Ashlyn Chronicles 1: 2287 A.D. (29 page)

***

“What is it?” asked Ashlyn as she turned to face Steven.

The time had arrived for him to reveal his dark revelation. “On the way here, aboard Avenger, I discovered a secret file that President Tomlinson had sent to my computer.

“Ash, it was about the Children of Destiny Foundation. The things I read and saw were—all the atrocities that had been done. I didn’t know how to tell you, but there was a file titled, D’na. It was about you. It showed pictures of you at various ages. The final picture of you was as you appear now.”

Ash swallowed.

“Ash, I don’t know how to tell you this, but—from what I read—Tynabo killed far more than your friends in stasis. He killed thousands of other people, children, to create us. He had volumes of books on his failed experiments. There were babies that were deformed. Monstrosities. Many were not very human looking. They were some sort of twisted, part human, part alien creature. He let them suffer, dying slowly. Many of them were screaming in unimaginable pain, living in cages. It was nightmarish.

“I don’t know how many children suffered so that we could be here. I don’t know what part of us is human or Anunnaki.”

A tear escaped from Ashlyn’s eyes as she felt Steven’s pain. “Tynabo was wrong, but it was his doing, not yours, not ours. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. Our greatest strength is that we are one. Don’t you see? By not telling me, not only were you denying my help and support—you were also weakening us. I understand that you were trying to protect me, and I love you all the more for it,” said Ashlyn, her eyes soft. “But you should not have had to bear that alone. We are one.”

“Women are so confusing!”

“And Anunnaki women are even more so!” said Ashlyn. Ash shivered and then snuggled deeply into his arms.

“How do you make everything seem so simple? I’ve been upset about this for weeks,” said Steven.

“You should have talked to me about it. If I ever have to remind you of that again, I’m going to spank you!” quipped Ash.

“Is that a punishment or a reward?” said Steven.

“Maybe it’s both. Your punishment and my reward.” She shifted so that she could look into Steven’s eyes. “Steven, I have a couple of things to tell you too.”

“I should’ve known it wasn’t going to be that easy.”

“One is actually good news. It’s Novacek. He’s one of us,” said Ash.

“Novacek? How—how’s that possible? How did you find that out?”

“When I entered the bridge, just before you set Avenger’s auto-destruct, he shook my hand, congratulating me for making it safely back aboard.”

“And—you got the tingle with him?”

“That is so cute! And, no, I didn’t. His aura is not matched to mine like yours is, but we are apparently sharing enough of his genetics that I sensed the kinship between us. I am probably more accustomed to sensing it than you are. We had hundreds of doctors and support staff around us constantly, but they all felt different from those that were like us at the Foundation. Our senses grew acutely sharp. We learned how to detect the subtlety between those who were like us and those who were not. We made a game of it sometimes.”

“At least that explains his score on the Academy Finals.”

“His score?”

“He had the second highest score in the history of the Academy’s finals! That’s why I chose him.”

“Second to yours?”

Steven nodded. “Does he have a female counterpart?”

“I don’t think so. I believe he is one of the earlier designs, part of the Einstein Program that worked out of White Sands. The goal at that time was to unlock the brain’s potential. From the few rumors that filtered down to us, early test subjects were so intelligent that many were deemed clinically insane. The strain of correlating such vast amounts of input was just too much for the emotional psyche to process. Novacek must have been one of the later triumphs, and due to his success, they were able to move on to the next phase—us.”

With a sigh, Steven pushed forward. “Ok, you gave me the good one. Sooo, what’s the bad one?”

Wincing, then hesitating briefly she said, “Tynabo came to me a few days before our 24
th
birthday—he wanted to tell me about—” Ashlyn’s voice cracked.

It only took Steven a second to understand the source of her pain. “Ren. He told you about Ren and I?”

Ashlyn nodded, looking down at the grass. “Yes. He told me that you were getting married.” Slowly, her eyes rose to meet his. “Tynabo thought it best to let President Tomlinson discuss the situation with you in person. He’d said that you were scheduled to meet in a few weeks.”

“It’s true, we were.” Steven thought back to the president’s recording, where he had expressed his desire to speak with him privately regarding his
personal
circumstances. Now, it all made sense. “So you knew about Renee?”

“Not exactly. I mean, Tynabo never gave me your names. I just knew that my mate was in love with someone. I didn’t even know where you were. It did pique my interest that the president had an interest in you, but Tynabo never told me why. On the day when the alarm sounded, Tynabo wanted me to be flown to your location. He insisted, actually, but I refused. If I had gone, our close proximity would have initiated the fugue. I couldn’t do that to you. You were in love. My presence would have stolen that from you. It wasn’t my decision to make. It was yours.”

Steven looked at her confused. “Ash, why is that so important? Everything worked out. I don’t understand.”

“Steven, because I chose to go into stasis, dozens of good people died. If I had flown to you like Tynabo wanted me too, yes, it would have initiated the fugue—but you would have received Tynabo’s gifts. That alone might have been enough to change everything. At the very least, you never would have gone to Denver, so Cole would still be alive—and who knows how many others. Jackson? The pilots from my squadron? The forty-seven people in engineering? Those who died at the falls? Jenkins? Maybe none of this would ever have happened.”

Steven’s heart was heavy, her sadness overwhelming. “Ash, why didn’t you tell me all this sooner? We are stronger together—remember? You need to understand—the weight you are feeling is not from your decision. You did what you thought was right. This all began long before us, with Enlil. He rigged the game from the beginning, manipulating us, using us—even rebelling against his own family. I don’t understand everything that is happening to us. I don’t know if there is such a thing as destiny. I can’t explain our visions. I have no idea what lies ahead. All I know is what I feel in my heart. I believe in you. I believe in us.” Steven looked around at the beauty of the Garden. “Right now, this is where we are supposed to be, here in the Garden. I can feel it. It’s like a fire burning within me. I also know—that I love you—and I never want to be away from you, not for a single moment.” Steven then leaned over, giving her a long, tender kiss.

When their eyes opened, the tree above them was radiating. A yellow, glowing fruit hung from its branches.

“It didn’t have fruit on it when we sat down! I’m sure of it!” said Ash.

“I’m sure of it too,” confirmed Steven. “This is the second Gift.”

“It’s Occam’s razor,” said Ashlyn. “Everything The Keeper has told us—all of it is so obviously simple, logical.”

Steven, saw the simplicity, the clarity of it all. “Yes, it is. It was man that polluted history, twisting it round until it became unrecognizable. People used it to further their own egotistical quests for power and greed. Humanity, so eager to have answers, grasped onto anything that had a hint of truth in it. If we couldn’t explain it, we said it was a mystery. We talked ourselves into believing that God must have His own hidden agenda, one that is beyond our understanding. We blinded ourselves to the truth, ignoring logic in favor of misguided faith. The problem is that faith based upon twisted information is nothing more than delusion—and delusion leads to division. It divided humanity, taking us into endless wars—separating us by race, religion, and politics.”

“It all seems so clear. It was before us all the time,” added Ashlyn.

“Staring us in the face,” said Steven. “Written out and plainly stated. Like you said, Ash. It’s Occam’s razor. The simplest answer is usually the correct one.”

“So the tree revealed itself to us because we were honest with The Keeper and—ourselves,” said Ash. “It read our hearts.”

“I think that’s exactly what happened. It was Enki’s way of assuring that we are worthy of receiving the Gift. It was a test of our morals, our virtues, and our ethical principles. That was Enlil’s mistake—he abandoned all of them.”

Steven looked up at the fruit and then back into Ashlyn’s eyes, searching for the confirmation that he expected to find.

“Yes, my love! I will eat from it with you.”

Stretching on his tiptoes, he picked one of the glowing fruits off a branch. It radiated a pleasing warmth in his hand.

“This time the man’s going to eat first.”

“Sexist!” she said with a teasing smirk.

“I thought I was doing you a favor? This time if the world gets all screwed up, women won’t take the blame for it.”

“Yes, and if it all goes right, you’ll claim all the credit for it!”

“Should we flip a leaf?”

“No. You go ahead, I’m anxious to see if I’m in love with a prince or a frog.”

Steven took a bite from the fruit. It was the sweetest and freshest tasting fruit he’d ever eaten. Handing it to Ashlyn, she followed suit.

They held hands, waiting to see if they would feel differently or if something was going to happen.

“I’m not sure what I expected—trumpets? Maybe a little harp music? Something?” Steven jested with an accompanying shrug of his shoulders.

Holding hands, they walked back through the Garden to stand before The Keeper.

The tree began to glow.
“You have done well, my children. You have passed the test. You have received the Gift of Knowledge.”

“Thank you. Keeper, what is the Gift of Knowledge?” asked Ashlyn.

“It has been given and even now it is beginning to grow within you. If I were to tell you what it is, you would seek it out and it would elude you. It must be allowed to come naturally, for it is now and forever a part of you.”

“Does Enlil possess this Gift of Knowledge?”

“Enlil has possessed both of the Gifts since before my creation. All pure Anunnaki are born with them.”

“Keeper, I would like to know—can we share our Gifts with others?” inquired Steven as he thought of Phillip and Novacek.

“It is your right as pure Anunnaki to partake from the Water of Life, and if I am so ordered, to give it to others. As for the Gift of Knowledge, each person must take the test.”

Steven reflected on The Keeper’s words. “Keeper—you just said that we are pure Anunnaki? How are we pure, if we are only part Anunnaki?”

“You are pure because you are full Anunnaki, of the royal bloodline. You are the family of Lord Enlil and Lord Enki.”

“That’s it! Ash—that is why Enlil was working with Earth. He coerced the world’s governments into cooperating with him, making them collect millions of genetic samples from people. He continued the guise of cooperation until he had finally acquired all the bits and pieces of the genes to create a true, one-hundred percent pure, female Anunnaki. Enlil’s own genes could provide the male side, but he needed those that you possess. That is why Tynabo kept you at the Foundation. He was protecting you. You are what Enlil was after. Tynabo created me so that we could propagate humankind, nothing more.”

Steven’s mind vibrated with energy. Thoughts came flooding in quicker than he could speak them. “Enlil wants to build an army of immortals, like himself. He is forbidden from entering here—but, if he can create others who are loyal to him to pass as
pure
Anunnaki, he will breed a new army with which to attack the Anunnaki home world. He wants vengeance against those who banished him.”

“So, once he had the last missing genetic piece and we were no longer needed—he destroyed us,” said Ashlyn.

“Yes. It is the ultimate revenge. He enlisted the help of the uplifted children to help him kill the parents, the Anunnaki creators,” said Steven. “That’s why President Tomlinson and Tynabo hid us and Sea Base from the world. They both knew the day would come when Enlil would turn on us.”

“The NASA patch.
One giant leap for mankind
. They knew we were humanity’s only chance for a future,” said Ashlyn.

“President Tomlinson had told me to forgive him, that there was a reason behind their madness. Only now do I understand what he meant,” said Steven.

“You are wise, Lord Steven and Lady Ashlyn. I did not perceive Enlil’s motive. You are worthy of being called Anunnaki.”

“Keeper, you must not let others come here. Even those who appear to be pure Anunnaki. Not before Enlil and his followers are destroyed. The risk to the Anunnaki home world is too great. Are you capable of enforcing this?”

“As the last Anunnaki to have entered and passed the tests, you have the right to give such an order. Your answer is yes; I am capable of enforcing it. I am pleased to have such an honorable task.”