Chapter Fifteen
Before his inner explorations had progressed very far, Nuke told us that two neglected and abused children of the Teglinlin species had been rescued and taken to the Station, but there was a major problem. “The one you call Mother became aware of the children’s distress and rescued them. The children have normal feelings of attachment for each other, but remain withdrawn and distrustful in spite of the love and protection they have received from their caretakers for several of your weeks. I have been personally involved in caring for them, but have not been able to break through the wall of distrust they have built around themselves. The boy will speak to us, but he is very protective of his sister. If not for him, she would probably be dead.”
“Why?”
“Their parents despise noise of any kind. Whenever the little one made a noise, they would hit her. The last time she made a noise they put her on the surface of the planet and left her there. Her brother risked his life to save her...”
“What do you want us to do?”
“We hope that you and Star One will allow the consciousness of these children to enter her. We know you will give them the love and nurturing they need.”
Within seconds of our agreement Marjie could feel the children snuggling within her body. She enjoyed the sensations of being a mother again very much. We named the boy Joshua and the baby girl Sarah.
It didn’t take me very long to overcome Sarah’s fear of speaking, and when she realized talking was encouraged, she became an enthusiastic chatterbox. Her consciousness was able to travel to the Station just as Marjie’s and mine could, and she became a valuable source of information about events happening there, especially when they concerned Nucleus 8 or her instruction. We had been told by Alta Sha that Sarah was destined to assume a position of great importance in the Alliance and would eventually work with the Board of Twelve, which greatly added to everyone’s investment in her health and safety, except for the conspirators who wanted to overthrow the Board and assume control. They set about to eliminate Sarah and those closest to her, which resulted in several attempts to kill her, Nucleus 8, Marjie, me, and others linked to us via implants. Some attempts barely failed.
Sarah had not been with us for very long when she anxiously told me that 8 was near death after inhaling toxic fumes released by the sabotage of a normally safe chemistry demonstration.
I said to Marjie, “I’ll count you down so you can go to the Station.”
Entranced, she said, “He’s in the medical unit, on a bed with a clear top over it. It’s very hard for him to breathe. There’s a tube running into his nose and down into his lungs. He’s surrounded by about twenty people who are all busy and trying to help him. They look grim, determined, and very angry. They’re circulating his blood through a machine that purifies it and pumps it back into his body. Their thoughts tell me that Nuke was showing Sarah how the metals in an alloy could be separated with a catalyst and would change color when the separation took place. The container of the catalyst had been secretly filled with a different chemical, and when he poured it out, one of the metals instantly vaporized into fumes he couldn’t avoid inhaling. I’m picking up it was a female who switched the chemicals. They’re not certain that it was done deliberately, because the laboratory is used by many. Alta Sha is standing beside Nuke, touching and talking to him. Tears are running down Nuke’s face.”
I said, “Infuse his body with healing Light and I will too.” I visualized ten thousand Hosts coming to heal him and bathed his body in different spectrums of Light. I asked for the powerful medicine of the Tarahumara, the Apache’, the Sioux, and the Ute’ spirits. In my mind’s eye, I was doing the dance which must be seen again around Nuke’s body, twirling in circles and shaking my rattle over his injured lungs while chanting a healing song. I lifted his ethereal body into the beautiful Light of I AM and prayed, “If you cannot heal this body, Father, then let him have mine, so that he can continue the work You have given him. I willingly give my body to carry out Your work.” Nuke’s ethereal body became a ball of golden Light and I lowered it into his physical form.
Marjie said, “His breathing is better. His chest is moving now. Everyone thinks he will survive.” My anxiety for him vanished instantly.
Alta Sha said, “Nucleus will recover. The link between him and Sarah was severed to protect her from feeling his pain and other symptoms. She was instantly drawn back into her physical body when the fumes were released.”
“Why did that happen?”
“The link to her body is designed to pull her back if her life is in danger.”
We were eating supper the next day when Marjie suddenly stopped, clearly absorbed with a vision. I asked, “What do you see?”
“Perithnea wants to know what the word is for when you are so angry that you want to destroy everything with your anger.”
“Rage.”
Perithnea then said, “That’s what 8 has right now.”
“I suppose that he got a report saying this was not an accident?”
She nodded. I said, “Rage is not good for him. He needs to be calm. Rage might harm his body.”
“I would certainly like to be there and know what’s going on,” Marjie said.
“Well, let’s try it.”
I felt Mother very strongly as I counted Marjie down. She said, “I caught a glimpse of Nuke, but I was being pushed and pulled by the others when I tried to walk through them.”
I felt intense activity in the middle of my brain, followed by waves of energy, causing it to feel as if it were expanding and contracting. I said, “I’m going to count you even deeper so that you can get through to him.” The sensations grew stronger.
“I can see him clearly. He’s shouting commands. People are trying to calm him but he won’t let them. His eyes are solid red! I didn’t know that they could be that color. Three grays are trying to calm him. They keep putting a silver blanket on him but he keeps kicking it off. He’s looking in my direction. I think he hears me.”
“Go to him. Tell him he needs to concentrate on healing. It’s important not to undo the work that‘s been done to heal him. He has others he can count on to deal with this, including Mother and the Board.”
“I’m trying, but I have to move very slowly. I don’t want to make a misstep. The others are parting for me. I’m at his side. He’s taking my hand. He’s asking if that is his counselor. Speak to him. Comfort him.”
Nuke took my right hand in her left hand and placed her right hand on my chest over my heart. I put my left hand over hers and said, “You need to let I AM handle this problem. They tried to kill you and failed because of His protection. You don’t have to worry about this. You have to think about healing and let the others deal with it. You are surrounded by geniuses. Let Mother and the others handle this.
“When you have recovered, you can return to the battle if you like, but for now, you have won just by surviving. Let your wounds heal. Bathe in the river of rainbows that flows through Heaven. Inhale the rainbow mist from the fountains of Light. It will soothe your lungs.”
Marjie said, “Mother is telling him she will take care of this situation. He accepts Mother’s authority without question. His eyes are getting black again. He isn’t kicking the blanket off now. He’s going to sleep.”
Adam kept me posted about Nuke’s condition. Because an hour in our dimension is equivalent to six “hours” in Nuke’s, his progress was amazingly rapid. His lungs and blood were flushed, his burns were repaired, and his eyes were successfully treated in the course of two and a quarter Station days (cycles), or nine Earth hours.
He greeted me and I said, “We’re very happy to see that you are up and about.”
“All of my precious ones were here when I needed them. I will not forget this. I will not give up my physical body easily after four thousand seven hundred and eighteen years.”
When Eight was much better I said, “I was informed that U was responsible for the attempt to kill you and Sarah. How did the deadly motives of someone as highly placed as she is go undetected? I thought your security was very tight. I assumed you would have scanned her thoughts.”
“She had gained much trust through her previous record and no need was seen to question her motives. I understand she has been able to convert others to her cause. We are investigating those links.”
After another attempt on his life and our exploration of the details of his training, during which the search for more conspirators had continued, Nuke revealed, “The Academy’s records indicate that Marishka visited me regularly throughout my stay there, but I never saw her. She visited 14 times… A video shows him in the corridor with her. He claims they didn’t have a meeting, that she was only passing by. The implications of this search will be very far-reaching.”
Marishka had permanently sealed all of her personal records, but since it was known she had lied about some of her past activities, searching them was legally justified. Nuke was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself if they revealed that she was one of the conspirators, so I said, “If you’re afraid your anger will cause you to do something you’ll regret, ask Regenc 4 to check them for you.”
“That’s a very good idea. I’ll go and talk to him now.” After a brief pause he said, “Regenc 4 will help. I intend to get started on this soon.”
It didn’t take long to obtain the results. “Regenc 4 discovered that when I was taken from Earth, I was placed in solitary confinement, as were a number of other hybrids who were part of the experiment. During the four years that I was confined I was continuously drugged, and through a series of injections, was gradually exposed to increasingly radioactive isotopes, until my tolerance of them was very strong. Then I was given a special implant which creates an energy bubble around me and prevents the radiation I emit from harming the grays and any other species I work with in my dimension. Grays are also more tolerant of radiation than humans.
“For the following four years, I was bombarded with questions without letup. Even when I sat down to eat there were questions written on my utensils, on my plate, and on the table. Audible questions were thrown at me relentlessly, not so I would answer them, but to create a conditioned reaction against answering any question. Do you understand what I’m saying? For four years they did this to me, four f**king years!” Tears spilled from his eyes. I sat close beside him.
“Then what?”
“They put me in a cell for two years. Everything was padded. There was absolute silence. The only external sound was the noise of my clothing when I moved. Even my food tray and utensils were padded to prevent noise and so I couldn’t use them to harm myself,” he sobbed. I put my arm around him.
“That was terrible. It was cruel.”
“I have so much anger I have to find a way to release it, but first I want to nurse it. I want to let it build and to really feel it. Then I’m going to find a place where the soil is soft and I’m going to lie face down in it and release the anger.”
“Good idea. What happened when they let you out?”
“Without any preparation, I was put into a group with other hybrids, and from then on my instructions were given in the group. I’m sure I had instruction during the eight years prior to that, but I can’t remember it. Most of that time I was half doped and don’t remember having any conscious thoughts, especially for the last two years.
“Regenc 4 has been the perfect helper. He maintained an attitude of neutral objectivity, which is what I needed. I was able to maintain my composure with him, thank God.”
“If you need a shoulder to cry on, you know where to find one.”
Marishka’s records also revealed that she became pregnant with Nuke knowing he would be trained to become a critically important pawn in the plan to take over the Alliance. From her point of view, coupling with a human to produce him was a repugnant but necessary step to insure success of the conspiracy.
A little more time passed before Nuke said, “Our investigation into the crimes committed against Sarah and Star One and the placement of explosive devices at the Station have yielded some very surprising results.”
“Are you allowed to tell me about them?”
“Yes. Until now, the conspiracy of silence, which has been in existence throughout my lifetime, has successfully concealed the identities of the topmost perpetrators. Marishka’s influence was much greater than I realized. She faked the recent improvements in her behavior to counter our suspicions. By scanning the minds of the individuals we caught red-handed and their associates, we learned that Marishka and the former Chief of Security planned the takeover. He was in charge of my training program at the Academy. They placed the agents they had trained for unquestioning obedience in strategic positions throughout the Alliance.”
“What will happen to her?”
“I went alone to confront her with the evidence. She didn’t bother to deny her guilt. She knew their plan had failed, that she would never again have any authority, and that the punishment for her crimes would be death. She treated me with contempt to the end and asked me to end her life. Although it was illegal to do it without a trial, I executed her.
“I am very familiar with my mother’s species and I have never met anyone of her kind who is not benign. I would like to know how she became the way she was. I think she might have encountered The Dark at some point.” He was not nearly as disturbed about killing his mother as I thought he would be.
Eight had immediately informed the Board of the execution and had been confined to his quarters while they deliberated over his fate. Several Earth hours passed before he said, “After several cycles I was summoned to appear before the Board. They said if I wanted to keep my job, I would have to accept the Number One position.”
Although 8 had achieved his lifelong ambition, he was not at all happy about it, for accepting their offer would most likely kill him. Position One came with dangerous strings attached, explaining why it had been vacant for so long. To claim that seat, the candidate had to dispose of several extremely powerful weapons the Alliance had confiscated from defeated enemies through the centuries. In order to destroy them they had to be detonated. Unless contained, the explosive energy of the most dangerous weapon would consume any matter it contacted, convert it into energy, and expand indefinitely until all matter in its dimension was eliminated. The theoretical solution was to convert Nuke’s entire body into an impervious, stone-like substance able to prevent the short-lived and tiny initial explosion from expanding. The only catch was, no one had ever survived being converted to stone. As 8 angrily put it, “Once more I have been railroaded into a job no one else would take. It’s theoretically possible to survive, but if I do, it’s doubtful that the process can be reversed. I might have to live out the rest of my life as a piece of armor.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do?”
“The process has already started. Will you and Candace stay with me until it’s finished? I want to be with you if anything goes wrong.”
Candace and I sat beside Nuke during the two hours the agonizing transformation required, compassionately listening to Nuke’s complaints of increasing stiffness and weight. I prayed for his success and projected healing Light to him throughout the awful procedure. Toward the end, his breathing was so slow and shallow I was afraid he was going suffocate, and worried about the effect that would have on Marjie’s body, but he pulled through. Greatly relieved, I released my withheld breath and said, “Thank God you’re alright. Breath must love you a great deal to help you live through all the ordeals you have faced.”
“I don’t know how long I can endure feeling like a piece of stone. It’s time for me to leave.” We hugged and I wished him good luck, confident that I AM would protect him on this mission, like all the ones before. About an hour passed before he returned, saying, “I suffered a few bruises and contusions, but worst of all, I lost my baby tooth!”
“You can’t be serious.” He was. He missed the last molar on the left side of his jaw that had endured from infancy. It was never found.
Still lugging his stoney body around, 8 became Chairman of the Board and immediately began to issue orders designed to fast track needed projects that had been delayed by the pervasive fear of superiors created by the conspirators. He instructed the inhibited middle manager types to make independent, common sense decisions instead of endlessly waiting for orders carry out the steps necessary for implementation. He knew they would be uncomfortable with their new authority, but told them to either rise to the challenge or be replaced by someone who would. Any pertinent questions were permitted and would be answered.
Nuke had been Number One for only a few weeks when he began to act as weak and feeble as a very old man, so I asked if he was getting enough rest. “Yes, but I don’t want to be Number One any longer. I didn’t like being railroaded into it and it’s too demanding. I would be relieved to go back to position 8, but will you think less of me if I do?”
“You should do whatever it takes to be happy.”
“I will revert to my previous physical state, but first I need to release the energy that created my armor into your body. It won’t have the same effect on you. Are you willing to accept it?” I agreed. He closed his eyes and raised his open left hand, saying, “Touch my hand.” I put the fingertips of my right hand against his, closed my eyes, and concentrated on receiving the energy for a few seconds. “It is done. Take the energy outside and release it.” I did. Within fifteen minutes his normal vigor returned, bringing with it a welcome twinkle in his eyes.
The investigation of the conspiracy had continued in the meantime. He said, “I received a report from my captains. They discovered a list of 666,666 individuals involved in the conspiracy in Mariska’s file. I don’t know why she left a list. I suppose she thought no one would ever see it. All of them will be tracked down. Over seven hundred stations are involved.”
“What percentage of the Alliance stations does that represent?”
“About one sixteenth. Rounding up all the culprits is a big job. I will receive a lot of communications in the next few weeks. If I seem distracted, that will be the reason.
“It’s true that Marishka was taken by The Dark, but most of the ones who joined the conspiracy later entered willingly.”
“Was she the kingpin?”
“No. The kingpin is The Dark, and now we have to deal with it.”
“How can you eliminate it? Isn’t some darkness required for balance in the universes?”
“A way will have to be found to stop its influence. We can at least contain it. The Mothers will help.”
Nuke had taught our small group of close friends that we could be conduits of quasar energy if we joined hands in a circle and said, “Powering up.” For a few minutes we would receive mental images that we would share with each other after powering down. Sometimes we had a general target in mind, but more often we had none. Our individual visions usually overlapped, each contributing to a complete picture.
In one of our power ups I received a vision that pertained to the conspiracy. An orange-colored planet appeared in my mind’s eye, which then zoomed in to view a huge pyramid. I somehow knew it could shoot a destructive energy beam from its apex into outer space. After hearing my description, Nuke checked with his System and said, “Although this planet is within our grid, the inhabitants have not joined the Alliance. I sent a team with three vessels to investigate. They were parked in neutral territory far above the planet when they were fired upon. Thirteen hundred lives were lost.”
“Good Lord!”
“We weren’t expecting hostilities, so our ships were not equipped to deal with the pyramid, which is a nuclear vent weapon. It’s far too sophisticated for their level of technology, so it’s very likely that someone within the Alliance has assisted them. An armada is being assembled and the pyramid will be destroyed. Ships are coming from all over the Alliance and Mothers will also be there. We can easily deal with anything they throw at us.”
A few hours later he reported, “The mission was a success. We removed all the innocents from the planet before we destroyed all of their weapons and the means to produce them, which has reduced their civilization to essentially a stone-age level of technology. We could have eliminated the entire planet, but it is still viable. The innocents were returned to it and will have to fend for themselves. We told them we hope they will learn to live in peace and will decide to join the Alliance in the distant future. We are still searching for whoever provided the technology that is responsible for so many deaths.” I put my arm around him as he grieved for his murdered troops.
Nuke received a nearly fatal injury when a conspirator provided precise targeting information to the United States military. It was around 2:00 a.m. when Adam anxiously exclaimed, “Father! Father! Wake up!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nuke has been injured. He was travelling to Candace from this dimension and was hit by a laser with enough power to melt sixty thousand tons of steel. Most of its energy was deflected, but enough got through to hurt him.”
“How bad are his injuries?”
“His left side is useless and he has a severely burned gash in his right side. He also has severe brain damage. Mother and several of her kind are preparing to do a surgical procedure that hasn’t been tried before but is theoretically possible. He isn’t doing well, father. I don’t know what I would do without him.”
“Let’s think positively and keep our minds focused on him being healed. He needs our confidence that he will recover, not doubts about his survival.”
In spite of the severity of his injuries, I felt strangely confident that Nuke would survive. Marjie projected her consciousness to the medical unit at the Station and said, “I hear a siren constantly howling in the background. It’s coming from Nuke’s System, which is frantic. Candace is standing beside Nuke.”
I said to Adam. “Tell the System to be quiet. All that noise isn’t helping.”
“It won’t listen to us.”
I projected my etheric self before the System and explained to it that those who cared for Nucleus could help by remaining calm and confident of his survival and by sending healing energy to him.”
Adam said, “It’s calming down. The sirens have stopped. Send it love. It needs to feel loved.”
“We love you, System. We know how much Nuke means to you and how helpful you have always been to him. Serve him well. Continue performing the functions he depends on you to do while he is incapacitated. Make him proud.”
Adam said, “That’s enough. Much more of that and she’ll go to sleep. She’s functioning normally again.”
Everyone sent healing Light to Nuke as we waited for the results of surgery. At last Adam said, “The operation was a success, but it’s still touch and go. He lost his right kidney and a quarter of his right lung. No one knows how much of his capacities he will retain. They’re still working on him.”
An hour passed before Nuke weakly said, “Greetings, Pat.”
“Well, hello! I’m amazed that you can speak already. That’s wonderful.”
“I understand that I am severely injured, but I want to come home to my family. I want to be with you.”
“As Chief of Security, what does your wisdom say you should do?”
“Stay in the highly secure area.”
“I agree. You need to be safe and close to all of the medical equipment and staff until you’re stable and more is known about why this happened to you.”
“I wish they would stop poking at me. They won’t let me rest for a minute.”
“They’re trying to keep you alive. I believe you’re going to recover completely.”
“Very well, but I still don’t like it.”
He had much more energy when he greeted me in the morning and said, “I’m beginning to have some control over the left side of my body.”
“That’s great news.”
“I’m able to stand but I’m a bit wobbly. My left side is still semi-paralyzed, but Alta Sha assured me that I will have a 99.9% complete recovery... I still want to come home to my family.”
“We have to know that it’s safe.”
Adam interjected, “Nuke made the mistake of using a path he has used before. The System knew it was risky and asked him if he did not want to change it, but Nuke said it would be alright. Your military already had the laser focused on that path and was waiting for his return. He’ll be safe if he takes a different path.”
Marjie and I attended church and visited with Isabel. Nuke channeled briefly in both places, and on the way back to our home he said, “I wanted to be at the church so I could put my name in the prayer box. I was very touched by the prayers that were said for me. I don’t believe anyone except you has ever prayed aloud for Nucleus 8 before.”
Marjie and I were walking that evening when he channeled again. I noted a slight worsening in his speech and coordination. He said again that he wanted to come home.
I said, “It’s okay with me as long as it’s safe.”
“I will have to bring a medical team with me, and you will have to speak to Tesar to arrange transportation.”
Tesar was unusually serious when we spoke. He asked, “What’s this I hear about 8 wanting to return to Earth?”
“It’s true. He’s slipping, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“He knows he will be better off with us and he wants to come. If he’s getting worse even though he’s there, I think he should be allowed to come here.”
“The medical team will make some racket.”
“That’s not a problem.”
“Very well, but you have to convince the Board. You will have to establish a communication link to speak with them. Are you capable of doing that?”
“I think you’re putting too much emphasis on me, and not enough emphasis on Breath.”
“They are one and the same, aren’t they?”
“Okay, which ones do you want me to talk to?”
“They will establish communication with you.”
I brought Marjie up to date on Nuke’s medical status. She said, “I’ll handle this. I know he needs to be with us.”
She addressed the Board, saying, “I am Star One. Nucleus is deteriorating. If you can’t prevent it, he should be with us. He needs our love, which you can’t provide.
Please decide without delay.”
I added, “Your care has saved his life, but he is going downhill. He trusts us more than anyone else, and that trust is very important to his recovery. I don’t believe he will die, but if he must, he would rather be with his loved ones. Don’t forget that we can call on an army of angels, an army of faeries, and an army of Hosts to help.”
Marjie said, “Their answer is yes. Count me down.” I prayed for I AM’s assistance for a safe transfer.
Within moments Nuke said, “I’m here. Thank you.”
“There’s no need for thanks. This is where you want to be, which is fine with us. We just want you to recover.”
“I feel better already. I had to get out of there. The place is so sterile I couldn’t stand it!” He repeatedly expressed his debt to us and I insisted there was none. He asked, “Will you sleep at my left side? Your Light will help me heal.” Naturally, I agreed.
Marjie and I arrived early for her appointment in downtown Memphis the next day. Nuke and I walked a city block to see the fountain in Court Square and then we went to Confederate Park, sat on a bench, and enjoyed looking at the panoramic view of the Mississippi river. He enjoyed the stimulating energy of the city. After Marjie’s lengthy appointment, he joined me for lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant.
When at home again, we phoned Candace. She said it was Nuke’s Second in Command who had provided the targeting information in addition to giving the Atlanta group access to an archival implant code, indirectly causing the murder of 72 individuals linked to 8 in his dimension. Nuke was very disturbed by that news and said, “Nocor has an excellent record. I have worked with him for many centuries. I have trusted him implicitly and considered him my friend. He has rejoiced when I survived serious injuries. You have said all along there must be a highly placed ringleader.”
“I would have never suspected it was your Second in Command.”
“There’s something I have to do, and I need your help. I want you to code some information into my System, but I have to be there in