Braden ' Power of 3'

CHAPTER 4

  REVALATIONS

  SATURDAY 13/3

  STACEY

  Instructing Jamie not to follow I left him in the care of his guide. I had no need to worry he was so engrossed with Katie and Liam as they questioned their guides that he barely acknowledged me.

  I turned to look once more at their bright eager faces as they stood by the now blazing fire their black cloaks gently fanning around them as the wind raced down the chimney. They looked so innocent, so vulnerable. How were we to protect them when we knew so little of our children's powers and our own?

  With heavy heart I returned to my human form as had the other parents and made my way to Charlie's study where I found them sitting at Charlie's huge desk.

  I looked from one to the other their questioning expressions reflecting my own as I tried to grasp our children's extraordinary revelation. Had they really received their powers as Liam described?

  Before I could speak Charlie acknowledged my silent question arguing that Jamie's declaration to Katie and Liam that they were the 'Power of Three' and were about to receive supernatural powers had led their imaginations to create the illusion that this had occurred when confronted with their frightening experiences in the Braden mansion.

  Unwilling to consider any other alternative I nodded in agreement as did the others to Charlie's plausible explanation.

  However our children's concealment of their exploits made me fear that we as parents of the 'Power of Three' had little control over their actions. Their headstrong natures I feared would lead them to further act on their own with only their infantile powers to protect them.

  For now however I had to put my fears aside this was no time to dwell on the unknown the others needed to know the content of Eric's diary.

  I took Eric's diary from the pocket of my jacket and pushed it toward Charlie insisting that he read it aloud to the others.

  All listened intently and none seem surprised by what Eric's diary revealed until they heard of Trina's involvement. Joanne gasped and as Eric's story unraveled I could see them begin to doubt their childhood friend.

  After reading the last entry Charlie sat in deep thought then reaching inside his desk drawer took out a crumpled folder and placed it in front of me.

  The others gave me a knowing look as gingerly I opened the coffee stained folder. Inside was a wad of printed paper. Stunned, I recognized the handwriting on the attached note. It was Eric's.

  I gasped the proof of what Eric had alluded to in his diary was here in my hands. These were the excerpts from William Braden's journal, which Eric had secretly photographed and later printed out from his computer.

  Shaken I turned the pages unable to understand the mathematical equations and drawings of other worlds. Bewildered I looked at Charlie who instructed me to read on.

  Nervously I turned the next page. There, recorded by William Braden was the narrative of the mysterious 'Greybeards' scientific theories of how our Universe and all others begin and end, then begin again.

  Stunned I read how they believed that as our universe is expanding then it was once compacted.

  They believed that our universe as all others expand into nothingness and then begin again from a single point wherein all matter and space-time of stars imploding upon themselves had been sucked into a central black hole and compacted.

  Here in this central black hole as in all other universes they believe this energy and matter compounds over time until the forces become so great that they explode from the subsequent compacted single point forming over billions of years the exact same universe where evolution proceeds as before with the same outcome.

  Yet while this chain of events was ongoing, the 'Greybeards' had discovered that our Universe was expanding billions of years before its time, the result of the escalating rate of dark energy.

  William Braden wrote that the Greybeards had made it clear to him that as all Universes are connected by the same chain of events our universe imploding before its time would affect their survival and thus ending the cycle of renewal.

  I was completely stunned by these revelations and alarmed by their implications. Was this what Eric had meant when he wrote 'Nothing is as I had believed'

  I was filled with despair wondering what more devastating information the rest of William Braden's Journal contained. Shaken I silently passed the folder back to Charlie; the question was too enormous to ask.

  With deference Charlie returned the folder to his desk drawer and without mentioning its content further reached into Eric's briefcase and took out the documents it contained.

  Long into the night we argued the rudimentary indoctrinations of the Mandate, and the prerequisite of our children's powers without resolution. I seemed to be alone in wanting my child to stay here on Earth.

  For hours I'd desperately scrutinized all of the documents Eric had sent looking for the loophole that would allow us to keep our children here on Earth to no avail. Then just as I was about to give up I realized that we'd overlooked the fact that the 'Great Universal Council' knew nothing of our existence. According to William Braden they believed that Sissnaska had escaped with the six incubated embryos carrying the genetic make up of the 'Power of Three'.

  I could hardly contain my excitement as I reached across the desk and hurriedly searched through the documents for where William Braden had written of Sissnaska's flight from Earth.

  Finally I found the passage I was looking for. The implication of those words was staggering, now if we chose, we could live on as before.

  Triumphantly I pointed out what we'd all missed in our deliberations. I was met by stunned silence.

  I could see written on their faces that their resolve for their children to follow their alien destiny was weakening.

  The hall clock chiming midnight broke our silence and exhausted we all agreed to delay this momentous decision. The responsibility of preventing the forces of evil controlling the Earth and our Universe weighed heavily upon us. None of us knew the extent of our powers and how to move forward, it seemed that only Asa could help us. We had to find him.

  We agreed to meet again after the weekend and wearily bade each other farewell till Monday afternoon.

  Solemnly I drove home weighed down by my fears for my son.

  Mag's headlights cut an eerie path through the fog threatening to engulf us as the rays of the moon of Urias turned it blood red. There seemed no escape from the stirrings of the heavens above as relentlessly the powerful 'Universal Mathematical Equation of Thirty Nine' equated over Earth.

  The tumultuous events of the day weighed heavily on my mind and I only half listened to Jamie's excited prattle. I was finding it hard to come to terms with what William Braden had written about the 'Greybeards' and their beliefs. It seemed impossible; yet until today I would have declared in no uncertain terms that there was no possibility that I was an alien who had a son with supernatural powers.

  My head had begun to ache reminding me of the moment of my body's transition from human to alien. Fearfully I looked into the rear vision mirror and sighed with relief when my familiar human face stared anxiously back at me.

  I wondered if I could ever be comfortable in my alien skin and sought comfort from the familiarity of earthly things as Mag found her way in the darkness. There was so much to learn, my powers, my sons, where would it all end I wondered?

  There was much I didn't know of my son, I despaired. The vengeful side he'd shown tonight when his suspicions of his fathers murder had been affirmed by Charlie had caught me by surprise. The deep pain I'd seen in his eyes I knew would never go away until he'd avenged his father's death.

  I tried to find solace in the knowledge that Eric hadn't died in vain. He'd exposed a subversive society that had spread throughout Braden and Australia and maybe the rest of the world, a society that had preyed on the people of Braden for centuries in their plot to rule the world and beyond.

  Yet this gave me no comfort, for I knew that if Eric had lived until today
his supernatural powers would have been awakened and he'd be with me still.

  Suddenly my head swirled with the image of Eric's alien form smiling at me. Proudly he stood empowered by his ancestry. Yet this loving image did nothing to alleviate the hurtful truth that I'd been placed on this earth purely as a vessel for breeding. I felt violated, and the love we'd shared cruelly irrelevant.

  The image dissipated and I struggled with the emptiness left behind. I never felt more alone in my life. I looked over at my special son sitting beside me. His composure and acceptance humbled and amazed me; his maturity I realized went far beyond his mortal years.

  However fulfilling the Mandate decreed for the 'Power of Three' required not only Jamie's maturity, but also the knowledge of his powers. And I knew that Jamie's powers would remain infantile if I didn't allow him to travel with his guide to study at the interplanetary 'Universal Wizard Academy'.

  Deciding whether or not to allow him to follow his destiny was tearing me apart. Conflicted I muttered my dissent under my breath, unaware that Jamie was laughing at me.

  "Mum, you're talking to yourself again." Jamie reprimanded cheekily.

  "What? Oh that! Well some things don't change just because you discover you're an alien you know." I joked trying to sound lighthearted. "I still talk to Mag as well, I must inform you, you cheeky bugger."

  "Hey Mum, have some respect! You're speaking to a superior being; I'm a 'P 3'!"

  "'P 3'? What on earth are you talking about Jamie?"

  "You know, 'P.3', Universal Detective."

  "Hey alien son of mine, drop the sarcasm. I'm still your mother, older- wiser. Get it!" I laughed nervously, feeling very unsure of that statement.

  "Oh, by the way mum Asa has to be found. Returning the 'Holy Scepter' to the 'Great Universal Council' is imperative if the Universe is to be saved." Jamie stated matter of factly.

  "How did you do that?" I demanded stunned by his remark.

  "Do what?" replied Jamie enjoying knocking me for six.

  "You read my mind, didn't you, you little monkey? Let's get one thing straight Jamie, my thoughts are my own!" I demanded infuriated that my son had this ability.

  "Yes mum, what ever you say." Jamie replied smiling mischievously.

  Jamie's sassy tone of voice told me he had no intention of complying. Reading my thoughts was not on! And at the next meeting I'd make certain that this discussion was on the table. All three children had to be blocked from reading their parents private thoughts. It made me shudder just thinking about it.

  I turned into the harbour road thankful our journey was nearly over; the day's events had left me exhausted and filled with dread. Everything I feared had been proven a reality and the enormity of what I'd learnt overwhelmed me.

  As I drove around the bend the manor momentarily loomed out of the foggy mist before disappearing once again into the heavily wooded terrain. Involuntarily I shivered, its ominous presence reminding me of its role in the devilment of Braden's past.

  Mag's headlights searched out its massive iron gates and with trepidation I drove through them.

  The sound of waves relentlessly pounding against the stone walls protecting the manor from the sea warned me of the approaching storm now making its way across the harbour. Suddenly wild winds whipped through the trees lining the Manors driveway making their branches sway dangerously close to Mag as she feebly fought her way forward.

  The turmoil around me seemed like an omen and as I looked at the manor just ahead I feared the presence I'd felt residing there lay in waiting.

  Anxiously I brought Mag to a halt at the front door. Slamming the car doors behind us Jamie and I fought our way through the wind whipping around us and quickly entered the gloomy manor.

  Not waiting to turn lights on we hastily made our way upstairs to Jamie's bedroom.

  Exhausted I turned on Jamie's bed lamp and tucked him into bed like I used to when he was little, drawing comfort from being there as he fell asleep. Strangely Jamie hadn't protested and seemed to need, like me, to say goodbye to the days when he was simply a child, innocent in the ways of the Universe. Now, I sighed, as I stroked his hair...he would no longer be mine but a child that belonged to a higher power.

  Tears welled in my eyes as I looked down at his sleepy face. I had so little time left to be with my son, protect him and watch him grow with his powers. Four years from now when he turned seventeen, I was programmed to die.

  I was thankful that Jamie as yet had no knowledge of this I had no idea how I would ever be able to broach the subject with him, the pain ran too deep.

  I sat there for what seemed like hours listening to the wind whistling through the trees outside Jamie's window. My heart was heavy and I had no desire to leave my sleeping son.

  I snuggled down beside him and wrapped my arms protectively around him as I drifted off to sleep.

  However sleep brought me no respite. My dreams were filled with Asa's prophetic voice relentlessly demanding that my son, the most powerful of the 'Power of Three', seek out the 'Greybeards' who have the 'Holy Scepter' and its 'Holy Scrolls' in their safekeeping. My son had been chosen by them to learn its powers so that the dark energy can once again be controlled. Without this he warned the Universe and all others were doomed.

  I woke in a cold sweat as morning light began to stream through the window. My decision was made; no longer would I prevent my son's transition as one of the 'Power of Three'. I would allow him to take his rightful place in the Universe as ordained in the 'Mandate' of the 'Power of Three'.