David and Jamali both wanted to attend the funeral, but Middle East politics made that impossible. One of David's important objectives for the region was to develop a Middle Eastern Economic Community (MEEC). Perceptions are a critical part of reality, and the perception of a special emotional relationship between the President of the United States and an Israeli Mossad agent would cripple critical negotiations with the Arab countries.

The day after the funeral, John and Mandy visited the Old City of Jerusalem. "John, isn't this marvelous?" Mandy asked rhetorically. "We're walking where Jesus walked over two thousand years ago. He had such a significant impact on civilization...and here is where He lived and died."

"Yes, it's fascinating to see so much history from the Old and New Testaments," said John. "You know, I sometimes wonder what would happen if we could actually see back two thousand years and know the truth about the miracles in Jesus's life...what if they turned out to be hoaxes?"

"I don't think it would matter very much," said Mandy. "Spiritual development is as unstoppable as scientific development. How could the religious ideas about God¾ about the spiritual soul of man¾ have spread throughout the world without the aid of forces and yearnings beyond our understanding?"

They continued walking immersed in their own thoughts/feelings.

Very interesting, thought John. Why does science continue to ignore the deep emotional and spiritual realities in the Universe? The Universe is indeed more than what can be measured by our instruments or mathematically described by our science. We scientists want to know all there is to know. That's impossible, unless you're the Universe...

At that moment, a remarkable insight flashed through John's mind.

"Mandy," he shouted so suddenly that she jerked with fright and turned toward him.

"Sorry I frightened you. But I don't believe a Grand Unification Theory is really possible."

Mandy laughed.

"Don't laugh. That's the Holy Grail of science. To explain everything... But it's not possible. The Universe is ever changing and deepening. It's growing and learning...as we are."

Mandy looked at him with her speak English look.

"Okay... A Grand Unification Theory, or GUT, tries to mathematically explain the Universe in terms of energy, forces, elementary particles, and their mutual interactions in space and time. A completely satisfactory GUT has still not been formulated. And I think that's because GUTs do not squarely address the key issue of consciousness." John paused.

"Consciousness," she echoed.

"A conscious mind is an integral part of understanding the theory."

"Yes...so what."

"To formulate a truly Grand Unification Theory, all fundamental elements of the Universe must be included, or the theory is doomed to failure. But GUT theoreticians don't know how to include consciousness in their mathematics..."

"I don't understand why you think this is so important." Mandy interrupted.

"It's important because consciousness is the dimension of Mankind. Consciousness is our strong suit. It's through consciousness that we contact the Place, and through the Place, Mankind can explore the Universe. And maybe, just maybe, we can become Unified with the Universe's Grand Theory. But we cannot ignore the dimension of consciousness."

"You talk about consciousness as a dimension...like space and time?" asked Mandy.

"Yes, I mean just like space and time in that consciousness is a fundamental dimension of the Universe. This dimension is part of the deepening and developing Universe."

"So the Universe has five dimensions...so what?" asked Mandy.

"Five dimensions...I don't think so," said John very seriously. "Counting dimensions is just too simple. Space seems to have three and time one, but consciousness simply can't be counted in the same way... Nevertheless, I think all fundamental dimensions are interrelated. Space and time don't seem like dimensions which could be related, and yet, Einstein's Theory of Relativity shows that they are..."

"So...," Mandy repeated trying to gather some significance from John's words.

John slowed down his stride and spoke more slowly and carefully trying to communicate his ideas to Mandy. "The space-time connection was a wondrous surprise. The Universe likes to surprise us. The unfolding of surprises may be one of the Universe's special characteristics. It's through surprises that our consciousness grows deeper. Another surprise may be that consciousness is a dimension of the Universe which is intimately woven into the same fabric containing space and time. Consciousness was created with space and time. The big bang was the birth moment for space, time and consciousness. The Universe was initially so small... that it indeed knew itself... it was completely and intimately connected... there were no surprises..."

"Let's talk about this later," said Mandy, tiring of the subject. "I want to be quiet for a few minutes." They were approaching the place where Christ was Crucified.

"Tens of thousands were crucified near here... But He was remembered," she said.

"Moses, Muhammad, Buddha and Krishna were also remembered...," added John. Why did I have to say that, he thought, let her be immersed in her symbols for God and spirituality. Dummy... he chastised himself.

Mandy ignored his comment. She said, "I want to be quiet with thoughts of Tracey for a few moments," and she knelt down to pray.

John knelt down next to Mandy. He believed in a spirituality which he could not define. Spirituality was one of the few things he didn't want to intellectually define. He just knew that the Universe included more than just energy and forces playing themselves out in space and time.

John quieted his mind.

You were a good friend to Tracey. She loved you and Mandy, said a gentle voice in John's head.

What's that...? questioned John. Who's there?

You're in prison..., John was trying to understand.

The Place? questioned John. You're talking to me from The Place?

You've mastered telepathy...without consent on my part... thought John incredulously.

That's not quite true, Kiela's thoughts echoed in John's head. You see, since we're kindred spirits, I know that I do have your consent. I also know that you will honor this last contact before I die.

What are you talking about? asked John.

As my final meditation, I am resting between lives. Physical death is only a minor part of a spiraling spiritual growth...growth which continues forever...while being done already. I will rest here until I can return to my home, Kiela's reference to home was confusing to John. Somehow the reference to Home-as-God did not fit Kiela's meaning.

Kiela continued his thought/feeling communication with John, The Universe is complete and I am only talking to a different part of myself. You and I are more strongly connected than you can now imagine. You're truly my brother...and sister...my mother and father. And I'm your son and your daughter...humanity is one entity which wants to look at its parts.

I don't understand, thought John.

I know...help David with a billion person HT event, said Kiela, a billion people can provide new insights.

Then Kiela was gone. John opened his eyes. Mandy was still praying. John rose to his feet.

A few moments later, Mandy slowly rose, turned to John and gave him a big hug. "Kiela talked to me. He told me he also contacted you."

John nodded. At the same time...he communicated with us simultaneously, he thought.

"He wants us to organize an HT-Music concert with one billion people," said Mandy.

"Yes...he called it an HT event, at least that's what I heard," said John. "One billion...with a 'b', that would be incredible...that's about 10% of the people on the planet."

"He suggests we ask David to help," Mandy added with some hesitation.

"David's President of the United States. What does he have to do with any of this?" asked John with some anger in his voice.

"David will be the focus for this event," answered Mandy.

"What, that makes no sense at all."

"I saw it...somehow Kiela brought me to The Place. I was there...without HT equipment. I...saw David, and I remember. He will become the focus. This will occur about a year after he finishes his second term."

"Mr. President," said Mr. Sanchez as he entered the Oval Office for an urgent meeting he had requested.

"How are you Jose," said David as he warmly greeted the Secretary of Defense.

"Fine, Mr. President. But I have some bad news for you."

"I know, there's been two more E-Bombings in Tel Aviv, but that's hardly a crisis."

"The crisis, I'm afraid, is two weeks away. Our HTing indicates there will be large-scale electronic warfare between civilians in Arafat City and Tel Aviv. The physical damage to computers and other sensitive electronic equipment will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars...and there will be many thousands of deaths."

David's voice became quite serious. "How certain are you?"

"We've used over 3000 HTers on this...it's at the 98% confidence level," answered Jose.

"Those Electronic Bombs are a disaster. You said civilian fighting...not the ILM," said John.

"That's right, though the ILM was involved. Three ILM members will steal a large shipment of E-bombs from the Israeli government," said Jose. "But, the civilian populations of Tel Aviv and Arafat City actually do more damage to each other than the ILM ever imagined."

"Will it ever stop?" David said with a frustrated sigh.

"Not for at least another forty years or so," said Jose. "Two more generations of vital creative children maturing to adulthood and two generations of old farts with antiquated ideas dying off."

"I know, I know, but that's a very long time to wait," said David. "And we have to deal with current disasters. How does this civilian warfare start?"

"The three ILM members will steal over 100 E-bombs being transported to a storage facility. They plan on escaping to Arafat City in a flycar using forged Israeli license plates. Their engine will fail when a defective E-bomb accidentally detonates. The flycar will crash land in a Tel Aviv construction site. The Israelis citizens, who rush to help, will become incensed when they discover the ILM Palestinians. The Israeli construction workers then spontaneously launch a raid on Arafat City using the seized E-Bombs. Twelve flycars with over 60 Israelis will attack Arafat City on a hot afternoon.

"Mr. President, these civilians don't understand that E-Bombs can destroy their flycar controls after a few seconds of exposure. They linger to long. Ten of the Israeli flycars crash into several buildings, including a modern 400 story mini-city. Mr. President, almost a thousand people will be killed."

David sighs again, "Can we stop the retaliation cycle?"

"I don't know, we hope so, but we haven't looked yet...I'm afraid to look," Jose says sadly."

"It's sure tempting to catch the ILM thieves before they can steal those E-bombs," said David.

"Yep," agreed Jose.

Both of them knew the consequences of changing high probability predictions from the future. The negative consequences had been established time after time. Most recently, the obsessively independent and secretive French intelligence agency was forced to acknowledge that they had lost all of their capability to foretell the future because of a successfully executed plan to stop the kidnapping of a prominent French politician. Future predictions about the kidnapping were used to capture the perpetrators before they completed their kidnapping. The French were initially ecstatic about their success. However, shortly thereafter, another member of the French Parliament was kidnapped. And more seriously, France lost the capability to probe the future. Their intelligence agency became totally dysfunctional. The intelligence agency's knowers lost their confidence and their ability to see even glimpses of the future. David and Jose were not prepared to let this happen to the United States. They felt it was too important for the long range health of the United States and the world.

"Keeping the momentum going on development of the MEEC is critical." David paused a moment to plan a course of action. "Set-up a conference call with Saul and Abdul for tomorrow. We must to limit the distrust this will cause. Call a special cabinet meeting for two o'clock... and activate the Crisis Room."

E-Bombs were the weapon of choice among terrorists who wanted to wound the high technology countries of the world. The sophisticated electronics in computer chips were vulnerable to the electronic pulses generated by E-Bombs. The Chinese invented this weapon and they were selling it openly and legally to anyone who could afford to buy it. The Chinese said they would stop selling E-Bombs when other countries stopped selling weapons which kill people.

"This inquiry is now in session," said the Chief Focus Justice of the Middle East Inter-jurisdictional Court (MEIC). "We will begin by reading the United Nations Article which authorizes and governs these proceedings."

Judge Abrihim Muhammad was the Chief Justice of the 10 person court. He put on his bifocals, picked up a single sheet of paper from his desk, and began reading.

"Point 1. A United Nations sanctioned inquiry has the sole purpose of educating all interested parties about the factual circumstances surrounding a violent international incident.

"Point 2. An inquiry can be initiated by a single nation or a group of nations. Any nation wishing to participate may do so.

"Point 3. The inquiry will be in the form of HT sessions with 10 knower foci chosen by the initiating nations.

"Point 4. Any and all interested persons may participate in the sessions. Persons involved in the incident, witnesses, injured parties, and interested citizens are all encouraged to participate. Noone will be forced to participate."

The judge looked up to a nearly empty court. Four reporters, three of his clerks, a court stenographer and the 10 knower foci were present. His words were being beamed into 35,000 HT units all over the world; 27,000 were from the Middle East.

"I would like to now address the foci that have been agreed upon to serve this important public service. You have the charge to keep the biofeedback focused on the E-Bomb incident of October 8, 2070. However, this inquiry recognizes that past and possibly future events will be closely related to this incident, and they too can be part of your focus. Go ready yourselves, we will begin the HT session in exactly 10 minutes."

The foci moved off to their respective units as did the judge and the reporters.

The HT session started with E-bombs on everyone's mind. But very quickly attention moved to ancient hatreds. Images of violence and stories of atrocities filled the consciousness. And maybe worse, old stereotypes rose to consciousness. The stereotypic images were the easiest to dispel, because the HT session was filled with counter-examples. Most people are simply too complex to be stereotypic. Previous atrocities were painful. There was no hiding the truth. Generally, there was no desire to hide the truth.

Fifty two of the sixty Israelis who were involved in the raid joined the session. These people were not afraid of having their personal view of the E-Bombing incident examined by others. All of that would come out in the trials anyway. Even more significant was the fact that they did not fear having their personal lives examined. Why should they be afraid? There were no personal secrets which could be used to hurt them or their loved ones.

Palestine was one of the last countries in the Middle East to establish freedom from prosecution concerning private victimless activities. This included gambling, drugs, prostitution, violent sex among consenting adults, etc. The home was a sanctuary, unless bodily or severe emotional harm was being inflicted on another person, especially a child.

Freedom to choose, within the limits of not harming others, was firmly established for adults in most of the world. More importantly, children were taught that their principal freedom as adults would be the freedom to choose. They were also taught that this freedom included accepting full responsibility for the consequences of their choices. Children were basically taught the facts of life, the honest facts. HTing was the primary tool. Youngsters were encouraged to participate in group and individual HT sessions. Studies proved that children absorbed only what they were ready to assimilate into their lives.

Children whose parents were killed or seriously injured in the E-Bombings were encouraged to participate in the HT session. This was a major accomplishment for the United Nations Policy Committee during the 2060s. The right of children to have access to the truth was now an established human right.

December 20, 2070

By Sarah Gleason [Video shot of Sarah standing in front of the SNNI Headquarters Building in Arafat City. As Sarah spoke, images from the E-bombing raid were shown on part of the screen.]

I participated in the UN sponsored session as an SNNI reporter. The session was jointly requested by the United States, Palestine and Israel. This was my first time in a ten-foci session. For me, this was a truly momentous event. I never realized that such deep connections and insights were possible while HTing.

The retaliation mentality was evident in many participants. The painful loss of life, property and dreams cannot be easily accepted without retaliation of some sort against the perpetrators. But who are the real perpetrators for complex incidents. The punishment of the people directly involved would not penalize the real perpetrators nor solve the basic problem. I saw that even the victims of the E-Bombings appreciated the futility in simply punishing the 60 Israelis. This insight, truly felt and understood, was the power of this session.

The ten knower foci went to the Place. From there, the lifestories of all the participants in the session were available. With the biofeedback so strongly focused on the E-bomb incident, I was able to see this incident as well as prior and future related incidents.

I felt a strong sense of hope. People, and especially children, began to appreciate the futility of hate. I truly believe that the chain of hate is beginning to break. The children understand that the Israelis had no intention of doing bodily harm. The children experienced the perspective of the Israelis and were better able to understand their motivations.

The Israelis initially perceived the E-bomb incident as a reasonable retaliation, while the Palestinians perceived a violent attack on their capital with very little provocation. After the session, all saw that the incident was just one more in a long connected chain of violent incidents. 'How can this brutal chain be broken?' is a question asked for centuries. But now it was asked with a simple sincerity and commitment to action. The Place answered with a simple message, 'Don't dwell on the past. Look to the future. Plant a positive seed in a child's mind.'

(Sarah paused, while the final minute of her broadcast showed Palestinian children and Israeli children exiting from the HT session.)

This is Sarah Gleason, senior foreign affairs reporter for SNNI, saying good night.

The conference call between David, Saul, and Abdul was filled with the relief which comes from turning the potentially disastrous E-Bombing incident into a positive event.

"I think everybody learned something," said Saul.

"Yeah," said Abdul Muhammad, "That the Jews are hotheaded." He looked directly at Saul Perez's image on the telecommunication screen, and his somber face turned into a wide warm smile."

Saul also smiled. He and Abdul had built a level of trust, and even friendship, which neither thought possible a few years earlier. "I do believe that the flycar jockeys will be able to have a fair trial in Palestine. Quite amazing actually..." Saul's thought trailed off silently, ...the seemingly impossible does happen.

David closed the teleconference, "Gentlemen, job well done. We'll talk again in three days."

January 5, 2071

By Sarah Gleason [Video shot of Sarah standing near a large crowd of people with the Washington Monument behind her.]

A most unusual demonstration, involving a coalition of many religious organizations, is occurring here today. Leaders of Fundamentalist factions in the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths are about to make a joint statement to the press. The spiritual representatives of the One-God Judaic based religions are now walking to the podium. Advanced copies of the text indicate that they have agreed to put their differences aside to stop the growing threat posed by knowing the future.

The crowd is cheering as the 12 leaders¾ 6 Christian, 3 Jewish, and 3 Islamic¾ walk through the throng. Similar demonstrations are being held in several European, Asian and South American cities, as well as in 5 Middle Eastern cities including Jerusalem and Arafat City.

The Archbishop of New York City was selected to read the statement in the United States. He's approaching the podium now.

[The camera first focuses on the cheering crowd, and then on the Catholic Priest. The Archbishop begins to speak and the crowd becomes very quiet.]

"I would like to read to you the joint statement of the Council for Fundamental Religious Beliefs," the Archbishop lifted a sheet of paper closer to his face, and began reading.

"God's Will for mankind was first delivered in the first five books of the Old Testament. For many of us, the lives, words and prophecies of Jesus and Muhammad have served to clarify His intentions. All of us agree, however, that prophecies from God have ended because the Bible and Koran contain all that need be known to live the true religious life.

"It is now time for the differences between our faiths to be acknowledged as minor so that we can unite to fight the evil of knowing. It is God's Will that we unite to save Mankind's Soul. It is God's Final Test of mankind. Can mankind resist the Forbidden Apple of knowing the future. This Apple is reserved for God and his Prophets¾ not for common men.

"The fact that knowing is wrong becomes evident with but one example. Who but God could possibly know when Judgment Day for mankind will occur? Noone, but God, of course. And yet knowers will tell you they can see the future, they will tell you that they do not see a Judgment Day when they look a year, 10 years, or even 100 years into the future. But, it is clear they cannot know about Judgment Day...only God knows when He will act. That is so obvious that it is self-evident. Knowing is wrong and truly blasphemous.

"The rapidly growing trend of knowing must be stopped. People who become knowers will never receive God's Blessing. But even worse, we believe that knowers are endangering all of our souls. Knowers are polluting the spiritual health of all of mankind, and mankind itself is being tested. We fear that God's wrath will be upon us all if knowing the future is not stopped.

"Those of you who believe in the Word of God, meet in your places of worship and develop strategies to fight the blasphemous beliefs of knowers and the unholy cooperation of those supporting knowers. We, your spiritual leader, will continue pleading with the political leaders of the world. We will continue to warn them. But sadly, they do not listen.

"Judgment Day will be upon us all. Have you done enough to satisfy God?"

[The Archbishop moved back from the podium. The crowd was quiet for a moment, and then the applause started. The applause grew louder and louder, and many in the crowd began raising their fists into the air. The mood was angry.

[The camera moved back to Sarah.]

"That was a very powerful statement. I have never heard anything quite like it. The spiritual leaders did not advocate violence, but they referred to blasphemous beliefs of knowers and implied that knowers and those that supported them were endangering everyone else's souls. Potent words coming from so eminent a group of spiritual leaders.

"Sarah Gleason signing off."

"Those jerks," said Sharon after the Archbishop's speech. "What gives them the right to speak for mankind's soul?" Sharon was really agitated. She shot up from the couch and paced around.

She continued talking, while pacing about, "We don't tell them what they can and can't do...what they should and shouldn't think. Why should they attack us? We leave them alone... They can't believe that crap about our being a threat to their souls...or do they? Brad...do you think they're true believers, or what?"

Brad didn't say anything. He was bouncing Paul on his knee. Paul was giggling and reaching for Brad's face. Brad lunged at Paul's hand and grabbed it gently in his mouth. Paul giggled even louder and said, "Da Da".

"Say something...talk to me," Sharon plopped down next to Brad, and she began sobbing. She knew Brad's time was near, and she felt the lunacy she just witnessed would probably instigate something which would kill Brad.

"You and Pauli are what make my life meaningful," said Brad. "The future, the past...I don't care. I have these wondrous moments with you two...and I'll have them forever." He kissed Sharon on the cheek and then lifted Paul up into the air and brought him down with his face between his and Sharon's. Brad then began slowly counting, "One...two... and..."

Paul loved when his parents played this game. He was smiling and feeling so good¾ these feeling would last him a lifetime.

"...and three," finished Brad. He and Sharon then kissed Paul on the cheeks 'til he squealed with joy.

"I think it's the end of their time," said Brad after savoring this moment. "Actually, it's quite sad. The religious fundamentalists are losing their audience. It's ironic, though, because the basic religious message is catching on¾ you know, love thy neighbor...we're more than simply flesh and blood, that level of truth¾ people are truly becoming more tolerant. But, for the fundamentalist, you have to do and believe in a certain way. I'm afraid most of the fundamentalist leaders believe that they are privy to the divine truth. So it's difficult for them to be tolerant of others when it comes to religious matters."

"But," continued Brad, "they're realizing that they can't all be tuned-in to the one-and-only divine truth. So they form a very pragmatic alliance."

"Okay...I understand that," said Sharon, "So let them...they're becoming less and less of a factor in our society...why not simply ignore them?"

"I would if they'd ignore me...and you and all the other knowers in the world," said David. "The fundamentalist movement is the antithesis of everything I believe...I can't ignore them. What if they stop one prodigy knower from reaching his or her full potential? ...I can't ignore them."

"I know," Sharon hugged him and Paul. She was quietly sobbing. There was nothing more to say. They had discussed and HT-Shared this issue thoroughly. There simply was no more to say.

A large fundamentalist rally was assembled in front of the Supreme Court Building. The rally was in support of the attorneys representing the Coalition of Fundamentalists. The attorneys were petitioning the Supreme Court to outlaw any government sponsored knowing. The claim was that knowers were a type of religious sect. "The knowers' religion," one attorney argued, "has a dogma which concerns obtaining accurate knowledge from the future. Knowers have a special belief system concerning the future. This belief system requires faith about what God¾ knowers would say the Universe¾ wants from human beings. The faith of the Judea-Christian-Islamic religions is based on various versions of the Bible. The faith of knowers is based on coincidences involving accurate future predictions. It is true that knowers do not claim to be a religious sect. They do this so that their members can infiltrate the government and destroy other competitive religions. The government is picking a particular religion and giving it special favors. This is clearly a violation of the separation of church and state provision in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States."

The proceeding were being shown on a large 10 meter wide holographic screen outside the courtroom. When the attorney talked about separation of church and state, the crowd roared its approval. When knowers were mentioned, they angrily raised their fists. Three protesters waved signs which stated:

Brad tuned in to the live SNNI broadcast from his office. He was outraged by the signs and during his lunch hour he made a sign of his own and went to the Supreme Court. Brad's handwritten sign had a different slogan on each side.

Brad walked toward the crowd holding his sign up high and twirling it so both sides would be visible. The three protesters carrying their signs cut him off as he approached the crowd. The SNNI reporter covering the demonstration noticed the protesters converging on Brad. The camera crew captured the resulting confrontation.

At first, the scene was surrealistic with the visual image of the placards, initially widely separated, coming slowly together, There was no sense of people carrying the signs. It was a battle of written slogans. But then the scene turned ugly.

As Brad and the three protesters approached a point 10 meters from the main crowd, the high amplification audio/video equipment began picking up the sounds and words as well as the images of the conflict. One of the protesters spat at Brad. The sound of spitting and the parabolic arc were caught on the video. The wet wad of spit landed on Brad's pants leg. He ignored it and kept walking.

A second protester shouted at Brad, "You have been sent by the Devil...you're evil. All knowers are evil." He also spat at Brad, but missed.

Brad said, "You only see truth in the past. There's more than just the past." The protesters began pushing him with their signs. Brad pushed back.

"The only good knower is a dead knower," said the third protester as he hit Brad on the head with the sign which stated among other things, Knowers Beware.

Brad fell to one knee holding up his sign for protection. The other two protesters joined in the beating. Four people in the crowd who were witnessing the now violent confrontation ran toward the site shouting, "Stop! You idiots. That won't help us. Don't kill him. Stop."

The first man who hit Brad tore off the sign and used the handle as a club. He fiercely and repeatedly struck Brad on the face and head. Brad fell to the ground and his last words were barely audible. "... there's more to learn... "

By the time the barbaric protesters could be pulled off, Brad was dead.

David, as the President of the United States, addressed the nation the evening of Brad's death.

"The murder of Brad Snow is a tragedy which shows that hate still resides in the hearts of too many people. For this murder to occur in our nation's capital is an outrage. We are no longer living in the violent era of the Twentieth Century.

"We don't have to love each other, but we do have to let each other live in safety¾ safety from the threat of murder, serious bodily harm, and theft of property. That is one important service we in government are suppose to provide. Sadly, we are not perfect...our world is not perfect.

"Hate and prejudice initiated Brad's death...these must be eliminated. They are as dangerous as any disease, as costly as any natural catastrophe, and as threatening as any enemy. Each of us must learn to be at peace with one another. We are not the same. Some of us are white, black, brown, red, yellow... some are taller or shorter, fatter or thinner, male or female. smarter or dumber, knower or non-knower...so what? We are different, isn't that marvelous. Look how boring and sterile the world would be if we were all the same. But, before we can be at peace with each other, each of us must be at peace with ourselves." David paused.

"Peace within ourselves must be our goal in spite of all the reasons to be angry, in spite of all the incentives to hate and blame, in spite of all the hurts, and in spite of all the justifications for inner conflict.

"I urge you tonight to take full responsibility over your own inner peace. If you are not responsible for your inner feelings concerning your personal sense of peace, who is? Is the government responsible for your inner feelings? The feelings of fear, hatred, and distrust are your feelings. Take responsibility for these and look at these obstacles to peace. And take personal responsibility for removing them.

"I have anger. I have hate...hate for ignorance...hate for limiting other people's freedoms. Hate for the three fundamentalists who killed Brad. I do not now have inner peace.

"Brad disagreed with every aspect of what the fundamentalists believed to be the truth. He was very vocal in his disagreement. But he always gave them the right to voice their views. I am angry that three of them would not give him that same right.

"Brad had a strong spiritual sense of God. He told me that God is The Awareness of Everything. Brad appreciated the wonder of awareness...and especially the awareness that we do not know all there is to know. Only God knows all there is to know...the rest of us have to muddle along with partial knowledge.

"The challenge for each of us, Brad was fond of saying, is to use the partial knowledge with which we are blessed to bring peace and joy first to ourselves and then to others. Each of us is aware of a unique, but limited, part of the world. Together, we can approach The Awareness of Everything.

"I will hold onto Brad's perspective as I seek peace with the violent realities of his death. I will seek my own inner peace with this tragedy. I urge each of you to find your own inner peace.

"I would like to close by reading to you the letter Brad left for his wife, my daughter, Sharon Wensler Snow. In the letter, Brad refers to Paul, their four year old son." David read the following letter. There were tears in his eyes when he finished.

David, Jamali, Sharon and Paul flew to California to celebrate the Fourth. The flight took a little over an hour. The flycraft flew at supersonic speeds, averaging Mach 4. The 500 seat craft flew above the sensible atmosphere, thereby creating negligible noise. Pollution of the upper atmosphere was monitored very closely; the fears of the Twentieth Century motivated laws and then the technology which permitted the measurement, prediction, and care of the slowly changing upper atmosphere.

Paul, who was now 6 years old, took the flight for granted. He had visited his great grandparents three times before. He loved looking at the Earth and clouds flow under his gaze. David and Jamali spent as much time with Sharon and Paul as they could. David was trying to recoup the time he lost while he was President.

A Secret Service flycar took David's family to John and Mandy's home.

After a delicious meal prepared by the cooking robot, the "boys" went to the backyard to relax in and around the pool. It was a hot July day and Paul quickly put on his bathing suit¾ he couldn't wait to go into the water. John and David also put their swimsuits on, but they settled comfortably on the chaise lounges in the shade. Mandy, Jamali and Sharon stayed in the cool house.

"So how's civilian life?" John asked.

"It takes a while to adjust to not having such awesome responsibility. This is the first relaxing day I've had in some time. It's heaven." David had finished most of his obligations related to passing the Presidency on to his successor. The FLP won the presidential election with a large majority. The new president had been designated the FLP candidate after a series of four large HT sessions involving knowers and non-knowers. His candidacy and success became clear by the fourth session.

"Now you can have all the relaxation you want."

"I guess I don't want too much..." David said. "or I would never have agreed to be a focus for 'Ours to See'."

"Yeah, I guess the concert is taking a lot of your time."

"Yours too, and mom's and Sharon's and thousands of other people. The idea of a huge HT concert is really catching on. Though, I don't think most people believe that we'll be successful at contacting anyone 1000 years into the future."

"Frankly," said John, "neither do I."

"We'll see," said David pensively. "Anyway, the concept of participating in such a huge HT-concert is sufficiently exciting to attract participants. I understand the HT reservations are pouring in."

"From all over the world," said John. "We'll be close to the billion mark. We already have over 700 million sign-ups, and there's still three months to go."

The global HT concert was entitled The Future is Ours to See. John and HTI were the primary movers for this concert. The hook-up costs were being kept to a minimum based on the stated objective of signing up a billion participants. David only agreed to be the focus after John reluctantly accepted David's theme of attempting to communicate with people 1000 years into the future. David said that the idea for this theme came from one of his visits to the Place.

"700 million people," continued David, "that's incredible. Imagine the complexities of the biofeedback... People from such diverse cultures and backgrounds. 700 million participants, that's about one third of all the HT units sold in the world."

"The satellite links make it possible for every HT unit to participate," said John. "We have a high percentage of the individual and rental units, but the various government and corporation units are being signed up more slowly."

"Dad," said David, "thanks for helping so much..."

"Don't thank me. Frankly, it was your mother who pressed me."

David laughed. "And if it weren't for mom and Sharon joining me as foci and providing the basic music-light show, I wouldn't have the courage to recite a poem to such a large audience. Anyway, without their reputations, we would not be seeing such a huge response."

"I'm so proud," said John, "I can hardly stand it. Three generations acting as foci...my wife, my son, and my granddaughter..."

David reached over and touched his father's arm in response to the obvious emotion in John's voice. David said, "It won't be too long until Paul joins in as well. Sharon's already introduced him to HTing through several concerts, including two of her own."

"I want to go to the big concert?" Paul shouted from the far end of the pool. He was too distant to have heard the conversation, but his psinfo ability permitted him to tune-in to any conversation that interested him. His psinfo abilities astonished everyone except himself and Sharon. "I want to HT with mommy and grandpa."

"Don't you know it's impolite to listen-in on other people's conversations," said David without any anger in his voice.

"But you were talking about me and mommy. Why can't I HT during the concert. I'm not too young," Paul insisted.

"We have to obey the law, Pauli," said John. "You have to be 13 years old before you can HT-Share in this very large concert. There will be so many people, no-one knows what's going to happen. The government doesn't want to take the chance that children will be hurt."

"I know, Mommy told me that," said Paul. "But that's a dumb law...my dad HTed when he was practically a baby, and his parents let him be part of a concert when he was younger than I am."

"Yes that's true," said David, "and you've gone to other HT concerts, but you're not participating in this one."

Paul made a disappointed face, recovered quickly and changed the subject, "GG, come into the pool and play with me...please, please, please." GG was short for Great Grandfather. This nickname was supplied by Sharon when Great Grandpa was too difficult for Paul¾ then 9 months old¾ to say."

"Excuse me," said John with a big smile on his face, "I've been invited to play...an offer I cannot refuse."

"Don't overdue it," said David knowing that his father would not listen.

The women were in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies using a luscious recipe which Mandy inherited from her mother.

"There's still not a robot built who can make a good chocolate chip cookie," said Jamali.

"Thank goodness there's something we can do better," said Mandy.

"Cookies and one or two other things," said Sharon. They all laughed.

"Look at that, I don't believe it," said Sharon. "Grandpa just dived into the pool. Where is he?"

"It's okay," said Mandy. "He's quite healthy."

"How healthy can he be at one hundred and thirty three years old?" said Jamali.

"Health-HTing really works, especially when you do it every day. Remember, John has been using HTing for his health longer than any other person," said Mandy.

"There're lots of old people around," added Sharon. "They seem to be working everywhere, and mostly they're healthy."

"They are healthy because most take their own lives before they become excessively sick," said Mandy.

"Legalized suicide...I can't believe it," said Jamali.

"It never would have happened if it weren't for the ability to keep people alive almost indefinitely with machines. Who's suppose to decide to pull the plug...why not the person who's life is at stake?" said Mandy.

Sharon said, "You remember Kevorkian¾ from the end of the Twentieth Century¾ he publicized the value of euthanasia for people who were in terrible pain. Most, but not all, were terminally ill. All of these people deeply wanted to die. Once it was accepted that some people had the right to decide when they would die...well then it followed that responsibility for ones life included choices about ones death."

"What ever happened to the Judeo-Christian tradition of life is precious no matter what?" asked Jamali."

"That's still true, but, it's a healthy life that's precious, no matter what," said Sharon. "I've authorized mom and dad to perform euthanasia on me if it becomes necessary and I become too incapacitated to make the decision myself."

"This is a depressing subject," said Jamali.

"We will all die someday," said Sharon.

Mandy said, "We now live in a world that's so much more peaceful than when I grew up, that a normal death isn't as frightening as it used to be. I remember the murders and terrorist bombings...they gave me terrible nightmares. Now that there are practically no murders, we have less fear about premature deaths. We can face the reality of death from aging more realistically."

Sharon added, "Accepting responsibility for your own life is the key. I believe this theme being taught to youngsters was the most important change in our educational system...probably ever. Young kids are now taught facts about life and death, about risks...and about drugs that would have been unheard of when I was in school."

Mandy laughed, "The fact that drugs are available, and can be bought once you're over 18... this idea would never enter anyone's mind in my day. Alcohol and cocaine sharing shelf space... both still causing trouble, but at least the control is out of the hands of drug lords."

"I still don't like drugs that allow people to take their own lives. Life is too precious," said Jamali.

"There's a time for life, and a time for death," said Mandy. "The purple pill let's us choose the time for our death. I think it's a good idea. I don't want to be so sick that I can't take care of myself. I don't want to be in a home where I vegetate..."

"Did you buy any purple suicide pills before they were legal?" asked Jamali.

Mandy didn't answer.

"I did," answered Sharon. "When they lifted the prohibition, I was very pleased. I didn't like breaking the law, but the pills were not easy to find...and what if I needed one... God forbid. What a marvelous little pill. It only works if you enter a deep peaceful sleep...a sleep that you simply do not awaken from."

"And the antidote is a little alcohol which you take if you change your mind," added Mandy.

"I've had enough," said John. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Grandpa, will you play with me?" asked Paul.

"A little later," said David. "I want to talk to GG."

After John settled into his lounge chair, David asked, "Do you know what is motivating me the most about this concert?"

"No, not really."

"I want as many people as possible to HT...that's how Knowers are discovered," said David. "We estimate that only one quarter of the people in the world have ever HTed. I want 100%"

"That's still 2.5 billion people who've HTed...that's not bad at all," said John. "Do you know what's motivating me?"

David nodded a no.

"I want to do everything I can to organize a billion person concert for you. Kiela felt that would be a critical mass to activate a new kind of communication," answered John very seriously.

"What kind of communication?"

"That wasn't clear...he communicated mostly with your mother, and she only said she sensed it had to do with both the future and the past," answered John.

"That doesn't help a lot."

"I know."

"You, Kiela, and I go back a long way," David said changing the subject. "I still remember our talk on the beach where I told you about a Tibetan monk who was outsmarting you time and time again."

"Your psinfoing talent was, and still is, quite remarkable," said John. After a thoughtful pause, he added. "Kiela's also a remarkable person. He's in a trance state almost constantly. He's taking only 10 grams of food and one glass of water a day."

"Prison is the perfect place for him right now. He's left completely alone to do his meditating, or whatever it is he's doing." David paused, and added, "Dad, you probably don't know this, but when I first became the Pres, I asked if there was any way I could pardon him. I was shown the evidence that the successful foundation of reducing murder was the no-exception-rule to life imprisonment coupled with the certainty of being discovered and convicted. I remember feeling so sad that Kiela had to pay such a large price. It seemed so unfair."

"He was willing to accept responsibility for his actions...including going to prison for the rest of his life," said John.

"That's true," said David, "I even offered to transfer him to a Level 4 prison from the Alcatraz Level 5 facility, but he preferred the complete isolation. It still bothers me that he's at the same prison as Jack Capone."

"Murder has practically been eliminated in the US," said John. "And I guess there's a price for that...including some unfortunate inequities."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"Anyway," said David with a shrug, "I have another question for you," said David. "The government, HTI, and many many others are all looking into the future, but we still can't see beyond the next 125 years or so. Why do you think that is?" asked David.

John laughed a little at the question. "No matter how much information we have, we'll always want more!"

"That's probably true. But what's limiting us now?" asked David. "And why are you so certain that my goal of retrieving information from 1000 years from now is so futile?"

"Our own future is what's limiting us," slowly answered John. "I believe that the future which we can focus upon is communicated primarily through connections with living people who live into the future and provide objective information."

David had heard this argument before, "That doesn't make sense to me. Why should our knowledge of the future be limited to directly experienced events?"

"When we're alive," said John, "we're all so closely bound psychically, that the physical mass and associated energy are sufficient to provide the link through time."

"Why do we have to be alive to have this link?" asked David. "There's a connection between generations of people...through their genetic makeup."

"Look, I'm not sure about all this," said John, "but every living person has an enormous amount of available energy...you remember E equals M C squared, that's a lot of pure energy. Energy which can be focused by consciousness."

"E equals M C squared... You're saying that we use the mass in our bodies to see into the future?" said David.

"Yep, and furthermore, I believe that consciousness connects all the universe...linking living entities...I believe there are lots of conscious beings in the universe, and some day we'll consciously communicate."

"This is the first time I've ever heard you talk about extraterrestrials," said David.

"That's because they're mostly irrelevant," said John. "The fact is, we have to manage this part of the universe. When we do, then we'll be ready to venture out further and contact other conscious beings."

"But you don't believe we can venture out beyond a life span in time?" asked David again.

"No, I don't. I just can't envision how the information would travel through time if not through a living conscious being..." said John.

"If true, that's a shame," said David. "I was hoping that by coupling a billion people or so, we might make a breakthrough into the next millennium."

"I doubt it," said John. "The billion people will be dead by then. There is no physical connection to the people alive."

"I'm still going to give it my best shot," said David.

The concert began like many others. David entered the HT-Music Unit. His focus was not musical, but a poem he had written. Sharon and Mandy generated the basic musical-light portion of the concert.

David began reading his poem rather slowly:

When David finished the reading, he began repeating the poem. His tone became more rhythmic. The basic music-light theme, which periodically focused to a point and then diffused seemingly forever, also began repeating; however, the billion person biofeedback caused subtle complexities and dramatic changes to develop in the music-light and David's voice.

He continued reciting his poem for the duration of the session. By the third repetition, David was in The Place. While he was unconsciously saying the words from his HT Unit in New York, he was fully conscious of being in The Place.

David was aware of a higher energy level than he had ever before experienced in the Place. So many of us...here... together...wanting to bring back information from the future, he thought. In fact, as usual, everyone in the Place experienced everyone else's thoughts and feelings in parallel with their own.

He was aware of over one million people joining with him in the Place. This represented almost everyone who had entered previously. But also, there were about twenty thousand new people who joined them for the first time.

These Newcomers were warmly welcomed and the assimilation process began. Their awe in experiencing the Place for the first time, and their joy at the power to know the lifestories of everyone in the Place were the source of the heightened energy they all felt.

And then, the Newcomers' lifestories were released to the Place. Their stories were a complete surprise to everyone, including the Newcomers.

Everyone in the Place suddenly knew that the Newcomers would not return to their physical lives. There were no regrets, however, because the energy released from the Newcomers' quiet deaths would activate a new type of contact between the future and the past.

The Newcomers revealed a simple insight. The way to see further than a lifestory into the future is to balance the insights from future visions by looking into the past and providing wisdom to those that can hear, thought/felt the Newcomers.

The knowledge of what was about to happen was now known in the Place. The knowledge was first revealed with the Newcomers' lifestories. Why now? Why this way? mused David and the rest of those in the Place. There will always be mysteries which come from deeper levels of reality was the shared response.

And now it is time for us to explore and penetrate the fuzzy boundary. In the Place, as everywhere and everytime else, the law of present moment experiencing is valid. Even though everyone now intellectually knew the outcome of this exploration, the Place was filled with the exhilaration of experiencing an incredible capability for the first time.

Let's go a thousand years into the future. The Place was ready, the Newcomers were ready, and David was ready. All intentions were aligned and the sense of anticipation was thick.

Go with the Newcomers...they are here to guide us, thought/felt David as the biofeedback from the concert and the Place became perfectly united.

The billion concert participants and the Place experienced future emotions, thoughts and feelings of seemingly random bits and pieces of the future¾ bits that were attracted to each participant in ways which were not understandable on an individual basis. The Place experienced and absorbed all the bits and pieces to gain a new perspective of the future.

The Place¾ that is, the consciousness of the participants who entered the Place¾ tried to analyze the method behind the bits and pieces which were revealed, but they were unsuccessful. Why, for example, was there no information about the Newcomers until just now? There was no apparent answer. The Universe works in strange ways, was as close to an answer as the Place could provide.

As information was gathered from further into the future, the rapidly declining numbers of people who were still alive caused a fuzziness to appear. When the Place's consciousness reached 100 years into the future, there were only a few hundred thousand of the billion participants still alive and the future became fuzzier and fuzzier because of the limited perspectives available for synthesis. And then at 135 years, the last person attending the concert was about to die and the fogginess became almost impenetrable.

Be calm now...go forward into the unknown. Don't see, don't think, don't feel, just leap into the future... Leap 1000 years... As the Place felt David's words, there was a push, maybe more of a pull, from the Newcomers which accelerated their motion through time.

The Earth...one thousand years from now... And the Place was given but a glimpse, a small peek, a shadowy image at best. But it was enough, enough to feel the confidence that comes with knowing that one's genetic species has survived, flourished, and is feeling generally productive and happy. A sense of success and confidence filled the Place.

The Newcomers are staying here...it seems that somehow they are from this time... Good-bye and thank you. Then the Place's consciousness was propelled backwards¾ backwards in time¾ past the present time toward the ancient times of the people who began our genetic history.

Stay with this rebound...let's see where and how we started, David felt/thought as he went with the backward flow. The Newcomers provided the energy for the rebound as they left the Place.

Let's go back further in time than has ever even been considered possible before... To when we started... To the time and place of our genetic origin... Genes connect us to the past. David was expressing the parting thoughts from the Newcomers. The genetic chain connects the past to the future. And, when the connections are strong enough, the future reaches back... David paused.

It is not simply that we can learn from the past... We must view ourselves, eventually, as being the future which has the strength and wisdom to teach the past! David felt that this somehow made sense, even though he could not explain why.

But how could the human genetic chain have a beginning? The chain must go back further and further... Before the animals...? Before the plants...? Before the minerals...? Many questions and uncertainties were filling the Place.

How can we teach the past...we can't communicate with the past? We've just barely communicated with the future...the past knows even less. As the questions approached the incomprehensible, David sensed the Place had stopped moving through time.

The Place's consciousness centered around a time of about five thousand years ago, but the awareness was quite diffused, spreading over several hundred years, and spreading over the entire planet.

We've been propelled as far back as we're ready. It is now time for us to share what we know. We are part of the process of education... that now seems clear. David sensed the doubts about whether any information could be shared.

Our ancestors are here... We are connected to the people living in these times. They are the source¾ and conduit¾ of our genes. The genetic path backwards connected each person in the concert to untold thousands of people living on Earth five thousand years ago. The connections were heavily inter-related, with most people sharing similar ancestral stock.

David, the Place and the billion people spoke/thought/felt: You are our fathers. We are intimately connected to you. Time is the illusion which separates us. We and you are one... We are made in your image, and yet, you are made in our image as well... We are all one family to be cherished and loved...each and every one.

The Place directly experienced contact with relatively few people. With each contact there was a shared sense of awe at the uniqueness of the conscious communication. The awe felt by the ancients was beyond description. The ancients tried to understand the message, but could only grasp pieces, small pieces, of the contents. The Place filled with the insight that the message wasn't as important as the overwhelming sense of awe felt by the ancients at contact with something ...something incomprehensible, but nevertheless real.

After the awe subsided, some ancients felt joy, some fear. Some shared their experience, some ignored what had happened. Some were moved to begin a change in the religions of the times.

Are we God? Was the question filling the Place.

Yes and no. Yes, for the ancients. No, for us. That was the clear answer. There also was a sense that the interaction with the ancients was crucial for religious development of humans. But there was also a clear feeling that God was as far away from the Place as it had been to the ancients.

The most wondrous mystery...that's what God will always be...that's a defining quality of God and His Universe. With that insight, contact with the ancients ended, and the concert was over.

David's consciousness returned to the HT Unit. He was always amazed at the return of consciousness. He didn't remember much from The Place, but he sensed enough to know that there was contact, albeit of an indirect nature, with the future and with the past.

Unfortunately, his excitement over this accomplishment was short-lived.

"All those deaths," said David sadly. He, Jamali, John and Mandy had been up all night trying to understand the 20,000 deaths which were reported minutes after the concert ended. John and Mandy insisted on staying overnight. They all listened to the news reports, and they tried to remember what they had experienced during the concert.

"It's not your fault," said Jamali to David, as she went to the kitchen to make some more coffee. "There must be a way to understand..." she trailed off into a private thought about choosing to die.

"This really frosts me," said David as he read the lead story from the screen in the living room. "Nobody understands what happened, but HTI is already being blamed."

"The paper's here already," said Jamali as she returned to the living room.

"It just arrived."

"Please print me a hard copy, I want to see the editorial. I can just imagine."

"Sure, I'll print you a copy, but let's read it together," said David. Then he talked to his communications computer, "C44-Voice: Print the morning paper, and put the editorial page on the screen."

The C44 computer responded immediately. The printed paper would take about a minute to be available from the output tray in the back of the unit; the CALIFORNIA TIMES editorial was already visible on the screen.

Jamali put the coffee on the table and they read the editorial.

"Dan Heathing always hated anything even remotely related to HTI. I don't quite know why," said Jamali.

"John never told you about his grandfather, Judge Parker."

Mandy shook her head indicating no.

"Heathing's grandfather was the Judge during the proceedings which investigated John when he won the California lottery twice. Judge Parker believed that John somehow electronically cheated. The negative accusations and innuendoes against John have been passed down through two generations¾ that family will probably never trust John or HTI," said David.

The phone rang, and David said, "C44-Voice: Answer the phone and put on the screen."

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise," said Mandy when she saw Sharon's face. "I thought you were taking Paul to the mountains after the concert."

"I'm at the cabin now," said Sharon. She moved back from the screen so Jamali and David could see the rustic interior of the wood cabin. Also, they saw Paul.

"How's my favorite great grandson," said John.

"I'm okay GG. Hi grandpa... Hi grandma," answered Paul slowly with a sad tone in his voice and a sadder look on his face.

"What's the matter, honey," said Jamali.

"I did something wrong," answered Paul. "I went to grandpa's concert without being invited."

"What do you mean?" asked Jamali.

Paul didn't say anything and looked at his mother.

"It's okay Pauli, don't worry...you were just impolite," said Sharon. Then she turned to the screen and said, "Let me explain what's going on."

"Please do," said John, now he was a little worried since it was only 5:30 in the morning, and Sharon wouldn't call unless it was important.

"The drive to the cabin was delightful. Paul and I talked the whole time and we were both excited about spending the weekend in the woods. I had no idea about any problems with the concert," Sharon paused for a moment before continuing. "We arrived at the cabin, and I put Paul to bed. I was also tired, and I went to bed without watching any news.

"Pauli woke-up early, about an hour ago. He started playing with his toys, probably a little louder than necessary to get my attention," Sharon smiled. In any case, I also woke-up and it was such a beautiful morning I quickly climbed out of bed, went to the kitchen to brew some coffee and make some hot chocolate for Pauli. Pauli helped me in the kitchen for a while, and then he said he wanted to watch some TV. He put on an educational program about Animals in Africa."

"It was a great program, you should have seen the lions and elephants and ..." said Paul excitedly.

"But then there was a news break," Sharon continued. "The reporter said that he was at the home of one of the 20,000 or so people who died from the HT-Concert. As you can imagine, I couldn't believe my ears! The reporter went on to say that the woman who died was a teacher in a New York school and that her death was such a tragedy. The reporter added that she was only 95 years old, and in good health."

Sharon stiffened-up a bit, and said, "That was when Pauli said the teacher wanted to die."

"Well, she did," added Paul with conviction.

"How could you possibly know that?" asked John.

"Like I was saying before," said Paul. "I went to the concert even though I wasn't invited. The baby-sitter put me to bed early. I wanted to be with everyone else. So I found mommy."

"Tell them how you found me," said Sharon.

"Oh, that was easy. I found you in my head."

"I don't understand," said John.

"I can find anyone I want to by seeing them in my head. Everyone's in there. I found mommy at the concert. I saw you there grandpa. You were saying something about life and time. I didn't understand you, but the music and words felt very good. I think everyone liked the concert."

"Tell them about the school teacher and the others who died during the concert," said Sharon.

"Some of the people were different. Like the school teacher. They wanted to go home to the future. These people were in my head too. The concert took them home. When they left they said they didn't want to come back, but they wanted me to go back. They were real nice people," Paul smiled as he was remembering.

"You remember talking to the school teacher?" asked John.

"Yeah, I sort of talked to all of them before they left. It wasn't exactly talking, it was something with the music touching all the places in my head where these people were. They talked to me by touching and changing the music with their heads. I talked to them too. I know a lot about their lives. The school teacher was real special...she loved kids," Paul smiled again.

"She told me that people would be upset that she didn't come back. She said they would say she died because of the concert. But that's not true...she said she died during the concert so she could go home to the future and so she could bring me and lots of other people to her home so we would know it was there.

"And she told me that only her body would die. She said her mind and spirit would live in the future, where her original home was. She said she left her home with thousands of others to become babies in mommys' tummies. And only during the concert did she see that she was just visiting our time.

"She and the others talked to me for a long time, until they had to go home. They said that they were only gone from their home for a short time..." Paul squinched his eyes and added, "They tried to explain that, but I didn't understand them." He shrugged his shoulders.

"As they left to go home, I saw a beautiful sky and a city with tall shinny buildings leaning away from the sun. After that, I went to another place without any buildings. It seemed very far away and very old. The concert ended after that." Paul went over to Sharon and received a big hug.

There was a long pause. John broke the silence with, "Incredible...that's all I can say."

David said, "They must have assimilated either during or shortly after conception...incredible is right. John do you..."

Mandy interrupted him, "Pauli, you're terrific. We're lucky that you're so bright and remembered so much. Thank you. We all love you."

"Right," said David. "Thanks a lot Paul."

John added, "We were worried about the people who died during the concert. You've helped us more than you can know. You and your mom enjoy the rest of your vacation. We'll see you when you come home."

Jamali added, "Good-bye Sharon, thanks for calling. C-44 end of call."

The screen read END OF CALL.

David immediately turned to John, "Is it possible to consciously merge with an embryo ..."

"To merge," Mandy interjected, "from the future?"

"Merge with an embryo?" John asked, "What does that mean?"

"Paul's story is clear," said David, "In a thousand years, mankind will be able to send a person's consciousness back in time...and this consciousness can merge with an embryo and somehow share its life..." He paused in amazement at the very idea.

"You have to be kidding," said Jamali, "And then, I suppose, this person returns, by dying during the HT concert, to his or her home in the future."

"He's not kidding," said John, "And it's 20,000 people who return to their homes in the future."

"And notice," said David, "that they returned after only being gone for a short time...that's what they told Paul."

"Now, if we take this seriously," said Mandy thoughtfully and hesitatingly, "...people returning simultaneously after being gone for a short time...sounds like an HT concert... Maybe these people were part of an advanced HT session 1000 years from now. Could the billion person concert have been a vehicle for contact with the future? Could people in the future send back the seeds of consciousness... A consciousness intended to reveal the possibility of contacts? John, could this be possible...even in a thousand years?"

"I don't know," said John, "The fact that everything in the Universe is truly connected to everything else is an acknowledged part of quantum mechanics. This is usually interpreted to mean all of space is connected at any given time. But the connectivity of all time and all space is also a natural consequence. But the connectivity is very subtle. We can know things about matter at huge distances in space and time, yes, but to transport consciousness back in time...that's a pretty big step."

"On the other hand," said David, "the quantum mechanical effects are most significant on very small scales. Influencing a tiny embryo may become possible.

"David, David," said John. "Since when are you such a QM fan? You want so much to believe that we made contact with the future... but I just don't know."

"You're telling me that you can't rule this embryo story out," said Mandy incredulously. "like you'd ignore any report of a perpetual motion machine?"

"That's true," said John. "It's possible. The physics of quantum mechanics defies our normal everyday experience. The Universe is truly connected, information can be passed at infinite speeds. I don't know what the consequences and potentialities of all this means...especially if you ask about a thousand years into the future."

"Who knows what mankind can do in a millennium," said David.

Everyone remained silent with their own thoughts for a few seconds, then Jamali said, "I'm still very skeptical. But if what you say is true, then all the people who died should have something in common...something unusual."

"Like what?" asked David.

"I don't know," answered Jamali, "but not everyone has their embryos influenced by people from the future...people who wait to die until a billion person HT-Concert comes along... Sounds pretty unusual, don't you think?"

David nodded in agreement. "I assume HTI will be looking into the possible reasons for the deaths. Who'll do the investigation?" David asked John.

"The legal department has already assigned a group to look at the medical records and biofeedback signals, recorded during the concert, from those who died. All that stuff's in the computer. They've been working on it all night, but they weren't ready to conclude anything as of an hour ago." answered John.

"You know those legal departments," said David. "They won't conclude anything for days, but maybe they can tell us something helpful."

"Okay, let's call them," said John. "C-44, attention. Call the HTI Legal Department." John had entered the telephone number, with access codes, into David's system several years ago.

In a few seconds, the screen lit up and a young tired-looking man said, "Hello." When he saw John, he added, "Good morning, sir."

"Good morning Kevin, how's it going," said John.

"Just fine, I guess," answered Kevin Jenkins. He was the computer access specialist in the group. "The attorneys are trying to anticipate the law suits which are sure to follow from the deaths. They're taking everything I can give them on the twenty thousand four hundred and seventy eight deaths which occurred during the concert. We still don't have all the HT-session records yet, however."

"Kevin, I don't want to talk legalities now. I'm looking for patterns, or any unusual connections between the people who died. Frankly, I don't know what I'm looking for..." said John.

"Well, so far the deaths are quite mysterious. As you know, if there are any signs of medical abnormalities during the concert, the biofeedback is disconnected and emergency crews are immediately called. In most of the deaths, the brain functioning slowed down rather suddenly, and the people died before anything could be done," said Kevin.

"What do you mean by most? And what do you mean by suddenly?" asked John.

"About 90% of the people died with brain functioning which vanished within 5 minutes after onset. The other 10% died of other problems which we have seen before. The legal beagles have called in a statistician to figure out how many people would die of natural causes during such a large concert. I think that's the 10%," said Kevin.

"Anything else unusual about the 90%?" asked John.

"Yes, in fact, there is," said Kevin slowly. "It's very strange...and maybe it's a coincidence, and maybe it's because they were old..."

"Don't beat around the bush," said John. "What's so unusual?"

"Almost all of the 90% were about 95 years old. In fact, 80% were born in July or August of 1978. There are only a handful of cases where the records show birthdays more than a year from these months," said Kevin.

"That's quite a coincidence," said John. "By the way, 95 years is not very old. Once a person reaches 75 years of age, he's life expectancy is over one hundred and ten."

"Yes, sir. Sorry about that," said Kevin who was quite embarrassed by his slip¾ everyone knew that John Wensler was over 130 years old."

"Is there anything else unusual about those who rapidly lost their brain functioning?"

"No, not really. They seem to come from all over the world. And from all professions. I don't see anything else," answered Kevin.

"Thank you," said John. "Keep up the good work. Good-bye now. C44: End Call."

"What's the meaning of all being the same age," asked Jamali.

"There's more to it than a coincidence. What's the odds of these people being born within months of each other?" said David.

"I don't think the odds matter," said John. "I think the birth dates are related to the focus it must have taken to instill consciousness into living embryo from 1000 years away. This focus, like a laser of light, had sufficient power because of the harmony of the participants."

"You seem to have bought the 'sent from the future argument' said Jamali.

"I am drawn to it," said John. "I almost remember what Pauli remembered...but it's just out of reach."

The prison robot checked Kiela's body for signs of life. "Robot P-67 calling central."

"Central here."

"Prisoner 67-84 is dead."

"Bring the body and all the prisoner's belongings to the Clearing Area."

"I'll get it," said Mandy as she responded to the sound of the doorbell.

A few minutes later she found John at his desk in the study. "It was a messenger from the prison...Kiela is dead."

John was saddened. He had never met Kiela, but John felt he knew him well. Over the years, he had learned to respect him.

"He asked the prison to give these to you," added Mandy. She handed him a small package.

"Me," said John, expressing both surprise and curiosity.

Mandy brought a chair from the other side of the room and sat down next to the desk.

John slowly opened the package while trying to understand why Kiela would send him anything. Inside the package were a Tibetan prayer wheel and beads, an HT-Videotape and a small picture.

John reached for the picture first. It was quite aged and unclear even though it had been laminated for protection. "Oh my God," he said when he recognized the picture of the Cantor family taken on the Fourth of July in 1983.

"Who are they?" asked Mandy as she leaned over for a closer look.

"That's Tracey's family. There's Tracey and Robin...no way to tell who's who. This picture was taken shortly before Susan and Hal's son, Jerry, was killed in Lebanon."

"Yes, I remember. You told me about them when Kiela explained why he saved Tracey's life."

"Kiela kept this picture all these years," said John. "Someone must have taken it from Robin's purse and sent it to China."

Mandy reached for the prayer beads. "I guess he had lots of time for contemplation," said Mandy.

John quietly twirled the prayer wheel for a few moments. He had read enough about the Tibetan customs to rotate the wheel in the clockwise direction. At first it felt awkward, but he quickly found the rhythm of the wheel. There was a 9 inch long smoothly contoured wooden handle supporting a 3 inch tall by 4 inch diameter copper cylinder. The cylinder, which rotated about a thin metal axle loosely set into the handle, contained a sacred Tibetan prayer. A brass weight was attached to the side of the cylinder with a 3 inch long metal chain to facilitate the rotation of the wheel. In the Tibetan tradition, each time the wheel was rotated, it was equivalent to reciting the prayer. John wondered how many time Kiela had rotated this wheel and invoked its prayer.

John then picked up the video. It was marked 'For John Wensler'. "Let's see what this is." The HTV was in the study, and he quickly started the tape.

Two dimensional color recording equipment was all that was permitted to prisoners. Kiela's image was clear as he sat cross-legged on the bed. He looked very thin, but remarkably serene and at ease.

"This recording is being made for Dr. John Wensler and then for general distribution," said Kiela in a strong voice.

"It is now 15 minutes before the beginning of the billion person concert. I will participate in this concert from here. The power and potential of these concerts are tremendous. This concert is a milestone in the history of mankind. John, you should be proud...very proud.

"You have been an inspiration to me. You and Robin Cantor are the ones who catalyzed my life...the ones who brought me to consciousness for my mission.

"John, your invention of HTing awakened my intellect. And sadly, it took Robin's death to awaken my human spirituality. I am enlightened, but I am not perfect. I do what the universe expects...even though it is not clear why or what or how it matters...but we are all important, and what we do has value. Mankind is moving forward. We are developing." Kiela paused and his facial expression turned serious.

Mandy and John looked at each other with bewilderment.

"My name in your time is Kiela. However, I am also the focus for an HT event which is happening in the year 3071...about 1000 years into your future," Kiela paused to give time for the thinking part of the mind to focus on his words/concepts.

"10 billion participants from your future are focusing our energies on transferring consciousness to your time through subtle changes in the genetic structure of newly fertilized eggs.

We are successful. Myself and about 20,000 other persons were born into your time and lived normal lives, until we sensed it was time to return home...to the future.

"We returned home at the end of a day long HT-Concert in 3071. We wanted you to know the reality and connectivity of time. We lived full lives in your time, but in the future we awakened refreshed and fulfilled after 24 hours of intense global biofeedback."

"As fantastic as this sounds, our consciousness was transported through space-time. Each of us was consciously living in only one present moment at a time. We spent a whole lifetime in your time frame, while a day passed in the year 3071. On November 19, 3071, twenty thousand of us spent a full day in the Place with the help of 10 billion participants, and while sleeping in the Place, we lived a lifetime beginning in 1978.

"The future and the past are indeed connected. Just as you appreciate the connectivity of one Earth, we can appreciate the connectivity of one Universe...and this includes space-time connectivity.

"In our 10 billion person concert, we imagine and enjoy a glorious image of light, from the entire Universe, bathing the Earth. Then the viewpoint changes until the light is focused in the past on a single ovum, just as it is fertilized. The dividing cells are bathed lovingly in the light.

"You will be able to find evidence of a unique transformation in the cells of those of us who died during your concert."

"Just as you've learned to use technology to nurture our living planet, Earth," continued Kiela, "we're learning how to nurture our living civilization, humankind. The nurturing is conceptually simple, namely, encourage growth through assimilation of the unknown...growth through resolution of the mysteries which always surround us.

"We are being nurtured by contacts from the future through techniques which you cannot now understand. We were quite slow to believe the subtle evidence of these strange contacts...as you will be slow to believe what I'm telling you...this seems to be part of the exploration and growth of mankind. But remember this, human civilization thrives.

"And yet, we too have our challenges. There is still some hunger and some pain. And yes, there are still prisons and people who belong there. The challenges of managing technology continue. Our encounter with your time was only achieved after many unsuccessful trials and innumerable heated debates. Together, however, your time and ours¾ your people and ours¾ have revealed a new vista for humanity. We have unveiled a new perspective on the mysterious universe we all live in.

"Our consciousness, we are told by voices from our future, will fill the universe, blending with consciousness from other intelligent sources who we will never meet on the physical plane. Communication will occur throughout space-time, we are told. Our scientists are trying to understand the meaning of these mystical concepts.

"Those who know my words are true," Kiela projected more strongly now, "are the ones who must carry humanity forward to a new world view. Many have experienced, during the concert, the reality of communication with the future and with the past. You know much more than you understand. It is good to know, and it is good to understand, but you will never understand all you know."

Kiela paused and his face projected strong feelings of laughter, warmth and love. "But keep trying," he smiled. "Deep understanding is always a source for more knowledge and growth. The Universe teases us all...so we will learn."

"It is time, now, to begin the Ours To See concert. John and Mandy, I know you will both watch this video after I am gone. I also know that you will play this for many other people. All of you, please meditate with me now. I would like to help you remember."

Kiela closed his eyes and became very still.

John and Mandy looked at each other. Kiela remained motionless on the screen.

"I'm going to meditate with him," said Mandy. She closed her eyes.

Kiela, you were...you are something else. What are you up to now? John thought as he uncomfortably rustled about. You're dead...and if what you say is true, you're home in the future. You never stop surprising me. Mandy reached out to him and touched his arm. "Yes, yes," he said. I'll quiet my thoughts... John closed his eyes, but his mind continued to chatter away. Are there no limits to what Kiela can do? There must be...

Before John could settle down, he heard what sounded like chanting coming from the screen. John opened his eyes. Kiela was still motionless, except for a slight motion of the mouth and neck which generated the chant.

"Time has no boundaries, that Consciousness can't cross.

Life has no meanings, that Consciousness can't perceive.

Our Consciousness thrives on living Life's Time.

"Now and not-now...both are real.

Memories are real, as real as the future.

Now is the source of all Life's Time.

"Let's Consciously Venture into the Place,

Where Time has no Boundaries,

Returning with wisdom,

For Living Life's Time."

That's David's poem...he's chanting with David, thought John as he listened. He's changed it...

John looked over at Mandy. She was sitting quietly on the couch meditating. What's going on? He asked himself. Okay, Kiela made this tape before he died. Now he's dead... or...and... he's in the future... He was... or will be... the focus for his group...from the future.. But he was also born into our time.

Just then Kiela said "Let's consciously venture into the Place." This is Kiela's chant for his people...his people in 3071.

"Where Time has no Boundaries," said Kiela. The Place...The Place is the key...thought John

"Returning with Wisdom." I remember so little from the Place... and wisdom... Wisdom...?

"For Living Life's Time." My life's Time is the flow of my consciousness.

Kiela began the chant again, and John's mind began to slow down. My consciousness is connected to all consciousness. John closed his eyes. Just as all matter... all energy... is connected... one space-time-consciousness... one... all one... one...

John went to the Place. He entered with the usual flash reverberation between the two small openings. I'm here...but without HTing!

He first turned his consciousness toward Mandy.

She was amused at how long it took him to become quiet enough to enter.

Stop your giggling, thought/felt John to Mandy. She just became more amused. Okay, I do think a lot...I'm trying to understand... using logic and physics...

It's not enough, thought/felt Mandy.

Yes... But, the two realities are barely connected, John responded with frustration evident in his thoughts/feelings.

Mandy expressed amusement again. John, you're going to love this... Kiela's here.

Kiela is here, knew John. How's that possible? This is a Place for the living?

I am living, said Kiela. I'm simply living in what you call the future. But together we have broadened the Place, time has no limits and neither does the Place. As long as you're here, you're everywhere and everytime.

Mass can't move at the speed of light, but consciousness is already everywhere. Kiela continued to communicate to John's intellect. All living beings are connected through subtle conversions of genetic mass to conscious light energy. The Place is simply the collection of all that conscious energy.

Kiela, John, Mandy and all those in the Place fused into an intense beam of light which passed through the two holes bounding the Place. All of their consciousnesses merged and the individuals ceased to exist. They essentially died. There was nothing left of individuality¾ there was only a collective consciousness¾ only an awareness of all that is, was and will be.

"It's okay...just like it's suppose to be," said John when he regained his consciousness.

"I know," said Mandy.

"But it still bothers me that I don't understand¾ scientifically understand¾ how the Place and that sense of total connectivity can exist.

"I know."

"But it probably doesn't matter..."

"I know."

John and Mandy remained silent in front of the large screen which showed Kiela motionless in his cell.

"Did you say all your good-byes at the party?" asked Mandy.

"All that I could," answered John.

"Aren't you worried or upset about dying?" asked Mandy not believing John's cavalier attitude.

"No, not really. I knew I was going to die tonight for over 75 years. Remember, you were the one who first told me. I've had plenty of time to become comfortable with the idea. I thought you had too," said John as he looked at Mandy's sad face. He walked over to her, kissed her on the cheek and held her for a moment. "I'm sorry you're so upset...are you worried about pain?"

"I don't know!" said Mandy somewhat annoyed at John's easy acceptance of death. "I've never died before. Maybe there'll be more than pain...maybe..."

"Maybe what?" John said gently.

"Maybe more than my body will die. Maybe my mind and memories will die, maybe my ability to experience anything will be gone...maybe...maybe all of me will die."

Mandy paused and looked directly at John with a rare look of uncertainty. "I've always deeply believed that the spirit is the foundation of one's being. And that the spirit lives on after the body dies. But now...now that I'm about to find out if that's true...I'm very afraid."

"You're afraid that you will truly die," said John.

"...yes...and that there will be nothing...not you...not David, Sharon, Paul...not even music..." Mandy went to the closet and retrieved her violin. She was quite conscious of the fact that this would be the last time she would hold and play her beloved violin.

She began playing Braham's Lullaby.

John listened, as he had so many times before, to Mandy's nightly ritual. He listened and watched Mandy's intense focus on this simple piece of music. He watched as tears formed and trickled down her cheeks. And then he began to cry. He cried unashamedly. He cried because he became aware of how anxiously he was awaiting the adventure of his death. And suddenly that felt very wrong and very selfish.

After she finished playing, Mandy began her meditation. John quietly left the room to have his last HT session.

Mandy finished her meditation, took her purple pill and wrote the following note to David.

As Mandy signed her letter, John entered the bedroom. He was carrying an HT videotape. "I've made a tape for David and Jamali."

"I've just finished a letter," said Mandy.

John read the letter. "I pretty much said the same thing. I know it's time for me to move on. Mandy, I want to be there when I die. I want to explore the passage from the living in the flesh to whatever is after that. I hope it's beautiful and exciting and challenging."

"Can I see your video tape?" asked Mandy.

"Of course." They went into the study, sat on the couch and John played his tape.

The video shows John sitting in the study and speaking.

"I'm making this video for my family. I want them to know how much joy and appreciation for life they have given to me. David, Jamali, Sharon and Paul. I love you. I am so proud to have been part of your lives. And I am so glad that you were in my life.

"I am now ready for the adventure of death." John held up the small purple pill, put it in his mouth, picked up a glass of water and swallowed the pill down.

"I am about to embark on an adventure which is as mysterious as they come¾ the metamorphosis to spirit. The transmutation of my living physical, emotional, and spiritual energy to a dramatically new form. I am not afraid of death. I have lived a long life, and I truly feel that I am done here...and I done pretty well." John smiled at his little joke.

"I will fall asleep in Mandy's arms, content with my life, knowing that it is time for me to move on. I have lived 137 healthy years. I have seen the world change from a world of conflict to a world seriously groping for cooperation. That's a big step.

"At last night's party, Pauli asked me what was the most significant change that I witnessed in my life. Boy, that's a good question, which I didn't answer at the time. I'd like to try now.

"I believe that discovering the Place, and finding that it's a Place of lifestories, is the most significant change affecting the world. I was a child and young adult during a period when we feared the world could end at any moment due to nuclear war. Or we feared that all life would perish slowly due to global warming or from loss of the ozone layer... We had so much to worry about. Worrying was a full-time job.

"I grew up in a time when life and education were focused on learning from the mistakes of the past¾ mistakes which simply kept being repeated. Now, with the Place as our guide, we look to the future, we look to the shy truths revealed to us from the future. How marvelous. How unexpected.

The Place gives most of us a sense that there will be a meaningful future. This permits us to cherish the present. This permits consciousness and wisdom to flourish. This permits us to take full responsibility for the future which we see."

"I believe that when I die, I will be able to know and understand the Place from a fresh and deeper perspective. I don't think I'll be John Wensler any more, but I hope I remember this life...I enjoyed it. I leave it looking forward to my continuing journey.

"Good-bye and love to you all."

Mandy kissed him gently on the lips, and said, "You're a scientist, a philosopher and an adventurer. I love you." She paused and then added, "Let's go to bed."

John gave her a long hug, and then they went to their bedroom. They quietly put on their nightclothes, brushed their teeth, and then snuggled together in bed.

"I'll miss this," said Mandy.

"Me too," said John.

They fell asleep and died in each other's arms.

As John moved into deep sleep, he began to die. He saw himself connected to all the people and events of his life. His lifestory and theirs were intimately joined. The bonds continued to develop in a rapidly growing tree of relationships connecting the past to the future. This tree of lifestories shined brightly and warmly. It radiated love and meaning. John reached Kiela in the year 3071. The 46 generations between them vanished. John knew Kiela's lifestory in both millenniums. The tree of lifestories grew throughout the universe.

Mandy fell asleep and began to die. She knew Flo for the first time. She saw her grandfather touch her in a dream when he died. Mandy saw how he had implanted an infinitesimally small part of his energy into her brain and mind. This energy flourished and became Flo. Mandy knew she could now transmit some of her spiritual energy. She passed on part of herself to Paul. A gift sent with love. Mandy wished for him to have the wisdom which she felt she was gaining as she died.

John, Mandy and Flo joined with all that is conscious.