PART III.

THE HOLY.

GHOST.

Character History The Chosen the Dark Age Atlantis Tory Alexander (Thurlow) Tory/Sorcha Temperance Maelgwn/ Miles Thurlow Maelgwn Turan Brian Alexander Brockwell Adelgar Candace/ Naomi Alexander Katren Tabitha Floyd Tiernan Durand Boadicea Ione Lilith Robin of Loxley/ John Pearce Rhys Darius Jenny Pearce Jenovefa Anthea Neraida Cara Cadwell Vortipor/Cadwell Ethan Angus Talynn Alma Rhun Rhun Xavier Sybil Bridgit Sybil Rhiannon Thurlow Aella Annora Cadwallon/ Ray Murdock Bryce Zadoc Cadwaladr/ Doc Alexander Caradoc Alaric Vanora Vanora Antonia Noah Purcel Selwyn Seth Pocahontas/Rebecca Nicholas Pearce Gawain Gaspard Helen of Sparta Daniel Alexander Cai Lazarus Cleopatra Aunt Rose Lady Gladys Nin Bau Taliesin/Teo Taliesin Jerram Seshut/Donna Mahala Mryddin/ Renford Alexander Mryddin Absalom Vivian/ Helen Alexander Vivian Melcah Walter Cadfan Cadfan Queen Hatshepsut Thomas Mateus Thais Hero Patrick Haze Season The Nefilim Tree

23.

PASSING TIME.

After Cadfan's deliverance from the ICA and his recovery from the effects of his zombie state, the volunteers from the underground tribes returned to their individual bases to await the time of the Gathering - some fourteen years away.

Although there were still many immortals trapped by the NERGUZ-I-NUEN, Taliesin advised that it would be wise to wait until the Gathering was nearly upon them before attempting another rescue. If the ICA were left alone they would perhaps be lulled into a false sense of security. The less their abilities were tested, the more lax they would become.

By the same token, Taliesin didn't want Tory stirring up any more trouble either. He reminded her of Maelgwn's request that she stay hidden, then asked her to consider all that had happened since she'd chosen to ignore the warning. How much of it could have been avoided if she'd taken that advice; was the world really a better place for her defiance?

Tory mulled over his supposition carefully. She had saved lives, true, but no one that she wouldn't have been reunited with eventually. She had not prevented the gaping hole in the ozone layer over the Middle East, or the abduction and murder of innocent people in Alaska. Nor, with Ray's death, would they be able to prevent the implementation of the Fusion project. Tory had, however, lost her daughter through their involvement in ICA affairs and this most certainly would not have happened had she heeded Maelgwn's warning. So, in the end, Tory persuaded herself to see reason and vowed to Taliesin that she would leave Doc be.

Although Taliesin wholeheartedly wanted to take Tory at her word, he couldn't help but caution her. One of the trials in these times of tribulation, he said, was to resist wasting their resources on little individual battles.

For only then would the Chosen stand a chance of winning the war.

Walter Cadfan and Patrick Haze had no problems fitting in at Watarrka, and before long had set up their own healing practice and a thriving herbarium. With the procession of the years, however, their powers of healing were tested more and more. For, with the weakening of the Earth's magnetic field due to its axis shift the planet was bombarded with radiation from space. The levels of poisonous toxins in the air increased to an unbearable high and with this came a plague of respiratory, digestive, skin and mind diseases, usually fatal.

The human race was driven to seek refuge in the few large bodies of forest the planet had left to offer; for only the trees had the ability to transform the poisonous gasses into fresh breathable air.

Biodomes were no longer just scientific experiments for collecting data on the biosphere and its ecosystems. They had become an integral part of the future of life on Earth and life in space. Underground, under the sea, on the moon and on the Earth's surface whole cities with carefully monitored environments were constructed. Clean, healthy surroundings became a luxury that only the rich could afford to enjoy every day, though the middle classes could vacation in the Biodome once they'd saved enough money to afford the entry fee. The best bet for the average Joe Blow in the street to be granted residency was to land a job with a major corporation who operated from within one of the Biodomes. The remaining population, though promised residency in paradise when enough Biodomes had been constructed, was continually misinformed about the damaged environment to prevent panic. In their ignorance, a large majority of Earth dwellers were at the mercy of cosmic radiation and its slow but inexorable toll.

The large opening in the roof of the cavern of pools was closed over to protect Watarrka's community from harmful radiation. Under Rhun's guidance, the immortals pooled their telekinetic know-how to help achieve an amazing feat of organic cementation. But, unlike a Biodome, Watarrka was still not completely isolated from the outside world, for their water supply was fed from external sources. The water trickled in through various rocky crevices in the canyon floor, far too many to hope to find and block them all. As a further means of prevention, they planted as many trees and shrubs around the outside pools as possible. They also boiled and filtered all water for consumption. In the end, though, they could only hope to delay the slow poisoning of their people.

These measures kept the health problems of the outside world at bay for many years, but by the year 2028 the mortals at Watarrka starting showing the first symptoms of radiation-induced illnesses.

Due to her age, Aunt Rose was the first to fall ill. As she was an immortal, however, Tory arranged for a fatal injection to be administered to her aunt in her sleep.

Rose awoke the following day to find her health and youth restored. Returned to the fair and supple beauty Rose had been in her prime, Tory recognised her as Nin Bau, once the High Priestess of Chailidocean and the lover of the Lord Marduk.

Tory also arranged to have Noah, Nicholas, Daniel, Floyd, Pete Nangina, and his family, put out of their misery before it began. One simple injection whilst they slept and it was done. Floyd was the only one who even wised up to the transition straight away, as he was noticeably more youthful and now sported a full head of hair.

There was one amongst them whose suffering Tory could not prevent.

Brian lost his beloved wife, Naomi, to cancer during the Winter of '29. In the end she went willingly, trusting Tory's word that her immortal self was making her way back to them as they spoke. Since they had met some thirty-three years before, Brian had loved Naomi faithfully. Needless to say he was not the same man for many years after her death.

Having dedicated many years to gazing at the stars, Daniel Alexander finally made a significant discovery.

At approximately midnight on the 16th December, 2036, Dan was making a routine check of the constellation of Taurus when he chanced to witness a new light appear in the night sky. This twinkle, he immediately concluded, had to be a comet.

These great lumps of dust and ice often appeared without warning as they travelled into the inner reaches of the solar system from the Oort Cloud far beyond the reaches of the planets. Comets only became visible once the sun's heat had evaporated some of their ice mass.

This thawing released dust from the comet's surface creating a vapour cloud that reflected sunlight and made the comet visible from Earth.

By breakfast time the following day, Daniel was still checking the orbit paths of all the known periodical and non-periodical comets. There was really no need to do this, as Daniel knew them all by heart. Still, he had to be sure. Perhaps there was one obscure comet in history he'd not studied, or that he'd forgotten. When nothing matched up, however, Daniel was forced to concede that he must have discovered an entirely new comet.

By this stage of the century only the immortals inhabited the underground base at Watarrka and the Goddess easily accommodated them all. They had reversed the cementation job done on the roof of the cavern of pools as their isolation no longer served any purpose. They took Merlin I and II on regular runs to scout for any stray immortals who might still be wandering the vast wastelands of the Earth. This gave them something constructive to do apart from their studies. The only terrorist activity they'd participated in of late was their monthly raid on Biodome food stocks.

Watarrka's once-thriving cavern of produce had died along with the mortal inhabitants.

Daniel raced through the dark middle cavern that had been powered down long ago to conserve energy for Floyd's computers. This cavern gave Dan the creeps these days - there were far too many ghosts haunting the shadows therein. His pace slowed when he entered the partially-sunlit cavern of pools, where the Goddess was docked. Daniel guessed everyone would be at breakfast in the rec room, and ran up the gangway eager to tell his news.

Daniel raved on for a good ten minutes about celestial latitude (declination), longitude (right ascension), and other data he'd been filling his brain with most of the night.

It was Noah who was the first to pick up on where Daniel's spiel was leading. 'Ah, you would be referring to the comet the Anglo-Australian Observatory claimed the discovery of early this morning.'

'That's bullshit, man,' Daniel insisted. 'What was their official time of discovery?'

'One-fourteen this morning.'

Daniel let loose a screech that might have been a laugh were he not so frustrated. 'I discovered it nearly an hour before them.'

Brian gave his son a chug on the shoulder for his achievement, even though they both knew he could not publicly state his claim. 'Well, at least we know it's "Alexander's comet", no matter what the experts decide to name it.'

'Too right.' Noah seconded Brian's view. 'I'll make note of it in my scripts. Perhaps, with the passing of time, the oversight will be corrected.'

'Thanks, guys.' Daniel collapsed into a seat, seeing his chances as grim.

'Oh, come on.' Tory attempted to snap him out of his sudden melancholy. 'You haven't been studying the stars all these years for the glory. Discovery and observation is what it's all about, and that's exactly what you're doing ... so, be glad. I feel quite sure the universe threw that comet into your line of vision for good reason, so you'd best figure out what that is.'

'You think?' he responded more positively.

'Don't you?' She threw the ball back in his court.

'Perhaps you're right.' Daniel reached for the breakfast cereal, his enthusiasm in the new comet rekindled.

'But don't go neglecting the other regions of space,'

Rhun warned.

'I know,' Daniel said in a bored fashion. ' Especially Sirius.'

Rose wandered in half asleep, an absolute knockout in a pair of cut-off jeans and a midriff top. She wasn't even given the chance to wish all of them a good morning before every male in the room broke into loud whistles.

'Looking good, Aunt Rose.' Even after eight years, Rose's transformation still amazed Brian. He just couldn't get used to the fact that this dark-haired, green-eyed babe was his old aunt.

'Thank you, pumpkin.' She tweaked his cheek as if he were a child.

'Ah, you're an awful tease, Rose,' Rhun accused her playfully, as he gave her a squeeze.

Rose giggled, lapping up the attention. 'If you've got it, flaunt it, I say.'

'Here, here,' all the men agreed.

Floyd strutted into the rec-room, his long fair hair flying in the back draft. 'Morning all.' He sounded disturbed, but he kept his beef to himself, strolling straight up to the breakfast bar.

'The usual?' Patrick placed the strong Irish coffee in front of Floyd. 'It's got a little extra kick this morning,'

he winked.

Patrick took care of all the catering arrangements these days, and having proven himself a talented telepathist, he prided himself on knowing what people wanted before they asked.

'Cheers.' Floyd sipped on the brew, and finding it a pleasant temperature, drank the whole mug down.

'Jeez, what's eating you?' Patrick immediately replaced the empty with another he'd already prepared.

'Mongolia,' commented Floyd, taking the mug in hand.

'That would have been my next guess!' Patrick appeared a tad concerned for the man's well-being.

'Well,' Floyd threw an arm in the air, 'after blatantly refusing the ICA's request to do some surveying in their region, the Mongolian Government have now had an abrupt change of heart.'

'God, that shits me.' Patrick played along.

'So what's that now?' Noah counted scenarios in his mind. 'Five countries the ICA has blackmailed their way around thanks to the fusion grid.'

'You would think they'd all wise up,' Rose scoffed.

'They probably have,' Tory rose to clear her dishes, 'only now it's too late to do anything about it.

Besides, anyone who's someone is tucked up safely in the cosy atmosphere of their little domed paradise.

And as long as the ICA keep pumping the power their way, they don't give a damn what happens to the world outside.'

'Sounds a bit like us,' Brian grumbled, voicing the restlessness they all felt.

'Don't start with me, Brian,' Tory warned, and he dropped the subject.

'What do you think their interest in Mongolia is, anyhow?' Rhun posed in a general fashion. It was his mother who answered him.

'We don't know, and we don't care,' she stated forcefully. 'Subject closed.'

'Besides ...' Patrick reverted back to his original question, and passed Floyd his third refill, 'I don't think that's what's really bothering you.'

'Hey,' Floyd took a swipe at Pat, who jumped back out of harms way, 'don't be getting into my head this early in the morning.'

'Touchy.' Pat provoked him further. 'I was only going to ask her name?'

'I don't know! Okay?'

Tory, who'd finished rinsing her dishes, overheard the comment and was too curious not to inquire: 'To what her are you both referring?'

'I just got through telling him, I don't know. I just had a couple of dreams, that's all. More like wishful thinking, than anything else,' Floyd mumbled in conclusion, and was about to walk off in a huff, when Tory glimpsed his mind and a vision of the beauty who was haunting him.

'I know her name,' she announced boldly, and waited for Floyd to do an about-face. 'I even have a couple of photos. Want to see?'

Though Floyd couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams how this could be possible, he knew better than to doubt Tory's claims. He gave a vague nod and followed her to the CD-ROM library.

'I know they're in here somewhere.' Tory glanced through the titles on the computer screen. 'I had a whole bunch of photos from my travels scanned onto a CD for safekeeping. Gwynedd,' she announced. 'Here it is.' She double-clicked on the file, and the computer searched, selected and loaded the CD in question from amid the hundreds it held in its stacker.

A slide show of photographs appeared one by one on the screen.

'Is that your wedding?' Floyd was gaping at the shots, which looked rather like the stills from a grand period movie.

Tory nodded, feasting her eyes on the fleeting image of her love. 'Happiest day of my life,' she told Floyd with certainty. The next picture that faded in was of all twelve of the original members of the Dragon's circle who had served as guardians of Britain during Maelgwn's rule. 'There she is.' Tory froze the screen, selecting only the figures of Ione and Sir Tiernan to blow up and enhance.

'It is her ... and me!' he realised, having taken a closer look. 'Rhun told me about my life in Gwynedd as the champion of King Caswallon and then King Maelgwn after him.' Floyd lowered himself into a chair, believing that if he didn't sit down he'd fall down. 'But I always assumed he was either exaggerating or pulling my leg.'

'Don't look so worried,' she chuckled. 'Your dreams are just your past life memories bleeding through. We've all experienced this to differing degrees. The training Rhun and myself have been putting you through is designed to encourage such experiences.'

'So, let me get this straight.' Floyd's new understanding made him smile. 'Are you saying I was involved with this woman?'

Tory rolled her eyes at his choice of words. 'God, Floyd, you're such a damn bachelor sometimes.

Marriage is not a dirty word you know?'

' She married me! Why?'

' She was your wife in two different lifetimes that I know of,' Tory stated. 'Why should this be so surprising to you?'

Now Floyd was laughing. 'Because she has the makings of a super model, or a Goddess even. What the hell would she see in me?'

'The makings of a champion, a genius, or a King, perhaps?' Her response seemed to floor him, and he went quiet for a moment.

'So what is the point of me remembering her? Is this some sort of cosmic torture?'

'Hardly. I'd say she wants to make sure that you'll recognise her when she returns here with Maelgwn and the others next year.'