Chapter 17: Sending Forth the Unsustainable Light
From the perspective atop the Cassini II launchpad gantry, the ocean fanned out in an azure dream. Dancing Feather and Eagle Flying Bye had arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in the nick of time. Scientists and personnel were scurrying around the rocket in last-minute attempts to put everything in order. It was easy to creep into the capsule and snuggle against electronic and surveillance equipment.
Shirley bided her time, waiting in anticipation for the rockets to ignite. She gazed up through the window of the capsule and saw the moon, pale as a ghost in the ethereal sky. She felt butterflies in her stomach; the reality of where she was and where she was going suddenly dawned on her. She was on her way to Jupiter.
The final systems checks had been completed, and the rocket was on complete internal power now. Countdown was seconds away from ending when she felt the mighty giant begin to shake as the engines powered up. She glanced out the window and watched the launch tower recede as the rocket ignited. “Liftoff … we have liftoff …” she murmured as she was catapulted into space.
She was at three g’s and passing over Easter Island. She felt the shudders as the stages and booster rockets dropped away into the ocean. She looked around, trying to find something to hold onto as the rocket hit sonic booms; she managed to crawl beneath a cabinet, still in her eagle form.
Suddenly: movement. Shirley caught something in the corner of her eye. The g-force was too strong for her to move, but something else was in the capsule with her.
Her mind drifted back to the present danger. The command module had entered earth’s orbit; the path took her over North Africa and the night, where below, in the sea of darkness, she could see lights glowing far away in what must be the Sahara Desert. These were the fires of nomads whose travels took them on vast journeys through the continent. She watched the earth below recede and get smaller; she heard the engine fire the trans-planet injection burn, and she realized now that she was really headed for the planet Jupiter. She couldn’t believe that everything was going as she had planned.
As she reached speeds faster than any humans ever had before, she realized she’d be the first human on the planet of Jupiter—silently, without foreknowledge that the world would ever know. But she was doing this for humanity; she was doing this to preserve life on earth … wasn’t she?
Eagle Flying Bye said, “Excuse me. Sorry if I’m interrupting you.”
Shocked out of her reverie, Shirley looked over at him. “This was my responsibility, not yours—why are you here? This isn’t a joyride; do you know where we are going?”
“I know where you intended to go, but you do not have to do that,” Eagle Flying Bye announced.
“Yes, I do. This is a personal matter, and I do not expect you to understand,” Shirley stated, reverting to her human form.
“I know where you think you need to go, Shirley. This rocket has two tons of plutonium on it, because it was designed as a nuclear warhead, and its trajectory is at Jupiter,” Eagle Flying By informed her.
“I was taking the unsustainable light to a far-off place, a safe distance from the earth; I was doing this of my own free will,” Shirley implored.
“Yes, I suppose the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But you are doing exactly what Uktena wanted you to do,” Eagle Flying Bye informed her.
“No, you are wrong—it was my idea. I wanted …” Shirley was now confused.
“Lucifer wants his light to shine brighter than the sun’s light. He wants to prove to all of humanity that he is the brighter star. You were tricked. Did he not tell you that he cannot get to heaven?” the medicine man asked. “If you bring his light to that planet, you will be doing the bidding of the fiery serpent.”
Shirley was utterly confused. “What now? It’s too late; we are on our way, and the light is still within me. The only way to remove it …”
“I know how to remove the light from you, Shirley Cohen!” announced the elder shaman.
“And after you remove the light, then what?” Shirley looked around. Where would it go, once the light was released from her?
“Now, that’s a good question. We had better search the capsule for something.”
The pair searched as Shirley looked across the vastness of dark at the blue and white orb, whispering goodbye to everything she had ever known and everyone she had ever loved. This was a sobering reality: they were so far from home, and there was a good chance they might never return.
“There is a very small chute about ten inches in diameter in the storage room,” Eagle Flying By announced as he maneuvered himself to the control panel and shut off the rocket’s engine. “It opens and closes, it was built to house a camera, because I pulled the camera away from the hatch. Apparently, they also used it to blow in insulation. We can allow the light to escape through the hatch after I release it from you.”
Shirley was confused, but she finally agreed to undergo whatever the medicine man had in store for her. He drew a diagram and made Shirley sit in the middle. He reached into his pouch, handed Shirley a wad of Salvia divinorum leaves, and told her to chew them slowly but not to swallow the leaves—only the juice. Shirley complied; she started feeling woozy and then sick to her stomach. All the while, Eagle Flying By chanted.
Eagle Flying Bye grabbed hold of Shirley and pulled her to the open chute, “Try to projectile vomit out of the chute…” he was yelling at her now.
Shirley did as she was told, pursing her lips and aiming the vomit. It flew out of the capsule in a long, yellow strand. The vomit appeared as thousands of light dust particles as it was released from her; it poured forth into the darkness of space, a bright, long strand stretching for literally hundreds of miles.
“I can’t believe that was once inside of me.” Shirley finally spoke.
“We have no time; we must leave this capsule,” Eagle Flying Bye urged.
“But how? There’s no way, no suits. What, we just jump into outer space?” Shirley laughed.
Eagle Flying Bye, grabbed hold of Shirley. “We will find a way …”
Shirley looked at the hatch to the capsule. “Houston, we have a problem.” She stood in stunned silence as the medicine man tried to figure out what to do next.
Shirley suddenly pivoted and grabbed him in a bear hug, saying, “I’m frightened!”
Eagle Flying Bye replied, “We’ll find a way. There are no problems—only solutions.”
She said, “I don’t want to die here.”
The medicine man laid a hand on her face, wiping away her tears. He whispered, “We’ll find a way.” She touched his lips with her fingers.
She said, “If this is our last time alive, I want to make it count.” Shirley unzipped his coverall trousers. Bewitched by the Doe at the gates of heaven—so near, so palpable—he surrendered to her in the trembling moment of desire. He felt her body, so warm and enticing in his arms. The spicy sensation of her caress intoxicated him. Dancing Feather and Eagle Flying Bye would go sweetly into the darkest night …