The Emperor

Premiered August 22, 2003

Chapter Eleven

David's office was something of a surprise. There were no executive perks or elaborate fixtures, but instead, the ramshackle office of a farmer with little time for niceties. Old desks, without any character or style other than pure practicality, were covered with strewn-at-random papers, books in haphazard piles, binders filled with reports in some pretense toward organization, and miscellaneous paperweights of every style and shape. Among the latter was clearly not a single one to ever be found in the most complete office supply store. All of David's paperweights were of the grab-whatever-is-handy variety, totally oblivious to fashion or fad.

The walls of the office were decorated (in the loosest possible definition of the term) with an old survey map showing plots of farming land in the near vicinity, a few old pictures and the only up-to-date item in sight: a calendar -- but one without pictures. Just squares for the dates. No notes or handwritten indications of planning adorned it whatsoever. The calendar's purpose was purely to tell the date. The office had clearly not seen a feminine touch in ten or twenty years -- probably by mutual consent of all parties.

This was clearly not the throne room of The Emperor, or the king David had been made out to be. David was authoritative and clearly the successful organizer, but his furnishings were at the opposite end of the spectrum of those of royalty, aristocracy, or even medium-income commoners.

David had taken an old, comfortable swivel chair, when Dawn arrived and sat in a straight backed chair with arms. The latter was quite comfortable -- assuming you sat in it correctly, i.e., upright and with correct posture. The four other chairs in the room, all distinct and without any common style, were empty. The initial interaction between David and Dawn was to be a private one. It was mid-afternoon, but with the air conditioning on full tilt, it was still cool inside the otherwise turn-of-the-century dirt farmer's office.

After a few pleasantries, David began a discussion he had had many times before. "Basically, I'm just a dirt farmer," he said. “It's a way of living I inherited from my father and my grandfather. Somewhere along the line, we built it into a business." Gesturing to a rapidly fading survey map, he continued, "We used to farm some 1600 acres, all around the Phoenix area. We were one of the state’s largest farming operations. It was a big business, even though it was still just dirt farming."

Dawn smiled, as David seemed to get into it. "You have to understand," he continued, "I've always been a die-hard conservative, John Birch style Republican, a businessman who absolutely hates to pay taxes! Seventeen years ago, net profits on the farming operation were running around $800,000 a year. That represents a lot of taxes! Added to that was inflation, the devaluation of the dollar, general governmental incompetence, and so forth and so on! I was trying to accumulate wealth, reduce my taxes, and find a place to hoard my money in an inflation-proof environment. At first, I bought gold and silver as an inflation hedge. Then I got into producing gold from natural sources, old mining sites.

"I decided gold mining was perfect. I could take the profits from the farming, invest them in the gold mining, take the tax write offs, and at the same time accumulate wealth in the form of gold and silver. The best part was I didn't have to pay taxes on the gold and silver I took out of the ground until I sold the gold and silver and converted them into dollars. As long as I kept the gold and silver, I was converting taxable dollars from the farming into non-taxable wealth, i.e. gold and silver. In effect, I was rearranging my property, accumulating the gold and silver that was already there and concentrating it in one location.

"A lot of rich folk have expensive hobbies and avocations which they fund with tax dollars, writing off the cost of owning race horses and the like as a so-called business expense. My hobby -- and that's the only thing I really thought of it as -- was gold mining. I had the advantage of already having heavy equipment to mine the gold -- things like front end loaders, which I had been using in my farming. I began going into old mines, and working the low grade ores. You move a lot of rock that way, but ultimately, you find gold and silver in sufficient quantities to make it worthwhile. You have to be using tax dollars for part of the expenses, or it just doesn't pay. But for me, it was fun."

"Anything to avoid taxes," Dawn commented, smiling.

"Exactly," he replied. Then he began explaining his work in greater detail. "Mining gold nowadays is mostly a chemical process. Essentially you leach the gold from the ore -- the same kind of thing that's done in farming, leaching the salt out of the soil. Consequently, I was quite familiar with the process. In the case of gold, you use cyanide; pour it on the ore, allow it to dissolve the gold out of the rock, and then collect the gold cyanide at the other end. Then you chemically separate out the gold."

David's smile suddenly turned into a mischievous grin. "But that's where we ran into a problem. In the process of separating out the gold, we begin to recover 'something else', a white crud -- ostensibly a waste product. But the 'something else' was also getting in the way of separating out the yellow stuff. Eventually, we couldn't recover any of the gold because of the white stuff. We ran into a dead end.

"You have to understand, we're using all the standard gold mining and chemical techniques available. But we're ending up with 'something else', something with all the characteristics of a waste by-product and which apparently has no intrinsic value. Plus which we're not getting any of the gold and silver separated. The whole processing operation had to be shut down in order to find out what the problem was. Keep in mind the 'stuff' could be recovered and had a measurable specific gravity; you could recover it in molten lead as if it were gold or silver -- it would flow right out of the lead. But when you held the lead down, you ended up with nothing. Just white ‘stuff’.

"I asked some other miners, guys who had been in the business for years, what was going on, and they told me what I was getting was known in the trade as 'ghost gold'. Everybody seemed to know about the stuff, and had long ago decided it was one of the problems of mining gold. I was told the 'stuff', the 'ghost gold', was essentially a form of gold which could not be assayed or identified." David hesitated, frowning slightly. "Well the 'ghost gold' was getting in my way! It was interfering in my plans! So I decided to find out what this 'ghost gold', this white stuff, was! That's when it all began!"

Dawn asked, "Finding out what the 'ghost gold' was?"

David leaned back slightly, as if admitting to a character flaw. "I don't like mysteries, especially when they're interfering with my plans." Displaying a hint of his inherent tenacity, he continued, "That's when I learned about emission spectroscopy. Supposedly, you can take a sample of any material and with emission spectroscopy, identify all of the different elements in the sample.

"The technique involves placing the sample -- in my case, the 'ghost gold' or ‘white stuff’ -- on a carbon electrode, running a second carbon electrode down to a position just above the first, and then striking a Direct Current arc across the electrodes. The electrical intensity of the arc ionizes the elements in the sample such that each of the elements then gives off light in the form of a series of specific, identifying frequencies. By measuring the spectrum of these frequencies, you can identify which element or elements are in the sample. Each element has a very specific spectrum of discrete frequencies, which show up as distinct lines against a background of spectral noise. Typically, this spectroscopic analysis involves striking the arc for 10 to 15 seconds, at the end of which, the carbon electrodes are burned away. According to every American spectroscopist I've ever met, any sample can be ionized and completely read within those 15 seconds, so the carbon elements being burned away is no big deal."

David smiled, the recounting of the events of two decades ago still a pleasant pastime. "My white stuff was identified as iron, silicon, and aluminum. Whereupon I spent the next three years finding ways to remove all of these three elements. When I was finished, I still had 98% of the 'stuff'. I went back to the emission spectroscopist and after another test he declared I had 'nothing'! Instead of a spectrum of specific frequencies, there was not a single specific frequency being emitted -- just a lot of 'grass' at the bottom of the scope, essentially electronic noise from the equipment."

David grimaced. "I then took my case to Cornell University where they had this Ph.D. who was an expert in eight different kinds of X-Ray analysis, ranging from Cumming Microscopy and Diffraction Microscopy to Fluorescent Microscopy. More damn equipment than you could shake a stick at. This guy said that my sample was iron, silicon and aluminum. We then proceeded to work together to remove all of the iron, all of the silicon, and all of the aluminum. After which, the Cornell expert with the Ph.D. said the sample was 'pure nothing'." David smiled broadly. "I had spent years and a fair amount of money to find out my 'ghost gold', my white crud, was 'nothing!' But not just nothing. 'Pure nothing!'

"I don't have a Ph.D.," David continued, with a wink in his eyes. "I'm not a physicist or a chemist, and I certainly don't have the years of experience the professor from Cornell has. But I was pretty sure that my 'pure nothing' was something. You could hold it in your hands; you could weight it, perform chemistries with it... It was something!"

"Fortunately," he continued, buoyed by Dawn's intent expression, "In my initial forays into emission spectroscopy, I had become acquainted with the work of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, easily the most prestigious scientific body in the Soviet Union at the time. According to these guys, the proper analytical tool was to burn the sample for 300 seconds, not just 15!

"But to do this, you have to sheath the electrode with an inert gas so that the oxygen is removed from the immediate area of the DC arc. Otherwise, the oxygen will react with the carbon electrode, oxidize the darn thing, and the electrodes will quickly fall apart. By sheathing the carbon electrodes with an inert gas, such as argon, and taking advantage of the fact carbon is a very high temperature material, you're able to strike the arc for a full 300 seconds.

"The results were pretty much what one might have expected." Abruptly, David smiled, his eyes now twinkling. "At least initially. When the sample was placed on the electrode, the electrode sheathed, and the DC arc struck, the only readings were that of aluminum, iron and silicon, and in some samples, calcium. Then after about 15 seconds, the material went quiet. It stayed that way for what seemed at the time, an interminably long wait; but which was actually, about 90 seconds. Then after 90 seconds, palladium began to appear; after 110 seconds, rhodium began to read; at 130 seconds, platinum; between 140 and 150 seconds, ruthenium; at 190 seconds, iridium; and at 220 seconds, osmium began to read." As if explaining it all, David added, "The Soviets call this process, fractional vaporization."

When Dawn blinked, as if unsure of the latter description, David explained. "The same idea is the basis for the cooling system in such things as automobile engines. These engines don't overheat as long as water, in liquid form, is present. But once the water is gone, or turned to steam, the engine's temperature is no longer constrained by the boiling point of water, and rapidly overheats. In fact, the engine's temperature will quickly increase in the direction of the melting point of Iron -- or whatever metal is used in the engine. The same process occurs when boiling water on the stove in an aluminum tea kettle. As long as there is water still in the kettle, the kettle and its content's temperature will not exceed the boiling point of water. But once the water is gone, the aluminum tea kettle can literally be vaporized. Many years ago, when I was in college, I actually did vaporize an aluminum tea kettle. I put on some hot water, forgot about it, and went to work out at the gym. When I returned, there was absolutely nothing left but an odor and a haze in the kitchen's atmosphere. I had vaporized the kettle!"

Dawn laughed, joining David. "I would like to have seen that," she said.

David shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "My younger years," he admitted. Then, returning to his professorial posture, "The same thing applies in our emission spectroscopic analysis. Following the procedures laid out by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, we essentially boiled off each of the elements in our sample, the frequency spectrum of emissions occurring in the sequence of the various elements' increasing boiling point temperatures. This sequence turned out to be for the lighter elements: calcium, 1484 degrees Celsius -- when traces of calcium were present, aluminum, 2519 degrees, iron, 2861, and silicon, 3265. Then for the heavier elements: palladium, 2963, rhodium, 3695, platinum, 3825, ruthenium, 4150, iridium, 4428, and osmium, 5012 -- all degrees Celsius. The theoretical maximum temperature of the DC arc is between 5450 and 5500 degrees. Of course, this maximum temperature is located at the center of the arc, while the sample is slightly removed from the center. Thus, all the heat goes into boiling off one element at a time, in the sequence of their boiling temperatures. Each one comes off individually, as if at the time there was nothing else in the sample."

"But what's the connection," Dawn interrupted, "between this and gold and silver?"

David smiled, as if to say, 'I'm glad you asked that question.' Instead, he got directly to the point. "If you look at the Periodic Chart of the Elements, you'll find, right in the middle of the chart, all grouped under the categories referred to as "Group VIIIA" and "Group 1B", ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, and silver; elements 44 through 47 on one line, and directly below them: osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold, elements 76 through 79. All eight of these elements are highly reactive chemically and have similar properties. As a group these eight elements are called 'precious metals'. They are considered relatively rare, and yet eighty-five percent (85%) of all products manufactured in the United States are dependent, at some point in the manufacturing process, on these eight elements. From a completely practical standpoint, they really are precious metals!"

Dawn realized Don Carlos had been talking about the same thing, only Don was more specifically interested in rhodium and iridium, just two of the eight elements. Dawn was becoming increasingly curious. "And you were finding them in the process of mining gold and silver?"

David was quick to answer. "The white crud, the 'ghost gold' that kept getting in our way of separating the gold and silver was constituted, for the most part, by the other six metals of the precious metals group! We continued to run samples for another two and a half years, getting the same results, and at the same time, comparing them to the standard, commercially available samples of the precious metals.

"That's when we discovered an amazing thing." David leaned forward slightly. "It turned out that the commercially available grades of the precious metals -- including gold and silver -- when placed in the emission spectroscopic DC arc, were read within 15 seconds. What we can conjecture from this is that the analysts doing the analysis expected this result, and assuming they had read all of the emission lines of the precious metals, promptly quit! They didn't keep the test going. But we did! And after 90 seconds, these commercially available samples began showing up just as our samples of 'ghost gold' had! Quantitatively, about 85% of the reading occurred at the end. In other words, the traditional analysts were only reading 15% of the samples they analyzed! At the same time, they were thinking they'd seen it all! The joke on them is that short burn times with an unsheathed electrode simply don't do the trick. They're assuming a particular standard, and once they've recovered the standard, they stop the process. The problem is: The standard ain't correct!"

Dawn shook her head. "And they have no clue?"

"Not as far as we can tell." Then David added, "It's a bit like Mother Nature has a twisted sense of humor. But then, it starts to grow on you. Pretty soon, you're laughing your head off!"

"But wait a minute," Dawn interjected. "The value of these eight metals, these 'precious metals', will depend in large part on their scarcity. But if in a given sample, the so-called experts are only identifying fifteen percent of the element in question, then there is the very distinct possibility these so-called precious metals are overpriced! If they are in far greater abundance than anyone might have ever dreamed, then this becomes enormously significant to modern society!"

David had continued to smile, as Dawn recounted the possible implications. Then, he agreed with her. "The idea the precious metals might be as abundant as the less-precious metals is indeed, a staggering thought. But it gets better," David added, with a twinkle in his eye. "The mining activity of what is considered by experts to be the best deposit in the world for six of these elements -- everything but gold and silver -- is currently yielding one-third of one ounce of all these precious metals per ton of ore. These mines in South Africa go down a half mile into the ground, follow an eighteen inch seam of ore, just in order to extract one third of one ounce per ton for all of these six precious elements. One third of one ounce! At least, this is the extent of the metals which the mainstream experts know is there, or can hope to analyze with their current techniques.

"We, on the other hand, using the raw ore available quite literally in our own back yard, have managed to extract and identify out of one ton of ore..." David's voice slowly became increasingly dramatic. "Six to eight ounces of palladium, twelve to thirteen ounces of platinum, one hundred and fifty ounces of osmium, two hundred and fifty ounces of ruthenium..." David paused, letting the numbers sink in. Then, "Six hundred ounces of iridium! And twelve hundred ounces of rhodium! All in all, our sources yielded over two thousand, two hundred ounces per ton, instead of their one-third of one ounce!"

Dawn leaned back in her chair, trying to deal with the amazing implications. But David wasn't through. "Keep in mind," he added, "that these quantitative values were confirmed by a highly respected analytical chemist and spectroscopist. All the colors of the solutions were correct, all the oxidation potentials were basically on target, all of the physical properties of each of these elements were found to be accurate. Rhodium, for example, produces a crimson, blood-red colored salt. This is how it got its name, from the rose-colored salt. It is the only element which produces this color, and is very conspicuous. It's very easy to identify. It also suggests why the rose is such a popular flower."

The last sentence did a fly-by over Dawn's head. The economic implications were much too staggering, and she was being seriously blown away. "But you're saying to all those people who bought, say platinum, at the current costs, that they very likely paid a very substantial premium!"

David's reaction was blasé. "Absolutely. You also need to realize that the only people producing all the precious metals in the world are the Soviet Union, and a western consortium of companies by the name of Johnson-Mathew-Engelhart."

Dawn shook her head, trying to sort it out. Then, another thought occurred to her. "And the people who are producing these precious metals... They're not going to be too thrilled to hear about your being able to deliver them in huge quantities for a fraction of the cost!"

"I imagine they're going to be quite livid," David replied, without a care in the world.

Dawn was as surprised by David's openness and lack of subterfuge, as she was with his amazing information. Then, voicing her concerns. "I'm surprised," she began. "You seem to be so open about this -- particularly when secrecy seems to be the more appropriate response. I mean, haven't you received any kind of flak from anyone, governmental interference, anything like that?"

David laughed. Then commenting wryly, "No problems at all... at first. Of course, I had been careful not to make medical claims and the like. That where you can really get into trouble -- shaking the AMA's money tree! But, at the same time, it was becoming apparent the Precious Metals Consortium, what we call the PMC, might be getting a little bent out of shape. We first noticed it when we moved into one warehouse, some distance from here. Suddenly, there were building code restrictions that surfaced, all seemingly designed to bring us to a screeching halt. We got past a lot of that, and then found ourselves with an explosion/fire scenario. There was nothing we could have done to initiate it -- but from the local gestapo-style bureaucracy, it was simply a reason to shut us down. Basically, we walked away from it.

"Meanwhile, Gilbert and later Alex began to strongly suggest we take action to protect ourselves. Just shutting us down was not going to be enough. Accordingly, we're in the process of moving the old farm laboratory and the entire operation of what we're trying to accomplish to a more secure location. A more secure, secret location -- as the only real security is when they don't know you exist, and the nearest thing to that is when they don't know where you are. I suspect everyone will feel a lot safer once we're in a, quote, secure location, unquote. As for me, I'll just continue to depend on my guardian angels."

Dawn smiled at his answer. It suddenly occurred to her that David's 'guardian angels' were more likely Demi and/or Sisi. Even Old Woman might be a guardian angel, if keeping Alex out of trouble was her charge. And if the women were, in fact, having to act as guardian angels, David and Alex, being typical men, would have no clue! Dawn was about to suggest David might want to be a bit more circumspect in telling people about his discovery, when she realized Alex must have been fully aware of these implication as well. If he knew the producers of precious metals, the Consortium, might be just as unhappy as the medical reactionaries, why hadn't he told her about them? Just how much was Alex keeping from her?

As Dawn momentarily became quiet in order to think, David took the lull in the conversation to raise another issue -- one more in line with his current interests. "There's something else I found very interesting when we subjected the commercially available samples of the precious metals to the fires of the emission spectroscopic analysis. The emission spectra appropriate to each of the elements was obtained in the first 15 seconds, but then, after a quiet period, obtained in much greater intensity in the time frame of 90 to 220 seconds. The question is: Why are there two distinct episodes of the various precious elements making their presence known? Why should rhodium indicate its presence by emitting the appropriate spectra within the first 15 seconds; and then go silent, to be followed by another and more intense emission beginning at 110 seconds? Are there two kinds of rhodium, two versions of the rose element?"

Dawn looked appropriately blank. "I have no idea," she replied.

"There has to be," he answered, simply. "In fact, it turns out all of the precious metals, when taken down to their mono-atomic state, change their color. In the case of rhodium, it becomes a white powder, essentially a dried version of the white crud we found in the gold processing."

"This is incredible," Dawn managed to say, taking in a deep breath.

"There's one more thing," David added. "If you take something like hydrogen rhodide in its mono-atomic state and heat it, you remove the hydrogen and the rhodium goes to a snow white powder. In the process, the sample loses 4/9th of its weight, and all of its metallic properties! If you take it back to a metal, it regains the weight. And if you keep working the material, it levitates -- literally taking the weighing pan with it. In cooling, the weight goes back to anything from 2% to 300% of the original weight. If you again heat it, the weight goes to less than nothing!"

Dawn felt her ground become shifting sand. It was becoming too much. "That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does," David assured her. "In the white powder form, you haven't lost any mass! You simply created a superconductor with its Meisner field -- a non-polar magnetic field, which repels all other magnetic fields including the earth's. And if you oppose the earth's magnetic field, you get lift! The superconductor's Meisner field effectively floats on the earth's magnetic field."

Dawn's expression made it clear that suddenly it did make sense. "Oh my heavens!" Dawn could feel her heart beginning to pound harder, as pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

Becoming more intense than before, David continued. "In the superconducting stage, it is literally flowing light within it. It levitates in response to the earth's magnetic field. And it flows so much current, it levitates 4/9th of its weight. In fact, a human hand has sufficient amperage, that if you pass your hand under the sample, the material will float. It's that sensitive to magnetic fields. And all eight of the precious metals can do this. I've even managed to do it with copper, cobalt and nickel -- the elements directly above the precious metals on the Periodic Table. In 1988, I filed 11 patents, one for each element, on this discovery. From the viewpoint of the patent office, I had created eleven new elements!"

"This idea of levitation is mind-boggling," Dawn replied, her whole body slightly shaken.

David smiled, in that knowing, I've-got-a-secret style. "There's a fellow named Hal Puthoff, who lives down in Austin, Texas. He wrote a paper in 1989, in which gravity was a zero-point-fluctuation force. At one point, he predicted the exact same four-ninths loss in weight!"

"Yes," Dawn replied. "I've seen the paper." While David looked suddenly surprised, Dawn was still furiously thinking. "And you're using this," she asked eagerly, "for medical purposes?"

David relaxed, as he found himself back on more stable turf. "Among other things, yes," he replied. "I found a huge amount of research going on in treating cancer with precious metals. This led me to conclude that the precious metals were interacting with the cells through some sort of vibrational frequency or light transfer, and in the process, correcting the DNA. What was being discovered by science was that any alternation, any defect in the DNA, was being repaired by the precious metals. What this means is that these elements perfect the cells in our bodies. Keep in mind that the element going into our bodies is not a metal, but a mono-atomic element. Thus, there's no heavy metal poisoning. You can eat any amount of this white powder and it doesn't hurt you -- it goes right through your digestive system.

"We took some brain tissue from a pig, and some from a cow, and analyzed them. We destroyed the organic and did a metals analysis. Over 5% of the brain tissue by dry matter weight was Rhodium and Iridium! But no one knows it, because these two elements in their mono-atomic form can't be directly measured by standard techniques. The precious elements are flowing the light of life in the body. They're what the light is." David paused for a second. Then he forged ahead.

"There are four papers by the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory where they have shown that the cells communicate with each other by a process identical to superconductivity. But those guys can't figure out the physical mechanism. It's their stealth atom. We know that it's the atoms in our bodies flowing perpetually the light of life. No one else knows they're there, because they can't identify them by instrumental analysis. And the reason they can't identify them is also in the literature. Since 1986, the top physicists in the world, at the Niels Bohr Institute, at Argonne National Laboratory, at Brookhaven... They've all found there is a group of elements in the center of the Periodic Table that go through this state of existence, which is virtually a fifth state of matter.

"They've realized that as the nuclei of these elements were deformed, they went into a high spin state, and subsequently, became superconductors. The high spin nuclei pass energy from one atom to the next without any loss of energy. This is what is in our bodies. This is what flows the light of life. You have to understand a superconductor literally flows a single wavelength of light, a null light, two waves that are mirror images of each other. There's no normal wave -- everything appears to cancel. But the null wave is there after all, even if not directly measurable. And it is this null wave that produces the aura around our bodies. The aura is just the Meisner field of superconductivity!"

Mesmerized by David's intensity, and sensing the reality of what he was saying, Dawn slowly, began to feel the full impact of the staggering implications. "Gil," she began, "had in his briefcase, a group of scientific papers, all of which seemed to be saying the same thing as you are."

David smiled. "I know. I gave him the papers. He was showing it to potential philanthropists. We definitely had a scientific basis." Then, more to the point, he added, "Everything I am saying is well supported by the scientific literature. All the details are there... somewhere. Even the Russians know about fractional vaporization. But what is missing, is the synthesis of bringing the different specialties together in order to form a coherent theory."

"Which is what you've done..."

"That's basically my contribution, yes. Of course, I had to spend fifteen years coming up to speed, learning to read the journals, finding out how everything fit. But it was all there in the literature, just waiting to be discovered."

"This is absolutely amazing," Dawn said, her breathing betraying her excitement. For a moment, David remained silent, judging Dawn's expression. Dawn could sense his questioning the extent of her understanding. Then she asked, hesitant but eager, "Is there more?"

To answer her, David leaned back and tilted his head slightly. "Ever hear of junk DNA?"

Dawn shook her head. "I don't think so."

"There are thirty aspects of the DNA," David began, "that nobody in mainstream science can figure out what they're there for. They have no apparent use. They're junk." After a slight pause, he continued. "In addition, we only use 15% of our brain -- this fact is pretty well recognized in science. No one is disputing it."

David leaned forward for emphasis. "But then we have to ask ourselves: What's the other 85% of the brain there for? What's the purpose of the junk DNA? More importantly, we have to ask: Did we evolve a brain we don't use!? Did we evolve DNA that is just junk? The only answer that makes any sense is that we had, at one time, a higher state of enlightenment. In other words, we used to work with all of the brain and all of the DNA. But somewhere along the road we degraded, or fell from grace, to the state we exist in now. Human beings, or their ancestors, having once been in a higher state of being or enlightenment is the only viable reason for the excess brain power and the junk DNA!"

Dawn was thinking intently. David's argument appealed to her in a deeply profound way. "That makes sense," she said. "There would have been no survival advantage to having evolved a brain or DNA we didn't use. Mankind must have evolved and used the whole brain at some point."

"Or else, other, more evolved DNA was bred into man," David added, his voice calm and belying his excitement. Dawn watched him, trying to guess where he was heading. After a slight pause, David continued. "Maybe it was all in mankind's diet!" David's smile increased even more.

Dawn smiled as well, joining David in the humor. "You're setting me up, right?"

David laughed. "Only a little bit." Then he became more serious. "There's a book called The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Papyrus of Ani [1]. This is the oldest book of the dead, and dates from Old Kingdom Egypt, roughly 2300 years before Christ. They found it in the tomb of Pepi II. In this book at one point, it says, 'I am purified of all imperfections. What is it? I ascend like the golden hawk of Horus. What is it? I pass by the immortals without dying. What is it? I come before my father in Heaven. What is it?' It goes on and on like this. It keeps asking this question, 'What is it?'"

Dawn laughed slightly. "I give up. What is it?"

David smiled in return. Then with a twinkle in his eye, replied, "It's all in the Bible."

When Dawn could only look skeptical, David continued. "The Hebrews worked in Egypt for many, many generations. They became the artisans and the metallurgists. When they left Egypt, Moses and Baalzelael the goldsmith, prepared 'the bread of the presence of God.' This was the same bread the high priest partook of, the Melchizedek priest. The word in Hebrew that literally means 'What is it?', is “manna”. The word, manna, literally translates verbatim into a question, 'What is it?' These then are the very same words used in Old Kingdom Egypt."

"The same manna the Israelites received in the wilderness?"

"Yes, but in a different sense. In Exodus, the reference is to anything badly needed that comes unexpectedly. The sense in the Old Kingdom text was that of spiritual sustenance. The Bible also says Moses told the Hebrew People, 'You have not kept the covenant, and so the manna is being taken from you. But it will come back in the end times, when we will then be a nation of high priests and not an elect high priesthood.' What Moses was referring to was the food, the light you take into your body.

"If you ask a Rabbi, has he ever heard of the white powder of gold, the occult gold, he'll say, 'Yes, we've heard of it, but to our knowledge no one has known how to make it since the destruction of the First Temple, the Temple of Solomon. This knowledge has been lost.'" David continued, mischief in his eyes. "But it wasn't completely lost. The high priests, when they left the temple when it was destroyed, went out on the desert and organized a commune, which they called Qumrun. They were, in fact, the Essenes, a particular sect of Judaism. According to The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered [2], in ancient times, when the white powder was mixed in water, it was known as 'The Golden Tear from the Eye of Horus.' It was called, 'That which issues from the mouth of the creator.' The spittle. Not the word of God, but the spittle of God. The semen of the father in heaven." David leaned back, "If you put the white powder, the 'ghost gold,' in water, it doesn't really dissolve. It forms a gelatinous suspension, which looks just like a vial of semen. Being a farmer and having raised bulls for breeding, I know what semen looks like."

As Dawn looked dazzled, David took a breath. "It's the same symbolism of 'prepare yourself like a bride in the bridal chamber,' purify and cleanse yourself, prepare yourself for the coming of the father in heaven, to be inseminated by the father in heaven in the bridal chamber, to be regenerated, to be purified, to be cleansed." He leaned forward again, intent upon conveying his message.

"Every cell in your body can be taken back to the way it's supposed to be, when you were a teenager or a child. The white powder, the 'ghost gold,' perfects the DNA. It flows the light until you literally reach the point where your light body exceeds your physical body.

"In ancient Egypt, they said you have a physical body you must feed in order to grow it the way it's meant to grow. If you don't feed the child, she'll never grow. She'll never become the person she's supposed to be. But you also have to feed the spirit body. You have to feed what they called in ancient Egypt, the ka. So it can grow and become what it's meant to be. And most of us aren't feeding our ka! It's sitting there like a little runt inside of our bodies. It's not growing. It is said when you feed it with the semen of the father in heaven, it grows and becomes more enlightened, and you literally reach the point where your light body exceeds your physical body. You literally light up the room when you walk in.

"Christ said to his disciples, 'Don't touch me, I don't have on my earthly garments.' When they asked, 'When will we see you again?' he replied, 'When you have prepared the proper food and have on your proper garments.' What is the proper food? It's the food of the angels, the food of the gods, the manna, the 'What is it?' And your proper garment is your aura, your Meisner field. And literally, it can be about a thousand times what you have now."

The intensity in David's face abruptly faded. He took another deep breath, and said, "The Bible tells of the man who will plant the golden tree of life -- which in Hebrew, is the ORME tree." David hesitated, allowing the idea to flower in Dawn's mind. Then he added, with just a slight boast, "When my cousin joined the Mormon Church, she had to do our family's genealogy. It turns out my great, great, great grandmother is Hannah deGuise, daughter of Christopher deGuise, brother of Claude deGuise. The deGuise were, in turn descended, according to the book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail [3], from Jesus Christ, and ultimately from the biblical King David. Nostradamus, who worked for the deGuise family, prophesied that by 1999, the occult gold would be known to science. It seems only fair a descendent of the legendary King David should be the instrument."

Both were silent, as Dawn struggled to put it all into a comprehensive perspective and David allowed her to do just that. Dawn could feel her body and mind reeling from David's revelations, and yet at the same time she was profoundly moved by the synergy of all the diverse elements fitting into the pattern where every concept was an essential ingredient. Incredibly, it all made sense!

"There is, admittedly," David added, "The fact that in sixty or so generations from the time of the Biblical King David that there has been a lot of begetting going on, and not all of it under those official auspices conductive to strict genealogical interpretations. Laurence Gardner has also noted the fact that it is the matriarchal line, the mitochondrial DNA that is passed from mother to daughter, that is more fundamentally important than the male line -- which most history books emphasize. Gardner has also laid out not only the case of the genealogical tree from Adam to the present day, but has combined the modern day understanding of the white powder of gold, its health effects, and potential for enlightenment. This even includes a connection between the ORME, the Star Fire of the Goddess, the Egyptian temple of Hathor on Mount Horeb, the Ark of the Covenant, and the all-important Chartres Cathedral in France. [4] A fascinating tour de force."

Dawn was still in a state of studied bewilderment when Demi came into the office following a perfunctory knock on the door.

"David," she said, very gently, "This woman is in need of some R and R. She and I have a date to find some clothes among other things, and thus I must take her from you."

David laughed good naturedly, and replied, "Yes, my dear. Of course. I would say we've pretty well finished for now." To Dawn, he asked, "You agree?"

Dawn laughed self-consciously, wondering if her mind-boggling state was obvious. "I know I have a great deal of information to process."

"He'll talk your arm off if you let him," Demi replied, beaming lovingly at David. Together the two women left the room, suddenly bent upon all manner of feminine conspiracies.

vvvvvvvvv

It was later in the evening, after a pleasant dinner and with everyone momentarily relaxed, that Alex broached the need for some serious discussions. All of the principles were in the room: David, Demi, Sisi, Don Carlos, and Dawn. It was time to plan for the immediate future.

Sisi was smiling broadly, when she said, "You must have been really hungry, Dawn. I would have thought Alex would have fed you better while you were in Colorado." Sisi glanced briefly at Alex, to see if she was on target. But Alex, immersed in his own thoughts, missed her comment entirely. The masculine ability to focus on a specific problem often accounts for why most males appear to women as being unconscious of what is going on around them. (Focusing, however, is a talent, not a handicap.)

Demi added, "There's nothing like a little shopping to make one hungry -- particularly, when one finds such a beautiful dress." Dawn was amused, deciding the compliment was genuine.

Alex then returned to the others. Without preamble, he said, "There's a couple of things we need to talk about as a group." When no one objected, he continued. "The first is the issue of the money transfer. This necessitates Dawn and me making a trip to LA, before we duck out of sight. The second issue has to do with Gil's original mission."

Everyone in the room immediately put aside the lightheartedness they had felt, and got down to serious business. Several, having experience with such group discussions, turned to David. In turn, David focused his attention on Dawn. "With respect to the first issue," the group's leader began, "Is Dawn ready to take on this responsibility?"

Dawn's body tensed as David looked at her. His question seemed forthright, and she sensed he was more interested in her making her own decision than being coerced. But there was also the feeling he might very well apply pressure to convince her if her initial reaction was negative. She could appreciate that David had opted to allow her to fall in line without any coercion as the first alternative. But she doubted it would be left there if she declined. She turned to look at him, trying to gauge his intentions. When her thoughts received no definitive answer, she dropped her eyes before replying. Breaking the silence, she said, "I know Gil would have wanted me to..."

"You mustn't do this," Demi quickly interrupted, "Just because of Gil. He had his reasons, yes. But they don't have to be your reasons." David abruptly looked at Demi, and Dawn sensed he was not entirely delighted by her comment. But he said nothing.

Sisi added her own two bits. "I'm not trying to talk you out of anything," she began. "But I do think you need to realize the ramifications of your decision." She then turned to look at Alex.

Alex felt Sisi's expectant gaze, and knew he had to respond. Dawn could see the connection between Alex and Sisi was a deep one, and Alex would accept Sisi's lead. Clearing his throat, he began. "The money transfer itself is straight forward. We go into the bank as if we owned the place." For just a moment, he looked at Dawn. "Or perhaps as if you owned the place and I'm along as your bodyguard. Whatever." After a slight pause he added, "We transfer the money, and someone at this end covers the money tracks. Once the money is secure and untraceable, everyone still here goes to the Site, in effect dropping off the planet in the process -- just in case there are some unforeseen repercussions. The Site's security then becomes all important."

After a pause, he continued. "Assuming the money cannot be transferred without eventually attracting the attention of The Patrons, Dawn and I will then come under the gun, so to speak, undoubtedly drawing the first salvo from one or more of our enemies. To some extent, we'll become a decoy or diversion, such that anyone seriously interested in taking retribution, will come after us first. This will give the rest of you time to hunker down at the Site and carry on in secret."

Don Carlos quickly interjected, "We're well along on the move already. The most critical equipment is already at the Site. There's just the portable stuff, and a lot of boxes left to go." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "And the people of course."

Alex acknowledged Don's comment and then turned directly toward Dawn. "The reality is both Dawn and I are already being sought. The Patrons are after her, or at least, that's our supposition. And I have reason to believe the Precious Metals Consortium," he continued, letting it all hang out, "may very well be after me. Apparently, we were correct some weeks ago when we began to suspect one of our experts in the spectroscopic field was informing other interests on our progress. In addition, when I sold a few ounces of Rhodium last week, as a test of the market we had decided we needed to conduct, the feeling I had was a very uncomfortable.

"There's also the men who showed up on my doorstep. The very fact they arrived uninvited at my home pretty much tells us what we need to know." Alex frowned, admitting the obvious. "So both Dawn and I are already 'hot property'. Maybe not as intensely sought as we'll likely be after we make the money transfer, but we're both being pursued even now."

Dawn let the eye contact between her and Alex lapse. Quietly, she said, "I suspect it's necessary, and perhaps even inevitable, but I can't say I'm all that crazy about being a decoy."

Alex looked pleased. "Which brings up my second point. Frankly, I'm not interested in being a decoy either. But if in our travels, we're accomplishing something a bit more positive..."

David quickly responded to Alex's implied suggestion. "You're suggesting you and Dawn take on Lenki's mission to check out the Humanki?"

Alex nodded in the affirmative. "It seems like the best solution."

Dawn was puzzled. "I'm all for doing something positive, but what are we talking about? And exactly who are the Humanki? Nathan mentioned them when I was at Lake Mach. And I received the distinct impression he considered the Humanki to be his enemy. He even asked if I knew about them. I didn't, and I still don't. Who are they?"

Demi answered for the others. "The ORME Project is so all-encompassing that it manages to offend a great number of vested interests. The Patrons, the self-appointed protectors of the status quo and the patriarchal paradigm, you already know about. And I know you're aware of the vested interests of the medical establishment -- everyone from the American Medical Association to the drug companies. There is also, of course, the Precious Metals Consortium. These are all people who will not want us to succeed, and may be willing to do most anything to ensure that we don't!"

Sisi added, "They may be working together, or separately, unaware of each other. But if they're all after us, it doesn't much matter if it's a unified effort or not."

Don Carlos then contributed his concerns. "Don't forget the energy companies, the utilities, and their supporting industries. I can even see the automobile industry becoming quite nasty. There are really very few people who will not feel threatened by us, one way or the other, once they understand all of the implications. Virtually no one in power likes change. Because it implies they may lose their power."

Demi smiled at Don, before she turned back to Dawn. "The Duke's correct. No one in power is going to like what we're doing." Then she became more intent. "But there is yet another player in all of this; a group that may be interfering with both us and the people opposed to us. Instead of having all the vested interests ganging up on us in a them-versus-us situation; there seems to be a third side. We know next to nothing about them, other than they've apparently been fouling up some of the Patrons' plans! At least, that's our understanding from what Gil has reported. But there's nothing to indicate they're on our side. Gil knew that they're called the Humanki, but he didn't know who or what they are."

David then added, "It's important for you to realize that the Humanki, according to Gil, is quite powerful, and a lot better informed than anyone else we've encountered. We suspect they know about the ORME, perhaps even know about our work in the area. But we can't be sure. We don't know whose side they're on, or even if they're on a side. Their agenda might be radically different from anyone else we've ever dealt with. They could also be a lot more dangerous than anyone else, including The Patrons!"

Dawn hesitated for several minutes as the information found its way into her mind. "And our mission," she finally asked, "will be to find out who the Humanki are?"

"That," Alex answered, "And what their intentions are. The latter can be equally important. Can we, for example, benefit from their actions? Or do we need to recognize them as just one more group attempting to stop us? If so, is there something we can do to nullify their efforts?"

Dawn looked around momentarily, and then asked, "If we don't know anything about them, how do we find them. Where do we go first?"

Alex was not enthusiastic. "Our only real lead, one which Gil came up with, is that there is someone called 'The Mother', and her most likely location is in central Mexico."

Dawn's 'ah-ha' button went off. "Is that why Gil and I were heading for Mexico?"

"Yes," Alex replied, simply and easily.

Demi then added, "Dawn. Just because this person is called 'The Mother', you don't want to make the assumption we're talking about some wonderfully nurturing female. I know more than one mother who would commit all manner of atrocity, particularly in defending her offspring."

There was general agreement and a few begrudging laughs. Then Sisi said, "We're going to have to maintain some kind of contact between those at the Site and Dawn and Alex while they're on the road. I'd like to volunteer for that. I can periodically rendezvous with them, as necessary."

Dawn noticed Alex's face light up at Sisi's offer. Dawn also noticed most of the others in the room take Sisi's offer very much in stride, almost as if it were expected. Only David made any comment aloud. "We appreciate your offer, Sisi. And as the need arises, I am sure we will want to avail ourselves of your services." Then turning to Dawn, "Heard enough?"

Dawn smiled. Instead of having been dissuaded by the talk of danger, she felt a mounting excitement at the prospect of high adventure. Dawn had learned in recent months that it was a common characteristic of humans, when faced with the idea of intrigue and danger, that they were immediately attracted to it. The reality of their Hero's Journey -- which might include their early and inglorious death -- often did not enter the picture. 'But,' Dawn thought, 'I'm already in the middle of it. Might as well, make it worthwhile.' Tentatively, she said, her voice carrying a sense of levity, "Our 'mission', should we choose to accept it..." She looked at the others, as they shared her attempt at humor. Then, her smiled faded and she became serious again. Turning to Alex, she said, "I'm game if you are."

Alex laughed. "I'm not sure I want to think of us as 'game'..." As everyone joined in the laughter, he added, with a more serious expression on his face, "Then we're agreed!"

David waited for Dawn to acknowledge Alex and shake his hand. Then he turned to Alex, "When do you leave?"

Alex's response was immediate. "Tomorrow morning."

There was a sudden chill from both Dawn and Demi, which Alex quickly picked up on. Turning to Dawn, he added, "That would be my suggestion. There's no sense in leaving before the banks open. And after the near miss in Fort Collins, it doesn't seem like a good idea to hang around here." He hesitated. Then, "What's your best reading?"

"I agree," Dawn replied, feeling better. "No point in drawing fire in Phoenix."

Demi then made one of her more outrageous forecasts. Beaming brightly, she said, "I can see the two of you are going to make a great team!"

Dawn looked slightly skeptical, while Alex had the suggestion of a greater puzzlement on his face.

David then added one final point. Addressing Dawn and Alex, he said, "Keep in mind during your travels: we can always use confirmations, as well as other data which will help the project gain credibility, and which ultimately, will lead to widespread acceptance from the public at large. Once we go public in a big way, we may need as much support as we can possibly gather."

Both Alex and Dawn acknowledged the suggestion. It would indeed be necessary to have some ammunition for public consumption later on. Both were well aware of the fact that while believing is seeing (and vice-versa), there was also going to be a great deal of resistance from a skeptical public at large. The implications simply affected too many areas of life, and inevitably contradicted so much of what had been learned and accepted for years. Alex, intellectually, and Dawn, intuitively, could each sense the uphill battle for wide scale acceptance of the numerous mind-boggling concepts and implied remedies.

The meeting began to break up, with everyone individually and with specific intent, hugging everyone else. It was the modern equivalent of shaking hands all around. At the same time, there were genuine feelings being communicated between different individuals. Don Carlos, in particular, was loath to end his hug with Dawn. At the other end of the spectrum, there was a momentary hesitation before Alex and Dawn hugged, as if both were a bit too shy. But they quickly put aside the awkwardness and sealed their pact with a full-bodied clasp.

Dawn then quietly made her way back to the room set aside for her, where she found her bed to be a siren, irresistibly beckoning her. She slept for a good nine hours.

____________________________________

[1] E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1967 (based on the original work published in 1895 by the Trustees of the British Museum).

[2] R. Eisenman & M. Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, Penguin, New York, 1992.

[3] Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Delacore Press, New York, 1982, 1983.

[4] Laurence Gardner, Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Barnes & Noble, New York, 1996; Genesis of the Grail Kings, Bantam Press, London, 1999; Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark; Amazing Revelations of the Incredible Power of Gold, Element Books, HarperCollins Publishers, London, 2003.

Chapter Ten -- The Chariot

Forward to:

Chapter Twelve -- The Empress

The Emperor

The Library of ialexandriah