THE SLIDE

Chapter 20 Confounded — past, present, & timeless

Part 2, A Science-Fiction Mystery/Thriller

Present Time — The Hearing

All present, except the two spies masquerading as court clerks, were lost by the scientific DNA jargon.

“In plain language, please explain. Make it simple,” the Judge said sternly. “Make it so a 6-year-old could understand what you just said.”

The man said: “It is inconclusive or impossible.”

The room was frozen in silence, except for Ra, whose presence expanded in a protective and radiant manner. He literally became brighter. Light was pouring out of his torso. Everyone else seemed to hold their collective breath, even the judge.

Frustrated, the judge exhaled and slammed the gavel down three times.

“Start with the impossible,” the Judge said.

Secret Room of the Three

The third spy looked at the other two that had been in the court chamber and said,

“You should be dead, but you aren’t. And you don’t have a scratch on you.”

“That’s because of the force field we put up a second before it happened.” One clerk-spy said pompously.

“No, the force field worked, but you guys were in it, and I have proof.”

The Courtroom

“In a nutshell, on a DNA level, the infant was Farha Izem’s father, François Aulclair-Izem, which is impossible and defies all laws of physics and commonsense.”

An enormous explosion ripped through the heavy castle wall from the antechamber and threw desk-sized chunks of stone into the courtroom, along with debris and a massive cloud of dust.

Secret Room of the Three

“So, you see everyone — including the two of you, disappeared for a second as the blast occurred,” the third spy said. “I’ll replay the tape even slower, so you can see it better.” The two clerk-spies mouths were agape. They could see the force field shimmer, but they weren’t in it. After the flash of light — and the dust settled — the camera revealed everyone was where they were when it had happened except Ra, who was gone. But when the dust settled completely, he reappeared too.

“Did he save your lives?” the third spy asked.

Clerk-Spy #1 loaded the tape marked Antechamber:

“Have you looked at this yet?” The third spy shook his head no. “Here goes.” He pressed play:

Tears streamed down Farah’s cheeks as the scientist said what he had said. The split-image on videotape her revealed fire coming from Farha’s mouth, followed by the explosion of the wall in front of her. The force of the fire coming from her mouth freed her from all restraints.

“Yeah, it worked,” two of the three spies cheered. In slow motion, the fabricated image was imperceptible except at the beginning in a freeze framed splice. It was flawless to the naked eye.

Where Ra Went

The present time was frozen in a timeless region beyond space and time. Everyone in and connected to the courtroom, except Ra and Farha, stayed in the loop of the present. In the loop, they were protected from an awareness of the present. Result there would be no memory of any lost time.

A small and unruly green circular garden space surrounded a fountain in the middle of an all white space. Off to one side were two boulders pressed together like praying hands and a small space in between. The white encroached on the green, slowly swallowing the space, forcing the green in on itself.

Ra ran across the white space into the garden and disappeared between the two praying boulders. Farha was stiff as she stood from the chair where she had been shackled. As she walked, her body became loose and free. She scampered through the white space into the garden and stopped at the praying boulders.

She was hesitant seeing Ra there between the two boulders. He smiled a very thin lipped, almost nonexistent smile, which appeared in her head as someone familiar. Her breathing became relaxed. She stepped through the praying boulders into a garden of multicolored lights within a context of lavender.

In the distance, she saw a white light fountain about twelve feet in diameter streaming upward into the sky. The man-with-the-sun-for-his-head appeared, emerging from the fountain.

“It’s you,” she said softly, “You are Ra.”

Yes, his thought appeared in her head. Know this place, his thought was an answer and a question.

Beldovia, she thought, or Shambhala — same place by different names.

Yes, embracing all.

Are they all here?

Ra — the-man-with-the-sun-for-his-head was silent.

Your wisdom and gentleness precede you. I feel grateful for your compassion. I am not ready yet, Farha thought.

His smile appeared in her head and spread to her entire being.

It is time, Farha thought.

Antechamber Observation Booth

Farha returned to her body shackled and restrained — forced to hear and see all that was happening in the court through the monitors.

They’re all frozen in time, she thought as she looked at all the people in the courtroom perfectly still.

Yes. In a moment, prepare, his thought appeared.

The guard moved and took her out of all restraints and placed sunglasses over her eyes.

Ra, the man-with-the-sun-for-his-head, appeared and the light of the Sun saturated the space that freed all.

The man-with-the-sun-for-his-head disappeared and Ra reappeared in the courtroom. The guard was in his chair, snoring. Farha laughed.

Judge’s Chambers

“This tape is said to reveal all and show the cause of the explosion,” the judge said, rubbing his palms together in greedy anticipation. “Have you seen it?”

“No sir, but there have been three who have.”

“Who are they? Why have I not heard about them?” the judge demanded.

“They are from the Scarlet Service,” the soldier whispered.

“Hmm, yes, I see…” the judge was reluctantly disappointed. He was deep in thought for almost a minute and continued: “Play the tape.”

Farha was bound to the chair, and her eyes were open. The screen split, with Farha on the right side of the screen and the monitor on the witness in court on the left. The scientist testifying said:

“In a nutshell, on a DNA level, the infant was Farha Izem’s father, François Aulclair-Izem, which is impossible and defies all laws of physics and commonsense.”

Tears flowed down Farha’s cheeks. The tape fluttered. An explosion of white light appeared, filling the frame, and the rest of the tape was snow.

“I don’t know what that is, but clearly it is not an explosion of destruction. I will need to speak with these three who are members of ‘The Scarlet Service’. But we both know that will not happen.”

The guard ejected the tape and put it into its sleeve. Hand open and extended, the judge waited for the tape. The guard paid no heed of the judge.

“Off the record. I’ll disregard your actions. The tape stays here. It is evidence.”

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