Part a is here.
Part b is here.
“The shields - the whole shielding system - it was your idea, you designed it.”
“You designed it, is it going to work?”
“What do you want me to tell you?”
“I want you to tell me that we’ll do it, that we’ll save Luna-city, and ourselves. Ammi will have our child and we will all live happily ever after.”
Jonah looked down sadly.
“I wish I could tell you that, but deep down in my heart I know that is not how this story ends.”
“Yeah, I know. The whole ‘IN THREE HOURS’ business. What was that about?”
“It’s called prophecy, Josiah.”
“You’ll excuse me if I don’t immediately accept that as an answer.”
“I will,” said Jonah, smiling devilishly, “but for the purpose of this conversation let’s just take it as read.”
“Okay, fine. So how do you get into this whole prophecy gig?”
“You are chosen, and believe me, it is as much a curse as a blessing. I have been walking the earth for many lifetimes now, but soon it will be time to rest.”
“If you can’t be more cheerful I might become more sceptical.”
Jonah laughed again. Somehow, despite the growing patch of red and orange, that signalled the approach of Security, despite the growing image of Luna-city projected at the front of the bridge, somehow they had found calmness. But Josiah knew it was just the eye of the storm.
“I shall endeavour to be optimistic, at least in conversation.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“So Josiah, what do you dream about?”
“Haven’t we had this discussion before? I have the strangest feeling of déjà vu.”
“Yes we have but times change and so do dreams.”
“And is there nothing else to talk about?”
“Nothing else worth saying - the world is run by dreams, the world is changed by dreamers. One should never cheapen the power of dreams.”
The power of dreams. Yes, the phrase itself struck a chord within his soul but he could not say why. Power…
He flicked the third switch. It was a delicate balance - too much plasma all at once and the whole engine could blow, ruining any chance they had of saving the city. Too little and they would not change course in time.
The first rumblings pulsed through the ship as the starboard thrusters filled with plasma. Everything shook, first gently and then with increasing ferocity until Josiah had to cling to his chair, and was half afraid his teeth would fall out.
Then the shaking subsided.
“Well that was exciting,” Jonah said, sitting up and brushing dust from his clothes.
“Yes but it wasn’t enough, we’ll need more to push us off course.”
He looked up at the display - Luna-city seemed so close now, he could make out all the different buildings, the roofs, the domes, the towers. Was that Ammi’s hospital? It was hard to say. But this was what he was fighting for, and he would not let it go.
“I didn’t, I couldn’t have done.”
“Don’t you remember? It was at our first meeting.”
“No, it’s not true. The system is faulty, it could cause the death of thousands.”
“The system is fine - you built it, I reviewed it. That’s why we all thought it was so strange when you started pointing out imagined flaws.”
The waiter arrived with their drinks but Josiah barely noticed.
“It wasn’t me! I had nothing to do with it!”
“Josiah, please keep your voice down, this is a respectable restaurant.”
“What, and I’m not respectable?”
“I didn’t say that. Please, just sit down.”
“It wasn’t me, it was you, you and your cronies that designed the shields. I saw the flaw but you wouldn’t listen, why wouldn’t you listen?”
“Because there is no flaw, and there is no danger. The system is foolproof.”
“I have seen the files, Eli, don’t tell me there is no danger.”
“Look Josiah, I’ve had just about as much of your ravings as I can stomach. I invite you here out of the goodness of my heart and you come over all righteous? Who are you to take that tone with me? I could have abandoned you but I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t - I probably should have done. All these years you’ve put your sins on my head, blamed me for what you yourself have done, well no more.”
Josiah sat down with a crash.
“What do you mean?” he managed to ask, his voice barely above a whisper.
“It wasn’t me driving the car.”
There was only one car. Josiah laughed coldly.
“You’re crazy,” he said, “if it wasn’t you, who was it?”
“They wanted to go to the new shopping centre, didn’t they.”
It was not a question but Josiah nodded slowly.
“I saw how tired you were, and I offered to give them a lift but you said no, you would do it. And I agreed, the idiot that I was.”
He did not want to hear this but was bound to listen.
“Later that afternoon I heard this terrible scream, a cars’ tyres against the tarmac. I dropped my tea and ran out into the street.”
No, it wasn’t true.
“You were staggering towards me, blood all over your hands. All you could say was ‘My wife, my daughter’, I called the ambulance and they took us all to hospital but we hit something along the way, and it was too late to save them.
“All these years I’ve allowed you to place the blame on me - well, not any more. You were driving the car, not me. It’s your fault they’re dead.”
It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be. He had been at home, the blood on Eli’s hands.
And then the soul-wrenching screech, and a crash like thunder. Everything flew everywhere. Eliphaz staggers in, hands covered in blood. And the soul-braking screech as the car hurtles into the wall.
The engines screeched like some sort of demon as Josiah flicked the fourth switch. The tremor came soon afterwards and shook the world. Josiah’s knuckles turned white as he grasped the side of the chair. And ever closer loomed the spires of Luna-city, growing all the time. There was one switch left and not much time.
Sparks flew in from the door and Josiah knew that it would not be long now before they cut their way in. Was it enough time? He could only hope it would not be too late for them.
And then a stray thought came into his head. The power of thought, the power of dreams, was that what he had been missing all these years? The machine was a part of him, it was so simple to try it. But no, dreams were too wild - how could he control the flow? And conscious thought was too measured. A bad idea, but an original one. Despite himself he was pleased.
But the city came ever closer. Why didn’t they turn?
Why didn’t they shoot? They had him in their sights, what they had always wanted, why didn’t they shoot? They just stood there, guns aimed. And Elisha was grinning like a demon.
“Your hand,” she said.
“What?”
“Your hand, give it to me.”
Confused, Josiah held out his arm. The Arch-Lector took a knife and cut his palm, drawing a thin line of red. She inspected it closely, then looked deep into Josiah’s eyes.
“You are free to go,” she intoned, as if proclaiming divine judgement.
“What?” Josiah couldn’t believe his ears.
“You may leave unhindered, we will not seek to pursue you. Go your way, live your lives.”
“But what about the prophesies? What about the Techno-Messiah?”
“We have already achieved all of our aims,” Elisha said, impressed with her own genius. “This was never about you - how could you be the Messiah that was promised? You don’t even believe. No, your blood reveals the truth - it is your child that shall be the Messiah, not you. And yet your life served some purpose. Through your existence you enabled us to weed out Elijah and his followers. Now the cancer has been removed from our midst.”
“You mean you did all this just to root out Elijah’s men? You would have killed me, Amber, everyone.”
“Yes. It was necessary. But now the Golden Age can begin in peace.”
“And my child? I don’t have a child, maybe I never will.”
“Perhaps you will not,” Elisha said turning away and going into the Cathedral once more, “but that is a chance we are willing to take.”
The guards, without lowering their weapons, also backed away, and soon they had all gone.
And then everything began to fall into place.
Was it all a lie? Everything he had done and thought since that day? It was his fault, only his. He could not repair the damage he had done. It was impossible. Everything was falling to pieces.
“I should have died with them, why did I survive? If I had never been born at all the world would be brighter, brighter for their light. Let the day perish wherein I was born.”
“If I were to say something, would you be upset?” replied Eliphaz, “But who can withhold himself from speaking? Where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow wickedness shall reap the same.”
But Josiah answered and said, “Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and are spent without hope.”
Then answered Eliphaz and said, “Should a wise man utter vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind? For thy mouth utters thine iniquity.”
And then he remembered, the force of the vision overpowering him.
He felt the soft rubber of the steering wheel beneath his hands. He was laughing as he turned the corner, too fast, far too fast. And then his head was filled with noise as he slammed the breaks down. Far, far too late.
“Josiah? Are you alright?”
But Josiah barely heard, he picked himself up from the floor, visions filling his mind.
This was it, he had no choices left.
He had to flick the last switch. The ship shook so violently that Josiah was afraid it would tear itself apart. The city was so close now that, if he could reach outside, he could touch the towers. Would they turn in time?
“Josiah, it was a pleasure spending my last hours in this world with you.”
“We’re not dead yet,” Josiah muttered, “we could still make it. Isn’t there any more?”
There was now a definite hole in the door - small but getting larger.
There must be more - the plasma had not been enough, the ship had not changed course. There must be more he could do. He saw a sixth switch, larger than the rest. What choice did he have? In bare moments they would hit the shield.
He reached out and flicked it.
The ship lurched like a man drunk. Josiah was thrown from his seat against the wall. Jonah was sent sprawling across the floor.
Desperately, Josiah looked up at the screen. Had it been enough?
His heart rose as the view changed, slowly but surely. They would miss the city!
The doors slid open and in marched Major Cassandra with a squadron of Security guards. Josiah was so elated he was almost glad to see them.
“You’re too late,” he said, “I did it, I saved the city.”
The Major looked at him hopefully, as if almost daring to believe it was true. But then she looked up at the display and her face fell.
“You saved the city? Then what is this?”
Josiah looked up. On the edge of the display, a ripple ran through the shield. It was a shock wave, a pulse, small at first but it grew ever larger.
No! It was impossible!
But it was true, and he couldn’t avoid it any longer.
“Come on, you heard what she said,” cried Amber, “we can go, we’re free.”
Josiah didn’t move.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Amber reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
“I can’t go with you.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve been such an idiot - you used me and I fell for it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It was never Lovecraft. It was you all the time. You took me from my apartment so it could be searched, you planted the ring in my room to lead me to the Nightmares - you even slept with me to become pregnant. You’ve been working for the Circle since the day I met you.”
“No, it’s not what you think,” she pleaded. “I love you, I really do.”
“I wish I could believe that, but I don’t. I can’t go with you - stay here, where you belong.”
“Please, listen to me,” she begged, “everything I did was for you, I love you.”
She stepped backwards into the road, beckoning to him.
“Come on, we can make a fresh start, please.”
“No.”
And then both their heads turned. What was that sound?
An ambulance suddenly careened around the corner, going far too fast. The tyres screeched but it was far too late. “Amber!
“Ruchamah!” he shouted.
“No,” said Jonah, answering his own cry, “it is Lo-Ammi and Lo-Ruchamah. You are not my people and you are not forgiven.”
With tears in his eyes Josiah turned to Jonah.
“I don’t understand,” he sobbed, “I turned the ship.”
“Yes,” replied Jonah sadly, “the shields around Luna-city are strong - perhaps they could have survived a direct collision.”
Cassandra looked at the display. Tears formed in her eyes. “Why didn’t you listen to me?” she shouted, utterly distraught. “There was just you - you and Jonah.”
“But the shields have a deep weakness. If subjected to a certain frequency vibration, from something like a ship’s engines, the plasma flow is interrupted. We’re looking at a total collapse of all protective systems in the next few seconds.”
Josiah couldn’t believe he was hearing this.
It couldn’t be happening.
He hit the wall at full speed, a never-ending screech ringing in his ears. And blood, so much blood. Red everywhere.
And he saw Eliphaz staggering away, as if in a dream. He could not reach him now.
Firm hands grasped his arms and legs, draped in white coats, and yet all he could see was red.
This was it.
The shield suddenly appeared, flickering with incredible intensity, before it suddenly vanished. Before his eyes Luna-city collapsed in upon itself. Building after building imploded in a shower of rubble, steel and plastic. Through the silence of space, Josiah could hear the screams of a million souls. It was unbearable.
But Jonah continued relentlessly, “Then the shock wave will hit this ship, and we too will be destroyed. There is nothing we can do.”
But there was something.
There was one last chance to redeem himself, to change everything, he understood it all so completely, as visions of death filled his mind. The dream was not enough.
Everything flew everywhere, Ammi’s eyes grew dark
I thought it was too late for us, but
Ruchamah! and then a sickening crunch
The car screeched across the heavens
No, the dream was uncontrolled, the mind must be conscious.
But a waking dream…
The power of the mind let loose, yet controlled by waking thoughts. He could feel the machine burning in him now, like fire, like shooting stars coursing through his veins. The time machine was working. It lived in him.
Josiah had found the source of energy he needed and he knew what he had to do.
Soon, he would be able to undo all of this, go back and begin again.
He closed his eyes, and lost himself in the waking dreams.
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