Dark as Daylight Ch. 05a

However, my sister told me that one day she would visit me, and tell me my time was up. That is a great burden to bear, because you don't know if you can make long-term plans or not. I decided to just live my life as if I was going to live forever. I had Jennifer, the love of my life, Delicious, the daughter I had with my sister, Gordon, Jennifer's son, Richard, Holden, Adele, and Mia, our children. I've invented things no one else ever thought of. I built this ship with the aid of the people I love and admire. We have flown to places in this universe people on Earth still dream about. So if you want to know why I am so calm, and resigned to my fate, I can look back on my life and say I've done everything any man could hope to do in any one lifetime, even though there was more to do.

You must remember Elizabeth death is not an ending, it's only the beginning of the next step in our evolution. We are as old as this universe, because MATTER can neither be MADE or DESTROYED. 99% of our bodies are made up of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. All of that is matter, and matter cannot be destroyed. It will go on forever, so I will go on forever in one form or another. What will happen to my consciousness, I don't know? My sister told me I would combine with the computer, but I can't believe that will be God's purpose for me. If it is I will accept it, because I will be helping everyone here. I will find out as time passes.

If my sister can talk to me, and Teddy can hear and talk to her, there is something beyond our logical minds going on that we will find out about after we pass."

"Captain... never mind, I belong on the bridge."

"Sit down Elizabeth.

"Jennifer would you mind taking Elizabeth's place on the bridge for a few moments?"

"No, not at all."

"Now, what's on your mind Elizabeth?"

"Did you tell Laura to be my friend?"

"I did not. Why, what did she say to you?"

"She was curious about the endgame of our match, so I was showing her how it would end up. Then she started talking about how she met her husband, Adam. She told me how she thought she was a lesbian for most of her life, because she was never interested in men; just her science and her computers. Then one day he came along, and everything changed, because of him.

We are going to play more chess, when our schedules coincide, but the way she put it was funny. She said if Adam is home, and he's not jumping up and down on her, she's jumping up and down on him. She's now hooked on sex. She wonders why she waited until she was 24 to find that out."

"I'll tell you something about my niece, and her sister, Anna. No boy would look at them, ever, because of the way they dressed. They were from a rich family, but they dressed like depressed bag ladies. They had no fashion sense. You can tell Laura I told you, because it's the truth. Neither one of them owned a pair of shorts, until they were in their 20s. Anna was at the University of Virginia, and stuck out like a sore thumb, because of the way she dressed. It wasn't until she met her, 'husband to be' that she finally started buying clothes that fit are properly.

Don't laugh, her husband's name is Cloudy Day. His parents thought it was cute because he was born during a hurricane. So now my niece is called 'Annaday.'

Anna nearly made it to her wedding night a virgin. She had the same mindset as Laura. Cloudy was able to spread her thighs a few months before the big day, and Anna is hooked on sex, just as her sister is now. The 2 of them talked about it for hours, after Anna lost her virginity. Then Anna had to call her mother and break the news to her. They talked all night."

"Why would a girl called her mother to tell her she had sex for the first time, Captain?"

"That's how close a family they are. There are no secrets. If you did something bad you talk it out. If you had sex, you talk to everyone about it. Except for Robert, of course. If Robert started talking about sex, you would be seated in the same chair for 10 years, and die of starvation."

"Why was Robert so different?"

"Stephano and Patricia are polar opposites. That's why they've been able to survive their marriage for so long. When Patty got pregnant, it was with triplets: Robert, Laura, and Anna. Robert was his father. Laura was her mother. Anna was a little of both.

Stephano started having sex the day after he had his first erection. Robert started the same way, and his father bought him condoms by the hundreds. Laura caught him doing it, and demanded that she and Anna be put on the pill.

When Robert started coming home later and later from school Patty got suspicious, and started asking questions. Then Robert made a mistake and put some used condoms into the trashcan in his room. When Stephano came home one evening, Patty's hair was on fire. She showed him the evidence and asked him if he knew anything about it?

Stephano knew better than to lie, because she would have taken out her gun and killed him. He told her the truth.

As the argument rolled on, about the poor girls her son was leading down hells row, Laura said, "Anna and I are on the pill."

Patty went apoplectic. "Are you two having sex?"

"Isn't that the reason you take the pill mother?"

"I'm going to kill the bastard's, who are they?"

"The handsomest man I've ever met mom. I will not stop having sex with him, until he tells me he doesn't love me anymore."

"Tell me who it is."

Laura walked over, grabbed her father's arm, laid it across her breasts, and put her head on his chest.

Patty screamed, "You violated my baby?"

Stephano stood there stunned. "No, it wasn't me honest."

Her mother started chasing her father around the house, as the 3 kids sat on the kitchen counter laughing at them. They were drinking soda, and eating cake for almost 10 minutes before it stopped.

When Patty finally realized what was going on, she looked at her children: "Why did you all have to be as crazy as me?"

"That was the end of it. There were no recriminations, there was no anger, it was just funny."

"You must remember, Elizabeth, that entire family is composed of geniuses. Stephano graduated from Penn, as valedictorian, in both undergraduate, and graduate schools.

Patricia graduated from the University of Massachusetts with 3 Master's degrees.

Robert received his Master's degree, from the University of Michigan. Instead of studying, he fucked half the female population of the University.

Anna graduated 3^rd in her class at the University of Virginia. She would've been valedictorian, except she met a young man named, Cloudy Day, who took up a lot of her time, in her bedroom.

Laura refused to go to college, because all she wanted to do was work with her computer, and boy did she ever become good at it. The only one better is her mom."

All of them have photographic memories. Anna is the only one that does not have instant recall. Something has to jog her memory before everything falls in place.

My family has the same problem, if you can call it a problem. Delicious, Gordon, Richard, and Holden, all have photographic memories, just as I do. If I think about it, I can tell you what I had for dinner a year ago today. It's both a blessing and a curse. Elizabeth, is my opinion that you are photographic too."

"How can you possibly say that Captain, I have to study hard to remember everything I have to know for a test?"

"Did you have to study for the captain's test?"

"No, you didn't give me a chance to study."

"What did you score in the captain's test?"

"93."

"Can you imagine what you would have scored if you had studied for a week?"

"I never thought about that Captain."

"You don't have to answer this question, because it's personal, and I don't want to infringe on your personal feelings or life. How are you feeling?"

"Hannah is a wonderful counselor. We are working well together. It's not easy for me to get past those visions in my head, but we working on it. She told me what she went through, and she came out the other side. She told me if she could do it, so could I. I'm working on it every day."

"Good for you. If I pass without seeing you again, I want you to know I will always be praying for you to get well."

"Thank you Captain, that means more to me than you'll ever know."

Elizabeth stood up and began walking towards the door. Suddenly, she stopped, turned around, and ran to me. She threw her arms around me, and put her head on my chest.

She cried as she said, "Thank you for believing in me."

I held her to my chest for a moment. "It was very easy to believe in you. You were always the smartest in everything you did. Go out there and make yourself proud."

"Thank you Captain, I will always remember your kindness."

"Go to work, and send my wife back in here."

"Yes sir."

****************

When Jennifer walked into the room I kissed her like there was no tomorrow, which at this moment was always possible.

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I was attacked by an 18-year-old girl, and it felt very good. Shall we go to our room, and make me feel better?"

"We are 15,000 miles from the opening to the White Hole. I don't think we have time."

"Why haven't they sounded the buzzer?"

"I don't know."

"Go strap yourself in, and save the seat beside you for me. I'll be right there."

"I'm on my way."

I ran to the bridge, and found everyone strapped in properly, except for my sister. She was holding Teddy, fast asleep in her arms.

I panicked. "I won't let you take Teddy with us. She is much too young, and much too precious. It would kill our daughter if she's not here."

"You are right Even, she is such a precious child, I just wanted to hold her in my arms for a few moments. She is a favorite of our Lords, and always will be."

"How about our baby? Will she get better, will she survived this?"

"You have already seen to that, my brother. I watched you, and listened as you cleared her mind of all the evil that corrupted it. She will now go forward and prosper as she was always supposed to. You have been a wonderful father to her, and you should be proud of yourself."

"It was not me who changed her, it was Gray. He is such a wonderful person, and a loving husband. He refused to give up on her. He was the one who knocked some sense into her, not me. He deserves all the credit."

"Do you want to stand here, and argue with me, or do you want to watch as we entered the White Hole? Everyone will watch it later as they awaken."

I wanted desperately to deploy the Mickey Mouse ears, but I knew better. Even the smallest rock flying by us would destroy the fragile instruments, or the wings they sat on. I had to be satisfied with the side, and rear view cameras as our speed increased.

I knew the instant as all we entered the vortex. The ship started bouncing on all its axis, but thanks to our protector in front, it was not violent.

As I was looking at the screens, suddenly the asteroid disappeared.

I yelled, "God help us, we will never make it through."

My sister laughed. "The asteroid is still there. Our God is allowing you to see the 'might' of what she placed around Her universe. The terror you see in front of you She created without blinking her eyes. If it wasn't for the rock in front of you, your passage into this cone would not have been possible. The area between the 2 cones, which looks benign to you, is pressurized heat at 51,000°. Your ship would have been crushed, and melted, if it wasn't for my presence.

"We have seen things pass between the 2 cones. Nothing I know of could stand those temperatures and pressures."

"Yes you do. You joked about it with Jennifer, before you asked her to marry you."

"She is turning coal into diamonds, and throwing them around the universe?"

"Do you see what I mean Even; you're smarter than you think."

"Should I ask why?"

"You may, but I don't know the answer. After our passage through this enigma, it will disappear, and reappear in another part of Her universe. My Lord does have a sense of humor, but she will not kill innocents traversing Her universe, to see, and study its wonders."

I could see the sidewalls of the cone pressing in upon our ship. I wondered what would happen to the asteroid in front of us. I could no longer see it, nor judge its size. Would it be small enough to make it through the end of the cone, or would it break apart as it's great size rubbed along the walls of the White Hole. Would it start throwing great pieces of rock everywhere, including at our tiny sphere. Would we be destroyed, just as it was being destroyed? What would happen, when we entered the area of the pressurized 51,000° heat? Would it melt, or break apart as the metals inside it boiled, and the rock was crushed by the extreme pressure and heat?

I shook my head. Why was I worrying? My sister said we were going to make it through to the other side. She was relying on a source higher up the food chain than I was.

She said it, so we were going to do it. It was as simple as that; RIGHT? I was still only human, or so I thought, and as a human, I was still allowed to worry.

My sister put Teddy back in her seat, and placed a chain with a medallion in her hand.

"Teddy will believe you gave these to her before you departed. It will help her get over missing you, and she will miss you greatly. She will find a great friend in Elizabeth, and they will both help each other grow. Elizabeth will be fine. Are you ready to make the jump?"

"I'm in the spacecraft do I have a choice?"

"You were always dense Even?"

"If you mean am I ready to meet my maker, yes I am."

"Take my hand, and behold your life."

I took my sisters hand. I saw all the hatred I held in my soul, and the pain I had caused others. The hate was concentrated on one person, my father. I could not, and did not forgive him for what he did to my sister, and to me. It did not surprise me that I hated him more for what he did to my sister than what he did to me, but I still hated the man. I never forgave him for his transgressions. I never tried to forgive him in life. I refused to forgive him in death, because he took my sister with him.

The pain started with my mother. She never did anything of her own will to hurt Divine or me. She just agreed with, and enforced everything my father said, and did. I knew she was under his thumb, as we all were, but I should have forgiven her. I saw the pain in her face. It was my mistake, and I never corrected it.

I saw the argument with Rod, when he thought he lost my friendship. That caused him so much pain and suffering, it almost broke me. It broke him, but I did straighten it out. It was supposed to be a joke, but it turned out to be a very bad one. He was my best, and only friend. I should never have done that to him. It was a transgression of the highest order.

Then there was Jennifer. I couldn't understand what I did to hurt her. Within the beat of an eyelash I understood. I promised I would not get her pregnant again, and I did. I did not understand the pain and suffering she went through for 9 months, and then had our twins. Again I thought it was funny, but sometimes my sense of humor gets out of hand. She forgave me, but as I looked at it from her point of view, again it was again a transgression of the highest order. I'm so sorry my love.

Then there was something I didn't think counted, but apparently it did count against me. I put out a bid for someone to oversee the building of the Good Luck 2, and watch over Richard, and Holden scientifically. There were 37 applicants. As I was going through them, my assistant told me there was a man who wanted to see me, and would not take no for an answer. She wanted to know if she should call security, because he would not give his name.

I told her to let him in, but to stay in the office with me just in case. It turned out to be Joseph Oyster. He demanded the job I put out for bid in no certain terms. He would have gotten down on his knees for it, if he had to. He was a colleague, a friend, and very well-qualified for the position, and without giving a thought to any of the other applicants, I gave him the job. It was not the correct thing to do just because he was a friend, but I did it. Wrong again!

Then there was Dycke Schneider, and I burst out laughing.

My sister said, "Do you think what you did to that man was funny?"

"Absolutely not, I think what I did to that man was hysterical. That's why we are the best of friends. We could yell, and scream at one another, like no other business people can do. He built more than 60% of this spacecraft. It may be my minds work, but it was his technology and handiwork that fashioned this spacecraft. This is not only my pride and joy, but his as well. Do you think he would allow his daughter to travel through space on this beach ball, if he didn't think this spacecraft was safe? Why do you think I hounded him so often? Why do you think I sent him to Sweden, with his upper management team, when I found out he was having trouble with Payne? His team could have taken care of the business problem, but Dycke needed rest, and he was not going to get it in Charleston. I did not want to lose a friend, so I got him out of there, as quickly as possible.

When he returned he was better able to handle his problems at home.

I was able to yell at him more often, and it worked out well for both of us. He finally told me to go fuck myself, and hung up. That's when I knew he was back to being his old self again."

Suddenly, I was standing in front of the kitchen table, and I didn't understand why, until I saw the empty pretzel jar. I recalled one of the last few words I said. I reached into a pocket, pulled out a lonely $5 bill, that should not have been there, and put it into the jar. Everything disappeared, and I was back in limbo justifying my life.

I waited for the next black mark against my soul to pop-up. I realized the area seemed darker, and I was alone. Little by little it got darker and darker, and I knew when and where I was. I was back at M.D. Anderson Hospital, and I was in pain. I remembered that pain vividly.

I remembered wishing I was dead. Now I was dead, revisiting those days, when I was alive looking at it from the other side of the table. The only reason I wasn't here earlier was my sister. She tormented me. She cajoled me. She kicked me in the ass, when I was unconscious. She made me want to live. Well I lived 10 years, a really wonderful 10 years, and as I looked across, from this side of the table to the other, I say to everyone on the other side; fight, fight hard and win. Life is worth it. Life is good. You deserve to live another good day."

I felt my sister take my arm, and she said, "It's time to go."

"That's all I ever did that was wrong?"

"When did you ever leave time in your schedule to do anything wrong Even? You went to MIT, went to class, and studied 14 hours a day. You invented the headsets, patented them, and moved to the outskirts of Denver to a dot on a map named Idaho Springs. Your government built your house, in return for making them a product they needed. You hired that idiot friend of yours, Rod, to take care of you and your problems so you could work 365 days a year. When did you ever have time to do something wrong?"

"I don't know; I was always busy. I left the church for a long time, I thought for sure that would count against me."

"Churches don't count. Believing in Her does; and you believed in Her all your life. We're here, we're home."

"Yes we are, it's good to see someone's taking care of everything back here."