The Rozabal Line Part 20

'Okay, settle back into the pillow and begin to relax . . . that's right . . . just . . . relax.' The voice was soothing, rea.s.suring, but firm. She continued, 'Just relax, and concentrate on my voice. You have absolutely nothing to do right now. You don't need to move. Just relax.'

She continued with the same soothing voice, 'Now drift deeper with every breath you take. Feel your body getting heavier and sinking down further. You're comfortable and relaxed, but you're heavy and sinking. Deeper. Deeper. Okay. Now I want you to allow your mind to drift back in time . . . drift back to this morning . . . drift back to last night . . . drift back to last week . . . to your high-school days . . . drift back to your infancy . . . drift back beyond your infancy . . . that's right.' Martha now began to probe with gentle questions.

'Where are you now?'

'Yerushalem.'

'And what do you see around you?'

'Temple fires. It's night. I can see Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin a.s.sembled, judging Jesus. They are irritable because no reliable witnesses are coming forth with evidence against Jesus.'

'Anyone familiar from your present life?'

'Thomas Manning.'

'Who is he?'

'He is Caiaphas-poisoning the minds of those a.s.sembled against Jesus. In this life too, he continues to seek vengeance.'

'Anyone else?'

'The j.a.panese woman who kidnapped me. Swakilki. She's present. She's Mary Magdalene!'

'Anyone else?'

'You, Nana!'

'What am I doing?'

'You're Mary Magdalene!'

'You're confused Vincent . . .' began Martha nervously. She tried to switch tracks. 'Anyone else there?'

'Another woman-I don't know her. She's Mary Magdalene!'

'Vincent, you seem to think everyone is Mary. Let's move on . . . now what's happening?'

'I can see Jesus and three women walking towards Damascus . . . I can only see their backs.'

'Why Damascus?'

'Damascus is a stronghold of the Essenes. He can remain hidden and protected there till they decide where to go.'

'Vincent, I will now count forward from one to five. You will feel yourself floating forward along a continuum of time into a lifetime ahead with each number . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . Okay, Vincent, where are you?'

'Megiddo.'

'In Israel?'

'Yes.'

'Who are you?'

'A Roman soldier-my name is Antonius.'

'What are you doing?'

'I am searching for a fugitive. The fugitive is a Roman soldier. His name is Gaia.n.u.s.'

'Why are you after him?'

'He is a secret Christian. All Christians are enemies of the state!'

'What can you learn from this?'

'I persecuted Christians in my former life. Destiny has made me a Christian priest in my present one.'

'I will again count forward from one to five. Float forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . Okay, Vincent, where are you?'

'China. I am an advisor to the Emperor Gaozong. The chief concubine, Wu Zhao, has seized the throne and wants to eliminate me. Luckily, she has not succeeded, even though she has crippled me.'

'Anyone familiar?'

'Yes . . . It's her, the evil Wu Zhao who is my captor-she's Swakilki!'

'Counting forward from one to five. You will move forward in time . . . one

. . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . Okay, Vincent, where are you?'

'I'm an Inca warrior protecting Sapa Inca Pachacuti. I am the bodyguard for Mama Anawarkhi, the wife of Sapa Inca Pachacuti.'

'You like her?'

'No. I am killing her. I have to. She is plotting against the Sapa Inca. She's Swakilki!'

'Anyone else familiar?'

'Yes. General Prithviraj. He is the Sapa Inca. I protected him. That's why he is protecting me!'

'I will again count forward from one to five. You will move forward in time . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . Okay, Vincent, where are you?'

'It's 1794. I'm in France. The guillotine is b.l.o.o.d.y with the heads that have rolled.'

'Anyone you recognise?'

'The woman, Charlotte Lavoisier, she is being guillotined; she looks like Swakilki. Her executioner, Sanson, looks like Terry Acton. He takes her head in one life . . . she will take his in another.'

'Counting forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . Okay, Vincent, where are you?'

'I'm a doctor in London. World War Two is going on. I am working for the Red Cross. I can see the Sossoon home, which is a supply depot.'

'Anyone familiar?'

'Clementine Sossoon. She is very sick . . . cancer. Her face is like yours, Nana. Wait. It is you, Nana! I took care of you, that's why you love me so much. Isn't that so?'

Martha smiled as she continued: 'Counting forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . where are you?'

'In the backyard of my parents' home in New York. My dad and I are playing catch in the backyard. My mom is barbequing hot dogs in the corner.'

'Moving forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . where are you?'

'At my parents' funeral. It's raining. I cannot make out whether my face is wet because of my tears or on account of the rain.'

'Moving forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . where are you?'

'In captivity. Swakilki is holding me prisoner. She leaves me inside a windowless toilet in the Shaitana nightclub. It's stifling hot inside.'

'Moving forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . where are you?'

'Back in Megiddo.'

'What are you doing?'

'I am at a kibbutz in Israel. The hill that overlooks the valley of the kibbutz is where the final showdown will happen.'

'Where is this hill located?'

'Very close to the intersection of Highway 65 and 66. Nearby is a large prison holding many Palestinians who have been arrested for terrorism against the Israeli state.'

'What do you see?'

'A mosaic.'

'What sort of mosaic?'

'It belongs to an ancient church. It was uncovered recently. It belongs to the third century. It has a sign. It says that Gaia.n.u.s donated his own money to build this church.'

'The same Gaia.n.u.s you saw earlier? The one you were chasing when you were a Roman soldier?'

'It's him!'

'Who?'

'Him! Gaia.n.u.s! Ghalib!'

'What else do you see?'

'Little boy.'

'Who?'

'A bomb. It looks like the one used in Hiros.h.i.+ma. It was called Little Boy.'

'Are you sure?' asked Martha.

'Yes.'

'Anyone familiar near the bomb?'

'This can't be! No! You?'

'Relax-Vincent. Who are you seeing?'

'Jesus! Gaia.n.u.s! Ghalib!'

'You see Jesus?'

'Vincent. I need you to float above the scene. Speak to me in English, not Arabic!' instructed Martha.

'Hey, you! What are you doing? Think of what this will do to the world!'

'Who is saying this? To whom?'

Blank. Vincent was completely quiet.

Martha realised she had reached a blind spot. She continued, 'Moving forward . . . one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . where are you?'

'I can't say. It's deserted here. No food. No water. Corpses and vultures. It's as if the world has been laid waste by fire.'

'Is it war? Famine?'

'I warned everyone that religious polarisation was going to get us nowhere. No one listened. See what happened. We now have nothing left to fight over.'

'Can you identify the date?' asked Martha.

'An extremely close conjunction of the winter solstice sun with the crossing point of the galactic equator and the ecliptic path of the sun.'

'When is that, do you know?'

'21 December 2012.'