The Power of Twelve Read online

  As he tried to stand up, he felt a pang in his knee that immediately got his attention. “Damn that knee. All I need is this fall to aggravate that old football injury. If that knee is out, I’ll have to ski out of here one-legged,” he grimaced to himself.

  “Oh, that won’t be necessary. Just rest for a minute or two and the knee will be OK. Your head injury is minor as well,” a voice called out in a soft, soothing tone.

  “Who said that?” Horatio responded involuntarily. He looked around. No one was anywhere near him. He could see the regular run through the trees, and no skiers were visible there either.

  “It’s me, Karl the Kingmaker. I come from another planet and I need your assistance.”

  “What the …? Karl … the what? From another … what?” Horatio blurted, completely thrown by the bodiless voice.

  “I’m Karl the Kingmaker from another planet—actually, another universe altogether—and I need your help,” Karl repeated.

  “You need my help?” Horatio asked incredulously. “I’m the one who fell. I think I’m the one who needs help here.” He stopped to consider how odd this all was. “I must have hit my head harder than I thought and am having hallucinations.”

  “No. Trust me, it is only a minor injury. You cut your forehead against the needles of the branch, but there is no concussion. You are perfectly all right, perfectly sane,” Karl reassured a still-skeptical Horatio. “I come from another planet and I need your help. Let me explain.”

  “OK. Explain, but let me make one point clear. I do not believe in creatures from other planets and I think—your reassurances notwithstanding—I may have had a concussion and this entire conversation is just in my own mind.”

  “As you wish, but give me a chance to demonstrate that what I say is true. Although I am from another dimension and am invisible to you, I can still make things happen in your world. Let me help you up.”

  Suddenly Horatio felt a hand grab his torso and help him to his knees and then to his feet, where he found himself standing next to his skis and holding onto his ski poles.

  “I did feel some support, but perhaps it is just my imagination,” Horatio mumbled, not sure where Karl, if he existed at all, might be standing. “Give me a sign that you are here that is not directly tied to my own movement.”

  “No problem,” Karl responded, and instantly an untouched branch next to the branch that Horatio had crashed into started to shake violently, and the six inches of snow that was covering the branch fell to the ground.

  “All right. All right. I guess you are real,” Horatio conceded, moving to avoid the snow that was falling all about him. “You say you need my help. What is it you want me to do?” Horatio asked, not sure where to look to address Karl.

  “All I need you to do is to allow me to share your body for the next ninety days or so. If we are successful, it may be only a few weeks,” Karl explained. “You are a very powerful man here on Earth, and I believe that you are connected with many members of the Illuminati. I need access to the Illuminati so I can warn them of the dangers that they are creating here on Earth for the very survival of your planet.”

  Horatio’s view of this otherworldly encounter was changing rapidly. “You know, I have heard others talk about the Illuminati, but I’m not sure that such an organization really exists. I know lots of very rich people and some of them could be members of such a secret organization, but in my experience rich people don’t need an organization to protect their interests. Their mutual interests related to protecting their money, property, and power make them natural allies.”

  “There is no need for you to believe in the Illuminati. I can even concede that in theory you are correct. Nonetheless, I know that the 319 families who control the power and wealth on this planet do in fact work together and that many of them consider themselves descendants and members of the Illuminati. I just need access to these people, and whether you realize it or not, you can provide me with that access.”

  “Say I agree. What’s in it for me?” Horatio asked, deciding to take his interlocutor’s proposition seriously.

  “There is nothing in it for you other than the satisfaction of knowing that you will have played an important role in preserving your planet,” Karl answered.

  This voice had no problem making sweeping statements. “That’s all fine and good, as I really do not need any compensation or favors for myself and my family, but how do I know that you intend to help and not hurt our planet?”

  “There is no way you can know my true intentions. You just have to trust me,” Karl answered.

  “Trust you? Why, I can’t even see you! Why should I trust you?” Horatio responded, not at all certain that he was going to cooperate.

  “I agree with you. Trust is not something that can be gained in a short conversation or a matter of minutes,” Karl continued. “Let’s take this step by step. Just let me share your body for the next week, and if after that week you feel I am not trustworthy, I will simply leave. In the meantime I think you will discover that having me around might actually assist you with your own agenda for SEC for GAP and some of your other projects. For instance, I know that you intend to go to Chateau Mcely for the Project Wake Up meetings, and I know I can be of assistance to you there.”

  How could this being know that? It truly must have unusual powers. “Yes, Natalie has already committed us to going to Chateau Mcely in just two days.” The more he thought about the idea, the more accepting he became. “I guess with this injury I am unlikely to do much more skiing anyway. Sure, hop on in. Just promise that if I don’t like having you around you will leave,” Horatio relented.

  “I promise.”

  Those were the last words Horatio heard before becoming aware that a higher-level consciousness now seemed to reside within his body. “What the heck! This actually does not feel bad at all. In fact, my knee is no longer throbbing,” Horatio stated to himself and perhaps to Karl, if Karl was listening.

  “Yes, as I told you, it was only a minor fall. Your knee will be fine, but it is best for you to take it slow as you ski down the mountain. You did tweak it and you should not do any hard skiing for at least a week or two,” Karl responded. “By the way, for the most part I can read your thoughts and send you mine, so there is no real need to speak out loud to me in the future.”

  “Good to know,” Horatio telepathically communicated back. “It feels weird talking to the open air anyway.”

  He positioned his ski boots back into the binding of his skis, gave a slight push off with his ski pole, and drifted back toward the main trail and down the mountain.

  The Sun had disappeared from view, but a brilliant afterglow bathed the entire Ajax Mountain of Aspen in an orange-red light that was otherworldly. Horatio did not mind skiing more slowly. He still felt the wind in his hair and was thankful that he was alive. He was curious about the new adventures that awaited him.

  Karl was also happy to have convinced Horatio to allow him to share his body. Back on planet Naranjada, Lily, who had used the holographic viewer in the entertainment center in the guesthouse for the Twelve, was also pleased. She was now ready to contact Inéz and complete the commitment the four members of the Council of Twelve had made to prevent the destruction of planet Earth 769 and all the known and unknown universes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  THANK YOU

  INÉZ HAD HAD A WONDERFUL DAY. She had spent the morning playing with her eight-year-old daughter. Nely was a joyful child who loved both indoor and outdoor activities. Right after breakfast Inéz had taken Nely to visit her cousin in Prague. Today was a very special day, as it would mark Nely’s first sleepover without her mother.

  After lunch with her sister and Nely’s cousin, Inéz had arranged for the girls to go shopping at a new children’s store in the main square of Prague. It had been great fun picking out clothes for the girls, and afterward they had gone to Inéz’s favorite pastry shop for formal tea and pastries. Nely and her cousin Margaret were in he
aven. They were being treated like grown-ups and loved the extra attention from the waiter and the maître d’.

  It was still winter and Inéz wanted to return to Chateau Mcely before dark, so she let her sister take the girls home for the sleepover and left the restaurant, giving Nely a big hug and reassuring her, “If for any reason you need to get hold of me this evening, just ask Aunt Veronica to give me a call.”

  “Oh, Momma, I’m not a baby anymore. Margaret and I are going to be just fine,” Nely told her mother in her most adult voice.

  Inéz let go of the embrace and headed for the street, both pleased and almost disappointed that Nely was so confident she would not need to call. “Nely is such a wonderful daughter, but I worry that she may be growing up too fast,” she thought as she ambled down the street, enjoying the brisk air and lively energy of the tourists and vendors as she walked back to her car.

  Since marrying Jim, Inéz had enjoyed virtually unlimited abundance. She now had a car and driver at her command whenever she chose, but she more often than not preferred to drive herself and not bother her chauffeur. Once out on the road, she was pleased to find so little traffic and found herself back at the Chateau almost twenty minutes earlier than she had anticipated. “Oh, this is ideal,” she thought. “With the trip to Prague this morning I had not had an opportunity for my morning meditation.” That led to a further pleasing thought. “It is not too cold yet and I should have at least thirty minutes of light. That’s plenty of time to take a quick walk in the meditation garden.”

  Inéz was soon heading down the gravel path to the bench that she used whenever she chose to meditate in the meditation garden. It was a little chilly, but she was warm enough in her soft wool coat. No one else was in the garden and Inéz relished the privacy. For her, the meditation garden was an almost sacred shrine she had created to honor nature. The flower gardens were maintained throughout the year, and even now bright-colored flowers lined the small stream that ran next to the gravel path. Small animals such as squirrels and rabbits frequented the meditation garden, and birdseed was put out to ensure that birds felt welcome as well.

  Taking a deep breath, casting one last look at the flowers and foliage that she cherished, Inéz closed her eyes and began to meditate. In a few minutes she had reached a deep state of relaxation. She had studied many different forms of meditation—from TM, as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, when she was a young girl to the more sophisticated meditation techniques taught by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s The Art of Living organization to exotic forms of meditation taught by Tibetan Buddhist masters. In the end, she had settled on her own very simple form of meditation, which allowed her to focus on gratitude and blessing all life forms on planet Earth.

  “Thank you” was what she would normally think, but this time she actually heard the words—and they were not coming from her mouth.

  “Thank you,” she heard again. The voice was warm and soothing and had a graceful cadence that was not her own.

  “Thank you for taking this time to meditate and to listen,” the voice continued. Inéz detected a slight accent but could not place the origin. She just knew it was not her own voice speaking.

  “I have come to ask you a great favor, and I was hoping you would choose a quiet spot where I could explain the nature of my mission,” the voice continued.

  Inéz opened her eyes and looked around. A squirrel had found some peanut shells that a hotel guest must have dropped earlier in the day and was gnawing at the shells. “How sweet, she thought as she observed the squirrel. Just then she realized that the voice that had been talking to her was without a body.

  “You sound quite lovely, but please identify who you are and what you want,” Inéz requested. “I have sometimes heard voices while in meditation, but never so loudly and clearly. Are you a spirit come to advise me?”

  “I am a being from another planet. You could call me a spirit, but on my planet I have a personality and a body. My name on my planet is Lily. Like you, I am dedicated to creating beauty and am considered an expert at creating harmony. In recognition of my innate ability to create beauty, I have been appointed a member of the Council of Twelve,” Lily started to explain.

  “The Council of Twelve? What kind of council is that?” Inéz asked.

  “The Council of Twelve is a special advisory group created by The One who created the known and unknown universes to advise and intervene to ensure that the harmonic laws of the universe are allowed to evolve and assist in creating higher consciousness in all universes.”

  “That sounds delightful,” Inéz said with her natural joy. “Does such an organization really exist?”

  “Yes, the Council of Twelve is quite real, and if you were on our planet I might have nominated you to serve, as you seem to have similar skills in creating beauty and harmony,” Lily responded.

  “It is so kind of you to acknowledge my dedication to creating beauty and harmony. I am so proud of what we have been able to do here at Chateau Mcely to preserve the best of beautiful architecture and gardens here on Earth,” Inéz commented. “But please explain your mission and why you have chosen to come to me at this time.”

  “There is an important project that requires my presence here on your planet, and I need to borrow a body so that I can complete my mission,” Lily started to explain. “You are ideally suited not just because of your love of beauty and harmony but because of your efforts to assist Project Wake Up by making Chateau Mcely the hub for the project. In the process, you are attracting some of the most powerful and dedicated members of the Illuminati to the Chateau, and it is vital that I communicate with these leaders to warn them of the need for immediate change in their plans to dominate your planet.”

  “The Illuminati?” Inéz questioned. “Are you sure such an organization exists? I have heard rumors about them, but none of the powerful men and women who have come to events at Chateau Mcely have ever revealed themselves to be members of the Illuminati.”

  “I can assure you that the Illuminati exist,” Lily calmly stated. “I can further assure you that more than twenty of the members have been guests at Chateau Mcely just in the last two years. You have access to very powerful people, more powerful than you realize.”

  “If I let you borrow my body, what happens to me?” Inéz’s asked next.

  “Nothing really will happen to you. You will still be you. For a short period of time, I will also be you, or at least I will be sharing your body with you. I will not be able to actually do anything without your approval, since you still control your body, but I will have specific suggestions to make to you and when possible will direct your actions in ways that will assist our mission,” Lily explained.

  “Will my daughter and husband be able to tell that I am no longer only me?” Inéz questioned. “I love them both very much and could not accept being absent from either.”

  “I actually prefer that you explain to Jim who I am and why I am here, though think it best you not mention anything to your daughter or anyone else,” Lily responded.

  “If that is the case, why did you not just come to Jim and me together?” Inéz asked.

  “As a walk-in I must have permission from the personality who agrees to share his or her body. It was not prudent to introduce myself to Jim until you have accepted me and our mission.”

  “I see. And are you sure that I will still be able to be with my daughter and that she will not be aware of any change?” Inéz queried with a mother’s vigilance. “Nely is very sensitive and I fear she might detect your presence and be concerned.”

  “We cannot always predict how others will respond, especially with children,” Lily admitted. “However, if Nely shows any concern at all, I promise to help explain to her why I am here in a way that a child can understand. I will even agree to depart if Nely so wishes.”

  Inéz reflected on Lily’s soothing words and the calm sincerity in her voice. She was not sure why, but she trusted Lily, whoever she was.

  “All righ
t. You have permission to use my body while you are here on Earth,” Inéz agreed. “What happens next?”

  “Just stay seated and I will enter. Go back to your meditation and accept my thanks for your generosity. Before your meditation is complete, I will be within you.”

  Inéz returned to her meditation. She thanked the universe for her wonderful home, for her husband, for her daughter, for the gift of life, and even for the flowers and the squirrels. Just before emerging from her state of perfect calm, she felt a tingling throughout her body. Again she heard a voice with a special cadence that was not her own: “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND

  IN THE EIGHTEEN YEARS that Arnold Wheeler had served as the Grand Light and Keeper of the Code, he had not once felt such a large test lying before him. With the help of his staff and relationships with world leaders, he had never felt seriously challenged. His primary objective was to retain control of the world economy and ensure that the Illuminati continued to hold ninety percent of the wealth on the planet. With the development of his new GMO initiatives and chemicals that aided only his crops while destroying all others, he felt closer than ever to complete world domination. And yet he had a dawning awareness that just as he was reaching his ultimate goals, he had to be more vigilant than ever.

  “Eugene, what is going on up there? Tell the driver to take a side street. We will never get to our meeting with Mackenzie Hardy the Third on time at this rate,” Arnold ordered, frustrated that he might be late to one of the most important meetings of his life.

  Eugene got out of the car and saw, down a few blocks, that a major demonstration had erupted in the streets of Dublin, where he had accompanied Arnold for this critical meeting. He surveyed the situation for long moments. He could see thousands of demonstrators, mostly women, but many men as well. They were calling for the immediate ouster of the Irish secretary of agriculture and the outlawing of all GMOs. He returned to the car and reported back. “It’s another one of those Full Feminine Power Now demonstrations, just like the ones we witnessed earlier in the week in London, New York, and Paris. This time I am seeing placards for Project Wake Up as well. There is no way we will get through this mass of people, and the side streets are just as full.”