Summary

In "Arc of the Immortals/ Book 1 — Part 2," Jac grapples with visions of past and future atrocities, while Touzdae experiences a series of traumatic events and attempts to rescue her mafa from a half-life chamber against Hannah's warning.

Abstract

"Arc of the Immortals/ Book 1 — Part 2" continues the sci-fi saga with Jac haunted by images of Bendel's slaughter of the Nez Fish and his determination to correct past wrongs. After a morning of intimate connection, Touzdae prepares for a journey with Von Deign while Jac pilots a revamped ship. Touzdae's consciousness witnesses a rocket launch, an explosion, and the apparent deaths of Hannah and her younger self, leading her to resolve to follow them. Meanwhile, Jac navigates the Needlecraft through space, heeding a voice cautioning against using certain drives while Touzdae is in a vulnerable state. Touzdae's observer self experiences the aftermath of a planetoid disaster, merging with her younger self amidst grief and regret. As Jac conducts simulations and Touzdae rests, they both confront the complexities of their intertwined existences and the implications of duplicates, with Touzdae ultimately attempting to save her mafa from a suspended state.

Opinions

The narrative conveys a sense of urgency and moral responsibility as Jac is deeply affected by the historical and future violence he witnesses.
Touzdae's character is portrayed as resilient and determined, despite the emotional toll of the events she experiences.
The concept of consciousness transfer and the existence of duplicates raise philosophical questions about identity and the nature of self.
The author emphasizes the profound impact of loss and the strength derived from love, as seen in the tantric connection between Jac and Touzdae.
The story suggests a cyclical or interconnected nature of events, with characters reliving or observing past occurrences with new understanding.
There is an underlying tension between fate and free will, as characters attempt to alter the course of events while being pulled by seemingly predestined forces.

ARC OF THE IMMORTALS/ Book 1 — Part 2

Pursuit: 37/ Disjointed

Recap: Jac begins to see images from his download of the 60 days near Bendel, his people and the Fish. He sees his birthplace aboard his parents spaceship.

An Ancient Rendering of The Well of Souls | Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Recap continued: And he is triggered.

He sees Bendel slaughtering Nez Fish’s previous kin in great numbers (in the future — Bendel’s future). He emerges shaken and determined to put things right. Touzdae encourages sleep.

The next morning they make love using tantra and experience high vibrational love. After a leisurely morning together she boards the Needlecraft. Prepares for a new journey, while Jac prepares to test-pilot the revamped ship.

Touzdae formed an intention to go to Hanna on Von Deign’s ship in the mountains.

As her consciousness arrived on Von Deign’s ship she saw a liquid fuel rocket take off from a nearby platform. She peered down at Von Deign’s communication view screens. Hannah appeared along with the younger Touzdae. They looked into the screen for a second and cut communications. A few seconds later the ship exploded.

Touzdae made a supreme effort to calm herself. They did not die, she thought, I want to go where they went. That is my intent.

Jac sat in the pilot’s seat of the Needlecraft. He checked all the systems. He checked on Touzdae’s body in the cryo-tube. All was okay with her. The systems were superlative.

The dock doors opened on his wireless neural command. He used the thrusters to ease the ship out of the dock into the main lane. It was a short trip to the cloaked gate and through it into open space.

Once in the clear, he engaged two of the four ion thruster drives.

Touzdae transported to their suite in the Negra Nada Hotel on Gata. (As it was so called in the past before Bendel’s ownership.∞) The suite Jac and Touzdae had under standing reservation. The younger version of herself had been engaged in a 27-day meditation. Jac was in trials organized by the Bhantu Continuum. As she emerged from the meditation a shockwave ran from the center of the planetoid outwards. The hotel rocked. A wave of energy ran through the place. The walls cracked. The highest floors crumbled and fell. Urged by security personnel to evacuate the suite but she held her ground. More walls and rooms collapsed during the aftershocks. She was anxious to go to a secure shelter.

Why don’t I remember this? Touzdae wondered and held firm in observer mode.

Touzdae watched as her younger self went to a private secure bunker in the town with a security guard. He waited in an attached foyer station.

The younger Touzdae was anxious to hear news of Jac. She pleaded with the guard to know more. The guard assured her that when he knew more he would tell her.

Jac took the Needlecraft beyond the confines of the planet and its damaged moon. An impression in his head told him not to engage either the folding drive or the jump drive. With Touzdae in the tunnel she is in jeopardy, the voice indicated. He employed all four ion drives on the way back. It was a quick trip to the gate. He cut the drives and threw up the three cloaks about a mile from the gate. He drifted through the gate with ease.

Touzdae’s consciousness observed emergency crews in space suits swarm over the ridge. They converged on the Levelz and La Maz below. It was a tedious operation removing the wreckage. After what seemed like an eternity, Jac’s body was lifted from the debris. The atmosphere bled off the central and the far shore of the planetoid. Emergency force fields held an atmosphere over the vital areas of the planetoid. The hotel, casino, a strip of the town, and the floating healing center off the coast remained protected.

She watched from varying heights over the disaster area.

Her observer self went into the healing center close to her younger self when Jac’s body arrived.

He arrived at the healing center — in critical condition. Healers and physicians worked to save him. The observer self stayed with her younger self for 12 hours. Observer Touzdae magnetized into her younger self. She blended with her, overcome with emotions. Profound regret, guilt, and grief overwhelmed young Touzdae and her elder observer self. Touzdae was no longer the observer. She was at one with her younger self. Exhausted the younger Touzdae fell asleep after a grueling wait. Touzdae,the observer, was ejected after the passing of 72 hours.

Lost in a hazy fog her observer self wandered without a clear identity, knowing or caring.

Jac asked Geordae about running simulations in the larger holo-matrix suites. Geordae agreed but tabled it for 24 hours. He was running simulations of his own on the original Needlecraft.

Touzdae consciousness arrived outside and above Goto-ak’s shop. She didn’t care about the frustration with that place. She was too tired to care. Instead, peaceful patience arose, and she waited.

Luna walked out. Observer Touzdae followed her. Touzdae watched her walk across the city, on the EM tram, by EM Sphere Taxi to her first apartment on Taumataª Hill. Luna had a key. That‘s not unusual, Touzdae observer self, thought. Luna dyed her long straight black hair blonde. Now we are identical twins, she thought from her position above. Is she a duplicate of me? observer Touzdae wondered.

Touzdae thought of what her mafa had said about duplicates and she transported to Von Deign’s ship. An image flashed in her mind of a female encased in salt in a transparent half-life chamber. She went to that chamber.

It was her mafa, and young Touzdae had to get her out of there. Hannah appeared and said,

“No, you cannot!”

ªTaumata is a Maori word pronounced da-mata — a resting place on a hill or summit.

∞ If you missed Part One and want to find out more about Bendel see the contents for Part One (chapters 7.5 through 21):

Arc of the Immortals: Pursuit — the Contents

And an Introduction

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the previous chapter:

Pursuit: 36/ A Dangerous Future

Recap: Von Deign ushers the silver craft skyward and depresses the button. The action hurdles him across the chamber…

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If you want to catch-up on any chapters you missed in part 2 [Part 2 contains link for contents of part 1]:

Arc of the Immortals: Pursuit — Contents/ part 2

Notes on Thematic Materials

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Thank you for joining me in the adventures that span lifetimes and worlds. Blessings on your journeys and odysseys. (If you do NOT wish to be tagged, let me know, and I’ll tag you not):