter again. “I . . . I . . . It’s . . . “

She ignored my efforts at making a coherent sentence. “Do you think it’s too short or too young for me? And it’s also dazzlingly white - do you think that’s okay?”

It would be hard for me to imagine a dress that was too short. I finally got myself under control. “Jane, it’s beautiful. It’s not too young and the length is just right. White is perfect with your dark hair. I love it. You look sensational.”

She smiled from ear to ear. I guessed I had said the right thing. Fortunately, it was also true.

“I know it’s not at all like a wedding dress, but that’s what I like about it. It’s so simple and that’s the kind of wedding I want - one with just my friends there.”

I started to ask when she planned for the happy event to happen, but before I could get out my question, she moved closer to me and a serious look appeared on her face.

“Rog, I’m going to ask you something else now. I want you to promise to be totally honest with me - none of your cute stuff or anything, okay?”

“Well, er . . . sure,” I said. It was getting hot in this room.

She moved even closer. She was standing and I was seated, but she was so close our legs were touching. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at me. “If I asked you to marry me, would you?”

Now my lizard brain took over, shooting every kind of juice it had in its arsenal. My mind reeled as I thought of my recent date with Meredith and how she’d wanted to lasso me. I thought of my last girlfriend and how that had worked out. I thought about how much I liked going out with various girls and how I liked Bess and Marina. I thought about how Jane and I were leading this group and how it might cause many complications. I thought about losing my freedom.

I thought about all that and opened my mouth to put it in words.

“Of course I would.” is what came out.

She sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck. Crazily, the only thought I had was that now I’d have to buy a ring.

“Thank you,” she said. “I just needed to be sure, but we’ll never get married. You don’t want to and neither do I. I think we’re too close for that and we’d end up fighting all the time. Though, the making up might not be too bad.” She paused and looked into the distance. I could tell she was imagining something.

“I asked you that question because I really want a favor and it’s a big one. I figured that if you’d marry me when I knew you didn’t want to, then you’d probably do what I’m going to ask.”

My lizard brain found a new supply of nervous juice and started squirting it to and fro.

“I’m going to tell you a few things. I wouldn’t share all this with anyone but you, because you are truly my brother and I love you. First, I’m going to marry Jed. I love him as a wife should love a husband. And he won’t take my crap the way you would and he needs me. This last couple of days has been amazing and I don’t want it to stop.”

Okay, there was nothing wrong with any of that. I was happy for her. I felt myself calm a bit.

“Roger, I also want to have a baby. I just feel the need deep down inside.”

This was bordering on too much information. I’d congratulate her on having a baby, but telling me all about it before the fact was uncomfortable to say the least.

“But that’s not going to be easy to do, because Jed has a low sperm count.”

Now that was certainly too much information. I felt a drop of sweat on my forehead.

“He caught the mumps when he was sixteen. A doctor told him that any baby he fathered would be a miracle child.”

Way, way, too much information. I had a vision that I stood up and dumped her on the floor and ran. But I stayed put because she was sitting on me.

“I’ve started to keep track and I think I’m ovulating today. It’s just about the height of my cycle.”

Way, way, way, way too much information. My lizard brain was crying for me to flee.

“I want you to do something for me now.”

I wondered how much she’d be hurt when I dumped her on the floor.

Instead, I felt her connect to me. “I want you to look inside me and find my egg.”

My head was spinning so much that I couldn’t think of any argument against this, so I did what she said. At first, I couldn’t see anything but reddish walls that seemed to be rich with healthy blood. I looked closer and found a little bump, almost like a pimple. It was redder than the surrounding area and appeared to be very warm. I could feel the heat coming from it.

At the top was a white spot, embedded in the mound, but showing through just enough to be seen. I knew it was the egg and that it was ready for fertilization.

Like I had done with Jacob, I let her see what I was seeing.

Somehow, I knew that all I had to do was touch that egg and that act would transfer some of my DNA to it. I knew that would make her pregnant. I don’t know how I knew, but I just did in the same way that I’d reacted by instinct when I looked inside Bess. I reached to touch . . .

She broke the connection and pulled away. She was breathing quickly. I didn’t feel like running now.

“Wow,” she said. “My God Rog, you really could do that. Holy crap . . . oh my.”

She got up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Do you think that Jed will ever get to the point where he could do that? I mean, we could have kids then, right?”

Why would I know the answer to that? “Jane, I don’t know. You know as much about this as I do. Maybe he should work with Shannon. She seems to also have the ability to see inside people in the same way I can. Maybe she can teach him how. I’d be glad to help, but I don’t know if that type of connecting can even be taught. It may be that you either have it or you don’t.”

She seemed very thoughtful and I realized she was doing that thing where she thinks about a problem from all angles.

It didn’t take long. She smiled and said, “Well, I’ve always got you. One way or another, it looks like I’ll be able to have my miracle baby.” She seemed to be very happy.

Just then, her phone made a sound that indicated she had a text. She picked it up from the end table and looked at it and smiled. “It’s Jed. He’s carrying up Marina’s bags and he’ll be here soon.”

She stood up and straightened her dress. “I’ve got to change. I don’t want him to see this. You run on now and go see some of your girlfriends or something.” She left the room.

So she had what she wanted from me and now I was dismissed. I started to feel a bit put out, but it didn’t last long. That was just Jane.

Half way through the reading, Jed’s lips became a thin line. He looked at her and let her feel his confusion. “It’s like he’s right here with us. I can hear him say those words.” He continued reading to the end.

Jed wiped his eyes and looked deeply into hers. “And did you . . . did he?”

“Yes, Jed. It was the night of the celebration. I’d been pestering him about it for weeks but my egg didn’t show up until that very day. He didn’t want to do it - he told me to talk to you about it, but I was stubborn. I had to have things my way. You can read about how frustrated he was with me in his Revelation.

“Before I could force him, the Colonel . . . well, you know. Roger lay there. I could feel him through BP. He was almost dead, hanging on by a thread so that I could barely feel him. BP tried to take him, but Roger wouldn’t let him. He said, ‘For you, Jane’ and then he touched me. I could feel how hard it was for him - it took his last ounce of strength. He did it for me because I asked him to. That’s all it ever took with him.

“I thought BP was too late; that Roger was truly gone. I guess I went nuts because I don’t remember much else except you saving me and then lifting me up. It wasn’t until later that I learned that BP had managed to take him and that we could see him again.”

Jed opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “Just one more thing and then you can say whatever you want to me and I’ll listen. Just one more thing.

“I knew that I was going to marry you that first night at Jerry’s party. Sometimes I like to have my way and I made up my mind that very night. I fell in love with you.

“But something else happened as well. I’d never felt it before or even dreamed that I would feel such a thing. I felt like I wanted a child, your child. It was a strong feeling Jed. I guess women get it when they meet the right guy and they reach a certain age. I know I did.

“Now that’s all I have to say. It’s your turn.”

Chapter Forty Five

Jed broke the connection and walked to the window to look out, his back to her. “Who else knows?” he asked.

“Bess and BP. . . and Smith, of course.”

Jed nodded without turning. “You know, I was jealous of him; of how you two seemed to be so close.”

“I sensed it.”

He turned and sat down beside her on the bed. She noticed they weren’t touching.

“I hate those bastards.”

Jane wasn’t sure who he meant and Jed read the uncertainty on her face. “Those bastards that are always screwing with us; Cleimer and now Smith. The whole damned lot of them. They have payback coming. I don’t know how or when, but I pray to God I get to see it.”

He stared into the room and offered his hand. Jane took it and squeezed.

His voice was soft, wistful, “You know, Darlin’, I actually thought the miracle had occurred; that God had granted my wish and we had our miracle baby. I’ll never forgive them for taking that feeling away from me.”

He reached down and touched Haley’s head. “But even if God didn’t work this particular miracle in just the way I thought, we still have our miracle baby and I still love her and I still love you. Nothing will change that. And when I see Roger again, I’ll shake his hand and thank him for listening to you.”

Even though it hurt, Jane pulled him to her and they embraced.

The text from Juliet appeared on everyone’s phone.

I just got a call from Jane. She knows everyone would like to visit and see the babies, but she wants each of us to come individually or in groups that I’ll tell you about. Something is up and it sounds serious. She wants Bess to go over now. I’ll let the rest of you know when she’s ready for you. Oh yes, she says both babies are eating, crying, pooping and sleeping. They’re perfectly normal and beautiful.

“Juliet says Bess is on the way, so let’s you and I get finished, Snugglie,” said Jed as he looked at his phone.

Jane smiled. She was so relieved that right now he could even call her Janie and she wouldn’t say a word.

“Okay, hon. I’ve got a basic plan to deal with this threat. It’s not fully formed yet, and as you said, lots of things can happen, but I think the general outline is sound. I told Shannon all of it because she’ll be in charge if I get arrested or anything.”

He frowned at that and made fists. Jane remembered seeing the Colonel vanish in an instant as if he was weightless - one moment he was there and the next he wasn’t. Anyone who tried to arrest her was likely going to pay a big price if Jed was around. That thought made her feel warm inside.

“I’m going to tell everyone else just the parts they need to know. Now, have you started final assembly on the Concentrator yet?”

“No, but we’ve got most of the sub assemblies done and the final part won’t take too long - a few days if it goes together like BP says. The last pieces are supposed to be in within the next couple of weeks - the big rings, you know. We’re on schedule.”

She nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. “Once you are ready to start assembly, could it be moved somewhere else? Not finished - I want it to be obviously unfinished - but could you move the unfinished main parts along with everything else and complete the assembly at our final meeting site?”

He considered her question for a moment. “I think I understand. We need the crane and some of the larger equipment to put the big pieces together, but after that we could finish it inside the back of an eighteen wheeler if we had to. We could take a forklift along to move it into position.”

He hadn’t expected this. “But Darlin’, remember that bug? It’s right in the center of the ceiling. If we move the Concentrator, they’ll see unless we disable the bug, and then they’ll know something is up.”

“That just what I’m planning on,” she said.

Bess demanded to hold both babies. “They’re just so cute! I never realized how soft they were and how good they smelled. I want one!”

Jane and Shannon laughed. “Well, you’ll have to take care of that on your own,” said Shannon.

Once the babies were again asleep, Jane filled Bess in on what had happened. “When you called me at 4 a.m. to come do a bug hunt, I knew something was up, but I had no idea they actually called and threatened us.”

Jane told her about how Shannon would take over if needed and then said, “Bess, there’s a part that I need to have happen and I don’t know enough to figure out how to do it. I know that sounds silly, but basically, I need to know if they are actively listening to the bugs. Is there a way to tell?”

Bess thought for only a few seconds. She had a frown on her face. “Sure, you just say something that will provoke a reaction and then watch for that reaction.”

“I thought about that, but it’s got to be something that doesn’t alert them to the fact that we’re testing them. It’s got to be a big enough thing to make them react, but not big enough to make them suspicious when it turns out to be nothing.”

Bess continued to frown. The lines on her forehead deepened with the effort. “How about we provoke a response in such a way that they’ll never guess we were watching for it?”

Shannon said, “I don’t get you.”

“It’s simple. There’s a way to see what words or phrases are being searched for on the internet. Suppose we pick a nonsense word - something like ‘Carbuleystan.’ If I searched for that right now, I’d bet there would be no matches on the whole net. The search engine would ask ‘did you mean ‘Charley?’ or some such thing.

“Afterwards, if I inquired as to how often that word had been searched for, I’d find it had been done just once. I’d know it was by me, but no one else would. Just to be safe, I’d search for it a few more times using TOR and a VPN to hide my identity and make it seem like the searches were from a bunch of different locations. Maybe I’d even put up an anonymous blog post using that word.

“When I was ready, I’d check and find that it has been searched, oh, sixteen times - all by me, but again no one would know that.

“Then I’d stand near one of the bugs and make a phone call and say, ‘Jane is meeting in Carbuleystan today. It’s super important. Everything rides on it.’ I’d spell out the word so they’d be sure and get it right.

“Next, it’s just a matter of seeing if the number of searches has changed. It it’s seventeen or more, we’d know they were listening because they searched for the word. I’d then make another phone call and say the meeting had been cancelled.”

Jane and Shannon looked at each other. “Bess, that’s positively brilliant,” said Jane. “It’s perfect.”

Bess was still frowning.

Jane noticed. “What? It’s a great plan. It’ll work, I’m sure of it.”

“It’s not that. It’s what you said earlier; about Shannon being in charge if you weren’t around. There’s something you’re not telling me. I’d follow Shannon anywhere, but why wouldn’t you be around?”

Shannon took over. “Bess, that call this morning changed everything. We always knew things could be dicey at the end, but this was a clearly stated threat that we would not be allowed to do what we must. So Jane came up with a plan. I think it’ll work, but it’s hard, Bess. There’s going to be sacrifice and danger and, in the end, we might not all be there holding hands as we combine with BP to save life.”

Bess whispered in a voice so low, it could almost not be heard. “No.”

Jane nodded, “Yes, Bess. Now listen to me, my sister. We know they’ve been watching, but until now, we didn’t know what they were planning. I think they thought a group led by a woman would crack at their threats and tell them everything - they thought they could do it the easy way. That’s why the call in the middle of the night when I was dreaming about my new baby.

“But you know what, Bess? They did us a favor. Now we know they are planning to stop us and we’re free to offer up a surprise or two of our own. I’m not sharing the whole plan with anyone except Shannon because they know who we are and any one of us could be arrested at any time.

“But I’m betting they won’t actually arrest anyone because they need us to get almost to the finish line before they move. If I’m wrong and they do take one of us, it’ll likely be me. I’m just being prepared, just in case. I’m not planning on being a martyr or anything - that would be for people far braver than me.”

Shannon sniffed and then Bess did too. It was catching. “Okay, I guess I understand. But try to keep me nearby, Jane, please? If one of them tries to even touch you, I’ll connect to them and look inside and . . . and I’ll make them leave you alone.” She was clinching her fists, just like Jed had done.

Jane smiled. Now she had two Connection members spoiling for a fight, “I think you told me one time that a right cross would often do the trick just as well,” she said. Bess giggled at the memory.

Jane’s phone received a text. “Evan is downstairs,” she said. “Bess, you stick around for a few minutes. I want to see how they’re getting the signal from that bug in the factory sent to them. Is it via a cell connection? Over the Internet, or what? Between the two of you, we should be able to figure it out.”

Bess grinned, “Oh boy, Nerd talk! I love it!”

“It can’t be via our wireless router, Evan. I put in the password myself and I’m the only one who knows it. It’s seventeen meaningless characters, numbers and symbols. Using brute force, it would take even the NSA hundreds of years to guess it.”

“But they won’t use brute force, Bess. They don’t have to. There’s a back door.”

Bess was shocked, “How?”

“There was a lot of construction going on, right? My guess is that when they installed the modem and router, they put in one with modified firmware. They probably put in the bugs at the same time. They had plenty of time because the ones in my apartment are only audio - they didn’t have access to everything they way they would have at our factory.”

“So, do you think they can see our traffic?”

“Sure, but it’s encrypted. They can see that we are accessing the Internet, but they can’t tell if we’re plotting strategy or playing online poker; you’ve even spoofed all the external IPs. They can use the router to stream video, however.”

Jane and Shannon looked at each other and shrugged. Bess was right - it was a nerdfest.

Jane looked at little Haley and Kyle. Their hands were touching. Jane felt the need to hold her. “Okay, my friends, I see you know a lot about that bug. I just have one question . . .”

Chapter Forty Six

Smith met them at his apartment. “I keep this place for the security. I never sleep here. It’s swept twice a day - the last time fifteen minutes before you arrived. We can be sure there are no bugs.” Smith’s smile seemed painful and made his thin face resemble a skeleton.

“So what’s happened? You didn’t call Pastor Cleimer all the way from New York to give him a tour of your bedroom.”

“Indeed, I did not. Things have started to build to what I believe will be the climax of this phase of our plans. The amount of - I suppose you would call it ‘chatter’ - the amount we are picking up has increased greatly.”

“And the machine?”

“Machines, Pastor. There are two of them. Both are under active construction, but neither is finished yet. There are many parts lying around which have yet to be put into place. Honestly, we don’t know how much longer it will take before we can move in and seize them. Our best estimate is a week or two.”

“That close!” thought Chuck. He wondered if he would use his power to heal the old man. He’d have to think about it.

“We also know that they are considering using an airplane to ferry them to the place where they will meet and gather around the machines - by the way, they call it a Concentrator, which seems fitting.

“But it is what we don’t know that is concerning to me. Slightly more than a month ago, I called Jane Mitchell and offered her the opportunity to cooperate. I admit it was something of a ‘Hail Mary.’ I didn’t really expect her to capitulate so easily, but it seemed worth a try and had no downside that I could see. She asked for a day to think it over and I granted her the time.”

“What did she say when you called back?” asked Margaret.

“That’s the strange part. I asked if she was ready to cooperate and she said just three words and hung up on me. I could not understand what she said, so I had a linguist listen to them, over and over. He’s certain she said, ‘Like I would.’ I took that to mean she declined my offer.”

Chuck frowned. These women that infested the Roger cult were very much full of themselves. He would fix that problem when he was in charge.

“So we have continued to rely on the bugs we have installed and on our overall surveillance. We have to rely mostly on the bugs, because I don’t have the manpower to watch each of them 24/7 and I’m reluctant to call in people from the FBI or CIA. I think it’s best if we keep this as confined as possible until we have learned how to wield this power ourselves.

“I believe we are well positioned to take them when the time comes. I have three teams of twenty men each on standby from various military units - all highly trained and fit. They have no idea what is going on, of course, but they will obey orders.

“But what I don’t know still bothers me. I don’t know exactly when they will gather. I don’t know where it will be. I don’t know exactly what this Concentrator will look like when it’s done.

“Chuck, I want to know all these things and more. You’re the one who must get me this information.”

Chuck had been listening politely, thinking of Bess Olman and how she would learn to serve him, when Smith dropped this bomb in his lap. “Me? They don’t like me! I dare say they may even hate me. I can’t just walk in there and ask them to tell me their secrets. As soon as they saw me . . .”

He thought of Bess again and shuddered.

“Not you, Chuck. Your former Gal Friday, Miss Reed.” His tone was insulting. Chuck vowed not to heal him.

“Get her back in that group and have her report to me.”

Chuck felt panicky and looked at Margaret for help. Her smile told him none would be forthcoming.

“Thank you for allowing me to see you,” said Chuck. He was seated on the couch and Rachel was in a chair several feet away.

“I can’t believe you had the gall to come here. I guess I’m just curious why.”

He’d practiced this next part over and over in his mind. That damned Smith had demanded he bring her in quickly so he’d been forced to act fast. He worried that his plan had been constructed too hastily to work.

He put his head down, both sets of fingertips on his forehead. “It’s two things, Rachel. First, it’s God. He convicted me. He actually spoke to me and, instead of joy, I felt rebuke. I . . . I was selfish. I was afraid of my feelings for you and so I ran away. I was weak, my dear. God made it all clear to me. I’m prayed about it again and again. He will forgive me, but now I must ask you to do that too.”

That actually didn’t sound too bad. Maybe she’d swallow it.

There was nothing but silence. He added a quiver to his voice. “Rachel, dearest, I ask for you to forgive me. I ask from the bottom of my heart. I will do anything my dear. Anything at all. You just say it and it shall be done.”

“Marry me, Chuck.”

He had half way expected it might come to this, but he hadn’t anticipated it would come so early and as a demand. “Nothing would make me happier, dearest. It’s all I’ve thought about. Soon, we’ll get a license and then we’ll . . .”

She cut him off. “Tonight. In Vegas.”

He had certainly not expected this. He thought he’d have time to finish up with the Connection cult before he took time to deal with her. He saw no other way. Smith had made it clear he could not fail to get her back inside the group.

“Of course, dearest. The faster the better. However, it’s already early evening; we may not be able to get a flight.”

“The Connection has a private plane and their own pilot. I want you to get one to fly us out there now.”

“But the cost . . .”

“I don’t care, Chuck. If you want me to do whatever that second thing you haven’t mentioned is, then get a private jet, fly me to Vegas, and marry me. I’ll get the full media package - photos, videos, the works. There’ll be plenty of proof that I’m Mrs. Cleimer.”

Damn this girl. Her time with Bess Olman and Jane Mitchell had turned her into yet another pushy female who didn’t trust him to keep his sacred word. It was insulting. He cast about trying to think of some way out, but nothing occurred to him.

“Certainly, my dear, certainly. That will be wonderful. But I must say that we need to return quickly so . . .”

“So I can go back to that group, right? So that I can tell you what’s going on inside it; so I can help my country? Smith had told her earlier that her efforts would help the country.

“Well, listen to me, Chuck Cleimer. I’ll do that, but I won’t hurt myself again and I won’t spend any more time with Margaret Rymes or any of her ‘friends’ like Alex. Is that clear?”

He sighed, “Yes dear, it’s clear.”

“And as to your suggestion that we need to return soon, that’s fine with me. I want us to leave as soon as the marriage ceremony is over.”

“But if we’re married, don’t you . . .”

“No I don’t and I doubt I ever will. Now that’s my deal, Chuck, take it or leave it.”

Bess was surprised, “It’s Rachel! She’s checking in!”

The call had interrupted them as Bess performed the final tests on the spoof box with Evan. The picture was rock steady and perfect.

“Should I invite her over?”

“I don’t think so Bess. We’re so close to leaving. Jane said to tell no one not in the main leadership group anything other than to be ready. Just tell her what we’re telling the others.

Over the months, a good number of friends, co-workers and family members of the initial group had joined. They were still almost two hundred short, however. Bess had no idea how they would recruit so many in such a short period of time, but Jane didn’t seem worried about that part.

“Rach, it’s so good to hear your voice! I missed you. What’s been going on? We called but never got through.”

“I had to get a new phone and with my new job in DC and all, I just didn’t call until now. I know it’s been over a month. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, my sister. In fact, you’re right on time. Things are moving along nicely and we’re getting close.”

“What should I do Bess? Do you need me to come up there?”

“No Rach, not yet. Soon, you will receive a text telling you to go to a certain place and what to do when you get there. You’ll make your way on your own. Juliet says we should each have $2,000 with us in cash and you should pack a bag and keep it nearby. Give me your info and I’ll have the money sent to you.”

“There’s no need, Bess. I’ve got it and money won’t mean a whole lot for very much longer, will it?”

“Nope, it won’t for us anyway. One more thing Rach, ah . . . is Chuckles behaving himself, doing what he promised Edie?”

Rachel laughed into the phone. “I doubt he’s behaving himself, but thankfully I don’t know. I’m over him Bess - in every way.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! I’ve got your number, so keep your new phone with you, okay? I can’t wait to see you again! It won’t be long.”

She hung up and told Evan what had happened. “That’s one more,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” said Chuck. “She should have . . . “

“I think Miss Reed did a fine job, Pastor. She’ll be welcomed into the bosom of the group at the most critical time. They obviously have no suspicions of her.”

He smiled at Rachel. The act seemed slightly unnatural. “Now Chuck, take your bride home and wait for the summons from the group. Rachel, keep me informed directly when they call for you to go with them.”

This was one order that Chuck would not obey. He would see Rachel to her apartment, but it was too cold in there for him. He had a room at a nearby hotel.

Chapter Forty Seven

Jane sat beside Sister Mary Celeste on the same park bench she’d shared with Roger well over a year ago. A now ten year old fireball named Adelle was climbing and running and squealing as she played with the other kids.

Celeste kicked off her sandals and curled he toes in the grass. Jane smiled and did the same thing. “So, you must have received the package. What did you think?”

Celeste had received a small box last night. It arrived by courier. Inside was a picture of Roger, a memory stick, and a hand written letter from Jane.

“I stayed up late reading it, Jane. And then I stayed up even later, praying.”

They watched Adelle turn a perfect cart wheel. “At first, I thought it was some elaborate hoax or joke. Then I read those parts where Roger mentioned me. Jane, we met exactly three times and for two of them we were totally alone.

“And yet the words on the screen were exactly as I remembered them. Only Roger could have written them down. It’s amazing how close you were to him - he never told you about Adelle?”

“No Sister, he didn’t That’s the way he was. I saw him do it once myself - just help someone for no reason other than they needed helping. If I hadn’t been there, I would have never known.”

“And we could see him again? You really believe that?”

“Yes. I believe it.”

“And I can go if I want - Adelle too?”

“It’s your choice, Sister, and hers.”

She turned to Jane. “That’s what I was praying about. It seems so tempting, but I wanted to think about it. I’m sure the God there will be the same as the God here. I have no doubt of that.

“But still . . . I wanted God to tell me what to do, but he was silent. I think that’s because I already know the answer.

“I can’t go, Jane. Look around at the people. God called me to help them in any way I could. I love the sound of your new home, but few of these people will go, will they? They’ll still be here with the same needs as before and I feel the same obligation as I always have. That’s how God answered me - not in words, but with my desire to do what I must. With that new diagnostic center, we’re helping more kids. I won’t stop that. I can’t.”

Jane smiled in understanding and gave her hand a squeeze. Just then Adelle ran over, “Sister says you were friends with Roger, Mrs. Mitchell. I still miss him, he was so nice.”

“I do too,” said Jane. “Adelle, do you like baseball?”

“Do I! Sister took a bunch of us to three games this year! The Mets are the bomb, aren’t they? There’re going to the playoffs, I just know it!”

“I’ve got a present for you, Adelle. Roger was impressed by it and I’d like you to have it.”

Jane reached in her oversized purse and removed her great grandmother’s glove. She gave it to Adelle.

“Wow, Mrs. Mitchell. It’s cool! Thank you so much!”

Jane felt Adelle attempt to connect to her at that moment. She allowed the connection. She could tell that Adelle wasn’t even aware of it - it was just natural for her. Jane felt her happiness and her innocence. She’d never connected to someone Adelle’s age before.

“You are welcome,” said Jane as she rose to leave.

It was just after 8 a.m. when Rachel heard the sound of a text arriving. That sound was almost instantly joined by the sound of her doorbell.

It’s me knocking. Time to go!

It was from Bess. Instinctively, Rachel answered the door.

Bess was grinning from ear to ear. “Ready, Rach? Where’s your bag?

“But . . . I thought . . .”

“Yeah, I know, none of us expected this, but this is Jane’s plan. I didn’t know we were going to come pick you up until last night. I think Juliet made the arrangements to get us here, but no one else knew about it - except Shannon, of course. Now come on, girl, we’ve got others to get.”

Rachel was supposed to let Smith know when she received her “summons,” but that wasn’t possible with Bess standing right here. She picked up her bag and left her old life behind.

Downstairs, Tanith was waiting beside a large van. She hugged Rachel in greeting and then put her bag in the back.

“I’ll need your phone,” said Bess.

Events were moving too fast for Rachel. She removed her phone from the Wonder Purse and handed it to Bess, who exchanged it for a new one.

“As of now, everyone gets a Connection phone. As soon as they realize we’re missing, they’ll be trying to find us; calling our phones, probably tracking via the GPS. Your new phone is a big upgrade to this one, so I hope you don’t mind. We just can’t take any chances that we’ll be found, you know?”

Bess studied her old phone. It had been provided by Smith and Rachel did remember him mentioning that they could track her with it.

“Hmmm. I knew this would happen. It doesn’t have a replaceable battery I can just remove to disable the phone. I told Evan that we’d need case opening tools and we’d have to make up a training video to show people how to open up the phone and dig inside to get to the battery. These phones have to be disabled without fail, so we thought we’d need to send out phones for people to practice with. It was kind of a mess. That’s when my Dad came up with a better plan.”

Bess looked to make sure no one was nearby and then she sat the phone on the curb and reached inside the van. She pulled out a hammer and hit the phone hard in the center. It broke into two pieces which she gathered. “There, that’s better. Let’s roll my sisters; we’ve got more people to pick up.”

John Smith was forced to ride in a wheelchair as he left his doctor’s facility. The damned quacks wanted to see him every few days now and their news was never good. It seemed that with every trip, some new part of his body had joined the rebellion inside him. The quacks assured him that he had at least a few months, but that was all they could promise.

He wanted quite a bit more than that. He’d get it too. Once his people learned how to heal, his future would be very bright indeed. If they couldn’t learn, he’d just force someone in the group to heal him. Either way, he and Margaret would get what they wanted. She’d be able to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and enjoy the trappings of power, but he’d control the entire military and every three-letter agency in government. He’d control the real power - and he’d use it to remake the world.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” he snarled at the attendant who had wheeled him close to the open door of his car. He struggled to his feet unaided and entered.

His surveillance of the Connection was not the only operation he was running. His tablet showed he had several messages and call back requests. Two required his attention. But first, he tapped the screen and brought up the video feed from what the cultists called their “factory.” It showed the unfinished device clearly in the center of the screen. There were parts partially installed and boxes sitting off to the side. Ever since the main pieces had arrived, they’d been hard at work constructing the device. He saw them work late into the night and start early the next morning.

But today, no one was working. Perhaps they had meetings or were simply taking a break. He looked at his watch - it was lunch time, so maybe there were out. He decided to return his important calls.

His office was busy with one minor crisis after another and his aide forced him to drink the green slime that the doctors said would help ‘build up his blood.’ He asked them once to explain exactly how that building worked, and it was soon clear that they didn’t really know.

But he drank the awful stuff anyway. He needed time and maybe it would help.

He had only one more swallow to go when he tapped a key to bring up the video feed from the factory. What he saw stunned him.

He picked up his phone and dialed. It rang several times as his eyes were fixed on the screen of his computer. Finally, there was an answer, “Yes sir.” EPA agent Hodges could see who was calling.

Smith didn’t bother with greetings. “Get over to that factory and look inside. Something is up.”

Hodges knew better than to ask a lot of questions. He had his orders and that was all he needed. “I’m about an hour away, but I’m leaving now.”

“Call me when you arrive.”

Smith made another call while he waited. “Where is Miss Reed? Check her GPS signal.”

He had warned that young woman over and over about keeping the phone physically on her person. She understood, of course, but he wasn’t sure of her ability to carry out his instructions. There was something off about her - something not quite right. He was kind and patient and understanding with her because he felt that’s what she craved. Surely, even Rachel Reed couldn’t screw this up.

Besides, he’d offered her something that he suspected she would give her life for - the ability to live as Chuck Cleimer’s wife. Chuck had told them about her - how she spent her life trying to find someone to take care of her - someone she could love and who would love her back. Chuck was laughing the whole time. He described her as pitiful, but good in a physical kind of way. Margaret had smiled at that.

He had spoken to her alone, after her paper marriage to Chuck. “Rachel, I know the kind of man Chuck is. You do too, my dear. But I will promise you this - if you help us and we succeed, I will promise that Chuck Cleimer will be the attentive and loving husband you wanted. He will do your bidding, follow you around and take your orders if you want. He will be whatever you want him to be, Rachel. I promise you that and you can count on me.”

She nodded her consent and smiled.

“We can’t find her signal, Mr. Smith. It was there yesterday when we did our daily test, but right now it’s not. Maybe she’s in a tunnel or something that’s blocking the signal.”

Smith hung up without a word.

Smith had just taken some of his pills when Hodges called. “I’m here, sir. Place looks deserted - no cars, trucks, anything. I’m going to try the door.”

Smith could hear his footsteps crunch on gravel as he approached the entrance. “The door’s unlocked. No one in the entranceway, it’s very quiet. I’m going into the main area now.”

“Turn on the camera on your phone. I want to see.”

“Yes, sir.”

Smith was already expecting what the camera would reveal, but it was still a shock.

The Concentrator was gone.

Smith sprang into action. He forgot about his aches and pains; he felt young again, vibrant.

He made a call. “Yes, Mr. Smith. There was a power outage last night about seven.”

“Did they get a delivery yesterday? Was it via a large truck - an eighteen wheeler?”

“How did you know that? Oh, I see. You think they loaded the device on that truck and drove it away. Yes, that’s one of the last pieces of true video we have before they turned on their own bug which overrode ours. After that they sent us a picture of what they wanted us to see.”

Smith wasn’t in the mood to answer questions from underlings. “Are you able to find the truck registration number? Or the one on the trailer?”

“No sir. I’m looking at the recording now. They opened the loading bay doors and then the back of the truck. We can’t see any information on it due to the angle of the camera. They only took out a couple of boxes, though.”

“I need to know something about that truck; where it went after it left there.”

“Hold on, Mr. Smith. The driver had them sign for the shipment. The little guy, Jerry Wu, he signed right under the camera. Hold on - I’m zooming in and trying to enhance . . .”

“I’ve got it! The registration number of the truck and the shipping company.”

“Hurry up, man!” They could be hundreds of miles away by now.

“I found it, sir. We have access to the company’s database. They have GPS in every truck. I found it.”

Smith felt like screaming at this idiot, but he controlled himself. “For God’s sake, man, where is it?”

“Mr. Smith, it’s just a few miles away. It’s at the airport.”

Chapter Forty Eight

Smith was on the phone with the airport operations manager. He’d had a call from the FAA telling him to be cooperative. “Yes sir, it just took off.”

“A 747? In Little Rock?”

“Yes sir. It arrived a couple of days ago. It’s a private plane. People were in and out of it pretty much the whole time it was here.”

“Where is it heading?”

“Flight plan has it going to Dallas and then on to Cancun.”

Smith hung up and called one of his people in the National Reconnaissance Center.

“Do you have that satellite image yet?” Smith’s voice betrayed impatience.

“Sir, it’s coming online now. We’re moving one of the birds, but it takes time. I can only get you about two hours of tracking in this pass. I’ll have a drone take over when we lose the satellite signal.”

Finally some competence. Things were becoming less chaotic. They could watch the plane now and have his people there when it landed. He’d have the entire Connection and the Concentrator.

His phone beeped. It was a call from Hodges. What the devil did he want?

“Smith,” he answered.

There was a moment’s hesitation on the other end. “Sir, . . . ah, I have someone on the line who claims to know all about the factory and the Concentrator. She says her name is Jane Mitchell and she wants to talk to you. I can connect you if you want to talk to her.”

Smith smiled. Hodges must have left his business card on his earlier trip there. This woman had proven herself to be a worthy competitor. He always appreciated competence.

“Go ahead. I’ll talk to her.”

Smith heard the click and then a rushing noise. She was obviously calling from the plane. “Well, Mrs. Cunningham. I’m glad to get another chance to talk with you. I’m certain this will be just one more talk of many we’ll have in the future.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that, you ass,” she said.

“Now, now, Mrs. Cunningham. Why the coarse language? I never even told your husband about your dalliances, did I? I’d think you would be grateful for that.

“But even if you’re not, I think you need to know the reality of your situation, my dear. I’m watching you right now. You really didn’t think you could fool me for very long did you? Land and let’s discuss it. We can still avoid a lot of . . . unpleasantness . . . for you and your group. You care about them, don’t you? That new child of yours deserves to grow up with her mother, don’t you think?”

Jane was silent for several seconds. The wind noise increased. “I . . . I hate you more than any human I’ve ever known,” is all she said. She hung up.

She touched her phone to dial Marina. Her picture appeared. It was the one that Roger had liked - the one with her holding a wrench over her shoulders. She looked strong, confident. The picture was slightly blurry because Jane’s hands were shaking.

“Jane, you don’t have to . . .”

She cut her off. “Mom, don’t make it harder. We’ve got to. There’s no other way.”

She pressed ‘send,’ and Marina’s familiar voice answered almost instantly.

“Jane! BP is here with us and he’s telling us so many wonderful things. I asked if there were airplanes in the new home and he told me that they had such things, but that they could fly in space too. I can’t wait!”

A drop of liquid landed on Jane’s display. “Me too. Marina, I just talked to Smith. He’s watching the plane.”

Marina was silent for several seconds before she answered. “Okay then. Laird and I will take it from here. ”

“How is he?”

“He’s just grand, Jane. Just grand. I know what Bess meant by that now. It’s a perfect word. I told him I’d pilot by myself, but he laughed at me. You know what he said? He said that it wasn’t safe to only have one pilot. We’ve got things under control, we’ll make it.”

Another drop and then another joined the first one on her phone display. “Marina, I . . .”

She cut her off. “Jane, I’ll see you soon. I love you, my sister.”

Jane heard the connection drop before she said, “I love you too.”

Her mother put her arm around her. It felt like it did when she was young.

“Mr. Smith, add in the audio from ATC, Houston Center. There’s something going on with that plane.”

Smith was starting to wonder himself. It had continued due south and was now over the gulf.

He clicked to hear the audio.

“Belle Two flight 321 Heavy, this is Houston Center. We show you off course. Turn right to heading 242 and maintain flight level 330.”

Their flight plan had called for them to head due south, and then west to Dallas. Marina pushed the transmit button on her control yoke. “Houston Center, this is Belle Two 321 Heavy. We are having trouble maintaining our heading. We’re working on it, but can you keep it clear in front of us?”

A plane in any kind of trouble got what they wanted if it was at all possible. “Roger, 321 Heavy, nothing nearby or out over the gulf. You’re passing Galveston now, would you like to declare an emergency.”

“Not yet, Center. The yoke isn’t very responsive. I’m new to this type, so we’re figuring it out.”

“Roger, 321. We’re monitoring.”

The plane was traveling at 565 miles per hour. At that speed, they covered a mile every six seconds. Minutes passed.

“Belle Two 321, Houston Center. You have traffic your nine o’clock. Shall I divert them?”

“Belle Two 321. Yes, Center. I think that’s a good idea. We’ve just had an overspeed warning on two.”

“Roger 321. Can you turn west? I can direct you to Houston.”

“Negative, Center. Number two just flamed out. We have a master caution. Number three is showing abnormal pressure. I am declaring a Mayday.”

There was silence for a few seconds. Smith watched the plane. It pitched to the left.

“Belle Two 321 Heavy, Houston Center. I have your Mayday. Say number of souls on board.”

“Houston Center, number of souls is three hundred fifty one. Three Five One.”

There was no reply. “Houston Center, we have smoke in the cockpit. Number three flamed out. Both remaining engines show overspeed warnings.”

“Roger Belle Two 321,” said the controller. There wasn’t anything left for him to do.

Smith watched in stunned horror as the giant plane turned upside down and plunged.

Marina and Laird held hands. Together, they pulled back on the throttles and shut off the engines. It was so quiet in the cockpit. She pointed the nose of the great plane straight down. They were connected to each other and to BP. Soon, a robotic voice declared, “Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up!”

As the water rushed towards them at incredible speed, Laird said, “I love you.” Marina didn’t have time to answer, but it wasn’t needed. He knew it anyway.

BP took them, just in time.

Chapter Forty Nine

Smith called the meeting at his secret apartment.

Margaret was, of course, being unreasonable. “I can’t believe you let them get on that plane. We almost had it, John. We almost had it all.”

Smith shrugged, “Chance is always a partner in these endeavors, Margaret. You know that. No one could have expected that plane to go down the way it did.”

Chuck asked, “Have they found the main wreckage? Last I heard, it was smashed like they’d never seen.”

Smith answered, “There is no main wreckage. It just millions of bits of broken and torn metal. They’ve had over a week, but I doubt they find out what caused it in a year.”

Margaret glared at him. “So that’s it then? We just go back to our lives as if it never happened?”

“No Margaret. We still have some cards to play.”

She looked surprised, “What cards? They’re all gone. Every one of them.”

“Not every one of them Margaret. There is still one person who learned how to connect by being on the inside. I think some study of that person would perhaps be useful.”

He looked at Chuck.

“Now wait just a minute. You can connect as well as I can. I could never really get the hang of it. Rachel was better at it than I was - Margaret is too.”

Smith smiled and was about to speak when his phone rang. He’d asked to be left alone for an hour, so it was probably important.

It was his operations center. “Sir, we received a call just now. She hung up, but I have it recorded. I can play it for you.”

Smith could have asked who had called, but if it was that important, he’d know. “Go ahead.”

“It’s . . . it’s Rachel Reed. They took my phone. They’re all around me all the time. They gave me a new phone but it only calls others of the group. I saw the news. They were NOT on the plane. They’re alive, scattered all over. I don’t know where. They’re getting ready for something. We change locations every day - I don’t know where we’ll be. I paid a guy a hundred dollars to let me use his phone, but they’ll come get me soon. Right now they’re getting ready to leave again. I overhead one of them say there was a meeting at the Marriot in Cincinnati tonight. Oh my God. Here they come.”

The connection was broken.

Rachel tossed the phone to the convenience store clerk, picked up a bag of chips and tore it open. Bess entered, “Those things balloon me up like you wouldn’t believe,” she said.

The work had turned grim. The fact that Marina and Laird were no longer with them was a heavy burden. They knew they’d be reunited, but it still hurt. However, unlike with Roger, they didn’t have time to grieve. They all pushed the pain away and did what they had to do.

Tonight was the night they would get the new members to make the 340. Evan had come up with the idea and, when Bess heard about it only two hours ago, she was amazed at its simplicity and brilliance.

The crowd started to gather and take their seats in the large hotel meeting room. It was set up for two hundred attendees and it looked like it would be a sellout.

Actually, it would be a reverse sellout because each person who attended would be given a hundred dollar bill. They all had responded to a Craigslist ad for people who would fill out a form listing their medical history. It was supposedly for some study and only people who said they had no close family ties were allowed to attend.

In reality, it was to let the members of the Connection study the attendees. The plan was to connect to them as they filled out the meaningless form and identify those who seemed to be receptive. After the meeting, they would be invited to stay for another presentation. This was the genius part - BP would do the presenting. He’d explain the Revelation and show these people the new world. No one who had ever seen his representation of it had ever failed to be moved to tears. They hoped a tenth of the people would accept their invitation to join them.

There would be a total of ten presentations in ten cities that very night, each led by a different Connection senior member, but all attended by BP. He would have a busy night.

It was obvious early on that they would exceed their goal. Even those who were hesitant to leave their jobs and friends were encouraged to go home and tell everyone the good news. “And be sure and tell them to watch for an invitation soon,” they were told.

In city after city, people loaded onto buses, their senior Connection members riding along.

Shannon allowed herself to feel satisfaction. She’d asked Jane to allow her to run this meeting. She just wanted to be doing something. Jerry looked over her like a mother hen and Kyle was sleeping at least several hours a night - she was ready for a break.

Jane had wanted to send someone else with her, but she’d reminded her that they only had so many senior members and they all had roles to play. “Jerry, Evan and Jed are working on the Concentrator. They’re almost finished - we can’t pull them off now. You’ve got Tanith and April handling a meeting by themselves; there’s no reason I can’t. The only one of us with a teammate along is Bess, but that’s because Rachel is too new. You just watch the kids for us, and we’ll bring the new members.”

Jane agreed.

Bess read the text on her phone. She told the driver to take them to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “I don’t think that’s where we’re going to actually combine,” she whispered to Rachel, “Only Jane and Shannon and one or two others know that. It’s just in case, you know?”

Rachel didn’t know what to say. The last two hours had changed her life. She’d become close to Bess and some of the others through connecting with them, but nothing had prepared her for BP. This . . . this thing - it was real. And not only was it real, so was their new home. It was the most amazingly wonderful thing she’d ever experienced. BP told them that what they saw in their vision was only a close approximation - that the real thing would be even better. She simply could not imagine how that could be. She realized for the first time, that she loved Bess and Jane and all of them. They had told her the truth all along and they had welcomed her with open arms.

And she’d repaid them with betrayal. She’d wept. Bess thought she was just overwhelmed at what BP had shown her.

The bus started smoothly. Shannon told the bus driver to head to Baltimore and then she walked down the aisle, touching the hand of each new member and connecting to them. She let them feel her thankfulness that they had accepted her invitation; she felt appreciation coupled with a large dose of awe from them. More than a few were still emotional, but one older man shouted “hallelujah!” when she touched him.

She was near the back of the bus when the rear windows burst into blue flames with flashing lights from a police car. The bus driver slowed and pulled well off the highway.

She walked to the front. Had they been speeding?

Once they were stopped, another police car appeared and pulled in front. The driver opened the door and an officer entered. He looked over the twenty six people who were seated and then studied Shannon. “What’s the matter, Officer?” asked the driver.

“Just an inspection. The inspector will be here in a few minutes.” Another car, a black one, pulled alongside.

Shannon felt her temper rise as she wished Edie was here. “Look, Officer. I’m in charge here and I’d like to know . . .”

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“It’s Shannon Wu and I don’t understand . . .”

Can you please step outside ma’am? Just down the steps, please.”

Every eye was on her. She needed to get this straightened out so they could be on their way. She did the only thing she could. She went down the steps.

As soon as her shoes touched the ground, she felt a searing pain in her neck. It only lasted for a few seconds before she collapsed into the arms of a tall man who was waiting for her.

“Our luck appears to be changing.” Margaret had been waiting for his call. The fact that he had been duped by some office worker would have been comical if the stakes hadn’t been so high. This Jane Mitchell was playing for keeps - it was time he did too. Past time.

“We managed to capture one of the main group, a former nurse named Shannon Wu.”

“Isn’t she one of them that can kill with their minds?”

“Yes, Margaret. That’s why we’re so lucky. I had her transported to a little facility we keep at Wright Pat. She’ll be unconscious from the injection we gave her for several hours; plenty of time to get her there and take some special precautions.”

“I heard there was a bus full of people.”

“We’re still questioning them, but I don’t think they know where the others are. They said they had all experienced something wonderful and they had joined - but they had joined just tonight. I think they are part of the 340 people that Mitchell is trying to assemble, but I don’t think they really know much beyond that.”

Margaret’s voice became shrill. It was a bad habit that her consultants worked with her to avoid. “In that case, I suppose I don’t have to tell you how important it is to get Ms. Wu to talk. I think you’ve been too gentle with them for too long. Listen John, I’ve heard rumors that you may be slipping, if you know what I mean. I trust that’s not true, but now is the time to prove it. Break her and get her information. How hard can it be? She’s just a girl.”

When this was over and he was in charge, he would have a serious talk with Margaret Rymes, but not now. Now he had to do as she suggested. Nothing was more important than making the red headed female tell them her secrets.

Chapter Fifty

Bess burst into Jane and Jed’s place without knocking. Jane was sound asleep on the couch, but she instantly sat upright when Bess’s entrance woke her.

“What?”

Bess spoke quickly, as if she needed to get out twice as many words as normal. “I put in a failsafe program in our phones. If anyone tries to gain root access - tries to break in - the phone sends me a text and then basically destroys itself; it overwrites all memory with junk and continues to do it as long as it has power.”

A look of anguish was on her face. “Jane, I just got one of those texts - it’s from Shannon’s phone. Only an expert could trigger it - someone who has phone hacking software tools. It’s Smith. It can’t be anyone else. Oh my God.”

Jane instinctively looked towards the bedroom where Haley and Kyle slept. “Where’s Jerry?”

“He’s with Jed and Evan and a few others working on the Concentrator. They’re pulling an all nighter. He told me earlier they would be done in three more days.”

“Are people arriving? Are there signs of trouble?”

Jane’s voice was strong, controlled. Bess tried to match her tone, but it was hard. “The first new members are arriving now. Matt and Amanda are greeting them - connecting to them. It all seems normal.”

“Get Jerry,” Jane ordered. Bess turned to leave but saw Jane look into the distance; thinking the way she does. She waited. It took less than five seconds.

“No Bess, not yet. First, call BP.” Her tone was sharp. She added softy, “Please.”

“I’m sorry, my daughter. I can’t simply find her - I wouldn’t know where to look. If you remember, we discussed this in your hospital room. I believe I was quite clear that I would be listening but that I also had to be called. In addition . . .”

“That’s enough, BP,” Jane said softly. “We know how it works.”

Bess felt her chest tighten in fear. They just had to find Shannon. “You have to find her, BP! Look, we know when she left because she called in. She had twenty six people who accepted our invitation. They were on a big bus heading to Dayton to pick up I-70 toward Baltimore. It’s not that big an area - fly out there and find her!”

Jane let her finish without interruption. Bess needed to release some of her emotions.

BP seemed to understand too. When he spoke, his voice was slow. “I am listening right now, and I will hear her if she calls for me, but if she is unconscious, or too weak or no longer alive . . .”

Bess cut him off with a wail of pain. She couldn’t help it.

The first thing Shannon felt as she slowly regained consciousness was the realization that her ears were cold.

Her hands instinctively went to them. They were her ears, all right, but they felt somehow abnormal.

As her mental processes continued to return, she realized they felt uncovered. She moved her fingers to them and then opened her eyes in shock. Her long red hair had been cut. It felt like there were short tuffs remaining here and there on her head, but otherwise, her hair was gone.

She looked around the room in surprise. It was small, with walls, floor and ceiling all made of the same white tile, broken only by a single bright light and a black glass window in the wall across from her. Her head swum with the after effects of the drug she realized she’d been given. Momentarily, it was hard for her to tell the walls from the ceiling and floor.

The sensation of cold returned, this time not just from her ears. She stood. At first her body threatened to lose its balance, so she backed against the wall for support. She felt cold where she should not feel it.

She saw that, from the neck down, she was completely naked. Her stretch marks had begun to fade, but now they leapt out in high contrast red on the pale skin of her abdomen. Someone had traced them with a red marker.

The sound was like the shrieking of metal - like some great metal door was slowly opening on rusty hinges. It built and built until its volume was almost painful.

It ended abruptly and the wall across from Shannon started to dissolve.

It took her a moment to realize that a door had opened in the featureless sameness of the tiles on that wall. A man entered and closed the door behind him. He was tall, with bulging muscles and a bald head. He was shirtless.

Each of his hands held something. He tossed an object at her feet. It was a bundle of red hair.

A voice came from behind the black windows. “Well, Jane, I am glad to see you have regained consciousness. I was starting to worry.”

She moved her hands and arms to cover herself. “I’m not Jane,” she said.

“Oh but you are. If I say you are Jane Mitchell, then that is who you are.” The voice was confident, smooth. The drug we gave you leads to confusion, Jane. It makes it hard to remember things - to act on your desires. It makes you want to cooperate. So, your name is Jane, is it not?

“No, I’m not Jane.”

“That’s being stubborn, my dear Jane. Normally, I would take my time, but I fear you must learn to understand your situation without delay. Perhaps you need a larger dose of the drug. Before you is Ahmed. Three years ago he was a jihadist fighting us in Iraq. We captured him and it took several weeks before he told us everything he knew and several months to make him learn to obey us. Now he does it because he wants to.

“I’m afraid we don’t have time for such gentle measures with you. Ahmed, if you please.”

The giant walked towards her, his boots making loud noises on the tile with each step. He reached into a pocket and pulled out an oblong object. Shannon struggled to comprehend what she saw. It was a green marker.

“Stay away!” she screamed. He was close. She could smell garlic on him. He reached for her.

Shannon looked inside him. She searched for his internal carotid artery. Before she could find it, her head seemed to explode and she fell to the floor.

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. When she awoke she sat up and looked around. She was alone. She could see her breath in the cold.

She shivered, but it might have been as much from what she saw as from the cold. Green lines had been drawn on her inner thighs.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She thought of Kari and Kevin and Kyle. They were indistinct, almost like they weren’t real. She wept because she couldn’t remember what they looked like.

The voice in the wall returned. “It was a sticky question, Bess. How do you subdue someone with your power - the power to heal or to hurt? There were a number of possibilities, but I opted to play it safe - I decided to employ them all.

“Around your neck is a collar. You can think of it as a high tech dog collar, meant to train humans and not animals. As it did with you, it will deliver a significant shock - enough to render the subject instantly unconscious. Unfortunately, our test subjects have tended to suffer brain damage if we use it too often. I trust that won’t be necessary with you.

“Ahmed had an activation button with him and as soon as he felt your intrusion inside him, he pushed it. I’m safe because you don’t know where I am.”

She whimpered in despair. She wanted to say she wasn’t Bess, but she didn’t have the will. “The drugs are our second line of defense. They will affect memory, but I hope not the memories we seek. I fear there are worse side effects, however. I would like to reduce or even discontinue them, but you forced us to give you another dose when you attempted to assault Ahmed. We expected it, of course, but you must learn to cooperate, Bess.

“And lastly, Bess, we have the cold. If we have enough time, cold can be magical. I’ve seen it drive strong men totally insane so that they begged to be allowed to die to escape it. Scientists think of cold as being only the absence of heat - like it doesn’t really exist on its own.

“But they are wrong on that point. It does exit, Bess, as you are learning now. The cold will seep into you, bit by bit, until you know nothing else. It will cause your body to shiver in an attempt to provide heat until its supply of sugar is exhausted. At that point, you will be almost unable to move, but the cold will not relent in the least. Understand this, Bess, you will be cold. You will not have food or water. You will foul this room with your waste. And Ahmed will return.

“That is what is in store for you, Bess.”

For a second, Shannon wondered how Bess had gotten into her body. She realized the drugs were confusing her. She willed herself to focus.

“But there is another way. It’s so simple. You just need to tell me one simple thing - something that would be so easy to do. Think of a warm bath, Bess. Think about holding your baby. All of that can be yours - just tell me where the Connection is meeting. You don’t even have to tell me when - just that one simple fact.”

Shannon knew she had to hold out. Nothing else was clear, but that was. “I’m not Bess,” she said.

The screeching of the door hinges started immediately.

“Let’s see if you feel that way after twenty four hours in the cold, my dear. But first, I’ve given Ahmed permission to visit you.”

It could have been twenty four hours, but Shannon had no way to tell. She remembered again trying to connect to Ahmed, but the pain came and then unconsciousness. It was almost welcome.

She lay on the cold tile, her eyes closed. She didn’t know what they had done to her while she was out, but apparently they hadn’t given her another dose of the drug they’d been using. Her head felt clearer.

And she remembered BP. He promised to be listening. She had to call him!

She shivered involuntarily and coughed. It was a dry cough that hurt deep in her lungs. “I might be getting pneumonia,” she thought to herself as she realized she had a fever.

Her mental processes were definitely starting to come back. She decided to call out to BP right where she was - lying on her back on the floor with her eyes closed. They wouldn’t have time to stop her.

She thought back to that conversation with Jane and BP in the hospital. There was something else.

She remembered! BP would be listening, but she had to call out to him as loud as she could. If her voice was too low, he’d said he might not hear.

She prepared herself to yell his name. She thought about sitting up first, but that would best be done with her eyes open. She was afraid of what she would see - what new colors would appear on her in what new places. It could even be worse - she hurt a lot, but the cold made it hard to tell exactly where the pain was coming from.

No, it was time. She tried to scream, but only a croak came out. She opened her eyes and tried again. The croak sounded a little like “BP,” but it had almost no volume. Her throat was almost closed from thirst.

“No, Juliet, Edie isn’t here. Shannon is in here with me, but not Edie. Shannon wants to get back to her new baby. She wants you to tell us where the Connection is meeting.”

Shannon wanted to cry, but she knew she would have no tears. She tried again and again to speak, but she was too dry. Perhaps she had an infection in her throat too. She needed water.

Off to her side, lying on the floor almost hidden by her hair, was a purple marker. She looked at herself; her entire body, from her feet up was covered in purple lines and circles. She realized he’d been playing connect the dots with her freckles. She sobbed but no words came out.

She picked up the marker and wrote “Water” on the tile.

“I understand you are thirsty, Juliet. Almost two days without water in the cold will do that. Your body is starting to shut down and I don’t believe we have all that much time, so I ask you again, ‘Where is the meeting, Juliet?”

She picked up the marker and wrote. “I’ll tell. Water first. Is Evan there?” Her fingers almost wouldn’t work. Her writing was barely legible.

There was a pause. She heard the screech sound that indicated Ahmed would soon arrive. She realized the sound was probably only there to further terrorize her - to make her quiver with fear whenever it was triggered. “It worked,” she thought.

Soon, Ahmed appeared. This time he was holding a bucket in one hand and the button in the other. Shannon was certain she could smell water from across the room.

“Juliet, my dear. Evan says for you to tell Ahmed the address. He wants to come hold you and give you water. Go ahead, my dear, do as your husband says.”

She nodded and tried to speak, but her voice was too low. “Juliet, can you speak louder, dear? Ahmed, see if you can hear.”

He put the bucket on the floor and got down on one knee. He leered at her, his eyes fixed on her chest. “It’s sssev mntg. Sssev mnt.”

He leaned closer. In an instant, Shannon plunged the marker in his eye. It was a large one, so the most it would likely do was bruise him, but all she wanted to do was distract him.

His put his hand up to shield his face and Shannon connected to him hard. In an instant, she found the grey material in his skull and ran her mental fingers through it so that it quickly became pink. Ahmed dropped to the floor like someone had removed his batteries.

She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t obey. She crawled to the bucket and drank deeply. She had a vision of Kyle starting to crawl in just a few months.

“BP!” she called and her voice was at least loud, if not clear.

She called him again and again. It seemed like it took forever before he arrived.

Bess, Tanith and Rachel were giving Jane a break with the babies. Ever since Shannon had gone missing, Jane had been beside herself with worry; alternating between making scathing remarks to whoever was handy and repeating over and over, “It should have been me.”

Bess didn’t care if she got yelled at. She hurt just as much as Jane, but she wasn’t going to lose another sister; this time to grief. She stuck to Jane like glue.

That’s why she saw Jane’s face change when BP entered her mind. Without asking, she connected all four of them.

“Jane, my daughter, I am with Shannon now. It is not good.”

“Let me see, BP,” Jane ordered.

“I don’t think . . .”

“I don’t care, BP. If you can show us a vision of our new home, you can show us Shannon. Do it now.”

Her words were soft, but they had iron in them. “And Bess, you drop the connection.”

“No way, Jane. I’ve never disobeyed you before, but I’m not going to do that. If it’s . . . bad, then we want her to know we’re there with her.” Tanith put her arm around Bess in support of her stand.

Rachel asked quietly, “Shall I go get Jerry?”

All three of them said in unison, “No!”

Jane was tired of waiting. “Dammit, BP, show us our sister.”

Rachel closed her eyes in reflex at the horror, but the vision was in her head, so it didn’t help.

Shannon was hardly recognizable. Instead of a full head of wavy beautiful red hair, this person had been crudely sheared. There were red scratches all over her scalp and marks all over her body. Her eyes, nose and mouth were outlined in purple circles and a filthy word was written on her forehead.

Tears welled up in Rachel instantly. This was all her fault. She’d told John Smith that there was a meeting in Cincinnati. It had never occurred to her to think about what he might do with that information, but even if it had, she could not have imagined that any human could do this to another.

Her tears flowed in silence. They increased greatly when Shannon smiled.

“I feel you, my sisters. Oh thank God.”

Jane stuttered, “Shannon . . . I . . . we . . .”

Shannon looked up in surprise. “That sounds means they are on the way. Is Kyle there?”

Tears ran down four faces. “Yes, my sister, he’s sleeping. He’s perfect.”

“Tell Jerry and Kari and Kevin that I love them. I love you all and will see you soon.”

She turned to face the door as it opened. “I’m ready BP,” she said. She sounded content.

Chapter Fifty One

The news of Shannon’s death flew through the camp. All 371 people gathered in the cleared area to connect with each other, to grieve for her, and to offer each other support.

Rachel didn’t join them. For a few days, she’d been as happy as she remembered in her life. She longed to get to the new home and start over. Bess told her people could have any kind of body they wanted there. “I probably won’t change anything,” Bess had said as she explained, “But maybe I’ll add some freckles. I think they’re so cute on Shannon.”

Rachel had dreamed of the changes she would make, but those dreams were over now. They weren’t for her. She realized with a crushing certainty that she didn’t belong out there with them in the new home. She belonged on this world with the Margaret Rymes and the John Smiths and the Chuck Cleimers.

She found a car near the edge of the camp with the keys still it. She stole it without a second thought and drove off. No one noticed her as far as she could tell.

It didn’t surprise her that Smith hadn’t been able to locate them - the choice of their final meeting place was brilliant. Once they were safely there, Tanith told how Jane had asked her to find such a place several months ago - a campground - preferably in the mountains and in a secluded area.

She found the perfect place a few miles off I-80 in the Poconos. The campground had been popular thirty years ago, but it was a bit too far away from the restaurants and shopping that campers demanded today. It was also in disrepair - basically just a road with overgrown trailer parking spaces under a thick canopy of trees. There was a large mown field in the center that afforded a beautiful view of the valley below and of the mountain sky above. The faded and broken sign at the entrance had originally said, “Welcome to Heavenly Acres,” but with its missing pieces, it now read, “Welcome to Heaven.” Jane had ordered it to be left as it was.

Edie had arranged the purchase with her stash of offshore funds and, over the last few months, almost a hundred RVs had been parked among the trees. There were tow behinds and self-propelled; large ones with multiple parts that slid out to increase the interior room, and modest ones such as would be purchased by those with more modest means. There were areas for tents to be pitched and a blue swimming pool off to the side. The place looked exactly like a busy summer vacation spot.

But it had only been busy for a few days. It sprang to life when Jed and Jerry arrived with the Concentrator in the back of a large truck.

Rachel parked the car in a lot in New Jersey and took a train into the city. Once there, she took a cab to her former boyfriend’s pawn shop.

He wasn’t really her boyfriend; she knew that, but they’d hooked up a few times. He called her only a few months ago. Their dates were predictable, but she always remembered those words from her mother, “Rachel, find a man. You’re brains or looks won’t get you much - at least get a man while your body holds out.” She knew early on he wasn’t likely to be her man, but she went out with him anyway, just to feel close to someone.

As she walked down the street, she remembered that she had actually succeeded in finding her man - and that he was likely rich to boot. She smiled at the thought that she was Mrs. Chuck Cleimer. The license, photos and videos from her wedding in Vegas were in a drawer in her bedroom back at her apartment.

Her boyfriend was surprised to see her, but when she told him what she wanted, he grinned, showing yellowed teeth.

“Yeah, babe, I can do that. But it’ll cost ‘ya.”

In the end, she paid the price and left.

Her cash was dwindling, but she had enough for a ticket on the Acela to DC. Tomorrow was the big day for the Connection - the day they would save life itself - so she had to move quickly.

As the miles flew by, she picked up her Connection phone and typed in a text. She sent it to Bess.

Bess,

I want to confess. Everything bad that has happened - Marina, Laird, Shannon - all of it. It was my fault. You invited me to join the group, you accepted me as I was, and I repaid you with betrayal.

I once asked Father Tom about forgiveness. Remember, you told me to talk to him if I was worried about anything? Well, I did. He said that God would forgive you if you asked, but that the hard part was forgiving yourself.

I know I’m slow, so I didn’t understand what he meant right then, but I do now.

I wish things had been different. I wish I had been stronger. I wish I could go with you.

I’ll send you something in a little while. You’ll know what to do with it.

Your sister,

Rachel Reed

She turned off her Connection phone.

She retrieved her new phone. That was the easy purchase at the pawn shop.

She called the emergency number Smith had given her. When a male voice answered, she talked very fast, “Tell him that I have the information. Tell him they’re tracking me. I’ll be in DC soon. I’ll call with the location to meet. Have everyone there.”

She hung up. The phone instantly rang. She took out the battery.

When she arrived at her apartment, she tidied up, putting away some dishes and wiping the counters. She hummed to herself as she worked.

She put the battery back in her new phone and called Smith. This time he answered, but she cut him off, “If I talk for more than ten seconds, they’ll know where I am. I’ve lost them for now. All of you come to my apartment. I’m here now. What I have for you - it’s amazing.”

She hung up. Her phone showed a call length of eight seconds. She put the phone back in its pocket in the Wonder Purse and sat it on the counter.

They arrived together fifteen minutes later with Chuck complaining that he’d had to drive. Congresswoman Rymes started before she was even fully inside the apartment, “Shut up, Chuck. Rachel, I don’t know why we couldn’t have had this meeting somewhere a bit . . .” she looked around, “nicer.”

“Sit, please. I think you will agree what I have for you is worth it.”

Smith looked at the couch with disdain. “Please Rachel, just tell us the location. Time is of the essence. I don’t know if you heard but we captured one of them. Sadly, and despite our best efforts, she took her own life before she could tell us where they are.”

She gave them the location of the Connection. Smith seemed relieved until he saw Rachel reach into her purse. The gun was there in its own pocket. Her boyfriend had demonstrated how easy it was to use. She pulled it out and said, “Her name was Shannon, and she was my sister.”

She shot Smith through the forehead.

The sound of the gunshot was deafening in the small apartment. Congresswoman Margaret Rymes was frozen in shock. That made her an easy target. Rachel’s shot went through her left eye.

Now she turned the gun to Chuck. He tried to talk, but it was like he forgot how to form words. His lips moved, but nothing came out. He started to cry and that helped him remember how to speak.

“Oh God, Rachel. I’m so sorry. It was all them. Smith and Margaret. They made me.”

He fell to his knees and lifted his hands toward her in supplication. The tears were wetting his expensive suit jacket. “I’ll do anything, my love. I pray you to spare me. I pray.”

Rachel retrieved a dish cloth from the kitchen counter and wiped the gun. After it was clean, she held it with the cloth and walked over to him. She dropped the gun on the floor and took out her phone.

Chuck was in the middle of a loud wail when he saw the gun. Instinctively, he picked it up and pointed it at her.

He heard a click. At first he thought it was the gun, but surely he hadn’t pulled the trigger. Besides, Rachel was standing right across from him, unhurt.

Rachel touched her phone screen and then showed it to him. On it was a picture of Pastor Chuck Cleimer, obviously in her apartment and pointing a gun at the camera.

“No!” he wailed though fresh tears. “No, Rachel. I’ll take that away from you. I swear I will. I’ll shoot if I have to.

“Go ahead, Chuck. It won’t do you any good. I just sent the picture to someone, someone you know. I sent it to Bess Olman.”

He tried to think. The thought of that picture being released caused him to feel despair so deep that he didn’t think it would be possible to recover from it. All he could envision was the electric chair. The feds almost never used it, except when one of their own was the victim. He truly had nothing left to lose. Without thinking, he shot Rachel in the chest.

And then he shot her again and again.

The gun clicked. It was empty and he had no more bullets. He threw it in anger at a small TV screen. It shattered with a loud crack.

He fell to his knees. “God, why have you forsaken me?” He could not stop crying. “I have nothing, no one, nowhere to go. Oh God, help me!”

And then God seemed to answer. There was a possibility after all.

He ran out to the car.

Chapter Fifty Two

At dusk, Jerry drove the forklift into the grassy area and placed both Concentrator rings just as BP directed. Jed and Evan and a number of the men, pushed and pulled to get them aligned just so.

Jane watched from the side of the clearing, her hands on her hips. Bess was by her side.

She looked at her phone, “Jane, it’ll be officially sunset in exactly one hour. Shall I tell them to proceed?”

Jane never took her eyes off the Concentrator. It looked so out of place on the green grass. “Go ahead. Have them run it.”

Around the world, five advertising agencies sprung into action. Each had been paid $50,000 to get ads placed on the top one hundred web sites in the world. Each web site that agreed to run their ad would earn the agency an additional $50K.

Evan had assured them they would be highly motivated by this opportunity. “They’ll be practically begging those sites to take our ad - and our money.”

The sites had quite a lot of motivation as well. All they had to do was post a five minute video ad on their home page at exactly 8:50 p.m. If they did, they would be paid $500K. All the money was in escrow and controlled by a law firm in New York that Edie had hired.

Bess imagined what was happening - in every single time zone, phones were ringing offering site owner’s big money for small work. She knew they would be tempted, but not until they saw the ad. These were big companies - they wanted the money, but not if it meant putting up something illegal or immoral. She pushed the button that sent the ad agencies the link to their ad.

Courtney Coburn had almost single handedly created their video. She did the narration, her voice velvety as she explained the Revelation and why humanity was on Earth. The video was called, “The Invitation.”

The viewers saw pictures of the lifeless early Earth, then pictures of the Earth the way it would be in twenty million years. They looked very much alike.

“We are here for a reason. You now know that reason. Tonight, over 340 of us will undo the damage that was done to our universe and then we will leave to live where we were meant to live.

But we are not the only ones who can go to a new home. You can too. In eight minutes go outside - look to the heavens. It doesn’t matter if it’s night or day where you are. You will see the proof; you will see the universe being restored.

Her voice was haunting as the camera dissolved into a close up of her face, “You are invited to go with us! Join us! Accept our invitation!”

The video dissolved into a picture of Marina wearing her Captain’s jacket. She was standing beside her G450. “Join us! Come with us!” she said with her largest smile.

Then, one by one, the rest of the leadership of the Connection appeared. They all issued their own invitation. Shannon said, “We’ll miss you if you don’t decide to come - please join us. All you have to do is accept!” Her red hair was waving, blown by some unseen breeze.

Jane was the last one, by her side was Jed. She was holding Haley. “Go outside and watch the skies. You will see a miracle. Think of it as your invitation!”

Everyone watched the ad on their phones. Father Tom told Jane, “It’s a great invitation, Jane. You did all you could do. I hope it works.”

It was time. Jane called out, “Gather around everyone - over here where you’re in line with the Concentrator. Hold hands and connect to each other. BP will help you with the combining.”

She took Haley from Jed and kissed her. She handed her back and started to walk to the little building beside the Concentrator. BP referred to it as the control room and Bess called it the “outhouse.”

They’d had a screaming argument just that morning - the whole inner circle. Jane knew it was coming - it had been building for days - but she stood her ground. Every one of the senior members asked that they be used to control the beam. Jane told them all ‘no.’

Bess threw a tantrum until Jane pulled her aside, “Bess, my sister, I told Marina and Laird to crash that plane. I sent Shannon out to Cincinnati. I’m responsible for them and look at how they played their roles - I only wish I could be as strong and as brave as they are. No, Bess, it’s got to be me that does this. No one else. Jed understands - I know you do too.”

She also met with each of the others, singly or as couples. Everyone acted like these might be their last words with her, so Jane let them all speak. She knew they needed to.

Most had words of love for her, or an apology for some minor mistake they’d made. Allen confessed that he’d sent Chuck a text on the night of the murders. “I got the number from Matt when I called him. I should have told you,” he said as he hugged her, “but I didn’t. You should let me go.”

She assured him that it would not have mattered and told him she’d see him soon. He nodded in resignation.

Now, as she walked all alone to the doorway to the control room, she heard sniffing from behind her. She looked back one final time and saw Edie with her arm around her mother’s shoulders, providing support.

She opened the door to as BP entered her mind, “Are you ready, my daughter? I shall do my best to take you in time.”

She felt calm, relieved of her burdens, almost weightless. It was time to go. “I know you will, my friend. Yes, Brian A. Pearlmitter, I’m ready.”

She felt something from him she’d never experienced. It was as plain as day - she felt his respect.

Chapter Fifty Three

The doorway to the control room was too low for her to enter without stooping. As she did, she heard the crunch of gravel and the sounds of a vehicle sliding to a stop. Jane stood so she would see what was happening. Every eye turned towards the sound.

The car door flew open and Chuck Cleimer raced to the group. “Oh God, please take me with you. Please!”

He started to cry again. He ran towards the Concentrator, but Bess stepped in front of him. “Oh God, oh God. Bess, I’m so sorry. I asked God to forgive me and he did. You have to as well. Please I want to go, I have to! There’s nothing for me here. Please, for God’s sake, take me!”

He fell to his knees, his hands raised in a begging gesture. She looked inside him and found those arteries that went to his heart. She squeezed ever so slightly; she was in no hurry.

“Oh no no no!” he squealed. The tone of his voice didn’t sound human. “No Bess, I’ll do anything, anything. It was Smith anyway; he’s the cause of the whole thing. When we get to the new home, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Bess broke her connection. “Get up, you worm,” she said. “Rachel sent me your picture. I forwarded it to that cop who was at our celebration.”

He struggled to his feet, the tears flowing. “No no no.” He repeated it again and again.

She moved off. “Follow me, worm,” she said. He did.

They moved to the control room. Bess said, “Jane, I have a volunteer.”

Jane’s smile lit up her face. “Listen to me Chuck. If you want to go, you have to earn your passage. It’s easy; you just sit in this little room and give BP permission to control your arms and fingers. Want to try it?”

He squealed again. The pitch was as high as a child. “Anything, anything. There’s nothing for me here!”

“BP, try him out for size,” she said.

Chuck got a surprised look on his face as BP entered him. Bess was relieved that he stopped crying and carrying on. The children were better behaved.

Chuck’s hands moved up and down, left and right. They performed the finger matching stunt that BP had demonstrated with her and Roger. “He will be satisfactory,” said BP in their heads.

Jane nodded. “Okay, Chuckles. You can go, but you have to know something. This building you are getting into is going to get vaporized when we fix the universe. Your body is going to be vaporized with it. That’s no big deal because our bodies are going to stay behind as well. However, there is a small chance that BP might not get to you in time. You might be really and truly dead.” She smiled at him. “Still want to go with us?”

Chuck wailed louder than ever. “Why me? Can’t Bess do it? You were almost inside, Jane. Please don’t make me!”

“I don’t have time for your drama queen act, Chuck. If you want to go with us, say so. If not, I’ll have you locked in one of the trailers.”

He sniffed and tried to control himself. “I do want to go. I have no other choice - nothing.”

She put her hands on her hips. Her eyes shot daggers, “All right then, get in.”

He put his right foot into the opening, but the rest of him refused to move. He started to cry again, “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t move. Oh God. Help me.”

Bess moved her left foot forward. At the same time, she rotated her hips to the left and transferred her weight to that left foot. Her right arm shot out with all the power her 120 pound frame could muster. “God won’t help you, you bastard, but I will.”

She tagged him with a right cross, right on his temple. She felt her knuckle break. Chuck fell into the control room. Their last view of his face showed his left eye quickly swelling shut.

She kicked the door closed.

“I’m ready now,” she said.

The Connection applauded as they took their positions.

Epilogue

We’d only been back for half a day when I received a summons from the queen bee - Jane. “Why don’t you go with me?”

“No, she asked for you. Besides, I want to go hang with Tanith. I heard that she and Courtney have some type of recording studio thing happening.”

She turned to kiss me goodbye. I watched her walk away wearing shorts, a t-shirt and three inch high flip flops. It was our habit to kiss when we left each other. I realized that this would fall to the wayside for many married couples after a few months of bliss, but this was one habit I intended to keep alive. “Love you, Bess,” I called after her.

“Love you, Rog,” she answered.

The walk to Jane’s gave me time to think. Bess and I had spent the last two months on the “Main” world. This universe had way too many life supporting worlds for me to count, but only one was called “Main.”

I went there in my position as President of our “newcomer” world. I didn’t want the job, but since I’d slept for over a year while she worked to get us here, Jane nominated me and I won 1,994 votes to nothing.

That was probably her biggest disappointment - the fact that so few had accepted the invitation. Father Tom told us that he wasn’t surprised, “It’s just the way things are. It’s the way they’ve always been,” he’d said.

I was pulled from my daydream by something that hit my foot. It was a baseball.

“Sorry, Mr. Seaton. My Dad thinks I’m eight feet tall!”

It was Jacob Miller. He was wearing a baseball glove. It was one of the items Bess and I had convinced them to supply on Main. Evan Miller was across the field, grinning and waving with his own glove.

I knelt down on one knee and handed Jacob the ball. He connected to me almost instantly. I could feel his happiness. He felt mine, too.

When I got there, her door was open. “Hello,” I said

“I’m out by the pool, Rog. Come on back.”

I knew the way, so I entered and walked through her living room. We’d all been provided houses to our specifications. They put them up in only a few days using some kind of machines - it was a sight to see.

She was sitting on a lounge chair wearing a very small bikini. I felt a gland in my lizard brain spring to life.

She saw me looking. “What?” she said. She shook her head in disgust. “You guys are all alike. Pour us a scotch and then come over here, would you? I want to talk to you.”

“You’ve got scotch now?” It was a dumb question - the bottle was sitting on the bar.

“Yes, and bikinis, baseball gloves and corn on the cob. You seem to be making some headway, Mr. President.”

I poured us each a couple of ounces and walked over and put her glass on the table beside her. I sat several feet away.

It had been over three years since I’d had a taste of Scotch. “Yeah, they are finally getting the idea that we need a wide variety of items. They’ve all lived so long they already have everything - it’s hard for them to imagine why we need basic stuff.”

“How did the First Lady like Main?”

“She liked it fine. But one guy - some kind of honcho - told her to calm down and learn to behave. Bess told him she’d clock him one if he ever said anything like that to her again. He was confused until BP told him what it meant. You should have seen him; he almost became invisible - faded out right before our eyes. But we did get what we wanted.”

She smiled at me and we each took a sip in silence, then another. It felt good to be home.

“Is everyone else, okay? Shannon?” I asked.

“She’s fine, Rog. Get this - she decided to change her body.”

“No!”

“Well, not really her body. She said she found a grey hair so she had her hair made a bit redder even than it was. It’s gorgeous, of course.

“I almost forgot! Did you hear about Allen and April? They got totally new bodies. They’re both eighteen now. Bess is older than them. We haven’t seen them around much.”

I laughed. She got up and walked to the bar and got us a refill. When she returned, she sat right beside me, our thighs touching. I felt some gland let loose with a volley of juice.

“Rog, life is great here. Jed and Haley and I are about as happy as humans can be . . . “

I knew there was more, “I’m ready for the ‘but’.”

“Don’t be cute. It’s just that . . . you know . . .”

I could tell what she was going to say. I didn’t know how, but I knew what the problem was.

“It’s the people back home - the six billion we left behind.”

“Yeah. BP was right, Rog. They don’t belong there, they belong here. I keep remembering your friend Celeste and that adorable girl, Adelle. They should be here with us, Rog. They all belong here.”

She leaned even closer to me. “If I asked, would you do something for me?”

We’d been down this path before. “You know I would.”

“I’ve been thinking about it and I know I’ll need your help.”

I felt like running. Something was coming and I could tell it was big.

“Roger, I want us to go back and get them. I have an idea how we could do it.”

The Cast

Sergeant Dwayne Baker - Eagerly accepted the invitation, as did several members of his family.

Captain Jameson - Recognized the faces in the video and was tempted, but did not accept.

Neal Diamond Philips - Never saw the invitation video.

Seymour Janke (The Big Jerk) - Was surprised to see Marina and Laird in the video. Ran outside and raised his arms just in time.

Shirley and Roger Seaton - Jane had them visited at the end by Father Tom Harrison who explained everything. They await news of grandchildren.

Carol Mitchell and Doctor Roe - Co-founded OB/GYN clinic. New bodies took care of most medical problems, but birthing still had to be done the old fashioned way.

Edna Watson (Nanna) - Chose new 60 year old body and set up a day care center.

Courtney Coburn - Started a radio station.

April and Allen Olman - Finally had their honeymoon. It is still going on.

Marina Gonzalez and Laird Jensen - Learned to fly in space. On occasion, took Nanna with them.

Juliet Morgan and Evan Miller - Set up system to distribute goods needed on the new world. Also started Little League.

Father Tom Harrison - Established Church of the Connection. Attendance is near 100%.

Matt and Amanda Shively - Became lay ministers in the church.

Edie Porter - Appointed Ambassador to Main.

Tanith Watson - Spends much of her time with Dwayne Baker. Sings at church most Sundays.

Shannon and Jerry Wu and Family - Preparing to use services of Carol Mitchell and Doc R.

Jed Cunningham - Made only one change in his body - repair of damage done because of the mumps.

Bess Olman - Started boxing clinic for kids.

Pastor Chuck Cleimer - Did not make it despite best efforts of BP.

Brian A. Pearlmitter - Hailed as a hero on all worlds in the new universe.

Jane Mitchell and Roger Seaton - Still best friends.

From the Author:

I hope you enjoyed the Revelation story. A review on Amazon would be much appreciated. If you email me and tell me you left a review, I’ll add you to my Hall of Fame on my website!

If you have questions or would like to comment, feel free to email me at audio7777@gmail.com.

Also, check my website at www.cwcrowe.com for information on my new series. It’s action packed, gritty and for adults.

It’s called The World’s End Series. There are three books, all telling a single complete story.

Book One: Dymond’s World

Book Two: Jill’s World

Book Three: Regina’s World

All are available now, but I must offer a word of warning.

Once you start, you won’t be able to stop. The story is that compelling.