Chapter 14: A Fresh Start

Three hours later, Pete found his rock, or stone as he preferred; the exact replica of Kate’s one. He had forgotten about it, which was strange for someone with a photographic memory. The second one had disappeared, and at the time he had decided not to report it. How it ended up with Kate was anyone’s guess. He had his stone catalogued with about one hundred and fifty two thousand other artifacts and books, including many stones from his life’s discoveries and explorations on Earth and beyond. Perhaps it had not crossed his mind, as he had two assistants that did most of the cataloguing. A little stone did not pose much significance at the time.

Never overlook the little things he could hear his mother say.

He would never make that mistake again.

Pete handed the stone to Pilcher who examined it between his thumb and forefinger.

“Yep, it looks pretty much the same. Have you run the usual tests on both of them?”

“Yeah,” Pete replied. “Origin is Earth, Egypt to be specific. It is quite bizarre how it is an exact replica of Kate’s. However, the stones seem to be a mirror image of each other when you face them together. Both have similar dark markings, and yes, it is preserved human blood. It’s even more bizarre how she picked hers up rather recently from a shopping mall in an obscure place called Gulfirst Town. How the hell it ended up there is beyond me. She told me the shop she found it in was called “The Divine Universe.” Apparently, she had received subliminal instructions, in a day type dream, as she puts it, to go to this out of town mall. But not exactly what to look for!”

Pilcher nodded. “What has really rattled me is we can’t confirm Kate’s story. I sent some men down to check it out. There is no such shop listed in the mall. The mall’s management does not have any record.”

“But I am positive she is not lying,” insisted Pete.

“Hmm, guess the situation is so bizarre it must be the truth.” Pilcher grimaced sardonically.

There was silence as the information was digested.

“So what is the date?”

“Date? Oh yeah. Give or take around a few thousand years, I would say pretty much when the Ancient Egyptians were ruling, quite possibly even older.”

Pilcher gave him a baleful look. “Can our lady friend shed some light on it, apart from the stories she has already relayed?”

Pete paused choosing his words carefully. “I don’t think she trusts us, especially with the way we have treated her, well, at least in her mind. She also has a lot to take in. This situation she’s in is pretty life changing—literally.”

Pilcher paused, caught in thought.

What Reynolds failed to report was the slight polarity Kate felt when she handled both stones and the vision that followed. She had confided in him she had one on the plane journey here, and this one seemed to continue on from it but seemed even clearer, like she was actually there. He had managed to record it, for his own study and it did not fall short of his notice she spoke in the third person, in clear English. He was willing to bet anything that Kate’s blood was the same as in the stones. But for now, he thought the unexplained phenomena, at this point of time, was best put aside for later. Besides, sooner or later, a blood sample would be taken from her, but he wanted her to do so willingly. She already had enough to deal with at present.

He remembered how her voice spoke with such endearing and consuming passion.

She opens her eyes and is greeted with an intense searing pain stabbing at her side. Her body feels as if it has been torn open. She isn’t far from the truth. She struggles with her thoughts, what had happened? Cemel was trying to help her. And he was struck down. Oh God, she saw him get thrown through the Door. Did he survive or was he gone forever? The blast, she had assumed killed her friend, had somehow caught her in its deadly path.

She knows she is dying.

Now she realizes she is lying on her golden bed. But she cannot feel anything; her body is numb. She sees a dark figure sitting, holding her hand. A blur of movement catches her eye as his physicians fight to save her life. She hears voices talking, yelling, and orders shouted, and her mind becomes lucid, she concentrates on the figure beside her. She realizes it is her captor, the evil Supreme Ruler, but frustratingly his face is in shadow. Obviously grief stricken, he tells her they are going to implant her to save her life. She smiles at him and tells him he is wasting his time. Let her go.

Next thing, she gasps as she feels the omnipotent feeling again. Oh, the sheer unadulterated power that is taking over her will. She now smiles broadly, with absolute joy; the Cathexistome awakens and feeds her body and mind. Just for a second, she almost feels she is one—she tastes the power. His eyes blaze with hope as he knows this will save her. His smile fades, as she whispers, “I made Cemel curse me.” Feeling his confusion, she continues, “Under your rule, in my heart I knew I would not be fit to look after my people. I vowed I would never lead my people into slavery. I made Cemel promise that if you ever implanted me, I would die. And you know how real his magic is. It will work, because he wasn’t my servant. He was my friend.” She closes her eyes as the life in her fades, along with her newly implanted Cathexistome dying in the depths of her body.

The last thing she hears is his scream of anguish.

Kate needed several stiff drinks of peach schnapps to settle her nerves after that episode. She admitted it emotionally and physically seemed to drain her. Once more, all the faces were in shadow? Was her sanity protecting her or was her memory simply out of joint?

She had almost begged Pete not to report this.

Totally relaxed, she lay on her bed with hands behind her head going through the last few days of events. Her vision when she had held both stones prevailed in her mind. However, it seemed to have eased off for a while. God, it was a good thing, as she feared for her mind’s state of health.

Pete Reynolds, did not treat her like a freak, and had just somehow happened to have peach schnapps in his bottom desk drawer. Was that a coincidence? Get real—he probably has a full dossier on her.

He had told her he had been given permission to give her some background on Divisions, his personal experience, how he started with them, their objectives, and what they expected from their employees. He explained about the BSP. He could not elaborate on who their bosses were, as that was up to them. He got paid handsomely for his expertise, and what they asked back was that he and everyone else involved kept their mouths shut, and did their jobs.

The cover stories on the jobs these people did were more fantastic than any military cover up ever created! For all Kate knew, her elderly, arthritic neighbor Joe Brown could have been a brilliant secret scientist.

Pete had joked. “As long as my bank balance is healthy, and I am exempt from paying tax.” Kate balked at that. “I don’t really need to know who pays me.” He grinned and added, “We don’t create wars or do any illegal activities—purely off world exploration only.”

“So you are tempting me with money—”

Pete laughed heartedly.

“Absolutely not, but don’t you want to give it a try? Kate, I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Behind his glasses that he wore, she saw sincerity. She believed him.

From then on, whatever Pete said or did made Kate a much happier person.

Her lips curved into a smile from the last meeting. Both sides had made a mutual pact—to trust each other. She suspected Pete had made her look good, and the powers that be gave her the benefit of the doubt.

She grinned, reminiscing about her first official meeting.

The OBF1 team with Pilcher and a nervous Kate were all present seated at a long table in a meeting room.

Pilcher began, “I want to start this meeting with our sincere apologies for what you have been through Kate. I can assure you things are going to change. I hope you can understand that all these new discoveries have thrown us somewhat out of our comfort zone. But that is no excuse for the cold, rather heartless way we have behaved. I’m sorry we cannot provide you with clear-cut answers at the moment. Believe me, we all are just as eager to find out more ourselves. But if we got to know each other better, perhaps the answers will come. I know the sessions with Dr. Reynolds have helped you. Therefore, if you would like to join us here, at Divisions, in front of you are papers you can read over, and if everything is okay, sign them and pass them to me. It basically states that what we have discussed will remain secret, that you will not share or discuss anything you see and do here outside of these walls. Whether or not you choose to remain with us or leave will still mean you are forbidden to talk to anyone about this work wherever you are.”

Kate hesitated. Her head was swimming. “I get the drift.” She picked up the papers without reading them and signed the half dozen places required. She slid them back to Pilcher. “You guys aren’t that bad. It was just the heavy handedness at the beginning. I think I can deal with it.” She grinned at Pete. If it were not for him, she would be having second thoughts.

Pilcher noticed her glance and spoke with an intense tone, “We would value your input, and with a bit of training and experience, you could become an observer, maybe a team member of the Odyssey Bourne Force.”

Each member of OBF1 stood and shook her hand.

“Welcome, Kate.”

“Nice to have you on board.”

“We’re not as bad as you think we are.”

Kate giggled.

Pilcher smiled warmly. “I think it is time to introduce you to other staff and get to know this facility better.”

Pilcher’s actual apology and possible membership of OBF was pushed by a higher power than himself. It did not surprise him, but he thought it premature.

Kate did her housekeeping by contacting her family, and people who knew her, advising she had won a large amount of money and was on an extended holiday. She did not know when she would be back. She contacted her account clients and arranged to move her work to other professional colleagues. She even got her PC and her records back. It was hard parting with her cats to her girlfriend. She put her apartment up for sale and chose to remain on the base, at least for now. The last contact she made outside of the base was her final Friday evening session with her band.

Strangely, she did not feel guilty lying, but still felt an aching loneliness.

Her world was changing fast; yet she had no idea of how fast her past and future was catching up.