Islands of Wisdom
Morgan’s Knot – A Serial Fantasy
Episode VIII
Former President Bartlett accepted his new role without hesitation, although convincing the Secret Service of the need to change its security procedures involved far more thumb-twisting than persuading the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down at the same table or convincing both Houses of Congress and the members of two opposing political parties to agree to pass any measure that might benefit all mankind.
With all the other commitments and requirements of an ex-president, he could only dedicate three days a week to his new position, but the rewards far outweighed the imposition, and he cherished the time he spent in this endeavor. Spinning his chair, he turned to bask in rippling rays of golden sunlight cascading down through the blue waters of the northern Atlantic. An endless school of silver tuna, shimmering daggers, glinted close to the glass. In the distance beyond the third dome, he could see divers moving massive curved beams into place for the newest bubble being constructed for this city beneath the sea.
Although most of the world would never know of his new title, he was as proud of it as he had been when he took the oath of office as President of the United States, Chancellor of the International School for Seers and Keepers. Given his druthers, the title might have included wizardry or magic, for he still viewed the Powers of the Crystals and the things these people could do as magical, but he was pleased and honored that he had been asked to help organize the institution.
His years in the Economics Department at Harvard provided a model for the structure of the school, but offered nothing to define the scope of concepts and information required to reach the level of Master Seer or a first-class Keeper of the Powers. Those who achieved that lofty status had invested their lives in the quest. Now, they were trying to break it down into actual courses that followed a definitive path, compressing decades of experience into a five-year program.
After the battle over the North Pole, seers and Keepers from all corners of the globe descended on Morgan’s Knot, taking up every spare bed on the island, congregating around the observatory, arguing over the obvious and ominous technical advances of the Dark Forces and the lack of a unified effort by the Forces of the Ligh to merge their collective knowledge to counter the next confrontation that was sure to come.
There were too many ideas and opinions to reach a consensus or develop an action plan. After two contentious weeks without progress, Adrian and Alius brought the former president to mediate under the guise of providing a short tour of Morgan’s Knot and the wonders of the Powers. Bartlett was still unsure about how they managed to transform time, so no one at the house on the Cape knew that he was missing, something to do with that little blond girl, Kelly, who repeatedly asked to sit on his lap and kept fiddling with an old pocket watch.
While everyone else crowded into Ponte’s parlor, kitchen, and hallways, spilling out onto the lawn and the path beyond, five seers and five Keepers sat at the dining room table for three days before an accord was reached. Bartlett grasped the concepts in short order and pushed the negotiations forward with absolute focus on the question, “What is the best course of action to give us the greatest opportunity to impede or defeat the Dark Forces and develop the wonders of the Powers to benefit all mankind?”
He never wavered, listening patiently as endless opinions were proposed, discussed, and noted. In the end, they decided on a foundation of coordination and education. Sky, Master Chi, Mary, and Simian accepted the task of building a curriculum to immerse young apprentices and expand the knowledge and powers of every seer, while Dadeus, Sir Isaacs, and Master Jung assumed a similar challenge to develop laboratories to facilitate the education of aspiring Keepers. Ponte and Nanchez chose to act as coordinators in gathering the technologies and techniques from every Keeper on the planet.
The ancestry of every seer would be traced back through centuries to see whether there might be others who, like Adrian, never discovered the source or purpose for their unique talents. Jofre, George, and John volunteered to oversee the construction of a cluster of new domes that would become the center of knowledge. In addition, everyone agreed to expand Adrian’s campaign to educate those who lived in the real world, especially the children, for, in the end, the responsibility for the future would become their burden to bear.
Systems were being constructed to connect every Keeper with instantaneous communications. The sum of knowledge would be brought together in an atmosphere modeled after the ancient library of Alexandria, where the world’s recorded wisdom from Greece, Rome, Persia, Egypt, and empires across the globe was collected, translated into all the major languages, and made available to the finest minds of their time.
It was a bold concept that demanded a unified effort and absolute commitment from everyone involved, but it was the only path that offered a chance to defend the Powers and life as we know it against incessant assaults by the Dark Forces.
The former president faced down countless enemies and sent young men and women into battle to preserve freedom and democracy, but, as Sir Jonathon informed him almost five years before, this adversary was the real force behind the puppets who carried out those barbaric campaigns.
The old spy’s husky Scottish accent still lingered in Bartlett’s memory of that late-night conversation in the Oval Office, “These are the people who live in the darkness, who’ll not be satisfied to control one country or even a major empire. These demons want to control the entire world and rebuild it on a model shaped by the Devil himself. We have no defense against their powers or weapons, and only one group on the planet has any chance of stopping them.”
“And who might they be?” inquired the president, who might have been even more skeptical had the authority not been Sir Jonathon.
“The Forces of the Light.” He paused, “I don’t know enough because they exist in a world we don’t see. I know that’s confusing, but I understand that they’ve always moved within society without anyone noticing that they were any different than the rest of us. Just as the Dark Forces live in a shadow world, I’m convinced that there are places on the Earth where societies of these people live and work to defend everything that you and I believe in. I have no idea where to look. There certainly isn’t any evidence in the archives of the intelligence community.”
He sipped his Scotch, “There have been myths and legends for thousands of years about these two forces facing off against one another in gargantuan battles that were recorded as fable because the realities were far beyond our capacity to accept them as truth. From what I’ve deduced, there are places in history where man made giant leaps in technology, architecture, social organization, and belief systems, transforming seemingly insignificant clans into empires. I would offer Egypt, the tribes of Central and South America, China, Greece, Rome, and Atlantis, if you care to indulge in myth as history, as a few examples. On the other side are those dark periods, where humanity seemed bent on consuming itself…Germany, Cambodia, Kosovo, Africa, more than a few episodes in Central and South America…for that matter, our ancestors who administered the Dark Ages and the white settlers who pillaged the New World.”
“So, you’re saying that those periods that reached either extreme were somehow the result of the struggle between these two phantom forces?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” thundered his aging roommate. “It’s there for the finding in the history books, and it continues to this day.”
The president sat back in his chair and sipped his drink, “You know that I’ve always been an ardent student of history, but…what you’re saying is outside the boundaries and constraints that our version of academia has created for itself. I’m not sure I want to believe you, but it solves so many mysteries…”
“We need to learn much more about these conflicting forces and find a way to do what we can to support the Forces of Light.”
“I agree,” said President Bartlett quietly, musing on the insight. “The future of humanity might well depend on it. I’d like you to undertake this investigation…personally if you're willing.”
The old spy’s eyes crinkled into a sly grin, a shrewd smile that brought them to the brink of being expelled from the university more than once back in the day, and he sipped his whiskey before he replied, “I’ve been thinking about retirement anyway. Give me what I need, and you’ve bought yourself a new secret government agency. The opposition would have a field day with this one!”
The two men shook hands. Sir Jonathon stood almost a head taller than the president but shared equal admiration and respect.
~
Zepallo was suspended inside a gray bubble in the incubator beneath an artfully constructed artificial coral reef in the Caribbean Sea. Special circuits equalized his internal energies in a process that would take weeks, if not months, to complete.
The wave of power that rolled off the spire above the ice castle at the north pole caught the Dark Lord in that instant before he vaulted into the safety of the vectors. His habit of exposing himself to the enormous intensity of the Black Crystals was legendary. Unfortunately, the pulse born of the energies of all the Black Gems overloaded the fragile tangle of nerves within his body. The Doctor could not be sure whether there would be permanent damage, should he be lucky enough, strong enough to survive.
Beta and Gamma were both in critical condition, although with the medical team's advances, it was entirely possible they would recover. The clones were being cared for in the infirmary, and he would check on them shortly.
Outside the sphere, in the purified ocean water of the incubator and alongside the gray bubble containing his Master’s body, floated smaller, iridescent green balloons nurturing the surviving embryos in various stages of development from the damaged center in the Savu Sea, south of Indonesia. The new lab was not fully functional, but he was pushing the technicians to finish preparations as quickly as possible so they could begin production with the DNA samples that had been replicated and delivered to thirteen of their installations around the world for safekeeping. Of the seventy-five infants, he had only been able to save thirty-three, but they were healthy and thriving in their new home.
Memories of that day still made him queasy. His escape depended on quick thinking and good fortune. He was not a man of action, not one to lead the troops, rather he prided himself on using his mind to overcome impossible tasks and untangle the riddles and mysteries of life.
Moments after a wave of positive energy crippled their defenses, pods of whales crashed through the facility, smashing into the domes, one after another, until cracks appeared and the ocean rushed in. Their effort had been synchronized with the power surging through the circuits, and the coordination of the attack indicated that the planning and execution were worthy of the finest military minds in conjunction with rational beasts.
The Doctor gathered as many embryos as he could manage, moved several other physicians, nurses, and the babies into a mini-sub, docked in an interface near the nursery, and slipped into the vast vacuity of open water.
The facility in the Savu Sea was the only one damaged, although it was not destroyed, and demolition and repairs were already underway. Renovations were nearing completion in New York and the Caucuses, three new compounds were under construction, and this new incubation center was already in use.
The campaign had failed, and in the days since the battle, several distinct groups had maneuvered for political positions. Each maintained a diplomatic cloak of invisibility, should Zepallo survive and reclaim his throne. They had witnessed his retribution, and none relished provoking his wrath.
One thing was assured, the Doctor’s expertise was needed now more than ever. His knowledge provided security, which, in this time of flux, he found comforting. No matter who assumed power, the technology for the production of clones would be an integral part of the future.