“But other slave races the Anu have created and manipulated into enslavement have fought back against their masters and had very obvious signs of discontent. The humans have not done that. Not to any substantial level. Not to a level substantial enough that we can intervene. They must be in agreement throughout the race and even now after the Anu destroyed their planet, they do not rebel. They behaved like mice in a maze, not like intelligent beings who realize what has been done to them.”
“The Anu have perfected their tactics. The humans have no way of knowing what is happening to them.”
“Oh, but they do. If the Anu had not been telling the human race that they were slaves all of this time, it would be against our prime directive, and we would be forced to intervene on their behalf. But the Anu continuously, even now, show the humans that they are slaves.”
“I disagree,” said Michael, looking the head Council member in the eyes. “The way that the Anu reveal that they are slave masters is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. It is hidden. Disguised. Humanity has no way of picking up these cues. Those who have picked them up in the past have been relegated to what humans call conspiracy theorists. No one takes these people seriously.”
“Be that as it may, Michael, humanity has the choice to see the truth or not. They choose to keep their eyes closed. If even a few among them can see what is happening, then all of them are capable of it. It is a choice, it is their free will, and we will not interfere with it.”
“I will prove you wrong. The group from New San Diego who now reside in the cave in the Mt. Shasta will ascend. They will see the truth and they will spread the truth amongst their brethren. They will bring the rest of humanity into Ascension. They will create a critical mass that will bring every last human on the planet into the fourth dimension. There will be a revelation. Their eyes will be opened. They will see.”
“Michael, the Council appreciates your passion and your zeal for the protection of your assigned planet. We would hope for no less. Every creature who exists in the universe deserves to grow to their full potential. And we can see that you are a champion of this race, but don’t let your affection for these people color your judgment. We cannot and will not go against their free will. And if their free will is to remain slaves, then they will remain slaves. We will not object to you helping them. With the ambiguity of the situation, we will allow for this level of interference. Hopefully, your work with the human race will clarify their position. Good work, Michael. May the light of the universe be with you.”
Michael sighed heavily, feeling the weight of his responsibility like an iron weight on his chest. He nodded at the Council leader, knowing that all of her words were correct. The only way to gain the support and the help of the Council of The Seventh House would be to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the human race did not want to be enslaved.
Chapter 20
Magda sat at the center of the meditation room surrounded by fifty shifters, dome kids, and witches. All sat placidly with eyes closed, breathing deeply in and out as their minds linked to each other and the massive computer that surrounded them.
She could feel them coming closer, breaking through their limitations. The group hadn’t quite pushed through the barrier between their own minds and the collective mind within the fourth dimension. But they were coming closer every day.
Magda could shift into the fourth dimension within the alien computer system that was so like The Program. But she had to hold back, she had to wait for them and lead them, and they were not quite ready.
Something was missing—she could feel it. Some missing ingredient would push them farther than they had ever gone before. Perhaps it was time that they needed, but time was something they didn’t have.
She knew that when she, Circe, and Cassie led the group together, they were even closer to breaking through. But the women had decided to take turns in leading the group because the group as a whole needed much more work than the three of them. And they couldn’t be at every single meditation circle. They would soon burn out, which wouldn’t help anyone.
When she felt the group could take no more, she began to bring them back down to reality. She felt a wave of disappointment, knowing that they were so close yet still so far away from achieving their goal.
As the participants for the daily meditation began to file out of the room, Magdalena stood and gathered her things. As the last member of the group filed out the door, she saw Michael walking towards her. She smiled at him, a warm glow growing in her belly as his eyes locked on hers.
The overwhelming intensity of her love for him kindled like a hot coal in her heart. It took her breath away, and she gasped as he drew near. The towering god of a man took her in his arms and kissed her gently on the forehead.
“I’ve been to see the Council. They are still not convinced. But they do not oppose my helping you and your group. This is your chance, my darling. I know that you will succeed.”
Magdalena let an involuntary whimper escape from her throat. His words frightened her. How could she bear this responsibility? How could her leadership, her skills, and her strength be what stood between humanity’s destruction and salvation? It was all too much.
She clung to his chest and looked up at him. A knowing look alighted his eyes, and he smiled gently. “You are stronger than you think, my dearest Magdalena. You have the power of the universe within you. You have only to access it. Come, let’s walk.”
He took her hand and led her out of the meditation chamber, down a wide hallway, and through the front entrance of the cavern, where they stood looking out over the mountains. The wind whipped through their hair and clothes. She breathed in the crisp air as it blew up the mountain. It braced her and cleansed her thoughts.
“What will convince the Council to help us?” she asked, her words nearly drowned out by the sound of the wind.
“They need to see a critical mass of people oppose the Anu’s enslavement. I believe the only way to bring about that kind of revelation is to bring everyone into the fourth dimension. There, they will see everything more clearly. It will be easier for them to accept what has happened and to know what to do.”
“I just don’t know if I believe they can do it. The shifters are not exactly touchy-feely granola hippies, if you know what I mean. Most of them were working-class, regular Joes before the war. If we could gather more witches or find the dryads, we might have a chance.”
“Magdalena, you are looking at this the wrong way. It doesn’t matter what kind of people they were before the war. It doesn’t matter what kind of personalities they have now or if they are shifters, witches, or kids from the domes. What matters is here and now. We have the technology to collectively awaken this entire group. It is only a matter of time.”
“I want to believe you, Michael, but I can’t help but feel like something is missing. Even with the computers helping, I haven’t been able to guide a single person into the fourth dimension.”
“You need a critical mass. More people. You can’t conduct your meditation circles with anything less than the entire group. Every single soul who lives within the cave must come to every sitting.”
Magdalena took a deep breath, shook her head, and looked away. The group from New San Diego was just getting used to having enough food to eat, hot showers, and warm beds. They didn’t want to sit in meditation all day every day. Even with the comfortable accommodations, many of them didn’t want to stay in Mt. Shasta. Many wanted to explore the land below and create a settlement outside. They didn’t trust the alien technology. They didn’t understand what was happening.
“I don’t know if that’s possible, Michael. I told you what these people are like. I don’t know a way around it.”
“Talk to your friends Cassie and Circe. See what they have to say. You need to find more people. More than just this group. This group has to work harder. Magdalena, I’m not trying to overwhelm you. The fate of your world will be determined by the quality of your
actions right now.”
“No pressure or anything,” she scoffed, turning away. Irritation rose in her chest and she wanted to cry. She hurried down the hallway, her temper swirling just below the surface. Michael hurried after her. She could hear his footfalls in the hallway. He called after her, apologizing. But she didn’t want to talk to him. She couldn’t take this. She couldn’t take any of it.
With tears streaming down her face, she stormed into her bedchamber and slammed the door. She fell face first onto her bed and screamed into the down comforter. After hitting the bed with her fists a dozen times, hitting and screaming as hard as she possibly could, she took a deep breath and sat back up.
As she wiped the tears from her eyes, Michael walked through the door, looking apologetic. She groaned at him and sprang up from the bed, walking towards the other room. His big hand clasped her upper arm and gently turned her towards him. He held her by the shoulders and caught her eyes with his. His solemn expression made her feel instantly less angry.
“Magdalena, please. I’m sorry. I’m only trying to convey to you the magnitude of the importance of your actions. I know you are young and unsure. But a lionhearted hero lies within you. Believe me. I can see it even if you cannot.”
She exhaled all the air from her lungs and took a deep breath before resting her head against his chest. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered.
“But you can.”
Chapter 21
Magda sat opposite Cassie and Circe, looking from one to the other. She had to make them understand what needed to happen now. They needed more people. They needed to increase the frequency of the group meditations, and the entire group needed to be involved.
“I think we can get most of them to come,” said Cassie.
“We should just tell them they don’t get to eat unless they come to the meditations,” said Circe.
Cassie guffawed and sat back in her chair, putting her hands on her hips. “That might just work,” she said jokingly.
“I don’t think forcing them into the meditations is going to help,” said Magda, anxiety coiling in her stomach. She felt like she wanted to puke. Having this kind of responsibility had never been something she was good at. She didn’t even feel like she belonged in the same league as Cassie and Circe. These two women were heroes, real leaders; she was just a mind hacker who was good at The Program. Why Michael had chosen her, she still didn’t understand, and no matter how much she loved him, and wanted to be with him, she regretted that she was in this position in the first place.
“You guys, this is serious,” she pleaded.
“Magda, you need to relax,” said Circe as she patted Magdalena’s hand. Magdalena took a deep breath and groaned.
“I can’t freaking relax. The fate of the world rests on my shoulders. It totally sucks. I don’t want this. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“None of us have any idea what we’re doing,” said Cassie. “So, anyway, Michael said we need more people. A critical mass or something. Well, there are a lot more kids in the domes. Rafe and I could go on another extraction mission. That might get us another couple hundred people. And most of the kids inside the domes have experience with The Program. That might help a lot.”
“True,” said Magdalena. “But I don’t think that’s exactly what he meant. While I would love to work with people who actually knew what they were doing, I still think he means a lot more people than that. Like a lot more people. And I have no idea how we will get in touch with that many people and how we will bring that many people into a group meditation all at the same time. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Well, I can contact witches through the fourth dimension. Most of us have access to it. Our power might be helpful in bringing the rest of the group into higher awareness.”
“That could be really helpful. But the majority of the people on Earth, as far as I can tell, were mutated into shifters. We need to contact as much of the population as we can, and that means contacting shifters.”
“I know that there’s some kind of rudimentary internet that some wolf packs use. Rafe told me about it. I’m sure he and Emilia could pick something up so they could get a message to other packs. I don’t know how far it could reach but each pack can contact the next.”
“That doesn’t seem very definite to me,” said Magdalena with a sigh, leaning back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip. It was the best idea she’d heard so far, but she still didn’t think it would work.
Circe stood, excusing herself to go find Rafe and Xavier. Magda stared at Cassie with a frown. She would give anything to get the hell away from this situation. For one thing, she didn’t think their plan would work. For another thing, it all just kind of sucked.
She wanted freedom from the Anu as much as anyone. She’d been held prisoner by Pyramid Corp for five years inside the dome, and they’d mutilated and murdered her brother. She simply didn’t want to be the one responsible for saving the world.
“You need to snap out of it, Magda. The girl I met in the dome was capable of helping me free all those kids. Why can’t you believe in yourself now?” Cassie asked.
“The stakes are a lot bigger this time.”
“Not really,” Cassie said. A moment later, Circe came back with Rafe and Xavier. They all sat at the table with Cassie and Magda.
“So I hear we need to tap into the Internet?” Rafe asked, looking from Cassie to Magda.
“Michael has told Magda that we need a lot more people involved in the meditations. Not just the entire group here or any other groups we can bring here. We need a lot more people. As many people as we can possibly contact,” Cassie explained to Rafe. He watched Cassie with an intensity and focus born out of deep respect and their work together in liberating the domes.
“We can reach a few groups. The range is pretty limited. It all depends on who is hooked up to the network. The good news is, they can always transmit the message to networks beyond ours.”
“The dragons can contact other groups who aren’t connected. Usually it’s only wolves who are interested in such technology. The bears and mountain lions tend to be more traditional,” Xavier mused.
“That’s true. The most important thing, from what I understand, is that we coordinate the group’s meditation precisely at the same time. The power of that many minds, amplified by the mountain’s computer system, should bring us several steps further towards our goal,” Circe added.
“It sounds like it could work,” Magda said, shrugging. The rest of the group looked at her—apparently they expected more. She didn’t have anything else to offer.
“All right then,” Rafe said. “I will get together with Emilia and a few other engineers and we will begin to rig a connection to the primitive Internet system. We’ve been studying the mountain’s computers and the technology is far beyond anything we could understand, but Emilia’s got half her workshop already up and running.”
“Good,” said Circe. “And we’ll begin having group meditations every day, with the entire population of the mountain,” she added.
“Everyone? Every day?” Xavier asked. “I don’t know if I can get them to cooperate with that.”
“It’s the only way,” Magda finally said. “We need everyone working on this round the clock. They need to wake up. This ascension is the only way to open their awareness to the fact that the human race has been enslaved for hundreds of thousands of years. If we don’t get the group working, they can’t ascend. If they don’t ascend, they won’t wake the hell up!” Magda shouted.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to them. I get it, Magda. Don’t get so worked up,” Xavier said, trying to soothe her.
“I can’t help it. This is the only way we can save the world and get rid of the Anu. The Council won’t help us otherwise, and we can’t beat the Anu without them. Don’t you want them gone?”
“Of course, Mags. We all do. Look, kid. We’re all in this together. I think you need to take
a break or something. Go get some sleep. You look like hell,” Rafe said, patting her back.
“I’m fine,” she said, brushing him away and moving toward the door. “Come tell me when the transmission is ready. Tomorrow we start our practice with the whole group.”
Chapter 22
With Cassie and Circe by her side, Magda sat at the center of the meditation room surrounded by the entire New San Diego group. Even the hybrid babies were in the room, nestled in their mothers’ arms. After what Magda had seen in the trailer back at New San Diego, she knew that the children were developing at an accelerated pace. The mothers had never brought them into the meditation chamber before.
As she sank deeper within, she could feel the magnitude of the energy of the people before her. The collective consciousness of the entire group washed over her like a tidal wave. She sank deeper, Cassie and Circe’s quiet confidence beside her. She could feel something else as well. The influence of the tiny children seemed to be the missing ingredient she had felt they needed before.
The longer they sat, working with the computers, the closer she felt they were to bursting through to the fourth dimension. Lights shot across her vision and she could feel the energy barreling toward her as her consciousness expanded. All three women at the center of the group took a deep breath in unison as the group came to the edge of the boundary.
For a brief moment, she felt them tip over. A hum sounded within the group as their minds expanded and connected on the other side. Magda’s heart pounded with excitement, feeling she might actually have led them to their ascension. But as soon as the group touched the fourth dimension, it came tumbling back down.
The group’s consciousness retracted and Magda opened her eyes to see the group blinking blankly at her. She sighed. They’d been so close. They’d almost made it. They had made it over the edge, but they needed to be able to stay there for greater lengths of time.