The Power of Twelve (22 page)

“Actually, it's just as well you are unable to sleep quite yet,” Abigail said. “I need to warn you about Arnold. My friends from the Council of Twelve have advised me that Arnold and George do not intend to provide funding at all. They are here to make you think they will so you do not pursue other financial backing. Then at the last minute, when it is too late to seek other funding, they will find an excuse to renege on their commitment and destroy Project Wake Up.”

“Are you sure? Both Arnold and George seem genuinely interested in helping,” Barbara asked.

“I am positive,” Abigail confirmed. “Their interest is in learning what is planned so that should they be unable to derail Project Wake Up, they will know exactly what to do to counteract any success the project may have. They are dangerous men, and you need to be more cautious when speaking with them tomorrow. I believe that not only Project Wake Up but your very life may be in danger.”

“Surely you exaggerate,” Barbara stated, both shocked and alarmed.

“No, one of my good friends from the Council of Twelve is acting as a walk-in for George Bush, and he has been in close communication with Arnold. He has learned things about Arnold and the way he operates that would make your blood run cold.”

“Oh, dear. What are we to do?”

“I am not sure, but altogether we have four members of the Council of Twelve here sharing human forms. I am certain we will find a way
to counter Arnold's plans. Just pay close attention to what Horatio, Inéz, and George Bush do in the next two days. We are the ones who are working together to ensure that Arnold will not succeed.”

“I greatly appreciate the support,” Barbara sighed. “Let's try to get some sleep if we can.”

But despite her best efforts to sleep, she could not. She tossed and turned, and soon the first light of dawn was creeping into the wellappointed bedroom of Chateau Mcely. It was too early to get up, so she went to the bathroom and filled the tub with nice warm water. She slowly entered and began to enjoy a soak made fragrant with lavender bath salts. She leaned her head against the side of the tub, and only then did she fall into a deep but uneasy slumber.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

A TROUBLED SLEEP

W
HEN BARBARA SLEPT, so did Abigail. When Barbara dreamed, so did Abigail. But Abigail did not dream Barbara's dreams. She dreamed her own. And on this occasion, with Barbara's head propped up against the side of the tub and the early light of dawn just entering the bathroom, Abigail had a dream unlike any she had ever experienced on Earth 769 or on any other planet.

The dream started calmly enough. Abigail found herself in a room with the other members of Project Wake Up. The room seemed to be the drawing room of Chateau Mcely, which she had visited the day before upon arriving. Everyone was smiling and congratulating themselves on having secured the funding from George Bush and Arnold Wheeler. George and Arnold were saying their goodbyes. The men entered the chauffeured BMW sedan and were soon speeding down the forested private road from the Chateau.

Back in the drawing room, Barbara was beaming, as were Inéz and Horatio. Gayle and Eve were chatting and making plans about how to implement the teachings of
The Book of the Dream
. Otto was smiling and Nina was listening as Horatio and Natalie explained how they were going to use their relationships with Coca-Cola Bottling
Company to disseminate
The Book of the Dream
to everyone who purchased a Coke in the next thirty days.

The world of Earth 769 seemed to be a perfect place. There were no worries. All had been corrected. The planet would not be destroyed. The known and unknown universes would not be destroyed. The One would be proud of what Abigail, Harry, Karl, and Lily had accomplished. The multi-universes would continue to expand.

But suddenly in her dream, Abigail saw herself and everyone in the room startled by a loud boom. Then an explosion enveloped the Chateau and every one of them was engulfed in flames or dismembered by a cataclysm that just kept growing in intensity. There seemed to be no end to the explosion. It was as if a nuclear device had been detonated. The explosion spread to the grounds and then the surrounding town and soon to Prague, forty kilometers away. From Prague the explosion spread quickly to Budapest, Vienna, and the other major capitals of Europe. The explosion spread exponentially in all directions. Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne—no part of the planet escaped the explosion.

Abigail saw the raw material of planet Earth 769 exploding into space. The explosion continued to spread, and just as it had proliferated from city to city on Earth 769, it began to expand from planet to planet in Universe 769, and once Universe 769 was consumed, the explosion spread from Universe 769 to Universes 770 and 771 and back to Universes 768 and 767, and then in just a microsecond to all the known and even unknown universes. The expansion caused by the explosion was a chain reaction into every dimension of every known and unknown universe, and when the expansion was complete and every corner of every universe in every dimension was on fire with energy and motion, there was an immediate and complete contraction of all matter coming together in what was no more than a millisecond. During that instant contraction of energy and matter, the explosions ceased altogether, and all matter in all known and unknown universes contracted to a single point of darkness in which all thought, all history, and all consciousness ceased to exist.

The author consulted with several psychics and mystics asking if this dream captures the possible origins and destiny of the infinite cycles of creation and destruction or our universe. Many agree that this dream is a plausible explanation. Do you?

Abigail awoke with a start from her dream but did not realize that she was still dreaming. She heard the voice of The One, in a calm but strangely loud tone, state, “THIS IS THE END.”

“The end of what?” Abigail asked the voice, hoping she would be told it was just the end of her dream.

“This is the design that I created at the beginning of time to end the universes that I have created,” the voice replied without emotion.

“So it does not matter what we do?” Abigail queried. “This is the fate that awaits all of life in all universes?”

“Yes. It is the fate and destiny of all that I have created. Even I am powerless to change this future,” The One explained.

“But then why have we come to alter this unalterable future?” Abigail asked, forlorn and confused.

“Because the design is immutable, but the timing is not. You can delay the inevitable, and in so delaying, you may in an unexpected way create the beginnings of new universes and multi-universes that may retain some of the consciousness of present-day creations.”

“But what difference would that make? Everything would still be destroyed, would it not?” Abigail asked, more confused than ever.

“Yes and no. Everything would still be destroyed, but it is the act of destruction itself that lays the foundation for the next beginning. That is why your mission is so critical.”

“So I should wake from this dream and go back to work as if nothing had happened and I had no knowledge of the true fate of planet Earth 769 and the known and unknown universes?” Abigail asked, though her fear of future destruction had lessened.

“Exactly,” The One acknowledged.

“I shall do my best, but I still do not truly understand why you have built this destruction into the design of all planets and all universes.”

“Do not despair, Abigail,” The One comforted. “You are a true adventurer and this is perhaps the greatest adventure I could have ever created for you. Think of the explosions and contractions that are to come as nothing more than the inflow and outflow of breath in a human body. The cycle of expansion and contraction is the engine that powers all of creation. Without the immutable
design for destruction there could be no creation. Even I could not create universes of infinite expansion. Even in the limitless universes there must be boundaries. This is the mechanism I chose to ensure infinite evolution of my own creation in infinite dimensions. The only unknown, which is even an unknown for me, is whether in the process of breathing out and breathing in, consciousness itself will be lost forever, requiring a new beginning from complete nothingness, or whether, through the perseverance of those who have come before, some small imprint of all that has existed will form the seed from which the infinite process will continue to unfold with both unexpected newness and clear continuity that honors the true beauty of infinite knowing.”

“I wish Lily and the other members of the Council of Twelve were with me now to better share with me the implications of what you have shown me in this dream. I do not feel adequate in my awareness to truly accomplish that which you have set before me,” Abigail admitted.

“You are more than adequate, Abigail,” The One reassured her. “You were chosen from the beginning for this task. I do not know if you shall succeed or fail, but stay true in your heart to what you hold most dear, and nothing that occurs shall in any way be a defeat. Now wake from your dream and take this greater knowingness with you on your journey.”

Instantly Abigail was awake. Barbara's head had slipped into the tub, and water was flooding into her mouth. Barbara woke coughing and gasping for breath, but soon collected herself and was able to get out of the tub and dry herself off.

“What a night,” Barbara muttered. “Really, Abigail, you must promise me—no more chocolate after eight at night.”

“I know, I know,” Abigail rejoindered. “No more nights like this. I shall behave.”

“Good.” With that settled, Barbara started thinking about what was on the agenda for that morning. “If what you told me about George and Arnold is true, today will be a most eventful day. Sleep or no sleep, we must have all our wits about us,” Barbara stated with renewed energy and confidence.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

IN THE GARDEN WITH MARY

W
HILE BARBARA WAS GETTING herself ready to greet the day, a group had already gathered at breakfast and was planning on a quick walk in Inéz's garden. Jim was explaining to Horatio, Otto, Jack, and George the intricacies of the cellar of Chateau Mcely, which, although now primarily used as a wine cellar, had originally been an alchemist's lab.

“You will be amazed,” Jim explained. “Writing on the cellar walls lays out ancient formulas for changing lead into gold. As a chemist myself, I spend a great deal of time in the cellar trying to see if any of these ancient formulas actually work.”

“Fascinating,” Jack exclaimed. “I was never much of a chemistry student in college, but I would love to explore the cellar. It seems that Arnold is still sleeping, and we have at least an hour before the scheduled meeting. Perhaps you could take us on a tour.”

“I would be delighted,” Jim said with pleasure. “Who else would like to see the cellar?”

Otto, Horatio, and George all confirmed that they were interested. Arnold's bodyguard, Eugene Green, was also present at breakfast, and he was invited to join the tour of the cellar. The women said that they were more interested in visiting the garden, and as the
men departed for the cellar they put on their coats and made their way outside.

As Eve walked toward the garden, she noticed a wonderful play area with swings, a sand box, a jungle gym, and slides. “How thoughtful of you to provide such a wonderful play area for the children of your guests,” she remarked to Inéz.

“If truth be told, the play area is much more for my daughter, Nely, and her friends,” Inéz explained. “Very few guests of Chateau Mcely bring their children.”

“How old is your daughter?” interjected Gayle.

“Nely is eight. She is the joy and light of my life.”

“Children are so wonderful,” Gayle confirmed. “I have two grown children and five grown stepchildren. Soon I will have a dozen grandchildren, and I love them all.”

“I also have grandchildren,” Eve added. “They are such a blessing.”

Just then a doe and her two fawns darted in front of the women on the path to the meditation garden.

“Oh my, what a good omen,” Natalie observed. “That means something wonderful will happen today.”

“Yes. It must be an omen,” Inéz concurred. “We have deer here at Chateau Mcely, but we rarely see them this time of year.”

The women kept on walking and soon they reached Inéz's meditation bench.

“Let's rest here for a minute and see if we can have a group meditation to ensure that today will have a positive outcome,” suggested Eve.

“Excellent suggestion, Eve,” agreed Inéz. “Why don't you lead the meditation?”

“I would prefer that Gayle do it. She has much more experience than I,” Eve demurred, looking toward Gayle.

“In my tradition as a Cherokee Indian, I always invoke the four corners before starting any meditation,” she explained as she initiated the meditation with the other women sitting beside her on the two meditation benches.

Just as Gayle ended the meditation session and asked that everyone open their eyes, a gentle voice that all could hear spoke: “Thank you for coming.”

Eve was the first to open her eyes. She was amazed to see standing in front of her a blue-robed, dark-haired woman with the most gentle and loving visage she had ever seen.

“Thank you for coming,” the woman said again. “I am Mary, known to most of you as the mother of Jesus the Christ. I sent you the sign of the deer to alert you to my presence. I have dwelt in this garden for many centuries, as this garden is full of light and love. I live now as a spirit, but I am always available to those who seek me out and to those whose hearts seek that which is good. I do not care what your religious beliefs or training might be. I am here to help you with your important task and to warn you.”