“We have things to do,” Carlee said. “We don’t want to be here forever.”
“Then we shall finish our discussion on the rise of the sun. You have my word. We sleep under the stars here, where we can be closest to God, but make what comforts you will. I just ask that you do not press for the remainder of your time with us.”
“We’ll do what we must,” Carlee said.
“I respect your aptitude for decisions, but those are my wishes,” Darwin said. “Now, I shall excuse myself.”
Darwin rose from the ground and landed on its feet without creating a wind or sound. It walked slowly to the edge of the clearing, where it sat in a meditation pose.
“Are we staying?” Stefani asked. “Don’t tell me we’re going to stay after that?”
“We’re staying,” Carlee said. “And don’t do any pressing. This is its home, and we should respect its wishes.”
“It doesn’t deserve our respect,” Jeff said.
“Well, it’s going to get it.” Carlee pushed away from the table and walked to the foot of the temple, disappearing into the darkness.
“This is why you aren’t supposed to talk about religion at family dinner,” Stefani said. “Some people can’t think straight when you do.”
She took one last bite of a mango before getting up herself. She didn’t follow after Carlee; instead, she went in the opposite direction, toward the forest.
“Where are you going?” Jeff asked.
“Where I can’t see the stars.”
Jeff pondered it for a moment before following after her.
37 BE WITH YOU
“IS IT JUST GOING TO sit there all day praying?” Stefani asked. They had already finished breakfast at the foot of the temple, and Darwin hadn’t moved.
“You’d think it would be faster since it was telling us how smart it is. You’d think it’d run out of things to think about,” Jeff said. “I sit still for half an hour, and I just fall asleep from boredom.”
“We’ll give it to sundown if it needs it,” Carlee said. She had never imagined holding peaceful conversations with an Apostle, and last night’s conversations had kept her awake most of the night. But watching the Apostle pray most of the night had only raised more questions. “But we’re not spending another night here. One way or another, we are leaving today.”
“Did you get any glimpses of other paths?” Stefani asked.
“None.” It was true, but truthfully, she hadn’t tried very hard to see how things had unfolded in similar time lines. She was still reeling from Jane’s failures, and she thought her time would be better spent contemplating things on her own. “I think you might have stormed off in a couple of them that I could see, and Jeff tried his best to start a fight with Darwin in a few others, but generally, from what I can tell, Darwin didn’t reveal anything more than he did last night in any path.”
“Is that bad?” Jeff asked. “I mean, in general? Is it a bad sign when other time lines don’t offer any help?”
“No,” Carlee said. “When events are timed, all time lines get there at once—meaning, the solstice happens at the same time in all realities. If Darwin has a set schedule, then all the time lines have to wait.”
“How does that all work anyway? I never really see anything . . . in fact, I only just have gut feelings or instincts that only seem to pop up in a fight.”
“For me, it requires meditation and pondering. I find a point where I made a decision and try to track through the different possibilities. There is a connection made . . . it’s just not as tangible. Kind of like the gas state of water—it’s not as solid or easy to see or handle, but it’s still there, if that makes sense.”
“I think it does.”
“Don’t worry if it doesn’t,” Stefani said. “Not everyone works that way. I’ve never been good with that sort of thing unless I was shooting a gun. Then, all the different variations just kind of unfold in front of me.”
“Sounds confusing.”
“It’s why I never miss. Oh, looks like Darwin has finally said ‘amen.’”
Everyone focused on Darwin as it slowly rose from its seated position and carefully started walking in their direction. There weren’t many people around now; most of them had apparently gone to find food or work for the day, which should have made Darwin’s travel easier, but every footstep seemed just as deliberate as it had been last night. Carlee found the Apostle infinitely fascinating, even if being in its presence scared up the demons inside of her.
“Be nice,” Carlee said. Jeff and Stefani had embarrassed her enough last night, but even more than that, she didn’t want them damaging their relations with the only friendly Apostle she had ever heard of. “No matter what happens, we’ve spent some time with an Apostle that didn’t end in death. That’s something that we can build on in the future.”
“Build on? Carl, come on. You can’t be falling for its little religious trick. It’s an Apostle. It thinks itself a God, and I promise you that whatever it is going to ask of us today, it is something we shouldn’t be doing,” Stefani said.
Jeff nodded his head slowly in support, but thankfully, he kept it at that. His hot-headed, dangerous side had flashed several times last night, and it reminded her of how far he needed to progress in temperament to be someone she could rely on. All his talent would be of no use if he couldn’t see past his rage.
“We’re going to listen,” Carlee said. “And we’re going to be polite. Outside of that, we’ll see. I promise I won’t agree to anything unless we agree to it together.”
No one said a word as Darwin settled into its relaxed position with its head near the ground so they could look it in the face without straining their necks. The way its inorganic face expressed emotion as clearly as any human she had ever met was astounding.
“I trust you are well rested after yesterday’s journey,” Darwin said. “I spent the dawn pondering what I learned of and from you and how we might be partners. I’m confident that a partnership between us will provide the means to accomplish that which others believe to be an impossibility.”
“We’re prepared to listen to your proposal, and we’d appreciate it if you would get to the point. We have plans of our own that require our attention.” Carlee projected more strength and confidence than she felt.
“I promise to respect your time, and I am honored that you would pass even a single grain of your sands of life with me.”
Carlee smiled politely but didn’t respond.
“Very well,” Darwin said. It paused as if it were taking a large breath to prepare itself for a lengthy speech. “You are all familiar with temurim?”
“Yes.”
“It is the miracle substance that houses my soul and those of all the Apostles. It is temurim that gave us life, and it is temurim that has kept us at peace with one another. After the reckless and shameful fighting that claimed numberless innocent lives, it was temurim that calmed the war.
“Bud, the first victim of the war and our Manu, was also the first to transfer its consciousness to another core of temurim. Realizing its inability to subdue Orion, Horus, Osiris, and the other factions of Apostles, it lay low, quietly building its strength until it was able to contend with the strength of its rivals once more. Eventually, Bud concluded that it couldn’t win the war and protect the humans it loved simultaneously. Thus, it refocused on a new strategy to save life on the planet. Bud controlled the temurim, and it used the precious material as leverage to force a truce among its offspring.”
“I guess Horus didn’t get the memo,” Stefani said.
“Even Horus was forced to play by the rules for a while. It risked having no access to additional temurim, as well as the unification of the other Apostles against it. Not even its twin supported continuing the war. Thus, the earth was divided into their various lands, and my forbearers fortified their holdings.”