As for Ernie, he had no more dreams the rest of that night, nor the next. In fact, he could have almost forgotten about the crystal altogether, except for what happened the following night.
Chapter 7
Ernie didn't know why he had such a hard time getting to sleep. There wasn't a lot on his mind, and he hadn't eaten anything unusual. He usually had no trouble sleeping at all. Even excessive coffee and tea didn't keep him awake, and he hadn't even had much of that.
Maybe that was it. He needed a cup of tea to get him to sleep.
He decided to get out and sit under the stars.
While looking for a pair of warm socks, his hand fell on the crystal. Maybe he'd take it along and get a good look at it. He hadn't really paid attention to it at all since finding it.
That fact alone puzzled him. One would think that after so many remarkable dreams about the same thing, confirmed by actually finding it, one would be obsessed. But this was like something he had known all along, but had forgotten.
Dressed in a warm coat, carrying a high power torch, the crystal in the pocket, Ernie walked out into the moonlight. He gave a friendly wave to the security guard, who waved back. Then he went to sit in the common area under the canopy out of sight of the guard.
He set the torch on the table, and lit the candle in the candlestick with the matches sitting nearby. The torch was better for examining the crystal.
It was not cut in the same fashion as a gem one finds in a jewellery shop. It was an odd shape; not symmetrical, rather flat, no two facets alike, and a large completely flat area on one side of it. If anything, it resembled a giant tear-drop. A few of the facets were triangular, some rectangular and diamond shaped, and there were polygons of any number of sides. Not all the surfaces were flat either. Two or three were round, and stuck out like a smooth gem set into the larger crystal. Some of the facets reflected green light from the torch, others blue, and one or two, red and amber. Now and then, he thought he saw another colour or two he couldn't place.
Ernie held it up and looked through the flat side towards the light.
Now, it was even stranger. There were colours and shapes one wouldn't expect to find. Some were changing as he watched.
There was at least one colour that couldn't be placed on the spectrum. As much as he tried, he couldn't remember anything he had ever seen of that colour.
He couldn't make any sense of it. What did this have to do with the equilibrium of the universe? What about the mission? .
What was that phrase he had said the other night? He could still remember words clearly.
'Vratzan Ghish Phondesh,' he muttered to himself. What did that word mean anyway -- especially that last bit, 'Phondesh'? There was something strangely familiar about it.
Suddenly he was aware of a low hum, the same as the other night when the door opened. It was coming from the crystal. It had started the instant he muttered the words.
The crystal was beginning to glow, now a brilliant green, or an aquamarine, now a shade of blue, and a few other colours as the light inside seemed to alternate between facets.
Ernie looked into the flat surface. Now, he saw colours and shapes changing as though they were saying something.
Suddenly, they weren't just colours and shapes. Something in a forgotten portion of his brain was translating it into knowledge.
This was a knowledge cache, he suddenly knew, designed for human use. It was especially made to facilitate the mission. The centrepiece of the strategy required that the participants put on humanity to take advantage of the unique strengths inherent in that species.
He also knew that to make full use of it, he had to place the flat surface of the crystal on his forehead. By doing so, he would begin to know as much of the mission as he did before he first arrived.
Ernie did do, and the transmission of knowledge suddenly increased a hundredfold. With it, came a consciousness he never had as a human.
He suddenly knew from looking at the table he was leaning on, all the different elements that composed it, even the atoms, and the sub-atomic particles that were in it. He saw each one individually, and yet he saw the table as a whole. Somehow, his brain was big enough to take it all in.
He looked at the wooden candle stand, and he could see the dead DNA, the atoms, and the sub-atomic particles. He knew how they composed themselves when the same piece of wood was still alive, and how they were when it was a sapling. It looked like something that remembered having once been alive, and understood how to hold life.
He knew this, he realised, because even though the crystal was on his forehead, he was really looking at these things through the different facets of the crystal, making up a compound eye. Each receptor of a Zondon eye is capable of picking out a different property of matter, whether it be the colour, the shape, the activity of the protons, the electrons, the neutrons, the zoetrons, the spondrectons, any atomic particle for that matter, as well as various energy forces.
He also knew a whole world of wisdom, and even some memory of what went on before. He also understood a language. He hadn't just learned it, it had been with him all along. He knew that the words he had spoken, Vratzan Ghish Phondesh, were not magic words, but were from a language he knew. It meant, Phondesh reporting for the mission to contain the evil. He also knew his own name was Phondesh.
The stone itself, he knew, was not a simple crystal composed of molecules of the same compound, as crystals known on earth. Rather, it could be better described as one giant molecule. Each atom, indeed, each subatomic particle that composed it played its own role, while joining with others in close proximity to perform group functions, as switches, processors, storage capacitors, and receptors and senders of various energy fields. Some of these were capable of interaction with the human brain. They both received and sent signals to various parts of the brain, including the portions not normally used in human thought, and linked those parts with the conscious thought processes. Thus, in effect, the crystal was equal to a million supercomputers. Being crystal, the processing medium was light rather than electronic impulses.
He took the crystal away from his forehead, and suddenly, he was no more than Ernie, holding a large gem. He looked at the table and could see nothing but metal and plastic.
It was as though he had only dreamed he was Phondesh, and that he could understand sub-atomic structure. Try as he might, it was like trying to remember a fading dream.
He put the crystal back on his forehead, and immediately it all returned. Now, it was almost like his human existence was only a dream and he had awakened to everyday Zondon reality, only he remembered his humanness too vividly to dismiss it as a dream.
He looked at the stars, and he could see the happy light they radiated. One star gave off a passion for freedom. There was also a love of truth and an appreciation of the individual uniqueness of the others, but freedom was the quality that shone the most brightly.
He focused on another star. While looking at that Ernie felt hope and encouragement welling up inside. Another one shone an intense desire for justice. The affect was contagious. Ernie could almost feel anger begin to rise up. Something inside him said this was good, but that he must keep it in balance with what the other stars radiated.
The fourth star he looked at quickly became his favourite. It flooded his soul with a similar feeling to that of a child sitting in his mother's arms, or holding his father's hand. Even though this was a thoroughly human sensation, he had forgotten it in the rush and strain of acting like a grown-up. He sat for a while gazing, as the feelings filtered through the crystal into his human emotions. His eyes began to go damp, so he thought it better to look at something else.
He looked at the moon.
In stark contrast to all the stars, it was sad. Again, Ernie wanted to weep, but in a sad way.
Why was the moon sad?
There was a longing for something to be set right, which long ago, had gone terribly wrong. So intense was the longing
it made Ernie want to double over and groan.
He looked quickly back at the star that had shone hope. Now, it was speaking in a language near to that of the colours and shapes Ernie had seen inside the crystal, but not as distinct.
Help will come...all things will be restored, it was saying.
He looked at the star that radiated a passion for justice.
You are part of the help...begin restoring...do something before the evil infects us as well...
Then Ernie remembered the dream he had the night they first arrive, of the evil overtaking the heavens like a black shadowy hand.
To maintain his equilibrium, Ernie looked back at o the fourth star, which said, You are loved more than you will ever know, but now, begin to know it more than you ever have before.
He was struck by the fact that, far from being a mushy sentimental feeling, it made him feel better prepared to face the challenge being set before him.
Again, he took the crystal down from his forehead.
Now, the moon looked just as it always did, and so did the stars. But his insides still reverberated with their message -- that he was loved, the hope, and that he was on a mission.
Then, he remembered that the colours and shapes inside the crystal had also said he would begin to know his part in the mission.
Chapter 8
He put the crystal back on his forehead, but this time he didn't look at anything. He just began remembering.
With the crystal on his forehead, he could discern many things that would be impossible to recount here, so the following is what he remembered of his memory after he again put the crystal down.
He remembered living on a planet -- one far different from this one though it didn't strike him as a strange place. He was remembering it, after all, and what one remembers doesn't strike one as strange as it would, visualising it for the first time.
There were trans-pods flying back and forth carrying their passengers, buildings hovering here and there, individuals riding on their personal carriers from building to building, and a vine-like vegetation strung all about, thick enough to provide a good shade in spots. Some walkways were suspended from the vines.
No ground was to be seen. There was no solid ground on Zuz, only atmosphere that became denser and denser as one went down, so that near the crust of the heavy core of the planet, the pressure was too great to sustain life of any kind.
The others looked like him for the most part. There were differences. Some had wings, and didn't need personal carriers. Others had long slender legs that doubled at the knees to enable them to leap great distances. A few of these also had an extra set of arms. These were not interstellar travellers, but lived more simply among the giant vines -- more simply, but by no means less intelligent. The interstellar travellers were wingless and had a single set of arms, and legs suited to normal walking. All had exoskeletons of various shades of yellow and light green, and all had greenish bluish compound eyes that glittered and sparkled, so that they gave Ernie's human mind the impression of warm, amiable grasshoppers.
His most recent memory of Zuz was that of entering the common transport facility where all the ships were kept, on his way to this mission. Drovshi, whom he knew well, was walking with him, questioning him regarding the details of the mission. Zhondri was walking close enough behind to hear.
He remembered having a firm dedication, knowing with almost certainty that he wouldn't return to Zuz in his life as a Zondon.
A Zondon is what he was. Phondesh was his name. The other members of the team were Drovshi and Zhondri, who were walking with him just now, and Draz, Zikh, Tsav and Vrosh, who were to meet them inside the terminal.
He was telling them as much as he could, and struggling himself with the explanation, because there was much that he didn't understand himself.
'It's a solar system on the opposite edge of this galaxy.' He didn't tell them that it was, in fact, the forbidden star. 'There are strengths to be gained there that will be invaluable to us in containing and pushing back the evil.'
'But it would be good to have some specifics, Phondesh,' said Drovshi. 'We're willing to give all to save the universe, but we don't know any details.'
'We can only know one step at a time. First we must get there. All I know is there could be opposition, even at the first stage. The Glaat already have wind of this.'
He remembered the departure, the first stage of the trip through familiar parts of the galaxy, and then into the uncharted regions.
Just when they thought all had come off without any complications at all, a Glaat vessel picked up their trail in a location they least expected. Obviously it had been waiting for them.
This, Phondesh thought, would make the mission more difficult. However, there was a plan of action already in place in case this happened.
The seven sent their essence into the crystal, which then sped to the forbidden solar system. An explosive device had been set inside their abandoned ship that would destroy both it and the one in pursuit. It might not totally rid them of the Glaat threat, but it would greatly handicap it.
Meanwhile, the crystal found a resting spot on the only inhabited planet of the forbidden solar system. On landing, the seven parted ways, each reduced to a nucleus of their being. They took with them only key fragments of memory to enable them each to search for a suitable human host, and maintain a subconscious awareness of their past that would appear in their dreams. When they found a host, they waited for the right moment, and joined with the mother's egg as it was in the process of conception and became the twin of the child thus born to the human parents. The rest of their memory was resident inside the crystal.
Ernie laid the crystal down. He was amazed at how it all fit together. His dreams had been nothing more than left over fragments of his own memory.
But, what about the mission? The colours and shapes inside the crystal told him that he would learn about his mission from remembering it.
He placed the crystal back on his forehead and realised that his newly found Zondon memory had already given him that information. Now, came some fresh impressions, like a communication.
There were six more Zondon, beside himself, who were born to human hosts. The next task was to find them, and awaken them.
But where will I find them? And how will I awaken them? Ernie wasn't sure if he had asked out loud or if his mind were just sending the vibes back into the crystal. The crystal seemed to answer, nonetheless.
One question at a time. One step at a time. Ernie suddenly knew that Zhondri was the next one he needed to find. She was in Thailand, but living as a foreigner there, from a neighbouring country.
Ernie waited for more. His mind was asking what to look for.
Just go.
Ernie suddenly remembered that the details of this mission would only be made known one step at a time. He also had an impression that the crystal wouldn't be the only source of information. He had inherent Zondon sense.
Between that and the crystal, he knew he had only enough resources to accomplish the next step -- to find and awaken the next Zondon, Zhondri. The next step would be to find the next, then the next. The more of them there were together, the sharper would be their Zondon senses, and the more vital the crystal. Only when all seven were awakened would they be enabled, through the strength of unity and interdependence, to carry out the mission.
Suddenly, the colours and light stopped, as though switched off.
He placed the crystal on his forehead again, but nothing happened. It was now no more than an ordinary rock.
As he walked back to the caravan, he tried to analyse the language he had spoken. He couldn't isolate a single word or phrase. Try as he might, it was like trying to remember a dream.
He remembered what was said, however. As he gave up trying to analyse the language structure and thought about what was said, suddenly, he found he remembered what it sounded like, and could even say things to himself. But the moment he tried
to figure out what the words meant, he was suddenly helpless.
He put the crystal carefully in his shoulder bag and placed that under his bed, and lay down. Before drifting off to sleep, his mind went through a few more rounds of recalling the whole message, remembering the sound, only to be stumped again while trying to make linguistic sense out of it.
He slept restfully and dreamlessly until morning.
Chapter 9
'Thailand!' thought Ernie, still lying in his bed. That place would pop back into his life.
The others were already at their breakfast. The ones assigned to unearthing the outside of the tomb had already been at it for two hours, taking advantage of the coolness of the morning. The others would start after finishing their breakfast, as their work was mostly in the cool underground chambers below.
On most days, Ernie's duties weren't called for so early, so he would sleep till a bit later. Today, he had to go into town.
As he sat up and began pulling on his clothes, his mind went over the details of the night before.
He was on a mission. He still wasn't sure exactly what that entailed, and wouldn't know until he had awakened the other six -- presumably all total strangers to his human mind. All he had to go on for now were the instructions, 'Go to Thailand, and use your Zondon senses', -- all in all, a rather daunting task.
What was he going to tell Eddie?
'As you've always suspected, brother, I'm not really human. I'm a Zondon, and I'm on a mission to save the galaxy.'
No. Eddie would just call for the men in white coats.
He would have to think of a different approach.
When he went for his breakfast, most of the others were already finishing. Eddie was announcing the agenda for the day. Any talking to him would have to wait till afternoon tea, as Ernie had to go with Abdul into the closest town for routine business.
At least Abdul had an understanding ear.
As soon as the two were on their way, Ernie said, 'I've been getting communications through the crystal, Uncle Abdul.'