“Better sit down,” Curtis advised. “We don’t want to be seen.”
For a long while we sat in silence, admiring the view and feeling the energy. Curtis took a flashlight out of his pocket and laid it on the ground beside him. I was mesmerized by the colors of the fall foliage.
Presently Curtis looked over at me and asked, “Do you smell something, smoke?”
I immediately looked out at the woods, suspecting a forest fire, and sniffed the air. “No, I don’t think so.” Something about Curtis’ demeanor was shifting the mood, introducing a feeling of sadness or nostalgia. “What kind of smoke do you mean?”
“Cigar smoke.”
In the growing moonlight I could tell he was smiling reflectively, thinking about something. Then suddenly I began to smell the smoke.
“What is that?” I asked, looking around again.
He caught my eye. “Dr. Williams smoked cigars that smelled just like that. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
As we talked, the smell subsided and I dismissed the whole experience, content to stare out at the sage and the large oaks beside us. In that moment I realized that this was the very spot where Williams saw himself meeting with Curtis. It was to take place right here!
Seconds later I observed a figure forming just beyond the trees.
“Do you see anything out there?” I quietly asked Curtis, pointing in that direction.
As soon as I spoke, the form disappeared.
Curtis was straining to see. “What? I don’t see anything.”
I didn’t respond. Somehow I had begun to intuitively receive knowledge, exactly as I had received it from the soul groups, except the connection was more distant and garbled. I could sense something about the energy experiment, a confirmation of Curtis’ suspicions; the experimenters were indeed attempting to focus in on the dimensional vortexes.
“I just remembered,” Curtis said abruptly. “One of the devices Dr. Williams was working on years ago was a remote focus, a dish projection system. I bet that’s what they’re using to focus on the openings. But how do they know where the openings are?”
Immediately I perceived an answer. Someone of a higher awareness pointed them out until they learned the spatial varianees as they showed up on the remote focus computer. I had no idea what that meant.
“There’s only one way,” Curtis said. “They would have to find someone to point them out—someone who could sense these higher energy locations. Then they could map out an energy profile of the site and focus precisely by scanning with a focus beam. Probably the individual wouldn’t even know what they were doing.” He shook his head. “These people are vicious. There’s no doubt about it. How could they do this?”
As if in response, I sensed other knowledge that was too vague to understand completely, but seemed to maintain that there was, in fact, a reason. But we had to first understand the Fear and how to overcome it.
When I looked at Curtis, he seemed to be deep in thought.
Finally he looked at me and said, “I wish I knew why this Fear is coming up now.”
“During a transition in culture,” I said, “old certainties and views begin to break down and evolve into new traditions, causing anxiety in the short run. At the same time that some people are waking up and sustaining an inner connection of love that sustains them and allows them to evolve more rapidly, others feel as though everything is changing too fast and that we’re losing our way. They become more fearful and more controlling to try to raise their energy. This polarization of fear can be very dangerous because fearful people can rationalize extreme measures.”
As I was saying all of this, I felt as though I was expanding on what I had earlier heard Wil say, and Williams, but I also had the distinct sensation that it was something I knew all along but didn’t realize I knew until this very moment.
“I understand that,” Curtis said with certainty. “That’s why these people are so willing to waste this valley. They rationalize that civilization will fall apart in the future, and they won’t be safe unless they seize more control. Well, I’m not going to allow it to happen. I’ll blow the whole thing sky-high.”
I looked hard at him. “What do you mean?”
“Just that. I used to be a demolitions expert. I know how.”
I must have looked alarmed because he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way to do it where no one gets hurt. I wouldn’t want that on my conscience.”
A wave of knowledge filled me. “Any kind of violence,” I said, “just makes it worse, don’t you see?”
“What other way is there?”
Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the form again for an instant, and then it disappeared. “I don’t know exactly,” I said, “But if we fight them with anger, hate, they just see an enemy. It makes them more entrenched. They become more fearful. Somehow this group that Williams was talking about is supposed to do something else. We’re supposed to fully remember our Birth Visions… and then we can remember something more, a World Vision.”
Somehow I knew the term, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before.
“A World Vision…” Curtis pondered, deep in thought again. “I think David Lone Eagle mentioned that.”
“Yes,” I said. “That’s right.”
“What do you think a World Vision is?”
I was about to say I didn’t know when a thought came to me. “It’s an understanding—no, a memory—of how we will fulfill human purpose. It brings in another level of love, an energy, that can bridge the polarization, end this experiment.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Curtis said.
“It involves the energy level around people who are in Fear,” I said, somehow knowing. “They would be touched, awakened from their preoccupation. They would choose to stop.”
For several moments we were silent, then Curtis said, “Maybe, but how do we bring in this energy?”
Nothing more came to mind.
“I wish I knew how far they’re prepared to go with this experiment,” he added.
“What causes the hum?” I asked.
“The hum is a linking dissonance between the small generators. It means that they’re still trying to calibrate the device. The more grating and disharmonious it is, the more it’s out of phase.” He thought for another moment. “I just wonder which energy vortex they’re going to focus on.”
I suddenly sensed a particular nervousness, not within myself, but outwardly, as if’I was around someone else who was anxious. I looked at Curtis, who seemed relatively calm. Beyond the trees I again saw the vague outlines of a form. It moved as if agitated or frightened.
“I would imagine,” Curtis said absently, “that if one were close to the target location, one would hear the hum and then feel a kind of static electricity in the air.”
We looked at each other, and in the silence I could hear a faint sound, merely a vibration.
“Do you hear that?” Curtis asked, now alarmed.
As I looked at him, I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck and forearms. “What is this?”
For an instant Curtis observed his own arms, then looked at me in horror.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” he screamed, grabbing his flashlight, leaping to his feet, and half dragging me off the crest of the slope.
Suddenly the same ear-shattering roar I had heard with Wil descended again and carried with it a shock wave that knocked both of us to the ground. Simultaneously the earth beneath us shook violently and a massive fissure opened twenty feet away, creating an explosion of dust and debris.
Behind us one of the towering oaks, undermined by the shifting earth, leaned and then fell to the ground in a thunderous roar, adding to the noise. Seconds later another, larger fissure tore open right beside us and the ground tilted. Curtis, unable to hold on, slid toward the widening abyss. I held onto a small bush and reached out for Curtis’ hand. For a moment we held tight, then our grip, slipped, and I watched helplessly as
he slid over the edge. The fissure moved and widened, spewed another plume of dust and rock, shook once more, and then was still. A limb under the fallen tree cracked loudly, and then the night was again silent.
As the dust cleared, I let go of the bush and crawled toward the edge of the massive hole. When I could see, I realized that Curtis was lying prone at the edge, even though I was sure I had seen him fall in. He rolled toward me and jumped to his feet.
“Let’s go!” he yelled. “It could start again!”
Without speaking we ran down the hill toward the campsite, Curtis ahead, me limping behind. When Curtis reached the site, he seized both tents and ripped them from the ground, stakes dangling, and stuffed them into the packs. I pushed in the other gear, and we continued toward the southwest until the ground flattened into thick underbrush. After another half mile, exhaustion and my weakening ankle forced me to stop.
Curtis surveyed the terrain. “Maybe we’ll be safe here,” he said, “but let’s move deeper into the thicket.” I followed as he led us fifty feet farther into the dense woods.
“This will do right here,” he commented. “Let’s put up the tents.”
Within a couple of minutes both tents were up and covered with limbs and we were looking at each other breathlessly, sitting on his tent’s large entrance flap.
“What do you think happened?” I asked.
Curtis’ face looked gaunt as he dug into his pack for water. “They’re doing exactly what we thought,” he said. “They’re trying to focus the generator on a remote space.” He took a long drink from his canteen. “They’re going to ruin this valley; these people have to be stopped.”
“What about the smoke we smelled?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Curtis said. “It was as though Dr. Williams was there. I could almost hear his inflection, his tone of voice, what he would have said in that situation.”
I caught Curtis’ eye. “I think he was there.”
Curtis handed me the canteen. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I think he came to convey a message, a message to you. When we saw him during his Life Review, he was agonizing because he had failed to wake up, to remember why he had been born. He was convinced that you were supposed to be a part of this group he mentioned. Can’t you remember anything about that? I think he wanted you to know that violence won’t stop these people. We have to do it another way, with this World Vision that David talked about.”
He gave me a blank look.
“What about when the earth movement started,” I asked, “and that fissure opened? I know I saw you roll in, yet you were lying at the edge when I got there.”
He looked totally perplexed. “I’m not sure really. I couldn’t hold on and was slipping into the hole. As I dropped down, this incredibly peaceful feeling came over me, and I was cushioned, like falling onto a soft mattress. All I could see was a white blur around me. The next thing I knew I was lying at the side of the fissure again and you were there. Do you think Dr. Williams could have done that?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I had a similar experience yesterday. I was almost crushed by stones and I saw the same white form. Something else is happening.”
Curtis stared at me for a moment and then said something else, but I didn’t respond. I was drifting into sleep.
“Let’s turn in,” he said.
Curtis was already up when I climbed out of my tent. The morning was clear, but a ground fog covered the forest floor. Instantly I knew he was angry.
“I can’t stop thinking about what they’re doing,” he said. “And they aren’t going to give up.” He took a breath. “By now they’ve figured out what a mess they made on the hill. They’ll spend some time recalibrating, but not for long, and then they’ll try again. I can stop them but we have to find out where they are.”
“Curtis, violence just makes it worse. Didn’t you understand the information coming from Dr. Williams? We have to discover how to use the Vision.”
“No!” he shouted with deep emotion. “I’ve tried that before!”
I looked at him. “When?”
His expression changed to confusion. “I don’t know.”
“Well,” I stressed, “I think I do.”
He waved me off with his hand. “I don’t want to hear it. This is too crazy. Everything that’s happening is my fault. If I hadn’t worked on this technology, they might not be doing this. I’m going to handle it my way.” He walked over and began packing.
I hesitated, then started taking down my own tent, trying to think. After a moment I said, “I’ve already sent for some help. A woman I met, Maya, thinks she can persuade the Sheriff’s Department to investigate this. I want you to promise me you’ll give me some time.”
He was kneeling beside his backpack, checking a bulging side pocket. “I can’t do that. I may have to act when I can.”
“You have explosives in your pack?”
He walked toward me. “I told you before I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
“I want some time,” I repeated. “If I can reach Wil again, I think I can find out about this World Vision.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll give you as long as I can, but if they start experimenting again, and I think I’m out of time, I’ll have to do something.”
As he spoke, I saw Wil’s face again in my mind’s eye, surrounded by a rich emerald color. “Is there another high-energy location near here?” I asked.
He pointed south. “Somewhere up the big ridge, there’s a rock overhang I’ve heard about. But that’s private land that was recently sold. I don’t know who owns it now.”
“I’m going to look for it. If I can find the right place, then maybe I can locate Wil again.”
Curtis finished packing and helped me tie up my own gear and spread leaves and branches where the tents had been. Toward the northwest we could hear the faint sound of vehicles.
“I’m heading east,” he said.
I nodded as he walked away, then pulled my pack onto my shoulders and started up the rocky slope to the south. I traveled over several small hills and then tackled the steep incline of the main ridge. About halfway up I began to look through the dense forest for an overhang but found no sign of an opening.
After climbing several hundred more yards I stopped again. Still no outcropping, and I could see none at the crest of the ridge above. I was confused about which way to go and decided to sit down and attempt to raise my energy. After a few minutes I felt better, and was listening to the sounds of birds and tree frogs in the thick limbs over my head, when a large golden eagle fluttered from its nest and flew east along the top of the ridge.
I knew the presence of the bird had meaning, so, as with the hawk before, I decided to follow. Gradually the slope became more rocky. I crossed a small spring flowing from the rocks and refilled my canteen and washed my face. Finally, a half mile farther, I pushed my way through a grove of small fir trees, and there before me lay the majestic overhang. Almost half an acre of the slope was covered with huge terraces of thick limestone, and at the farthermost edge, a twenty-foot-wide shelf jutted out at least forty feet from the ridge, providing a spectacular view of the valley below. For an instant I detected a dark emerald highlight around the lower shelf.
I took off my pack and pushed it out of sight under a pile of leaves and then walked out and sat on the ledge. As I centered myself, the image of Wil came easily to mind. I took one more deep breath and began to move.
A HISTORY OF AWAKENING
When I opened my eyes, I was in an area of rich blue light, feeling the now-familiar sense of well-being and peace. I could detect Wil’s presence to my left.
As before, he looked enormously relieved and happy that I had returned. He moved closer and whispered, “You are going to love it here.”
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Look more closely.”
I shook my head. “I have to talk to you first. It’s i
mperative that we find this experiment and stop them. They’ve destroyed a hilltop. God knows what they’re about to do next.”
“What will we do if we find them?” Wii inquired.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, neither do I. Tell me what happened.”
I closed my eyes and tried to center, then described the experience of seeing Maya again, particularly her resistance to my suggestion that she was part of the group.
Wil nodded without comment.
I went on to describe meeting Curtis, communicating with Williams, and surviving the effects of the experiment.
“Williams spoke to you?” Wil asked.
“Not really. The communication wasn’t mental, as with you and me. He seemed to be influencing the ideas that were coming to us in some way. It felt like information I already knew at some level; yet both of us seemed to be saying what he was trying to communicate. It was odd, but I know he was there.”
“What was his message?”
“He confirmed what you and I saw with Maya; he said we could remember beyond our individual birth intentions to a broader knowledge of human purpose and how we could complete this purpose. Apparently, remembering this knowledge brings in an expanded energy that can end the Fear… and this experiment. He called it a World Vision.”
Wil was silent.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I think all this is just more of the Tenth Insight knowledge. Please understand: I share your sense of urgency. But the only way we can help is to continue exploring the Afterlife until we find out about this larger Vision that Williams was trying to communicate. There must be an exact process for remembering what it is.”
In the distance a movement caught my eye. Eight or ten very distinct beings, only partially out of focus, moved to within fifty feet. Behind them were dozens more, blended together in the usual amber-colored blur. All of them exuded a particular feeling of sentiment and nostalgia that was distinctly familiar.