Their time of pain was very brief and not as intense, but it shattered them. Those of us free to do so reached out to soothe them, mostly concentrating on those like Ivgos, who are sensitive to the pain of others. None dared to think of interfering with the inner worlds of the Dalai Lama and his monks.
“It is not for you to apologise. Samantha, I thought I knew you, but have learnt that I only saw the surface.” His eyes seemed darker as he stared at her. “To take such pain to yourself so as to spare another, I did not know how deeply you feel the words you speak.” He turned to the monks, they nodded and he turned back to Sam. “When it is possible, will your family do a telling for us? This time we will share with open hearts and minds.” As soon as Sam returned to us she went to the bedroom. We sent Gina to her and she hugged her as Sam wept for longer than we’ve seen her cry for many years. These were good tears and we did not form a shield of love around her just to protect her; we needed to feel what she was emoting. Afterwards she felt a bit of a fraud, as she had not taken the pain to save Leonard, as she had, to prevent Robert suffering. We convinced her she is not a fraud, that she had also wanted to save Leonard.
The man, as just mentioned, is named Leonard. Days have gone by but we have allowed him to stay by himself as he is still filled with anger, hate and a need for revenge. He would not have been in a mood for platitudes and words about empathy and love. Sam says she will bring him to us in the morning.
Since Sam knows I’m writing for her she ignored her diaries and left to collect Leonard, hoping to get him to us in time for joining us for breakfast. She sent us a grin when she arrived by him and sensed he was really hungry. When he saw it was Sam who had come for him he looked sheepish, which suggested he recalls what happened. Underneath his slight embarrassment, Sam sensed that he also fears her. In a totally un-Cherinian way she burst out laughing. If she had been an adult, I’m certain he would have become angry, but being a child and a girl, he was only annoyed. It took a while for Sam to control herself and explain. When she did, there was no trace of her previous amusement in her voice.
“You discovered you have the gift of telepathy and instead of using it to make yourself wealthy you naively went to your government to offer them your services. Leonard, hasn’t your reality made any movies about mutants and how Normals react to their existence? You were angered by their response and yet, when you meet other mutants with gifts and powers, you react exactly the same way as them and fear us! Since that is so, doesn’t your sense of empathy justify the fear of Normals when they learnt of your ability?” He nodded his agreement and Sam softened. “Breakfast is served, we better hurry if we hope to find any food.” She grinned. “If you keep an open mind, you are about to discover that you have become part of a dream that is so beautiful you’ll want to cry.” She then touched him and teleported to the taverna - where he collapsed onto a chair and quivered until he got over his shock.
Freddie and the Unation are keeping an eye on the planet, just in case panic compels the Americans to launch missiles that cause the Russians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans to react to them as if it is an act of war. In this reality the Japanese did not attack at Pearl Harbour and did not side with Hitler, so they are a super power and have their own nuclear missiles. None of them know who to react to as Freddie has remained hidden in the void and the tip extruding into normal space cannot be sensed by their satellites. The Americans are on alert with their secret services going bananas as they try to identify where the mutants are. They are convinced the mutants have organised and have bases in various parts of the U.S.
I asked Sam, “Is there any reason for you keeping the memories of Leonard? As long as they remain in your mind, even though they are blocked off, they do remain a threat to your sanity.”
Before Sam could answer, Riivjii asked her, “Do you keep them as a weapon?”
Jade was quick. “Sam’s weapon is her charming personality.” Because Sam and the rest of us laughed, Riivjii did not respond, perhaps puzzled by us.
Robert stared at the screens. “I wonder if there is a Robert and Cherine. Leonard, what year is it on your world?”
“Year? Uhmm, it’s 1986 - February, 1986.”
“They don’t exist here.” Sam said.
“How do you know?” Campbell asked, almost aggressively - probably wondering whether he has an alternate also.
“If they did, surely they would have spirited Leonard away before he got to anyone in authority?” Campbell nodded in agreement.
We noticed that Ivgos has slowly been approaching Leonard, as if afraid of upsetting him. Our sudden concentration in the direction of Ivgos brought him to the attention of Leonard and he looked at him with curiosity, not certain whether he is a person or a tame animal. Ivgos stared into his eyes and we felt how his emoting changed. Ivgos has snagged another heart - much to the puzzlement of Leonard.
Sadly, Ivgos said, “I saw your pain. I would have shared if I could have.”
Leonard flushed and responded angrily, “You’re welcome to keep all of it!” I felt like telling him that it is okay to love Ivgos, even if he is an alien, but I waited to see what would happen.
“I can’t do that, Samantha took it all - that is why she was sick for a few days.”
“What do you mean, how could she…” he turned to Sam, “what does he mean?”
“Your pain was driving you insane, so, as Robert stopped the pain I stole the memories of it. It is easier for your body to be healed if your mind is cleared of the pain.”
“You felt what I was feeling? You still have the memories? I thought my mind had blanked most of them to protect me.”
“I’m certain your mind would have done so, but we were in a hurry, we did not want to risk losing you. As for my accessing your memories, I blocked them off so they are not causing me any discomfort.” We made certain that Sam did not get away with the implied untruth and he stared at the dainty little girl who had taken the unbearable burden of his pain to herself and tears rolled down his cheeks as he flooded her with adoration, as if she were a tiny goddess. I sent her my cheeky grin, amused at how she was responding - especially as she does it to me far too often.
Empathia broke the silence that had lasted for over two minutes. “Leonard, as corny as it sounds, today could be the first day of a new way of living. What that way will be depends on you. The people who tried to kill you, they did not have a choice in their reactions to you because they allowed fear to dominate. What will you allow to dominate you? You do know that you have a choice, don’t you? Will it be hate, anger - or will it include such impractical things like empathy, compassion and love? When we speak of love, we do not only speak of that which exists between individuals, but of what is felt for all of life. Over the next few days you will see a number of alien species who travel with us in Freddie or live in the Sparkler and Spartan Worlds. Each of them are loved by us as human beings, as people. You’ll also learn about Cherine, so that you understand why we named ourselves Cherinians.”
Sam added, “Our family have a way of telling our story that is stunning and beautiful. It will take weeks and you will be shocked, angered and, at times, you will feel as if you are hurting somewhere deep inside. It is good to hurt that way, but please keep your comments and questions until the telling has ended. At that time, we will answer all your questions, that is a promise.” As soon as Sam could get away she went to Riivjii and invited him to share our tellings. The Akiards invited him to sit with them.
Melina, as did all of us, showed surprise when Robert asked her to delay the telling. “There are other matters of priority we must take care of. We have to calm the governments, but before we meet with them we must find the local Cherinian alternates and bring them to Freddie. It would be better to do the tellings once they are with us.”
Yours truly is back again - Cherine claims she is tired of blowing my trumpet for me.
I am in a very peculiar place. The Dalai Lama does not suddenly believe that my soul is more advanced than he thought it was. Instead, he is convinced there are aspects, strengths, maybe weaknesses, that he had not been aware of and wants to learn more about souls at my level from studying me. I hate to say this, but I think he is wrong, yet his people have spent too many centuries studying the evolution and refinement of souls for them to be wrong. At each stage, each soul has to be unique and that means certain characteristics have little to do with the stage the soul has arrived at and who and what we are is also affected by our personality and character, maybe even with what talents we were gifted with for that lifetime. I believe that a soul does not only grow by each life it has lived, but also during each life. Decisions taken that are ethical or not, surely they affect my soul, changing it as I live? I hope so, or else us Cherinians really will have to reconsider allowing our healers to rejuvenate us.
Cherise has been a part of Freddie and shared for many years now as he runs our spaceship-world, so he was more than willing to listen when she came up with an idea. I have a feeling it may prove to be a very useful trick and could save lives under certain circumstances. She suggested Freddie appear in normal space, in orbit around Earth, and we then suddenly return to the void, Freddie leaving behind all the spaceships in our sky. All the species are saying that if a spaceship were able to suddenly appear by their planet(s) and just as suddenly disappear, leaving in its place dozens of spaceships, they would be frightened. I hope that the only reason we are willing to discuss doing something that would terrify an entire world is because we are willing to use it as a strategy to save them from themselves - a case of the lesser evil, which is not something I usually subscribe to.
I want to branch off on one of my asides, which came about because of Leonard. What he said reminded me of the arguments Robbie used to put forward regarding adult relationships with children. Leonard felt uncomfortable, thinking that it could be that we think he is partially responsible for the situation he was in when we first arrived, so he would quote excerpts from his life to prove he is a nice guy. For instance, he told us that at least twice a year he would visit his local orphanage with sweets, colouring books and so on. He told us that each time a few of the children would ‘claim’ him, sitting or walking next to him for his entire visit. He told us of how it touched him, seeing how much the children needed to love someone.
Theresa was quietly fuming as he spoke, but she made her points sweetly and without attacking him. “Leonard, even among families who are close and love each other, the children grow up and during that period they learn not to show their love as openly as they used to. To a child, showing love and wanting love are just normal aspects of their lives, while most adults don’t dare to allow themselves to know they need both. For children without a family, it is much worse. You see, I spent my early years in an orphanage and I still clearly remember the way I felt whenever a kind-hearted visitor came to visit with the hope of making our lives better. As a child, I was not aware of the psychological reasons that draw certain people to orphanages, all I knew was that if an adult visits it is because he or she wants to love and adopt a child. Each child living there has one overwhelming need - to belong to a family. We all wanted to be the one allowed to sit and walk next to the visitor and whoever of us is allowed or chosen to do so, that child feels it has a greater chance of being loved and wanted by this adult.
You see, you visit with simple reasons and the children are glad to be given the sweets and toys or nice clothes, even though most of them are secondhand, but, their reactions and needs are far more complex than you seem to have suspected. Imagine how it is for the child; you come along, you are nice, you talk and maybe gently tease a few of them who have gathered around you and their hearts open to you. Visiting time ends and you leave and return to your life while those kids dream about you coming back again and again until you ask to adopt them and they create dreams of how they will make you so happy that you chose them, for they will try as hard as they can to be the best son or daughter you could ever hope for. For the next two, three or maybe even more visiting days, those kids eagerly wait for you to appear. Each such day that you don’t, and each such time that a visitor proves to them that they are not loved, they find it more difficult to dream and love. They have to Leonard, it is the only way they can protect their hearts. The day finally comes when they stand among those who do not approach visitors and the visitors don’t pay them any attention since they cannot sense how those children feel and why they dare not come close.
Sadly, he replied, “I think you are forgetting why I was being killed when you arrived. I could sense the feelings and hear the thoughts of the children, which are filled with yearning as you said. I did make it clear I am only visiting as a friend, but the truth is, apart from wanting to be adopted, children also want friends and they treasured being able to be my friend for a few hours now and then. It did make them feel special but, feeling them did not make me think of myself as being special, it made me want to weep. Having anyone feel I am so important to them, so special that a smile of mine makes them feel special - that really is humbling and heartbreaking.” We are so glad that Theresa has a new friend even though there are times she has to reach deeply into her heart for the empathy needed to guide her when he sinks into a depression.
Cherine is four years old, but her Robert is only seventeen years old. Whenever this happens it provokes arguments and debates, among us and the scientists. The scientists are just as flabbergasted as us, but for different reasons. They are not amazed at the difference in age between the two of them (Robert should have been about nineteen), it is the horrendously complex maths their computers have to churn out to justify the change in age difference. For us, we are not concerned with the theories and laws that allow it but more by the facts - such as, what was the soul of Robert doing for the extra two years before birth and how is it his parents gave birth to ‘him’ when they should have had their child with a different soul and body. We suspect his parents were not ready to have a child - at the ‘right’ time - but predestination insisted that Robert be born so that Cherine has a Robert of her reality. Despite the many ways Campbell has changed, when we say such things, we can sense him thinking we are being romantics.
We brought as many of the local Cherinians-to-be as we could to Freddie, in some instances we included friends or family of those who might be hunted. Us girls, including Cherine and Dommi, are fascinated by having this seventeen year old Robert with us - the first uncomplicated teenager Robert we all like, while Robbie only has eyes for the new little Cherine. Her parents were not happy about being brought to us, angrily denying their daughter is a mutant (their protests quickly died when they met the number of Cherines presently in Freddie) but because of their initial reaction to us, Cherine sulked for a few hours. She soon forgot to sulk as she became carried away by her amazement. She thinks it is exciting to be in a spaceship and wants to meet some of the ‘nice’ aliens. Maybe we should start her off with the Akiards? Lol - that got me buried by tons of pillows.
The governments are at the early stages of their insanity so they are being careful and the very wealthy and powerful are not being arrested yet, even though they should have been the first people Normals should suspect. At least Alki won’t need our urgent help. Actually, none of those who do have Talents have been accused, it seems they know how to protect themselves and stay out of the spotlight.
Our first thoughts were to grab those arrested and about to be tortured, but that would only heat up their paranoia. Then we said, let’s grab the torturers and their officers. That led us back to the same tactics we’ve used for most of the new realities. We grabbed the leaders. I feel embarrassed about the way all our alien friends are forced to hide from us every time we bring Normals from a new to us reality. I can’t help wondering why our race is so xenophobic about species from other planets when we accept so casually the weirdest looking insects and animals of our world.
Robbie let his sense of humour get the best of him and he told Leonard he has to be present to welcome the government leaders. He suggested he give his name to the U.S. president and while he was bringing them from Earth, he told the president our reason for coming to their reality, mentioning Leonard by name. Since all the other leaders heard Robbie, they all found themselves in an awkward situation when Leonard introduced himself and welcomed them. Sometimes I like Robbie’s sense of humour.
At first I was pleased with the way Leonard was behaving and then I realised what lay underneath it and I felt sick at how blind I’ve been. Let me first explain what set off this train of thought. The president was polite and friendly towards Leonard and he was feeling so grateful that he was making a conscious effort not to sense his thoughts. I fell into the same trap (wrong way of thinking) that everyone and Leonard does - I also felt grateful that the president was being so nice. Are you thinking, what trap, what is Samantha talking about? If you are, it means you too have fallen into the same trap. Here is what happens: When people of ‘Authority’ treat us politely and with respect, we feel grateful.
That is wrong!
Where I’m getting to with my argument is that when we are treated politely and with respect, we should feel it is natural and how things should be - we should not automatically feel grateful (which comes out of fear of authority, whether we acknowledge it or not). Feeling grateful is the first step towards accepting we do not have rights or that our rights are lesser than of those who are meant to be serving us. Feeling grateful is part of the first steps of abrogating our rights, of giving them away. When we do so, we do not give only our rights away, we demolish and destroy all the efforts of previous generations to ensure our children have rights. If you adopt a slave mentality out of laziness or for the assumed comfort of ‘safety’ or for saving some pennies, you do not have the right to protest when you see your children enslaved, for you offered them as sacrifices to your own petty weaknesses.
Cherine. We did not realise how badly Sam was affected by the memories of Leonard. Let me explain once more. Normally, if I should give a copy of my memories to someone for holding as a backup in case I lose mine, they get parcelled and are blocked off so that they will not overcome the personality of the person entrusted with them. Sam had to enter Leonard’s mind and take his memories in the raw, some even as they were being created. I imagine you already have an idea of the incredible willpower of our Sammy and she was determined to prevent us from worrying over her, so she hid much of her suffering. Because of the state she was in, she did not bundle the memories and block them efficiently, with the result that they continually echoed in the background of her mind. When she had the revelation she wrote of, combining it to her anger (most of it directed at herself for not seeing the truth many years ago) was added the hatred Leonard had been directing at the soldiers and officers while he was being burnt. A large part of her anger was due to her realising that what she said applies to Cherinians also. She ran away, afraid of losing control, and she came to write, hoping the writing would provide catharsis. Unfortunately your written interpretation of what she wrote did not convey all she had said and adding that frustration to how she already felt drove her over the edge. In a way we’re glad it happened this way as it opened her to us and Dommi immediately entered her mind and with our Angel helping her, she corralled and blocked the Leonard memories. They have now been removed and Robert released them in the void where they dissipated like mist in the sun. Sam has gone to the Sparkler World Athens, where she will stay in Robbie’s apartment and sit at the plateia and eat eclairs while those she loves take turns in visiting her. Aganthi will probably get her way and go to be her companion for the duration of Sam’s stay there.
Robert had not intended leaving Leonard on his own for more than a minute, but when we felt Sam and she left, he asked Campbell to take over so that we could rush home. Campbell could not believe he’d been asked to take over so poor Leonard had to handle our kidnapped leaders for an extra three minutes. Luckily the guests were too intimidated to become a problem and once Campbell took over, Leonard was feeling good about the way he’d faced his fears and stayed to help.
Sam: I’m not saying this to excuse myself, but I like the way everything turned out. Maybe we should call this the Campbell Reality? When my family abandoned Leonard because they were worried about me and Campbell took over, he was sensitive in his handling of them and kept Leonard by his side and deferred to him as an equal. Campbell asked Alki to bring the leaders of the Anadir (he could have done so just by calling for them as everyone was watching on the screens or else he could have done so by telepathy, but he wanted the Earth leaders to hear him). They took over and now the Earth leaders are far more amenable and they have exchanged most of their bluster for canny efforts to outmanoeuvre each other for trade agreements and alliance treaties. The Anadir did not waste their time and explained that Hettie and Eddie are in charge in those areas, but they first have to be given permission to negotiate by our leader, Robert. We could feel them all the way to our home as their minds churned at the discovery that Terrans are in control. Robbie is quite fed up with the Anadir as he says he is tired of explaining he is not in charge, but he can’t say anything to upset our Anadir friends as all us girls love them far too much.
“Marian, Eric, experience has shown us that when we are lucky enough to find a Cherine while she is still very young, by taking her on our journeys, from reality to reality, she grows up more confident in her gifts and in her Robert. As you’ve seen, we’ve brought with us as many of the alternates of those close to us as we could find and my loves are creating a small village for all of you to live close to each other. You’ll have your own restaurant and anything else you need, just ask Freddie for it. Apart from your group, we will be taking with us the leaders of most of the nations of your reality. It will be good for them to widen their point of view and meeting the equivalent leaders of our reality and by learning from them I’m certain they’ll stop being so afraid of Talents. Although years will pass for you and them, when we return you to your homes, only hours will have passed on your world.”
The lazuline eyes of Leonard are effective shields, hardly ever betraying his emotions. We can sense how convolved they are, but he does not seem to care that we can sense him, as if his own gift has made him accept our abilities. I think he has an exaggerated impression of what living within a telepathic society is like but he’ll gradually work it out and learn how important it is we respect the privacy of all, Normals and Talents.
Leonard is upset because everything is going well. The response to his gift has been replaced by a new open-mindedness by most of the Earth leaders and it is only natural that he should resent them, despite his being happy they changed. I’m reacting to the changes in them in my own way and I’ll start off by quoting someone else:
If power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, we are living through an era in which a coalition of political interest groups has achieved an unassailable position of social influence. To question this interest coalition is to court social (and quite probably physical) annihilation.
In another time, this might have been seen as bad news for freedom of thought and critical intelligence. Today, unquestioning acquiescence in what amounts to a kind of puritanical absolutism is depicted as the hallmark of moral righteousness. We are, perhaps, never more dangerous than when we are convinced that we are acting for the moral good; it justifies us in purging the social body of those we believe to be moral pollutants. History is littered with such purges, as the piling remains of those whose fate it was to be expunged for the good of the moral order tragically testify. Presently, a rather foul odour is rising from our contemporary exercise in social purging, and those responsible for it are (predictably) blaming the stench on their victims.
The truth is, we are all surprised at how quickly the politicians seem to be changing. Leonard is not the only one who does not believe they have adapted to the extent they are trying to make us think they have. Since our rules do not permit us sneaking a look at their thinking processes and their emoting does get confusing at times, we’ll just have to rely on common sense and our instincts. I think they have come to the realisation that they cannot brazenly continue with their witch hunt, but I’m certain they intend doing so in a more subtle manner. They definitely have not come to the realisation that technology will no longer empower them as it does in the reality of Arthur. Cherinians have now arrived on their world and as they spread and multiply, the government controls will weaken. Soldiers and the police force will no longer intimidate their people; they’ll have to rely on social pressures - and Cherinians are better at identifying exactly how they are being manipulated. We have learnt from the past and are going to use all the methods we used to change our own leaders.
Apart from the novelty of the fact of Freddie itself and the number of alien species, for our guests, seeing their Earth dwindle away into a tiny dot of light amongst a multitude of them while we soar above the plane of our galaxy is enough to shatter some more of that self importance that sheaths them like poisonous lard. Every time the scientists ask to examine some extraordinary solar system and Freddie swoops to swing close by, it serves to remind them how insignificant our solar system is. Learning of the Unation, of how many solar systems and species make up their Federation and the fact that they have survived for so many millions of years as Cherinians is mind numbing for them. Jade and Cassie conspired to deliver the coup de grace.
A debate between the politicians about the importance of each species holding on to their self esteem and feelings of importance, was doing a good job of repairing their loss of confidence, so the two girls communed privately and then Cassie (fairly loudly) asked Jade, “Do you realise the Sparklers are the opposite of all other species in one very important way?”
“You mean, apart from them living in the void?”
Cassie shrugged her question away. “They are the only people, as a species, that I know who do not have a high opinion of themselves whereas all other species hold them in the highest esteem.”
“Oh, that. Actually, they are remarkable in a number of ways. For instance, their World has no end to it and can instantly be altered by them to suit them or their guests. Their leaders, by the way, they must be the only leaders in the entire universe who are called Thinkers, well, they have been the leaders of their people for millions of years so I guess they would have to be pretty good thinkers to still be there!”
Syrina cut in, “They have also done the most to help more species in more realities than anyone else.”
Jade grinned, “Do you know how many species they’ve met just in our reality?”
That question had not occurred to any of us, so Syrina asked Sol, “Could you find out?”
“You only want them to count the sapient species?”
It took the Sparklers three days to work out the answer. They prefaced their answer by admitting they have only visited a fraction of the galaxies of our reality and apologetically explained that the number of species they have met and healed are only about eighty nine thousand six hundred.
Robbie just sat with his jaw hanging and then his elation hit us. He crushed Cherine to him. “God! This means we can spend thousands - tens or hundreds of thousands of years meeting new species! No wonder we’ll never grow bored.”
Since I was still in Kolonaki in the Sparkler World, she should not have teased me, but Tina knew I would share and find her funny. “By ourselves we are quite capable of growing bored by new species if it weren’t for us having the ‘Friend of Aliens’. She’ll keep knocking us askew for millions of years with her feelings of excitement and wonder.” A few jokes were made about me and then they all realised they hugely missed me, so they came as a group to visit.
Ivgos does not know it, not even his family do, but he is being studied just as thoroughly as Cherine has been - with perhaps, just as little or less result. The Greeks have a word for his gift, charisma, and it seems that just as Cherine’s gift is empathy, so is his gift charisma. The main difference is that after studying Cherine by entering her mind as souls, we were able to identify and learn how to open the door to empathy for others. The definition of charisma is ‘A personal attractiveness that enables you to influence others’, in other words, ‘personal magnetism’. We can’t find a psychic ‘door’ for it.
When charisma is superficial, owing its draw to appearance and sweetness of temperament, it is often limited to the same species. When the gift draws from somewhere deep inside, it crosses nearly all barriers. Ivgos is so powerful that he enchants all species who meet him, including the Sparklers, yet even he cannot affect everyone. A prime example of what or who cannot be affected is Barvin. I cannot help feeling that the decision to rejuvenate him so that he stays a child until he has visited all the divides is not a bad idea. I have a feeling that afterwards, when he will also be a Cherinian and have his own healer, he is very likely to opt for that lifestyle for a long time - just like us. At least he’ll remain young enough to love and be loved by a young female of his species once they are born and grow old enough.
Morbo asked Ivgos and the rest of their family to visit his home when they visit his divide (which is also the divide of the tribe of Ivgos). He was bright enough to work out that they can do so if Robbie sheaths them and not only did they agree, Lusalith asked whether she could go with them. Now the entire family can’t wait to go to that divide and the father and mother of Ivgos keep on talking about how their people will react to meeting so many species. What amazes all of us is that the father and mother are proud of their son and the influence he has had in saving all the divides, however, they do not seem to have extended it to a racial pride! With us, our species would be crowing over the rooftops, so we are extra sensitive to this kind of pride and soon noticed how nice his parents are in this respect.
Riivjii no longer prompts me by informing me I have no honour and only watches us silently, unless spoken to. This makes me feel guilty, since time may not be passing for his people but it is for him. This morning I told my family I was going for a walk with Riivjii and left them. Ivgos was with Riivjii, asking him about the city on the high plateau, wanting to know why living in such cities is not good. Watching them from a small distance, I got the impression Riivjii was earnestly trying to make certain he made it clear to Ivgos why living in cities is not good for the heart and soul. I still find myself enchanted by how he has succumbed to the gift of Ivgos and it makes him seem more human to me.
I sensed I was being followed and turning, saw that the Dalai Lama was walking towards me with one of his monks in attendance. By the time they arrived by my side they had all realised I was watching Ivgos.
The Dalai Lama said, his eyes crinkling with his amusement, “I spoke with Nannaïs of the Elipians yesterday and he told me that the soul of Ivgos was created out of music.”
I grinned, “Only music? Without any jomquibwyt?” (‘jomquibwyt’ is the brew they make and consider an integral part of enjoying their music. They claim it opens the mind to subtle nuances that would otherwise be missed). The two of them rewarded me with a smile. Ivgos had noticed us so we walked over and greeted both of them. He may have not sensed I wanted to be alone with Riivjii, for he took hold of his hand. I invited the Dalai Lama, his monk and Ivgos to join us. I asked Riivjii whether he would come with me and a small e-car arrived to take us to the destination I had in mind.
We stayed outside the energy shield and watched the animals for a while and then I told the story of the Elabet and how they created the Gnolats, the most dangerous, to all life, species, enhancing them out of love.
I love Faiiis and by extension, I love your people. You issued a challenge in the hope that I would help break you out of the cycle that is destroying your people. If you hold me to it, I will do whatever is needed to bring the choice of new dreams to your children, but, before you decide, consider the cost. Would you have it said that your people survive because of me?!” I gentled my tone of voice but still tried to sound stern as I continued, “The moment you learnt about the void and the role it plays in the continuation of life for all souls, the answer you needed me to provide should have become obvious. I’m earnestly hoping you will fight to provide your children with a future filled with new possibilities and dreams and, if you do, I promise we will stand by your side to help you get through the difficulties. I promise none will link your people until I am certain the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages - and we’ll wait until you are convinced Cherinianism can co-exist with change and growth.”
Ivgos must have squeezed his hand, for he glanced down at him. “If you want, my family and I will also come with to help you.” For a moment he stared into the eyes of Ivgos and then he stared at the trees in the distance. I turned and saw that the Dalai Lama and the monk with him were also looking away. I felt how everyone was fighting to control their emotions and it got to me and I ended up fighting to hold back the tears I wanted to weep. God! I hardly dare imagine what life would be like if all Cherinians could develop his gift of charisma! On second thought, I’d rather it remain rare and special to him - I suddenly pictured what it would be like if unscrupulous people had his gift. Freddie was sharing and he decided he finally has a destination and made for the planet of the Reggheri. He announced we will be arriving within two days and our time of arrival is to be in the present (our Earth time).
Riivjii joined us at the taverna for the first time - not that he ate or drank anything. He patiently listened to the various conversations and then asked me, “Your help will be needed; can you show our people that the void really does exist and is not a smoke-dream?” I confirmed we can and will and then asked whether he wants all his people to visit the void or only those who have been reincarnated. “I am thinking it would be good that each child, when it is to become an adult, is taken to the void and taught about it, the Sparklers and the Cherinians.”
I teased, “I’m not certain whether I should consider your thoughts generous, but I do approve of them.” Those of my loves who were listening giggled in my mind.
Pedantically he replied, “It is not possible to teach them of the one and not the others.”
I noticed that Ivgos was sitting next to Robbie, who was talking to him very earnestly. None of us listened in, but we could guess Robbie is trying to train him to become a good leader - the reason we could guess was from the fact that Ivgos was visibly struggling to appear attentive while smothering his yawns. Cherine called out that she is sleepy and going home, so Ivgos was released and we walked part of the way. We then jumped to enjoy our hot Milo before retiring to our bedroom.
As with many brilliant actors, Dray obsessively immerses himself in his roles, honing not only his acting talent, but, unwittingly, also his psychic Talent. During the making of the film, ‘The Dream Eater’, Dray does not realise the effect he is having on his reality but someone else, by fortuitous accident, stumbles across the effects while also sensing the reason and the end result. That person was our Lynda.
Lynda no longer sets aside time on a regular basis for sensing other realities, we already have too many to handle and too many problems to solve, so finding more would only eat at our hearts without us always being able to help. Sometimes though, if we went to bed early but did not make love and she wakes up early, she’ll daydream awhile, letting her gift take her wherever it will. At first we felt her disquiet and it seemed to last a long time (I was already writing in the diary) but it sharply grew to a panic and she cried out with horror and fear, “The dream eater, it is going to eat all the dreams, everyone will die!”
I rushed back and we stared at her, each word simple enough, but the meaning of her frantic warning sounding nonsensical. It does not mean we thought it was, after all, we could sense her terror. Robbie was quick to pull her to him and as he held her he told her to take her time and once she is calm we’ll listen to her explanation so that we stop the bad thing happening. We all found it disturbing when she insisted we go to the taverna and that all the species must be represented.
Dommi insisted she first have a slice of toast and a coffee, but she could not swallow the toast. She sipped a few times at her coffee and then she stood on a table so that more can see her. “As you all know, I have the gift of sensing other realities. An hour ago I sensed a reality which I knew was distant, maybe millions of realities away from us. It is dying - the whole reality is dying!”
“How far gone is it and do you know the cause?” a Unation scientist asked.
“The darkness has only just started growing. Darkness is not the right word; you see, there is one man, of my species, who is killing his reality. He is a Talent but does not know it. You are going to think I am crazy, but if there is a possibility he does not believe is possible, the possibility is affected and it shatters or fades away or just winks out of existence.” She then explained about Steven Dray and the movie he is acting in and how studying his role has reinforced his psychic abilities. “In the beginning he only affected reality in tiny ways, but as he grows more convinced of his infallibility, he grows stronger and affects his reality universally.” Her voice was now tinged with the horror we’d sensed earlier as she continued, “He is not religious and does not believe in souls. He thinks that when we die, what we think of as a soul or spirit dissipates or dies. His reality accepted his belief and now his people no longer have souls! What is even worse, is that all the other species are also losing their souls.” She bent her head and silently wept.
“You know it for certain?” Solomon sounded devastated. The Thinkers with him sat as if frozen.
She shook her head. “No, all I know is that suddenly there are no Terran souls in that reality - it has to be him.”
“A reasonable assumption, under the circumstances.” Campbell looked at Cherine. “Even if there is a Cherine in that reality, without a soul she can never become a Cherinian. You must not go there, we cannot afford to lose you.”
Robbie looked at me. “Sam, a soul eater and now a dream eater?”
“Athene would warn me if he wrote for us, Arthur is not responsible.” She winked a smile at me that also served to confirm Arthur has not written.
