Streams - Book 1

Chapter 11

Its all in the book!

"You said something about Hitler?" Lilly asked after walking in silence for a few moments.

"I was just shocked to see his picture in the book." Jenni replied.

"How about if I tell the rest to you." Lilly said as Jenni stumbled over the uneven floor of the cave, for the second time since her encounter with Tlaloc. Her rattled emotions leaving her unable to get back into the rhythm of walking and reading

"If you don't mind." Jenni replied, sliding the book into the waistband of her pants.

"Let's see, you're at Hitler, so you already know about the villagers who had been trying to create a device to open the gateways. Handing down information from generation to generation." Lilly stated, as the twins held up their hands, stopping everyone for a moment as Tlaloc disabled one of the traps he had set to capture the Manticore.

"Yes," Jenni replied as the group moved on.

"Once involved, Hitler became obsessed with the idea of traveling to a new world. He vowed that once he had conquered the human race, he was going to set his sites on the worlds beyond the gateways."

"Not surprising," Jenni commented, as the group stopped again to disarm another trap.

"This divided the group, one half siding with Hitler who promised them a new world to rule in his name, in exchange for their knowledge and loyalty. The other half were appalled at the way Hitler was treating the people of their world, and feared he would do the same to any world he gained access to. This group wanted to use the gateways as tools to expand their understanding of their own world."

"You're not using the book?" Aakil interrupted, in a disappointed tone.

"Easier to walk and listen then to walk and read." Lilly said with a smile.

"So the second group was just like the council." Jenni said after a moment of thought, bringing a large smile to Lilly's face.

"If there is one thing my husband would want you to have learned here, it's that the council, and every stream that belongs to it, only wants to help others." Lilly replied stopping for a second so she could look up at Jenni as she spoke. "You have a kind and gentle soul, one that can change the hearts and minds of those who feel hatred towards your race for the actions of the past.

Jenni just sighed and waved her hands dismissively. "I doubt any of this will change anyone's mind." She shook her head. "If anything, all this fighting will just make a worse impression. Your husband won't be too thrilled when he finds his tree burned down, and his library with it."

"You'll be surprised by how forgiving my husband is." Lilly motioned for Jenni to continue walking with her, so they didn't get left behind. "Besides, he has several backup copies of most of his books." She walked a few steps, silently gathering her thoughts. "But enough about that, let's get back to the history lesson. The group that opposed Hitler stole the Black Book from the Nazis and escaped to America. They were aided by a man known as Fulcanelli." Lilly said the name dramatically, like it should mean something to Jenni. She just shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

Lilly's voice took on a lecturing tone as she spoke about Fulcanelli. "He was a human scientist that devoted his life to recreating a remedy he was shown as a child. When he was very young a group if Jumpers came to his village and showed the people, including Fulcanelli, a potion that could cure all diseases and prolong life. Having been a child at the time, he didn't understand the science behind the formula. When he tried to recreate the mixture later in life, he couldn't remember all the ingredients. He hoped that by helping the group open the gateways, he might find the Jumpers he met as a child and obtain the missing ingredients."

Lilly laughed in disbelief. "If such a thing existed, I would have heard about it by now."

"Your laboratory!" Jenni said suddenly realizing the fire had also consumed it.

"Let's not worry about that." Lilly said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The good news is I already have a talented group of blacksmiths who know what I need, and I think I know a good spot to rebuild." She added with a playful smile.

"With Hitler's test opening more and more gateways in the streams, we knew it was only a matter of time before they were able to sustain one long enough to have someone Jump across. So the council decided to send Zamoric and his crew into the human stream to make contact with the leaders who were fighting Hitler and his followers."

Jenni gasped as all of Jacob's stories about the military using "Alien Technology" to create weapons and aircraft, came back to her.

"It's all in the book, with drawings as well." Aakil pointed out, rather offended that they weren't using his book.

Lilly ignore Aakil's rant and continued her history lesson. "Tired from years of battle, the leaders of your stream quickly accepted our offer of help, in exchange for the destruction of Hitler's device after the war ended."

"A promise I'm sure we never kept." Jenni interrupted, earning her a sad headshake from Lilly, who fell silent for a moment.

"The thought of new worlds to explore was too tempting. Once Hitler and his men were defeated, the Americans took the device and the scientists back to their homeland."

"So what, we finished the device but messed up and blocked the gateways instead of opening them?" Jenni knew from listening to her parents, that sometimes experiments failed.

"No, actually we did the blocking," Lilly replied. Jenni was surprised, she assumed that the people in the human stream had caused the catastrophe.

"Do they know that?" Jenni indicated the twins who had been a bit judgmental toward her.

"Yes, everyone is well aware. It was just supposed to be the gateways in the human stream that Zamoric was closing. But, when all of the gateways became unusable, everyone assumed that the humans were somehow to blame."

"So no one knows what really happened, or just how many of the streams have been affected?" Jenni's thoughts turned to Jacob again. He told her about the increase in alien sightings over the past few years. They had to be coming and going from somewhere.

"No, but unsure of what else to do, we all stuck to the original plan. Once Zamoric blocked the human stream, he would make contact with the leaders and get them to stop their testing. He vowed not to open the gateways again until the human race learned to be more accepting of other beings. At which time, he would send a human here to the council and announce the end of the human blockade." Lilly gestured to Jenni, "That's why everyone thought your arrival was so significant."

Aakil nodded and cautioned, "Some say the humans were waiting for Zamoric and attacked, leaving him no choice but to reset the device. To secure the safety of the streams, he may have had to block all the gateways everywhere. Others say the humans realized what Zamoric was trying to do and activated their device, hoping they could force the gateways open before he had time to block them. The crossing of the signals may have caused all the gateways to close, leaving everyone trapped in the streams they were in."

There was a shushing sound from the front of the group and Tlaloc held up a hand to have them stop. "The tunnel splits off ahead."

"The Manticore has more than one den?" Mia asked, as she picked up a few tiny scraps of bright red cloth from the ground.

"Yep, and it looks like he's invited someone over for dinner," Ava replied, getting a laugh from her sister.

"Girls," Lilly scolded, as the twins rushed down the tunnel looking for a fight. Tlaloc paused a second to place one of the torches in the crack of the wall and drew his guns. Then he ran into the tunnel, chasing after the two warriors, ready for his own battle.

"Now what?" Jenni asked, as she felt Aakil and Lilly squeeze in around her.

"We wait," Lilly said. She and Aakil looked around the darkness and subtly moved Jenni closer to the crackling torch. Jenni peered down the tunnel, but couldn't see anything except blackness. She hoped that Tlaloc and the twins would be okay.