Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

93 ∞ truths and transformation

Day Nineteen ∞ Tuesday afternoon

DANNY WALKED BESIDE MICKMI with thoughts buzzing as they followed the two lab coats. He felt like his brain had been stretched several inches outside his head. Or was that his mind? Of all the new knowledge he'd been exposed to in the past couple of hours, he kept returning to what Mickmi had said about the silk threads.

He'd always known they were connected. We're soulmates. But he'd never imagined it boiled down to literal energy threads that physically connected them like a spider's web. —Or is that psychologically... or emotionally... mentally... or all four?

Mickmi squeezed his hand. —More than that.

—With our— What are Chakras again?

—Concentrated energy centers in our physical body. We each have seven main ones, from the base of our spine to the crown of our head. You can feel some of them with different emotions. Like when you feel butterflies... or dread in the pit of your stomach. Or love in your heart. She smiled. But you can also learn to harness them and—

Danny recognized the spacious hall they entered. Dr. Kruger led the way to the side occupied by a low wooden fence. Behind it, a blonde soldier sat looking at a screen, her hair tied up into a strict bun. Several metal cabinets and a bench with an express coffee-maker, several jugs, cups, and glasses lined up behind her. She had a commanding view of the whole room, including the opposite steel-plated wall where two solid men in military fatigues guarded an ordinary-looking door.

"We need to use the private shuttle to go to Command," Kruger said to the lady-soldier.

"Please sign the log. Doctor Bogdanov too." The blonde pushed a big book across the desk and added, "Sir, do you need an escort?" She glanced at Mickmi and Danny.

"Not at this time," Kruger replied.

The guards did not budge from their posts as they approached the metal door. Kruger pulled a plastic card from his pocket, inserted it into a slot next to the door and tapped on the keypad. The red light above the panel switched to green and the door hissed open.

"This way, please, Miss Wamba, Mister McGahn," he said.

This was the same short tunnel Danny had been brought through some seven hours ago. It ended at a wider one where several cart-like, roofless vehicles occupied a recess. They climbed into the nearest one, Kruger and Dr. Bogdanov at the front, and Mickmi and Danny behind them on a leatherette-covered bench. Kruger turned a key next to the steering wheel, but nothing seemed to happen until he stepped on a pedal. The vehicle's engine was soundless as they rolled forward into the evenly lit tunnel at what felt like a crawl. If they were going back to the same place Danny had been brought from, this ride would take a while.

"I've been thinking, Miss Wamba," Kruger said over his shoulder. "Are all the citizens of your world as evolved and well prepared as you are?"

Mickmi stared straight ahead for a while before responding, "What I shall tell you will not surprise you... I am sure you already suspect it."

Her hesitation made Danny glance at her. It seemed as if she was choosing her words.

"We had for many centuries been... modifying our genome, removing many genetic errors contained within the human genetic code. As I am sure you are aware, our genetic code was full of defects. Before the twenty-third century, Homo Sapiens Sapiens was the only animal on our planet plagued with such a huge amount of defects... After the twenty-third century, a consensus was reached to systematically cleanse our genome. Genetic engineering science was extremely advanced at the time."