99 Palms: Horn OK Please (19 page)

“Amen to that”, said Goose.

“Amen to that”, said Hound.

***
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

***

Roses are red and violets are blue,

The human mind is like a cauldron full of boiling stew;

The answers lay in our recurring dream, we needed to dive,

We got some hel, for the answers could get us back alive;

Every picture tells a story, every dream shapes reality,

When you bring the two together, you get telepathy;

The dreams showed us glimpses of things to come,

We’d tapped into unknown signals, thanks to good ol’ rum;

We lay there like puppets, getting our puny brains read,

In the hands of gorgeous women, we were the undead;

We’d tried psychoanalysis before, they reached a cipher,

The mind of a moron, only real experts can decipher;

But this time it was different, the dream was not fake,

They were telepathic signals we’d tapped into by mistake;

Goose’s brew took us into a different spin, the dream rerun?

We need shrinks to slice our mind, was this our idea of fun?

We swallowed what the experts said, no reason to fight,

I wonder why we did it, no regrets, they led us just right;

If smiles and Imagination make you say ‘Cheese’

Drive on, for that’s the philosophy of Horn OK Please…

***

Back at the resort:

Hound was mighty pleased with his treasure as he played around with it, tossing it in front of his face, trying to prove a point. He was mighty thrilled with himself and rightly so. He had certainly earned his bragging rights and was pushing it. We let him play, for he’d certainly got a lot of banging from us for having ‘borrowed’ the piece of clay from the killing fields of Kalinga.

It was around 1:00 AM when we reached the resort. Lind’s lights were on. As soon as she heard the roar of Motormouth in the resort’s parking lot, she came out her room to see if it was us. There was someone with her, a familiar figure that emerged from the shadows as Lind made her way to our room along with the other person.

We were pooped out as Goose took out the keys to our room and opened the door. We crashed on the beds around us, in walked Lind with her friend. It was Dr. Natalie Jackson.

“Holy Shit! You’re alive?” said Derek as he jumped out of the bed and hugged her. Lind stood there by door as she closed the door behind them, smiling. I was shell-shocked to say the least. Hound and Goose stared at Natalie.

“Wow! Is there no end to shocks and surprises in this adventure?” said Hound as he slowly got off the bed, hugged Natalie and felt her ass. She slapped Hound on his wrist and he pulled back, laughing.

“It’s such a pleasure to see you alive, Natalie,” said I as Goose hugged her and I did the same. She was real and alive.

“It’s such a pleasure to see you once again”, said Natalie as she made herself comfortable on the study table beside the bed. Lind pulled a chair and sat on it as Natalie spoke, “See, I’m sorry to tell you this but the whole thing was staged right from the start. The bullets were fake, the murder was staged and so was the smoke bomb. We did it for a reason!”

“Let me explain to you. See, you came to meet me after Nitwit, your tourist guide, from Kalinga sent you. Once you told me about your common, recurring, dream, I must say that as a psychoanalyst, I’d never heard about anything like it before. I did tell you about everything else about Emperor Ashoka, the Nine Unknown and the lost city of gold for a reason. I told you everything but a concrete interpretation of your dream”, said Natalie, as she looked around the room, smiling, seemingly deriving some kind of a sadistic pleasure from it all.

Lind was enjoying herself thoroughly as she saw four blockheads gaping at Natalie with utter disbelief.

“I figured that the only way to cure you of it was to let the dream take a natural course. However, I did tell you that this is linked to the concoction that you have. I’ve concluded now that this concoction leads your mind to a higher plane. The ‘Inner’ self that requires a certain level of consciousness in your case seems to occur when you’re a bit high after a few shots of this alcohol-based drink. For some strange reason, this seems to take you to a level of super-consciousness where your mind actually reaches a state which can catch telepathic signals!” said Natalie as she pointed at a bottle of Baracdi kept on the table, right beside her.

“And just to be doubly sure that my analysis of your dream that these are telepathic signals was right, I asked Lind to help you interpret the objects that you see in your recurring dream. You seemed to have cracked every object from your dream except for the potato and the English alphabet ‘R’. I have no explanation for that still….” Said Natalie as she played around with the bottle of Bacardi kept beside her.

“So why all this drama? What was the need for it all?” I asked, pissed to the core as I clutched my pillow as I leaned forward.

“Chief, I’m sorry about that but please understand that in order to help you fully interpret this dream, there was no way that I, as a shrink, could disrupt or dismiss the dream as a hallucination. My conclusion is that these are telepathic signals for sure, but it can now be enhanced to a level that the blur from your dream goes away and we get the complete dream! If we do that, I can help you come back from Shambala!” said Natalie, speaking animatedly as she tried to take the sting away from the drama episode.

“And what do you propose we do now, Natalie? Help you stage another drama?” scowled Derek and looked at me.

“It is time. You have found the Stargates to Shambala. You know how to get there, but you don’t know how to get the Philosopher’s Stone from the Nine Unknown. Do you want to be successful in pulling it off and come back alive to enjoy the riches? Then you must do what I ask you to do. No questions asked”, said Lind, tapping impatiently on the wooden table.

We looked at each other and Hound said, “Well! Let’s do it your way. Shoot!” and we nodded in unison.

“Well, I have three of my acolytes waiting for me in Lind’s room. They’re our friends. Like myself, they are practicing psychoanalysts. Goose will have to prepare the concoction with 69 ml of Bacardi, 69 ml of Redbull and add the mint leaves. The only difference this time would be that you crush the mint leaves and not put the leaves in whole before stirring”, said Natalie as she looked at us for a sign of acknowledgement.

None came.

“It’s not about the drink itself, it’s also about the way Goose makes it. It’s about him becoming a part of the process. Take five shots and you will not sleep. My acolytes and I will take one subject each as you lie down and we shall keep communicating with you via Telepathy. This will tune the frequencies of our minds together and we shall be able to communicate with you via thought waves the way the Nine Unknown communicate with the members of their secret society. Give us your consent”, said Lind in her soft voice and took my hand in hers.

That did the trick and I blurted out, “Hell! Let’s do it. Bring on the dancing girls!”

Psychoanalysis:

Natalie stepped out to get the three acolytes from Lind’s room as Lind stood there watching intently as Goose went about mixing the contents like a fabled Druid of yore. This time he crushed the mint leaves with a can of Redbull and tossed the paste into the jug that contained the alcohol.

More than relieved that we were back safe, all these women seemed to feel extremely happy that their theories were being put to test by four guinea pigs. We made awesome lab rats. Lind hadn’t even bothered to ask us where we had found the entrance. That put me in a lot at ease for future coffee.

Bah! Scientists, I tell you, their cheap thrills lie not in adventure, but they lie in validation of their theories.

After about fifteen minutes, there was a knock on the door as Natalie walked in with three sexy women. Around the same height as Natalie, these three acolytes were named Rhea, Tia and Priety. Each one of them had their hair neatly combed and tied into a neat pony tail. The four of them looked quite identical now as they reminded me of those dancing girls from Robert Palmer’s sexy video for the track ‘
Simply Irresistible’
. They all wore white gowns that made them look like angels in white clothing. Natalie had changed into one as well.

As introductions happened and pleasantries were exchanged, Goose seemed to be worried sick wondering if they would polish off the drink.

“Now, Chief, Goose, Derek and Hound. Listen to me very carefully”, said Natalie in a stern voice. She reminded me of my headmistress then. She spoke softly, “This is a very difficult experiment. You are all going dunk five shots of that potion and immediately after that you’re going to lie down on the bed, side by side with your head facing South. This is symbolic of the Southern entrance that you will be taking to reach Shambala. OK?” Natalie’s stern instructions took the fun out of the drinking binge.

“Priety will communicate with Chief, Tia will communicate with Goose, Rhea will communicate with Hound and I shall communicate with Derek. Each one of us will be sitting on a chair and your head will be towards us”, said Natalie as she pointed to the four chairs being placed at the edge of the beds that were now joined as Lind went about setting the beds and chairs in position.

“Oh! Whoopie. A casting couch!” Derek said as he dunked his first shot.

“Shut up, Derek! This is serious shit. You morons shall not sleep. We shall be giving you subconscious commands via telepathy and you will explore your minds and respond the same way. Remember, not a word must be spoken”, said Natalie as I nervously gulped down my second shot.

“And I will be watching the complete proceeding, taking notes. Remember, the complete process may take about two hours. We want you to hold back nothing, give into our commands as we shall ask you to link every single event of yours right from the beginning of your adventure at Kalinga. Our idea is to help you come up with a plan to make you succeed and more importantly, get you back home safe. Any questions?” said Lind, looking at us gulp down the fifth shot and head straight to the bed.

We lay down beside each other in four beds joined together. The four angels took their positions as Terry dimmed the lights. No physical contact was made. For the four women in white, we were just obedient subjects - the lab rats.

If this worked, they would be able to communicate with us through telepathy when we would be there at the center of the earth. It was cool!

“Let your mind rant, bring out your anger, your pain and your frustrations. Help us explore your mind!” said one of the acolytes in a soft voice. It was either Preity or Rhea, umm, maybe Tia. They were all gorgeous.

They would try their best to ‘evolve’ our minds that night, preparing us for the trip. Not that they ever made a mention of it, but in my heart, I just knew

***
 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

***

Roses are red and violets are blue,

Finally, it all came together & a dream’s about to come true;

The Lost city of gold seems to be in sight,

It’s about time my ATM stopped its nasty urge to bite;

From Kalinga, the fakir who put us in a state of shock,

To the manuscripts of 99 Palms under the 13th edit on rock;

From the mysteries of Sanchi Stupa to the Dhamek Stupa,

From the mysterious ‘X factor’ to a chiral Swatika;

Of Secret Societies & the Nine Unknown,

A dream after a concoction, the seeds of greed were sown;

Meta-materials & underground Stupas defined my fate,

Of Ley lines, Ridges & Nexus Points, we found the Stargate;

The brilliant women kept pointing us just right,

A brave new world of pure science, we were doin’ alright;

We were now lost in dreams, each one of us drifting alone,

So we could get to Shambala, steal the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’;

Paradise beckons in a dreamlike state, my floating soul,

The time has come for us to rock ‘n’ roll;

If smiles and Imagination make you say ‘Cheese’

Drive on, for that’s the philosophy of Horn OK Please…

***

The Cause:

God! I hate it when my ATM makes fun of me. My near-zero bank balance is killing me. Where does all my tax money go? I am an honest citizen of urban India with a dream. Why can’t I have honest politicians around?

Is asking for good roads a crime when we see monstrous, self-effacing statues of megalomaniacs dotting beautiful parks? Why is there so much mediocrity in the Indian publishing Industry?

How did Jim Morisson really die? Only the rich and famous seem to have a good life in our country. Fifty plus years of freedom wasted to face the day when a can of Redbull would be cheaper than a liter of petrol? They’re stealing from us, so stealing must be OK.  Hell! I need to get rich and famous! 

Show me the road to the lost city of gold:

No, we’re not thieves! We’re ordinary citizens of urban India. We can’t steal like them! We can’t stoop to their level! We shall not steal, but we shall find our Gold. We shall ‘borrow’ from another place so there’s no guilt. We shall be bounty hunters.

Show me the lost city of gold! Show me the way to Shambala! I shall show you charity and I shall design your lifestyle. I want it all!

With knowledge, comes power:

The Nine Unknown, well, who are they? Are they men at all? Where are they? They found Paradise? They control our wealth? How dare they! We shall take it all away from them. We shall take away our gold from them. It’s not their gold! It’s our gold! If they are so smart and so benevolent, why can’t they fix the world?

Why can’t we get Redbull from taps? Their science? Well, screw that! They’ve helped the world create nuclear weapons and bombs. Their foolish science made biological weapons. We shall burn their books, we shall burn our books for our education system is so obsolete! We want power for the urban Indian. We want money. We want gold!

The 13
th
Major Rock Edict:

It is close to evening and the sun is about to set. I am on the battlefield, I can see everything, no one can see me. I am an apparition. This is the bloody Kalinga war. The war in which thousands of innocent people were butchered with no mercy, the bloody war that transformed Emperor Ashoka. The color of the soil is blood red as mutilated bodies keep piling up all around. Torn limbs scattered all over.

Agony and pain fills the air amidst the clang of swords, daggers, spears and shields. What was the need for such greed? Will your remorse change everything? I’ll take the Philosopher’s stone and brood later, thank you very much! My remorse shall come when I’ve seen the world, have wealth and drive like mad. Hell!

My remorse shall come once I’ve had it all! Look at my ATM, bitch! She seems to laugh at me. She makes fun of me! I have much to learn from the 13
th
Major Rock Edict, but not now. Blow it up and show me the money, honey! Show me the path to salivation first, salvation later. Give me the book! Give me the ancient scriptures of 99 Palms. Show me the way to wealth!

The Nine Unknown:

Emperor Ashoka is on a white horse, ripping through the battlefield, bloodied sword in hand as he gallops through the battlefield. He is shredding through foot soldiers as his mighty sword rips through many throats as horrible screams fill the air.  Flaming arrows shoot through the sky as the bloodied battlefield witnesses the dance of death and destruction.

Where did you get such knowledge from? Why did you use it on Earth? We’re happy you took the knowledge away, but that’s just half the problem solved. Why do so many children go hungry? Why are women so weak and vulnerable in the hands of lusty animals and rapists?

If the Nine Unknown are so smart, why can’t they fix things? Are they indifferent? What use is such a secret society to us lesser beings on the surface of the earth?

They are neither good nor bad. They may be scientifically advanced to write those books. They may be awesome men of pure science. But emotional evolution seems to have escaped them. Where is the love and compassion that you wanted these Nine Unknown to show? When they have so much power, why are they so indifferent? Well, I care a hang, so I shall steal from them. Take back what is mine, not their’s!

Give me my Philosopher’s Stone:

Thousands of soldiers fighting against each other as the elephants rage through the battlefield, tossing soldiers all around who fell to the ground with dull thuds. The sound of skulls getting crushed, hearts being ripped out from chests, rolling heads and mutilated limbs decorate the earth. Thousands of soldiers die violently to as I watch the horrific battle. You were human then. I am human now.

I shall not engage in any act of violence of war, O’ noble Emperor! Forgive me, but I just need to find my way to untold riches and wealth. Did killing the innocent help you? Your greed and megalomania came first, your remorse came much later. Give me my dues for being a good human from the start. Reward me with the Philosopher’s Stone for I need gold!

Meta-Material, the piece of clay tablet:

The eyes of Emperor Ashoka thirst for blood as the Devil seems to have taken over his soul. I see his bloodshot eyes filled with murderous rage. He is a crazed out megalomaniac, a demon possessed, who seems to be enjoying the dance of death.

Trident in hand, as he wipes his brow with his right arm, a clay tablet attached to his chest armor becomes clearly visible to me. It has inscriptions in a language that is unknown to me.

The symbols on the clay seem to cover him in a cloak of evil magic that not only seems to bring out the Devil in Emperor Ashoka but also makes him invincible. That’s not clay, dude! That’s a piece of engineered material that seems to be a source of power. Give me a piece of you for I need that to break the beam of light, open the Stargate to Shambala!

Who was the strange fakir?

And then there is a flash of light. I can see Emperor Ashoka walking through the streets of Kalinga as a woman with her dead son in head screams at him. Her helplessness is evident. Emperor Ashoka stands there, his head hangs in shame.

The woman wails as she laments her son’s death as Ashoka stares at his palms. There is blood on his hands. His heart is exploding and his brain is on fire. I can feel every bit of his confusion, anger, pain, fear, frustration and remorse gushing through his heart.

The fakir warned us of a fate similar to yours, O’ mighty Emperor! Who is wiser? Why did he try to stop us? A powerless, bag of bones who knew about the Nine Unknown? A social reject? To me, he is evolved. He needs to draw some attention. We shall, when we are there in Shambala, the Nine Unknown shall see the fire in the sky when we land.

99 Palms, you left it behind, for what?

Emperor Ashoka clenches his fists and hits himself on his chest, trying to control the pain within. The impact breaks the clay tablet pinned to his chest armor. I see him fall to the ground, down on his knees.  The many broken pieces of the clay tablet lie on the ground as he falls at the feet of the wailing woman, begging for her forgiveness.

The woman walks away, dead son in her arms, sobbing inconsolably as smoke bellows from the burning huts all around. I look around to see bodies everywhere. Numb, I stare at the broken pieces of the clay tablet. The inscriptions are visible.

Ancient manuscripts of 99 Palms buried under a mysterious rock edict. For what did you leave it behind? Did you leave it behind for a vandal to come and blow up a symbol of peace? O’ wise Nine Unknown, do you want to trade it for the Philosopher’s stone?

Objects in the dream:

There are very specific objects showing up one by one, interrupting the dream as all this plays on. There is trident, a lotus, the Swastika symbol, a mongoose, a water jug and Stupas. I’ve also seen a bowl that contains bananas, papayas, avocados, chestnuts and potatoes. The English alphabet ‘R’.

Spare us the potato and the English alphabet ‘R’, we have been able to figure it out with borrowed brains. O’ Great Emperor, what use is all this science that your Nine Unknown possess if they can let a child on earth go hungry? My brain’s exploding, now I know what a potato feels like inside a microwave oven when you try to play with science.

The Underwater Stupa:

I see a flash of light again. I am inside a humongous cave that seems to have no beginning, nor end. The room glows eerie green. There are countless book filled shelves all around. The place is huge. I can hear the sound of gushing water over my head. Flame torches light up the room.

Huge? So was our effort in finding the underwater Stupa. You were a man of peace, O’ great Emperor. We know now that the Ley lines, the energy lines of the universe cross at the underwater pyramid. We know now that the Nexus Point is the Great Sanchi Stupa that your wise ones built as a symbol of peace.

We know all about the hidden ridge at the Dhamek Stupa, the tear between our dimension and yours – at Shambala, We know it all! We may be mere humans, but we can find our war back from the Southern Gateway near the lake from where we shall emerge in Shambala. We may know our way back! Will the Nine Unknown let us be at peace? Do they want war with us?

Books of the Nine Unknown, deadly sciences:

I feel a damp hand touch my shoulder as a turn around. I see Emperor Ashoka in royal regalia. I can see the angst on his face as I look at him. Tears of blood stream down his face as he shows me his bloodstained palms.

Yes, I feel your pain and remorse, O’ Great Emperor. But that doesn’t mean that you have been able to control the indifferent ways, not wicked, of the Nine Unknown. Yes, we have felt the effects of the mysterious “X factor” at the Ganges that lends it magical powers, but that was a long time ago. What greater good have these Nine Unknown done lately? Look at the world you left behind. Leaked sciences, your secret society is perforated!

Would there be weapons of mass destruction on earth otherwise? Why do they conduct dangerous experiments at Shambala still? Is this really paradise or a beautiful, alternative laboratory? What’s the need for advancement in these sciences still? Biotechnology next?

What is your secret society trying to achieve, O’ Great Emperor, with Meta-materials, acoustic cloaking and anti-gravity? Didn’t your wise ones get the secrets of anti-gravity, Vimana Shastra, from an ancient kingdom that was destroyed?

Answer me, O’ Great Emperor, for I’m just a broke road hog, trying to make a living, wanting to get all rich and famous. Give me the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, give me the Ratna Mani! Are we really wrong?

Books of the Nine Unknown, deadly sciences:

He looks scared as he looks at me as though expecting empathy. The clay tablet is there again, intact, attached to his chest armor. He points at the books all around. Thousands of books inside the vast cave that seem to hold some secrets long forgotten, lost in the sands of time.

Why don’t they burn them? Why don’t we burn the ancient scriptures of 99 Palms? What use is it for mankind when all your Nine Unknown beings seem to be doing is to help them create dangerous ways of killing innocents? Wiping out civilizations? You saw what Adolf Hitler did?

Symbolism, and chirality:

Suddenly, he grows old right in front of me and he turns to dust. I look at the ground where he stood. I see pieces of the broken clay tablet. I look up again, I see shadows walking towards me. Nine of them, they seem like apparitions as they surround me inside a circle.

They do nothing but stare at me as they close in on me…they are trying to tell me something. I don’t understand a word. They finally zero in on me, lock me in an embrace of darkness. We become zero and I let out a silent scream of pain. No words come out of my mouth…

Why? Your Nine Unknown showed us the path to the Shambala with 99 Palms, they left behind clues at Temple number 45. Isn’t chirality what they wanted to communicate with the great Hermetic mystery left behind in the ancient scriptures of 99 Palms?

As above, so below, so within, so without. 69 Palms Two world. Earth and Shambala. One at the surface, one at the center of the earth.

Not asymmetric, but chiral like the human DNA, the amino acids. Chiral like our nostrils, chiral like the left and right sides of the human brain, chiral like the auricles and ventricles of our heart.

Cogito, Ergo, Sum:

The Nine Unknown cannot kill us, for we, the morons are the chiral images of the Nine Unknown. No, they will not kill us for they need us. We have balls, that’s chirality as well. We shall take what we want, we shall not give up, we will come back to earth and do what we want to do with the money. Don’t ever try to play God with Science, O’ Nine Unknown!

Your Nine Unknown left us all those clues behind. What were they thinking? Are we common men of India so dumb that we cannot use our collective intelligence to seek the truth? Do they really believe that we go by what’s there in Social Media, TV News Channels and Newspapers?

We shall succeed, right or wrong, for we possess the goodwill of all humanity that your Nine Unknown knows nothing about. We are protected by the blanket of HOP! Remember that we are simple people, O’ wise ones, we are not Idiots! Onward to the center of the earth!

I must have woken up but pretended to be asleep. I was bathed in sweat.

***

On our own now:

I was almost asleep when I heard Natalie tell the others, “They did very well. This was very useful. We don’t need to worry about them at all. Lind, just make sure that they get all this equipment that I’ve noted down when they leave for their journey to the center of the earth. They have the answers. Have you noted down your observations, Dr. Lind?”