Winding: Chapter 4


I dreamed about the temple with the amethyst altar. I was in the center again, the floor beneath me radiating yellow light. To my rear-right stood Alaura, radiating a green energy at me which filled me with love. Behind me, I turned my head to see Everett, projecting a violet energy into me which stimulated my mind with strange astral visions that played through my head. The other spaces were empty. The purple beam pierced through my heart and entered the altar. The altar glowed bright purple with light traces of green. There was a shockwave which knocked us from our feet.

I awoke to find myself alone. There was a clock, which read 8am. A knock came on the door. Realizing my indecency, I called, 'Just a minute.' I hurried on with my clothes and opened the door.

Everett was there, striking a pose. I decided to play it safe, and go along with their game until I knew what was going on.

'Morning, Everett,' I said somewhat cordially.

'Looks like I'm acting lackey,' he said, 'Vierkant asked me to see if you'd like to join us for breakfast in the arboretum.'

'What, not gonna shake my hand this time?' I asked, deciding to be tastefully daring.

He chuckled. 'Maybe I underestimated you. You seem like an alright guy. Let's go. I'm famished.'

'So what are you, Vierkant's private vizier?' I asked.

'Hahaha. Something like that. People like you and I are worth a lot to certain people of high positions.'

We climbed a few flights of stairs and came out into a huge arboretum with high glass ceilings. Trees of types I'd never seen before reached tall above us. I could spy the central tower hovering above the trees. There was a path, lined with labeled shrubs of exotic look and title, including some well-tended bonzais. We followed the path, which wound around and came out to an open grove with an ornate stone table and four chairs around it. Vierkant sat in one, with a laptop in front of him, sipping on a cup and puffing on a pipe. He noticed us, and said, 'Come, come. Have a seat. Breakfast should be arriving shortly.'

I took a chair beside Vierkant and Everett sat across from me. 'Will Alaura be joining us?' I asked.

'She's an early riser. She had breakfast and went out riding. She said you were asleep and didn't want to disturb you. I wanted to discuss some things with you, and my schedule is sometimes rather hectic, you understand.'

A maid came out from another path and served us fish and rice. We ate in silence, then I lit up a clove cigarette, which helped ease some of my tensions.

'Ah, cloves remind me of Alaura,' Vierkant said.

'Yes, sir, we share a number of similar enjoyments,' I said.

'No need to call me sir, Devon. I'm not here to discuss your relationship with my daughter. I think you two make a fine couple. A man my age can tell these things. In fact, you have my blessings.'

'The ball's in your court, then, Vierkant,' I said.

'First of all, there is the matter of Simon's tests. He tried treating them as viruses, but they didn't break down with the standard chemicals. Extreme acids, bases, heat and cold had no apparent effect on them, and they seem to move with such precision that may indicate intelligence and coordination. They don't behave like any biological form he's ever studied. We'll be sure to keep you posted if we find out more about them.'

'Thank you, I appreciate it.'

'You are a very special person, Devon. One of a kind.'

'So, what else?' I asked.

'Everett and I believe that you are a key to solving an ancient mystery.'

'Go on,' I said. I wasn't sure how much I trusted them yet, but I was at least willing to hear him out. If they knew anything about my predicament, it would be worth my while to pry information from them.

'I'd like to hire you,' he said.

'Depends on the job,' I replied.

'Touring the world, wherever your heart desires,' he said, 'all expenses of any kind paid without question.'

'A mighty generous offer. What's in it for you?'

'As you have found Everett through a string of synchronicities, we anticipate that in your travels, you will encounter others like yourself.'

'You want me to be a recruiter?'

'Something like that. I have realized that there are certain people on this earth with exceptional qualities, and would like to bring them together.'

'And what would I be offering these people?'

'One million dollars tax-free to come speak with me at such a time as I request. I will provide transportation when the time arises, and they can have the million to enjoy simply by agreeing to the arrangement.'

'And if they refuse?' I queried.

'Let me know, and I'll speak with them personally.'

'What do you get out of this? Do you want to control us to gain power?'

'My friend Devon, I have a great deal of control over this entire world. I have scientists who can extend my lifespan. With the rate of technological advances, by the time that limit has been neared, tech will be able to extend that further, exponentially to immortality. I will grant this to you and the others.'

He was evading the question with more prizes, testing my limits. 'Wealth and immortality, you offer? Is this where I need to sign my name in blood?'

'No, my friend. I consider myself a man of God.'

'Whose god? Do you follow a particular religion?'

'I believe you know as well as I do that religion is but an exoteric form of something much deeper.'

'Do you claim to know the Will of God?' I asked.

'I know only what I can empirically prove. I have been granted this power beyond my control. I am but a cog in a wheel.'

'Do you believe you use your powers justly?'

'I believe that I am functioning in my position as well as I can. I am not the only one who makes decisions. I admit that my associates may perform acts that I disagree with. At points, I have had no choice but to concede.' He was good at hiding emotion, but I could tell that what he implied, he felt very strongly about.

'So, is my quest sanctioned by your associates?'

'They are aware of you. I am the "authority" on the subject.'

'Would you say your intentions are good?'

'Good and evil are relative concepts. The good of the whole is not always what is good for the individual. Someone needs to make the hard decisions. It is impossible to have a hierarchical system without the people at the top having more power than the people below.'

'Surely, there are enough resources to at least give everyone on earth a decent living.'

'Were the monetary funds divided amongst everyone equally, no one would have enough resources to do anything productive. Progress would come to a standstill. People of the civilized world would not accept lowering their standard of living in order to benefit the 3rd world nations. As it stands, the utilization of less developed nations for factories and labor increases the infrastructure of those countries and eventually the world will be a civilized place.'

'Some would argue that the best government is no government.'

'An anarchist society only works with a small group of people. And while there are some who are intelligent enough to govern themselves, the vast majority is either incapable, or apathetic. The miracles of modern science and western luxuries, even for the "lower" classes, are enough for all but the most headstrong rebel to see that there is benefit in sticking together. We have transformed the planet; evolved it and our society to an irreversible point. Barring a cataclysm of some kind, our road is set before us to attempt to balance the new ecosystem we have created.'

'Many fear that a cataclysm is bound to happen.'

'And perhaps their fears are not in vain. There are many opportunities for it. A comet could fall from the skies as it did in the time of the dinosaurs. We have placed high powered telescopes and weapon arrays in orbit to attempt to avert this problem. The earth's crust could shift 60 degrees on the molten core it floats on, as it has in the past. Global warming, at first viewed as a danger, is an accepted attempt to keep the ice caps from increasing in mass and sending the earth wobbling. I believe the most dangerous possibility at this time is if a scientific experiment were to go awry, or civilization collapsing on itself from lack of direction.'

'I'm surprised you didn't list war amongst the cataclysms.'

'The only cultures foolish enough to go to war in this day and age are in no position to do any serious damage to anything but each other. Even a number of nuclear devices set off in key locations will only fuel the remaining citizens to stomp the adversaries off the face of the planet. The "superpowers" are in sufficient cooperation to avoid any major confrontation.'

'Fascinating,' I said, 'so what happens when you bring us all together?'

'No one in recorded history, save possibly Atlantis, has successfully brought you all together.'

'Atlantis? I thought you only believed in empirical evidence,' I said, trying to find a hole in his rhetoric.

'You are correct, and I have not contradicted myself. Atlantis was not sunk beneath the waves. It was on Antarctica. The last shift of the earth's crust altered the location to near the south pole. There are maps copied from antiquity which depict the coast of Antarctica with no ice caps, in such exacting detail as would require accurate timepieces to properly calculate. The shift also changed the temperate Siberia to the chilling place it is today, as is evidenced by animals normally found in lower climes flash frozen with fruit in their stomachs. This is the answer to the dilemma of what caused the Ice Ages.'

'You know of its location?' I asked, somewhat shockingly.

'Under miles and miles of ice. We have a general idea of its location and have found some minor traces, which have provided little answers. We should discover the mysteries in our lifetime.'

Making some connections in my head, I said, 'After the crust of the earth shifted on the magma, the ice caps melted and flooded the world. The few survivors of Atlantis traveled the globe and manifested in flood myths and tales of beings teaching humanity how to survive after the cataclysm.'

'Indeed. They were the gods of Egypt, and the strange visitors of the peoples of South America. Every corner of the Earth was touched by their nearly extinguished hand.'

'Are you suggesting that people like me are descendents from Atlantis?' I asked dubiously.

'Reincarnations, perhaps,' he countered.

I shot a look into Everett's eyes. He smiled deviously.

'Has anyone ever tried before?' I asked.

'There are rumors that Hitler attempted to utilize some of you to gain a spiritual advantage over the pious Jews.'

'What is your position in regards to the Nazi party?'

'Hitler was a great man. History is written by the victors.'

'You must be joking,' I said with a fake chuckle.

'On the contrary. Most people cannot look beyond the anti-semitism to see his grander vision.'

'Millions of Jews were slaughtered,' I pointed out.

'Many more millions of Christians were killed in the war. The anti-semitism got out of control in Poland, which was half Jewish and the Jews were most hated there. Wholesale slaughter was never a standard policy within Germany. Extermination became more prevalent towards the end of the war. There were many executions, because many Jews were political prisoners who were being held for breaking the admittedly stringent laws. We allowed them more luxuries than they conveniently recall. They were even running a black market network within the camps. Admittedly, the prisoners were treated poorly and there were many unnecessary deaths and cruelties. We were in a time of war, and rations were primarily allocated to the front lines. However, the numbers noted in history books are greatly adjusted.'

'Assuming this is true, what do you believe Hitler's goal was?'

'His plan was to take over all of Europe and Western Asia, have Italy control Africa, Japan rule Eastern Asia, and the United States secure the Americas. The United States refused, and was drawn into the war. Hitler wanted to unite the world. It was a brilliant vision, far ahead of his time. He knew it wouldn't happen peacefully at the time. The world was not ready for it. The fundamental idea was to unite everyone as one unit.'

'Doesn't such a unification restrict the free will?'

'We still have laws. You are living in more of a police state than you realize. We must make certain sanctions of our will for the will of the whole. You must make money in order to eat. Even the drug dealers rely on someone doing labor for the whole in some fashion to supply the money for the product. This does not imply a borg-like society, although the business realm might inspire such thoughts. The difference is that the Germans were proud to be working for the greater good. Here in America, people do it for themselves. Without government interdiction, it would fly off the handle. The only difference is that America lacks an ideology. We have to fabricate one by creating wars against minor nations and drug trafficking.'

'Are you implying that you are a Nazi?'

'My friend, that ideology is no longer valid. The Americans have done a sufficient job at demonizing the sincere attempts of the Germans that the only ones who openly follow it now are as demonic as the propaganda has portrayed it. I can appreciate its brilliance without succumbing to its shortsightedness. The ways of the world are far different now. The playing field has changed. Now, the marketplace has become the grounds. A good deal of my father's initial wealth was Nazi gold, but I do not follow in Hitler's footsteps. My ingrained anti-semitism feels satisfied with the dismal situation the Jews have found themselves in Israel, surrounded and infiltrated by their enemies.'

'I never understood how anyone could be anti-semitic or racist. It's such a foreign concept to me.'

'Imagine the Germans, who believed themselves to be the master race, were infiltrated by another group who claimed to be the chosen ones. These others intentionally ostracized themselves while becoming wealthy from our pockets. Imagine growing up in a town where everyone tried to be unified, and another group was there denying your unification and keeping secrets. By choice, they would not function within the machine. The Germans did their best to send capable Jewish populace to other places in the world where they could find a place in a more open society. They did not fit the vision because they had their own. There were too many Jews in Poland to just ship them all out, so they were imprisoned and put to work. It was cruel, yes, but not the demonic fairy tale they use to scare children at night. You may recall that America had concentration camps for Japanese and Germans.'

'What do you know about Hitler's attempt at bringing us together?'

'My grandfather was an SS officer. He was involved in the German's occult research. All of the important documentation was destroyed, but the story was related to me by my father, who was a great architect and business man. He was not concerned with the occult nature of things, but was my Grandfather's only surviving son after the war, and so, certain stories were passed on to him in hopes they would not be lost entirely. After much probing, I convinced my father to tell me of my Grandfather. Of this particular subject, he spoke of it offhandedly at first, as a joke. He said, "Your Grandfather once told me that he was involved in a project which sought out reincarnations of Atlantean high priests."'

I laughed.

'Yes, I laughed too. It was not until I did my own research and questioned my father further when I began to wonder. He said that Grandfather had mentioned that they had found what they believed were 6 of them. He said they had found the key, and that key is a person. They reportedly achieved some rather entertaining light shows and strange energies. A number of experiments were performed, but it was feared that without all the pieces, the grand vision could not be achieved. One of them was found to be Jewish, and there was an altercation which resulted in her death. The war ended shortly thereafter.'

My heart began to beat faster. I kept my composure and resisted glaring at Everett, who sat grinning across from me.

'We believe that you are some sort of key to finding the others, and possibly more.'

'So you want us together to create unity. With you in control.'

'My friend, Devon, I already have control of most of this earth directly or indirectly. Other people of my class and similar position work closely together.'

'You want it all for yourself?'

'I consider this a holy mission. Our society is not as strong as you would think. We are on the threatening brink of civilization collapsing upon itself. We must rely on petty tricks; televisions creating states of apathy, minor wars to pump the military budget, scandals to distract people from larger issues. Religion failed as an ideology capable of leading the masses. Nobody believes in fairy tales anymore.'

'Hopefully we will be more informed by the time I've found them all.'

'So you are willing to work with me, then?'

I wondered how I could refuse the offer. His words were charismatic and he had counters to all my arguments. It sounded too good to be true, but after my recent experiences, I was starting to think luck was on my side. I didn't trust Everett, but he was somehow a part of this. 'I agree to do my best to track them down, but what happens if I can't find them all, or we have a question of interests?' I asked.

'I do not need your signature, and I hope it does not come to that. I have taken a step of trust in you, and ask that you do the same for me. We will see when the time comes what will happen when you are united. You can consider yourself in my employ, although I am offering you absolute leniency, as the nature of your "duties" are beyond normal standards. If I have need of other services from you, we will discuss them when the time comes.'

'Alright. I'm in.'

'Excellent,' he said as he tapped in a few keys on the keyboard. 'A Swiss bank account has been created for you containing the sum of one million dollars. I will be providing you with a laptop with a satellite up-link internet connection. On this computer are your bank access codes, and an account set up on my network. Your username is your name. Enter a password for yourself.'

He spun the laptop around to me.

'I assume you know Alaura is one of us,' I ventured, as I fabricated a password for myself.

Vierkant raised an eyebrow. Everett's confident smirk was replaced by wide-eyed recognition.

'I knew she was a special person. Everett had a vision that she would play a roll in bringing you to him, but I had not considered that she played a greater role in this.'

Everett joined the conversation after his long, observant silence, 'I knew that she had power, but that aspect was veiled from me.'

'You have proven your worth already, Devon,' Vierkant praised, 'I have faith in you.'

As if on cue, Alaura approached. 'Hi, Daddy. Good morning, Devon. Everett.'

She kissed her father on the cheek, then leaned down to me and gave me a hug.

'Having an interesting conversation?' she asked.

Vierkant answered, 'Devon is a most remarkable person. He has accepted a job from me, and has just supplied us with the most fascinating information which concerns you.'

She looked somewhat dubiously at her father and said, 'a job?' and then to me, 'what did you tell him?'

'Your father believes that I'm a key to finding people like Everett and I. I believe that you are one of us.'

'One of what?' she asked.

'Part of a key to unlocking an ancient mystery,' Vierkant said as he stood, ‘Now if you’ll excuse us, we must be going. I have a meeting on the other side of the globe. Alaura, you can pick a car to drive and leave it at the club.’

‘Thank you for your hospitality,’ I said, standing and shaking his hand.

‘The honor is mine, Devon.’

Alaura looked at me curiously, and gave her father a hug. ‘Be safe,’ she said to him.

Vierkant and Everett made their way down the path away from us.

‘What was that all about, Devon?’ asked Alaura.

‘Apparently, we are reincarnations of Atlantean Priests, and your father wishes to revive a search the Nazis attempted. He believes that I am the key to finding them. Everett somehow knew that you would bring me to him, but did not know that you played a greater role.’

‘And what makes you so certain?’ she asked.

‘I had a dream about the temple, but instead of gossamer entities surrounding me, Everett was behind me and you were to my right and back a little. It was vivid and real, like I was there again. There is no doubt in my mind.’

‘So what are you planning?’

‘I have a few business contracts to clear up before I can go globetrotting. Your father gave me more money than I know what to do with. I assume that I should go wherever feels right, and have a good time of it. My path seems to be guided. I trust that when the time is right, it should be obvious what to do next.’

‘I believe in you, Devon. My father obviously does, as well. I figured you’d get along, but not like this.’

‘He gave me his blessings in regards to us.’

‘He what? He has never approved of anyone before.’

‘It appears to be in his best interest to keep me around. It was impossible for me to refuse.’

She gave me a tour of part of the castle as I told her of her father’s offer and Simon's test results.

We spent some time perusing books in the library her father had collected on the subject of Atlantis. Besides confirming a few of the things Vierkant had said, we found no pertinent information to help us determine what to do next.

We had an early dinner alone together.

‘Maybe we should do some past life regression. Possibly going back to Germany would at least help me get an idea of the types of people we’re looking for. Their energy patterns, that sort of thing.’

‘That might be a good place to start,’ agreed Alaura, ‘What would you suggest? Do you want me to try to hypnotize you?’

‘Hypnosis is such a vague term. We are in a constant state of being hypnotized by our environment. If I were to say, “Don’t think of the color blue,” you will be forced to think of the color blue, just to understand what I am telling you not to think of. Words entrance us in their spell, but we are masters of our own trances. I believe that with the glimpses I’ve had, I may be able to access more past-life memories. I want you to be around because you were also there and may have some insights of your own. Some energy sharing with a focus of intent should do the trick.’

‘Energy sharing, eh? You just want to bang me again,’ she said smiling.

‘While I won’t deny that, it isn’t the sort of energy sharing I was suggesting,’ I said with a smirk.

We chose a pale metallic green jaguar to cruise back to the city. It was so smooth it felt as if there were no road beneath us. On the drive, we discussed different techniques and decided to attempt the regression at my place to avoid any interference.

I lit dozens of tea-lights, and turned on some deep ambient music. I created a sigil from the words “Atlantean Nazi” which was the combination of each unique letter of the phrase. ATLNEZI. Artemis sat atop her perch, gazing down at us as if she knew something was happening.

We sat in the middle of the floor with a tea-light between us. I burned the sigil in the flame before us. I placed my right hand facing down on her upturned left hand, and vice-versa. As I had instructed her on the drive, we balanced our charkas into our hearts, and then created a cycle of energy that flowed around our arms, allowing our centers to connect. Energy from the sigil directed our intent, and we flowed into the trance of sharing, amplifying, radiating, cycling. We closed our eyes and the world outside faded from consciousness. Even the music faded away and we were alone, suspended in nothingness together, our hearts aflame.

I allowed my thoughts to go far back, beyond the point of my birth. Another me, with another face in another time. After what seemed like an eternity, I opened my eyes to find we were in a small stone anteroom. What struck me first was that I knew it was Alaura still sitting before me with our hands touching, but she looked different. Her eyes were the same, although they had a glint of astonished recognition in them. Her hair was longer and her features were different. Her clothing was different; a white blouse and grey skirt.

A man in uniform I recognized at once as Everett came into the room. He gave the Nazi salute and said in German, which I understood, ‘Have you had any success identifying other incarnations?’

‘Not yet, but I believe we’re onto something,’ I found myself replying in German.

‘I don’t know why you keep insisting this Jew is one of us,’ he said, ‘it is insulting.’

‘I’ve never been so certain,’ I said.

‘Well, let’s see what happens with what we have. I need results soon.’

We stood and followed him out to the recreation of the temple. There were guards with weapons at the entrance, but my attention was drawn to what I came here to discover. There were three other people here whom I recognized inherently as I had Alaura and Everett.

There was a tall, lankey lad with thick glasses, who spoke first, ‘The probability of success with this number of people is slightly greater than the imbalance which existed in previous attempts. However, without all of the functioning pieces, my atomics research is going to waste.’

‘Its not going to work,’ said a diminutive Asian woman. She had a look of wisdom in her eyes, and she was obviously correct.

A third man, also in SS uniform, observed with cold, calculating eyes. ‘We have to try with what we’ve got. The war is not going well, and we need any tactical advantage we can get. I’m ready when you give the word, Vierkant.’

The man who would in the future be born as Everett, currently SS officer Vierkant, said, ‘Everyone to your stations.’

The girl who would one day be Alaura appeared to be in shock. She stood motionless, staring at her Great-Grandfather. He smacked the look of shock from her face. ‘To your station, I said, mud blood!’

Instinctively, against my will, I raised my fist and punched Vierkant in the face. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He wiped the blood away and said, ‘If you were not so important, I would kill you right now. My patience has reached its end.’ He pulled a pistol from his side and pointed it at us. ‘Take your stations, now!’ he barked in guttural German.

‘I refuse to play a part in this!’ Alaura exclaimed as she turned to run. The gun was fired before I could stop it. I ran to Alaura’s collapsed form and held her as the life drained from her body. The scene I had glimpsed from Everett’s handshake had played out.

I felt a hazy blurring of perceptions, as if trying to wake from what you know is a dream. I snapped back into my body in the present. The room was dark, the tea lights had all blown out. Alaura collapsed into my arms, crying uncontrollably.

'Oh my god,' she said through the tears, 'I think I just got myself killed!'

'There's nothing you could've done to stop it. That was the past.'

'But we were THERE! My look of shock was my own when I realized that Everett was my fucking Great-Grandfather!'

'We were at least partially there. I've never studied German before, but I was using it. If we did have an influence, I think that it was best that his experiment failed. Maybe us being there prevented something else from happening.'

'I guess it was meant to happen,' she said, 'let's just keep this to ourselves. If Everett doesn't know, he'd just get a bigger ego from knowing.'

'Hahaha, you're probably right,' I agreed.

'Did you get anything useful from the experience?'

'I believe that if I were to see one of the other three now, I would recognize them immediately. Finding them is another story.'

'So what do we do now?' she asked, 'It doesn't seem like I was very involved with the others, so I'm not sure what help I can be. That was very traumatic.'

'I'd say you've already done a lot,' I said, 'you may have just stopped the Nazis from going further with their research.'

'Stopped my Great-Grandfather, you mean,' she said, 'and now its up to us to continue where he left off.'

Forward
Back