"All your questions will be answered soon! We need to..." Her words were lost above the roar of the engine. Her words were lost above the roar of the engine.

The boat bounced over the waves and I held on for dear life. My tired body was not not appreciating this. At all! Finally the engine slowed and the boat sidled up to a run down excuse for a houseboat. appreciating this. At all! Finally the engine slowed and the boat sidled up to a run down excuse for a houseboat.

"Come on," Hazel said, quickly stepping over the side. Sam jumped out and started securing the boat. "We should be safe here," Hazel added.

I clambered onto the deck; the boards creaked loudly under my feet. "I don't feel very safe," I said, looking around.

"Quick," Hazel said, gesturing impatiently from the doorway. Sam slipped his arm through mine and helped me to the door.

Inside was cramped, but tidy. Hazel put her briefcase on the tiny kitchen table, stepped down into the sunken living room, and sat down in a chair next to a very thin old black woman in a recliner. The woman was intent on watching television.

"Hey." Hazel tapped her on the arm. "These men are here to see you."

The woman looked up at me with slightly yellowed eyes and a crooked grin.

I looked at Hazel, at the woman, then back at Hazel again. "--I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"Please forgive me," she said. "There was no time to explain. I'm Nan. This This is Hazel. She's my mother." is Hazel. She's my mother."

CHAPTER 27.

QUESTIONS.

001001011001110.

Nan motioned with her hand. "Come, have a seat, Mom is eager to speak with you."

I sat down on an orange 70's style kitchen chair in front of Hazel, looked at Nan, and motioned to the TV. "May I?" I asked. She nodded, so I reached out and turned the volume down. I turned to look at Hazel.

She looked to be around seventy, was wearing a flowered print dress, and was fidgeting with a bowl of b.u.t.tons in her lap. "Full o' questions," she said in a slow monotone, not making eye contact.

"Yes," I nodded.

Her lips pursed and twitched. She stared at the arm of her chair. "Want to know-- Vrin." Her voice was distant.

"Yes," I said again.

She took my hand gently into hers, dug a b.u.t.ton out of the bowl, and slowly placed it in my palm. Carefully she closed my fingers around it.

I looked at Nan.

"My mother has autism. I know it's awkward, but she is very gifted. If you're patient, she will explain."

I looked back at Hazel.

"You are-- chased." She shook her head slightly, still not making eye contact.

"Yes. I am am being chased." being chased."

The tone of her voice shifted slightly higher. "No danger. No danger. You safe now.

I shook my head, confused. "--But they tried to kill kill me." me."

There was an awkward pause as she seemed to contemplate a hidden puzzle. Then her eyes focused past me. She sat motionless, staring at the silent television with her head c.o.c.ked, as if trying to catch a sound from it.

"That was before they knew," offered Nan.

I looked at her. "--What?"

"Before they knowed you went back," Hazel said, almost lucidly.

I gave Nan a quizzical look.

"Those men were not chasing you, you, they were following you, to get to us." they were following you, to get to us."

"And why would they want to do that?"

"Because my mother knows too much about Vrin."

I tried to piece the riddles together in my head. "Wh- what's the bottom line? Are they trying to kill me or not?"

"No." Hazel looked up at the ceiling. "No danger. You impo'tant impo'tant in Vrin." in Vrin."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "--But I'm not in in Vrin," I said slowly. Vrin," I said slowly.

"Impo'tant in Vrin!" she blurted, shaking her head again. "Jes' don't remember!"

"Remember? Remember what?" what?"

"Vrin," she whispered. she whispered.

Again I stared. "But I'm not connected connected to the computer. I'm not to the computer. I'm not in in Vrin." I was beginning to get very frustrated. Vrin." I was beginning to get very frustrated.

Hazel's eyes scanned back and forth rapidly. "When you sleep." "When you sleep."

"Sleep?" I said, trying desperately to understand. "I don't think..."

She gripped my arm and stared intently into my eyes. "You must- stop him."

I pulled away and looked desperately at Nan.

"When you sleep you go back to Vrin," she said. "You don't need the computer, and mom says you are supposed to stop a man who is trying to destroy it."

"It?" I squinted at her. I squinted at her.

"Vrin, the whole thing."

My brows furrowed. "O-kay..." I said with sarcasm. "Let me get this straight. straight. You're telling me, that when I go to sleep, I travel to the You're telling me, that when I go to sleep, I travel to the magical realm magical realm of of Vrin Vrin to try to save it from an evil mastermind?" to try to save it from an evil mastermind?"

"Well it sounds stupid when you say it like that."

"It is is stupid!" I stood up. "Wouldn't you think it was stupid!" I stood up. "Wouldn't you think it was stupid stupid if you were me?" if you were me?"

Hazel piped up. "Not stupid. Not stupid." She c.o.c.ked her head slightly, hunched her shoulders, and looked up at the ceiling. "Impo'tant."

Nan reached out and placed a tender hand on her mother's arm. "It's okay, Mom. I'll explain it to him."

Hazel tapped her head lightly with her knuckles. "Okay, okay. Okay."

"Yes, Mom, it's okay."

"Okay. Good girl, Nan. Good girl."

Nan looked at me. "I know this is a lot to digest, and you're getting it thrown at you all at once, but please be patient."

"I don't mean any disrespect. But I came here to get answers. And this is not not what I expected." what I expected."

"Believe me, I understand your skepticism. I didn't believe it either, but I do now. I've seen things that would make your blood run cold."

I listened uneasily.

"My mother, as I said, has autism. Are you familiar with autism?"

"Yes. I've heard of it."

"Well, some people with autism can play the piano without ever being trained, others can figure out enormous equations in their heads-- things like that. Well, my mom can remember her dreams, and what lies beyond. That That is where Vrin is." is where Vrin is."

I responded with silence.

Nan placed her hands in her lap and straightened the fabric of her dress. "Can I get you a drink while we discuss things?"

"Do you have tea?" I said, grateful to change the subject, if even for a moment.

"Yes. Do you like herbal?"

"That would be fine, but if you have Earl Grey..."

"Yes, I believe we do have some Earl Grey around here. How 'bout you?" She gave Sam a glance.

He was sitting quietly on a chair by the door, taking everything in. "Any soda will do."

Nan turned up the TV as she pa.s.sed by. "There's a lot to tell, but I don't think all of it is relevant to your situation."

I stepped up into the kitchen. "Perhaps we could address the most important question first. Why Why did those men want me dead?" did those men want me dead?"

Nan put a teapot on the stove. "You were in danger in the lab because they didn't know how much, if anything, you would remember about Vrin. They don't want any information leaking out. But since your escape, you have slept and returned to Vrin. They must know now that you have returned, and that you are still important in Vrin."

"Yes, so you've said, but what does that mean?" mean?"

"First, let me explain what Vrin is, is, perhaps that will help." perhaps that will help."

"All right," I said, incredulously.

She paused, gathering her thoughts. "--There is a place we go when we sleep, a world that exists between life and death. When we sleep here, we go there. When we sleep there, we come here."

"Back and forth. "

"Yes. But it is extremely complicated. It isn't as simple as pa.s.sing back and forth." She handed a soda to Sam. "Everyone who believes and trusts in G.o.d, goes to Vrin. We believe it is the last human battlefield. There is a war going on in that realm which most are completely unaware of. However, it has devastating implications for eternity."

"But you said I I go there when I sleep, and that I am important there. How is that possible, when I don't even go there when I sleep, and that I am important there. How is that possible, when I don't even believe believe in G.o.d?" As I said the words, I realized that I was unsure if it were still true. What had changed my mind, if indeed my mind had been changed? in G.o.d?" As I said the words, I realized that I was unsure if it were still true. What had changed my mind, if indeed my mind had been changed?

"I don't think you truly realize your connection with G.o.d." Nan picked up a leather bound book and handed it to me. The cover read, DAVATA NOTRALS DAVATA NOTRALS: The Holy Truth. The Holy Truth.

I stared at it. "And what do you want me to do with this?" this?"

"Turn to the Book of Reason."

I hesitated, then cracked it open. "Where is it?"

"Near the end."

When I got there, she flipped one page, then pointed. The verse read, "In those the last days, G.o.d rose up the prophet Tardin, who having the secret to The Circle, turned the tide of darkness. And G.o.d banished Kric' tu with Rath in flames."

"You are are that prophet." that prophet."

I looked at her in total disbelief, then held the book out. "If this thing is from G.o.d," G.o.d," I said, letting out a cynical laugh. "Then why is I said, letting out a cynical laugh. "Then why is wrath wrath spelled wrong?" spelled wrong?"

She smiled. "You cannot run from your destiny, Thomas."

"I'm sorry. sorry. This is all just a This is all just a little little too far fetched for me." too far fetched for me."

Sam interrupted. "I saw those men go through through the walls, Dad. I'm ready to believe the walls, Dad. I'm ready to believe anything." anything."

"Well I'm I'm not ready," I said, sitting down. Nan and Samuel stared at me expectantly. "Okay," I said, "So let's just suppose you're right, which I'm not saying you are, but not ready," I said, sitting down. Nan and Samuel stared at me expectantly. "Okay," I said, "So let's just suppose you're right, which I'm not saying you are, but if if you were-- what does it you were-- what does it mean?" mean?"

"We don't know yet," said Nan. "We're hoping the code will tell us."

I blinked at her. I did not want to ask. I did not want to know. But the word came out anyway. "Code?" "Code?"

She reached out and took the book from me. "In this book, there is a hidden code that provides information about the future. Your name name is in the code, and we are trying to find out what G.o.d wants us to do." is in the code, and we are trying to find out what G.o.d wants us to do."

Again I stared, dumbfounded. "But what if I I don't want to do don't want to do anything? anything? What if I just want to go back to my What if I just want to go back to my life?" life?"