Perihelion, Episode One: The Convolution

Inside Front Cover

  He paused a long time, and then wiped his forehead again. “Ancient myths talk of a time of great tribulations for the world.

  Not just our world. But all worlds.” He continued.

  “Ragnarok.” Nancy said.

  “Armageddon.” Richard spoke up.

  “Similar, but not quite so apocalyptic. Least not in the since of evil forces trying to destroy those of the Light. No I’m talking about an almost certain unhinging, unbalancing of the life force of the universe. Perihelion.” He finished.

  Richard stood from the chair he was seated on, spilling the tea in his lap to the floor. He just managed to capture the cup before it shattered on the floor. He straightened up, gave an embarrassed smile to the Professor, and then took a deep breath. “But no one’s talked about that in generations as anything more than a myth. Look, Professor, you had to dig for a score of years into native legends to even get what you did about it!”

  “True enough.” Professor admitted. “But the facts remain the same. Legends say that there will come a time when man will unwittingly cause a disturbance in the lines of force, the walls of space and time that keep everything in the universe connected.”

  “You’re saying that our Convolution has tilted the balance. Opened up the universe to chaos?” Richard demanded.

  “I’m saying that we’ve opened up Pandora’s Box, and God only knows how we’re going to close it up again.” Professor said calmly, turning his eyes back out to an ocean that no longer seemed as safe and secure and soothing as it once was. “I’m saying that the laws of Physics have been altered. And until we can right them again. Nothing that is known or unknown will ever be the same again.” Almost as if to accent his belief, the room began shaking again.

  “The Jump Room!” Professor yelled.

  Without another word he zoomed from the room as fast as his electric motor could move him. Richard and Nancy followed swiftly after him, dreading what they would find.

  The Professor was already there, staring at the. It was filled with strange symbols and equations. As if it had somehow been blended with a number of alien cultures, unknown worlds.

  “It’s worse than I thought.” Professor said, not so calmly.

  Then the Convolution reached out spiraling arms of energy masses and absorbed them into its spinning, whirling chaos.

  Perihelion

  Episode One: The Convolution

  John Pirillo

  "Copyright 2014

  Perihelion

  “A place of absolute balance between the forces of light and darkness.” Definition of Perihelion from Chalker’s Dictionary of Metaphysical Terminology.

  “When the care of all life becomes as important as the saving of one’s own, then one has reached the point of Perihelion, where one may become blended with the One Light and Great Spirit within us all.” From the studies of the Infinite Convolution, a book on the alternating realities of universal creation.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Red hot arcs of energy dashed against endless streams of freezing expanses. Flaming magma exploded forth from blowholes in the very fabric of time and space. Burning desolation stretched in infinite stretches before him. Spurs and spurts of miserable pain, then exalted flares of ecstasy shot through his being. Then... nothing. Unending flows of nothingness that spiraled into a tornado of equations. Finally, calm and a soothing coolness.

  Richard opened his eyes to the new world about him, not even daring to breathe for a moment. It was spectacular. Beyond his wildest dreams. The Professor had been right. He had been right. The Convolution worked.

  He turned slowly, afraid to make a mistake. Not daring to move in case it might mean his death, but afraid not to move, because he had just finished a journey no man should ever have been able to do.

  This new world was beyond his experience. Tangible, but frightening at the same time. He stood at the edge of a great cliff. It must have towered dozens of miles above the earth below, because the ocean he could see in the distance, was cotton candied with clouds at a number of layers of altitude. The fact that he was able to breathe at all was a miracle considering the height he had to have stood at that time.

  The mountain he stood upon was the grandfather of Mount Everest, which would have only been a hill in comparison to this mighty edifice. This world was rich in oxygen. Very earth like. Its skies a bit bluer and richer in substance. The air quite a bit cooler, but then, he was quite high. But the air seemed sweeter, almost as if it had never been tainted by the mechanical and industrial smells that came with American civilization.

  “Just look at me, Professor.” He blurted out to no one in particular. “In the middle of a dream. I wish you could be here too.”

  For no particular reason he could think of he did the most stupid thing he could think of in years, he pounded on his chest like Tarzan of the Apes and let out a yodel like the famous Johnny Weissmuller.

  Embarrassed at his own silliness, he froze a moment, turning

  quickly to see if anyone had been watching. He couldn't explain it, but he had the strangest feeling he was being watched. But how, he couldn't put a finger on. He shook his head.

  A swift flow of air swept past him, bringing an even stronger scent of sweetness. He breathed in it deep, and his euphoria seemed to get even stronger. If only the professor could be here now, he wished to himself, knowing what it would take for the man to make that leap of faith in his condition.

  This time he was more sober when he said, "Dear professor. If only you could be here with me now." Even the euphoria that had swept over him seemed diminished at that moment, as he thought about his words.

  The Professor couldn’t. He’d probably never be anywhere with Richard. The man suffered from severe muscular disease. He was restricted to a wheelchair, that only moved by the power of the man’s will. He had devised an interface with the master computer of his lab that allowed his chair to almost read his thoughts. Actually, the chair was responding more to an emotional need, than a thought, but it was close enough that it ultimately had the same effect. This was to get from there to here. And here to there.

  Richard felt a sudden urge to vomit and toss his insides over the cliff’s edge. But as quickly as the nausea swept through him, it vanished. He staggered back from the edge of the cliff, just to be on the safe side.

  Just as suddenly as he nausea had struck, he again felt this wave of euphoria smash into him, at the same time as a new current of air struck him from...

  Richard spun around and looked upwards. His eyes seemed unable to focus, as if he were drugged or something. The bleak mountain continued to stretch upwards before his eyes. Like layer upon layer of some kind of god-like cake, made of living plants and stone. It swept upwards and upwards, almost seeming to merge its crown with the great sun that was now directly above it.

  And what a glorious sun it was. Nothing like our own. He could look directly into it and his eyes didn't hurt or blink. It actually felt kind of narcotic, soothing and peaceful. Was this the source of the euphoria? If so, he could imagine this place as a fantastic tourist spa, where the stressed and strained could come to let go of their inner tensions, and feel a kind of peace at least.

  His eyes strained to hold the view; the light was so bright it hurt, but not painfully. No watering of the eyes. No burning sensation. Then he spotted something moving on the mountain, descending rapidly on legs that defied description. Like a gigantic spider, whose body was more mammal than insect, the beast was quite literally leaping and bounding down the mountainside.

  At that exact same moment when his euphoria was at its lowest, he

  saw something emit from the be
ast's mouth. Again, he was struck by a euphoric breeze and he almost staggered this time from the bliss of it. He swept his arms upwards, absorbing as much of the feeling as he could bear.

  Richard’s eyes were better than most. He had never worn glasses a day of his life. He had perfect vision, and was able to see better than most sharpshooters back home. And it didn’t take him long to get a look at the mouth of the creature. It was huge and horrible. Filled with blackened teeth that were foaming over with saliva. Now why did he get the idea that dinner was about to be served?

  Just like that he snapped out of his euphoria. The call to save his neck had grown stronger than the feeling to stay and relax and worry about nothing, just feel the joy. Yeah. The joy of being lunch for some alien creature!

  Richard began the process that would bring him home again. He closed his eyes for a moment, visualizing the mantric pattern of mathematical symbols and equations he and the Professor had devised.

  An even stronger wave of Euphoria and wind blasted across him. He staggered from the intensity of it, losing control of the thoughts he was forming into a liquid, substantive reality. He closed his eyes to regain his balance. He took several deep breaths, using his meditative pranic lessons, to soothe his mind, clear the false euphoria. As he did he felt the visualization coming easily to him again.

  He opened his eyes again. The Convolution of patterns now floated in the air before him, expanding outwards, growing larger and larger. The mathematical symbols began turning red hot. The equations turned to white hot gasses that ignited and exploded inwards.

  He made the mistake of looking up again. A fresh blast of euphoric wind struck him the same time as he saw the descending creature almost within jumping distance of him.

  “Come on!” Richard pleaded. The Convolution was taking too long. At the rate the creature was descending it’d be on him before he could cross over.

  Richard looked about him helplessly a moment, hoping to find something to defend himself with. After all, he was the invader to this creature’s world. For all he knew it was only defending its nest. But if this mountain was its nest, he’d hate to think what else was roaming around this place.

  He heard this bone shattering wail, and then jerked his head upwards. The creature had reached above him, and was preparing to leap upon him. No more euphoria came this time, only the foul, foul breath of something inhumanly hungry and horribly anxious to make sure he was its next meal.

  He could smell its foul breath. It opened its mouth wider and wider, and then leaped.

  “Ready or not!” Richard said, and then leaped into the Convolution that sprang to life between him and the monster.

  CHAPTER TWO

  He felt a moment of complete disassociation, as if every atom of his body had been utterly separated from his beingness, then the same surges and spikes of red-hot energies, which were painful and not painful at the same time. It was almost like a bliss that was so extreme it was too painful for his senses to handle, then a rush of heat and cold.

  Next thing he knew he was standing in the jump off room, the Convolution closing behind him. The bright, familiar lights of the small lab welcomed him. He suddenly became aware of how tense his whole body had become. He'd made it. He was back. Safe and sound.

  He relaxed, and grinned. That wasn’t so bad. "Hey Professor..." He started to greet when he saw him wheeling his chair into proximity, but the look on his face froze the greeting in his throat, because a horrible, horrible scream of anger and frustration exploded from behind him.

  “My God, Richard!” The Professor’s voice cried out.

  Richard spun around and saw the mouth of the creature pushing through the Convolution, as if it could hold it open by force, even as the Convolution continued to diminish in size. Richard backed away, fending off the horrid stench and sight with flailing arms, as if he could somehow magically make it go away. A sizable, furry arm with huge spike shaped hair on it swept through and at his throat. He ducked the same time as the Convolution closed with a tiny explosion of light.

  Globs of saliva bubbled on the slick floor of the jump off room. A heavy and foul stench filled the room. “Damn lucky to be alive!” Professor blurted out, rolling his chair to stop before Richard, who was still counting his lucky stars.

  Richard kicked at the severed limb still spasming on the Jump Room floor, spilling what remaining green fluids still pumped from its severed veins.

  “What happened?” Richard asked. “How could that happen?” He demanded, still shaking in his bones. He had come that close to death. All the bliss of his Convolution was quickly vanishing, becoming replaced with a sense of utter loss, and frailty.

  “It must’ve hit the Convolution the same time as you,

  Richard.” Professor answered, his thick eyebrows shoving together in thought.

  “But I thought it only worked for the one who was projecting it.” Richard insisted. “This doesn’t make sense.” He further insisted. "It wasn't even on the correct side of the Convolution. How is that possible?"

  Professor didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his wheelchair around

  and headed for the exit, a shining flap of plastic that separated the Jump Room from the rest of the house. Richard shook himself, hoping the motion would clear the suddenly depressed feeling that was coming over him. From fear to depression. Great. What next?

  He almost exploded with laughter when his stomach emitted a huge growling sound.

  "Yeah. That does it. Steak time." He said.

  The Professor, looking diminutive in his chair, stopped and looked back. "Since when did you start eating animals?"

  "Since they started trying to eat me!" Richard exclaimed angrily, kicking the severed limb to the side, like a small child annoyed with its toy.

  The Professor gave the hint of a smile on his lips, and then said, "Technically, that thing was not an animal, but an arachnapod."

  "Whatever!" Richard exclaimed in disgust.

  He sighed, and then walked around the globs of saliva, careful not to touch them. He’d have to figure out a way of cleaning the stuff up without handling it. Might be acidic or toxic. Didn’t want to have his hands burn off, or worse yet, drop dead.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Nancy was waiting in the lobby, handing the Professor some tea and coffee, and preparing some tea for Richard as well. It was a special brew he had concocted in medical school. He had spent ten years in India, studying at the feet of an Ayurvedic doctor. That was when he had gotten a measure of inspiration to create the Convolution process, which later on he collaborated on with the Professor and Nancy.

  He and the Professor went a long way back. He had been his student at one time, when the Professor was limited to a walking cane, rather than a wheelchair. He had been there over the years as the Professor had declined, hoping that science would come up with a cure. He had gotten excited over stem cell research but when politics had destroyed that from ever happening, he had started to grow a bit bitter, but he snapped out of it. It wasn't like him to bear grudges, and he knew more about life than most, and knew even the vilest of souls on our planet would eventually figure out what was right and change. Maybe not in this life, but in some life. You see the Professor not only believed in multiple, parallel worlds and universes, but also multiple lifetimes. Reincarnation, for those not afraid of the word.

  The Professor had been like a father to him. The father he never had. His own father had perished in the Vietnam War, a victim of a land mine that had gutted him, and left him dying painfully in the muddy rice fields of a burning village. This was ironic, in its own way, because his father was a peace-loving man, hated our country for burning down those villages and forests with napalm and that horrible gas that afflicted so many soldiers after they returned from that dark period of America's history.

  “Here you, go.” Nancy said, handing Richard a cup of tea. He took it silently, and threw himself down into a chair opposite the Professor.

  The Professor bli
nked his eyes and the curtains over the lobby opened, revealing the beautiful ocean view before them. His house was propped at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific, several dozen miles outside of Carmel, California. The waters were almost crystal clear there. The small piece of beach that could be reached by a rough path down to the ocean was filled with white sand.

  He and Nancy went there a lot to plot and plan for the future. They had big plans. Once he got famous, of course. An event that seemed to elude him further and further as the years went by. But Nancy stuck it out. She was a good woman. Bright, perky, quick to learn. Her blonde hair seemed reddish in the light of the setting sun. Even the Professor’s white hair turned a golden red in the glare. Richard’s black hair tinted slightly, but remained boldly black.

  “Well.” Nancy finally said, breaking the long silence that was gathering like snow into a thick drift between everyone. “What happened this time?” She asked.

  “Intruder.” Professor answered for Richard.

  Nancy glanced at him, startled by the word. “Intruder. But how? I thought the Convolution was perfect. A one way vehicle for the one using it. No more. No less.”

  “Well, evidently, part of our equations is wrong.” Richard said grumpily.

  “Or all of it.” Professor added.

  "But I checked it over repeatedly, using the latest algorhythms, Richard. That just isn't possible. Equations don't have a life of their own. They can't just change themselves like that." She said firmly, a hint of distress in her voice.

  She glanced at Richard. He was such a nerd, and so innocent sometimes. And she was so stupid to let him go without her. She had thought it would be just a safe trip to the other side of the Convolution. They had planned for it to take him just a few miles away into downtown Carmel, near the ice cream store they always went to on Sundays, not on some gigantic mountain with euphoric spitting monstrous spiders.

  “No, I don’t think so, in answer to both of you.” Richard said on a bit more cheery note. “If it was I would never have left the Jump Room, let alone been able to come back. We won’t know for sure until I

  test it again.”

  Nancy gave him an alarmed look. She’d obviously been hiding a great amount of fear, because it was now beginning to surface on her face. “Can’t you do some more research, planning first?”