ARC OF THE IMMORTALS/ Book 1 — Part 2

Pursuit: 28 / In a Past

Recap: Bendel and Harry work on a way to get into Nez Fish’s inner world. A tech builds an interface for Luna to transition to the real world and/or the Fish’s inner world.

Recap continued: Geordae Phorae welcomes Jac to his shipyard. Jac is slapped in the face (metaphorically) by Phorae’s thoughts of Touzdae’s death in a previous timeline.

Touzdae, Geordae, and Jac reviewed possible upgrades of the refitted Needlecraft. After a few hours, everyone grew weary. Geordae showed them to a grand suite at the top of the station.

“I don’t get many guests here. I had a feeling this morn that two someones special were coming so I had my people prepare this,” he spread his arms. It was a suite of rooms with a wrap-around view. It had a grand sleeping room, dressing rooms, and bathing areas — all rotating. There was a view of the shipyard and part of the decimated moon. Beyond the moon were the stars, the fourth and sixth planet of the nine planets of the Antares Beta System. They also had a view of the barren cloud-soaked planet and the yellow dwarf star.

They slept through the night, dragged into the depths of sleep.

Touzdae awakened under a natural light converter. It mimicked the light on Antares Prime. She gazed at Jac’s very peaceful state as he slept. On occasion, he would say a distinct word or two. Most of the words were incomprehensible save three. He repeated these words several times:

“Yes, Yaheedue-ah†, yes Ma-oohdee*.” It pleased her and saddened her. The sacred words neither Jac nor her had uttered in a few thousand years or since the La Maz accident.

When he awoke she was gazing at him with a soft smile on a chair that she pulled close to the bed.

He yawned and stretched.

“What?”

“You were listening to your soul body in your sleep, do you remember?”

“Yes,” he said. “I was given a directive from Yaheedue-ah† through Ma-oohdee*.”

“Can you tell me?” Touzdae asked.

“Yes, because the timing is right to tell you.” Jac went on to explain the encounter he had had with the gatekeeper — before leaving the hinterland. The three talents/potions were cards for her. He told her how the card faces disappeared when the gatekeeper held them to Jac’s head.

“So, you’re connected to this process somehow? Are the cards still blank?”

“I don’t know. They’re in my sealed pocket, right side, flack jacket,” he pointed. He began to roll out of bed, but she sprang and ran to his jacket and retrieved the three cards from the sealed pocket.

“Are you going to look at them now?” Jac asked as she clutched the cards to her heart chakra.

“I’m going to slip away into the privacy of baths and look at them while I’m alone,” Touzdae paused. “Don’t disturb me.”

“Okay.” Jac rolled out of bed and slipped into a robe.

Bendel stepped through the linkage hatch of the TRX-2200. Twenty minutes earlier Elmiss said:

“You can go in and visit her in the flesh for an hour and a half at the most without any degradation. It’s one-way only. She cannot come out. She will die if she tries to come out now.”

His words echoed in his head.

Touzdae laid the three cards face up on a polished stone table near the foot-soaking trough. All three cards had symbols in them. She went to touch one. The other two face cards pictures and words disappeared leaving only the frame. She looked at the card she had touched.

The Gatekeeper appeared as a tall long slender woman who stood surrounded by the shop. Touzdae still in her robe in the main bath salon looked up at her. She smiled. Touzdae was swallowed by the environs of the shop.

“You have many questions. This is good. Take the card you see and tell me how it speaks to you,” she commanded in a soft luxurious tone.

“The Sun — a yellow dwarf star is home and the two figures in the foreground are me and Jac. We are on a journey of the heart going home.”

“Very good. Take the card with your left hand and bring it up picture towards you to the right side of your forehead. Hold it there for ten seconds or so — an approximation, if you will. Put it down face-up.” The slender woman concluded her delicate hands moving energy to her left and right.

Touzdae was back in the bath. The image on the card faded as did the slender woman shopkeeper.

All three cards were blank. She picked them up and put them in a pocket of the robe. She found an alcove and took a meditative sitting posture.

Jac showered and shaved. He noticed he had a beard as he had had eons ago. He dressed and made a Terran coffee drink. He repaired to the couch overlooking the stars, sipped, and let his mind wander. The suite had stopped rotating.

“Touzdae, do you want to join me in Geordae’s offices for more planning on Needlecraft changes?” Jac hollered through the closed door.

He waited about a minute and a half. He started a note.

“Go on without me, I’ll join you as soon as I can,” she yelled back.

“I love you,” Jac said loudly through the door.

Geordae suggested a two-seater cockpit, minimal armaments, and two medi-sarcophagi.

“They can be added to the tube transversing the engine. They will shield against burns from accidental discharges from the quantum singularity. And they will serve as complete medical healing units,” Phorae said.

“I’ll have to discuss it with Touzdae,” and Jac excused himself.

Jac returned to the suite. He found a lengthy note from her. It read:

I’ve uncovered the meaning in all three cards. I trust whatever you’ve planned for the Needlecraft will be right for us. I love you. Please don’t disturb my body in the spare room. I’ve gone on a consciousness transfer voyage. I’ll be back at the right time. You’re Yahdue-ah and Ma-oohdee were absolutely correct this was the right time. Everything is aligned perfectly. See you soon in the flesh.

all my love, Touzdae

†This word — Yahdue-ah is spelled/pronounced phonetically and spelled wairua and is the Māori word for soul. Ma-oohdee is pronounced phonetically and spelled mauri is the Māori word for “essence of a being or entity”. See the Te Aka Māori Dictionary. The Māori of New Zealand like the “aborigines” are amongst the oldest lineages on the planet. They are connected to the Lemurian peoples.

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