Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics Read online

  REDEMPTION

  By

  Jacklyn A. Lo

  Supernatural

  Time-Traveling

  Romance

  with Sci-fi and Theology

  Text and Book Cover © 2014 by Jacklyn A. Lo

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of the writer or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, places, events, technologies and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by FRG Oy

  www.frg-oy.com

  EVERYONE DIES.

  It doesn’t matter if you’re a king living it up in some grand palace or a slum dweller fighting for survival in a cardboard shack no one is exempt. Death comes for us all in the end.

  But what if death isn’t the end? What if it is simply a link in a reincarnation chain that spans the centuries and millennia? What if all of us are trapped in an endless cycle of lives, doomed to suffer and die over and over again? Wouldn’t you want to break free?

  Some of us do.

  Dedicated to Higher Inspiration

  Contents

  Part one: Freedom

  Chicago U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter One

  Ann’s nightmare and her robotic companion

  In Artificial Intelligence International

  Chapter Two

  Lunch with Japanese Admirer

  Fight with a shark

  Chapter Three

  Meeting with man-eating Nina

  First visit to the psychic

  Stone Age. No-name Land

  Chapter Four

  Ann is Mi, primordial woman

  The amorous claims of Zo

  Chapter Five

  Lu rescues Mi and leaves her for the hunt

  Birth of the baby boy Wu

  The death of Lu. Mi’s escape from the tribe

  Chapter Six

  Finding a new home

  An attack on the village

  Zo again. The death of Mi

  Chicago U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter Seven

  Returning to Chicago

  A Stone Age exhibition

  Meeting a Mysterious Man

  Part Two: Love

  Chapter Eight

  Hang-gliding with Michael

  Ann’s feelings for the new man

  Chapter Nine

  Ann talks about God and Religion with Rob

  A team meeting in A.I.I.

  Second visit to the psychic

  Imperial Rome. First Century A.D

  Chapter Ten

  Ann is Ra, an Egyptian eunuch

  In the palace of the Emperor Caligula

  Ra’s love for a Briton gladiator

  Chapter Eleven

  Chariot racing

  Anonymous gift to Alfreda

  Chapter Twelve

  Bad omen from Isis

  A visit to a slave’s owner

  Chapter Thirteen

  A petition to Caligula

  Ra’s run to save Alfreda’s life

  Ra’s death

  Part three: Courage

  Chicago U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter Fourteen

  A dinner with Michael

  Ann discusses her past lives with Rob

  Ann’s compassion for Peter

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ann quizzes Rob about reincarnation chain

  Third visit to the psychic

  Paris, France. XVII Century

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ann is Isabelle, girl from the slums

  Isabelle is captivated by a nobleman

  Isabelle’s plan for change

  Chapter Seventeen

  Meeting the affluent man

  Life in Jean-Pierre’s house

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dressing up for a high-society ball

  Improving her skills

  A suggestion to sing for Louis XIV

  Chapter Nineteen

  Isabelle’s performance at the King’s palace

  Meeting Babette and her cousin

  Hunting for deer and setting a trap for Albert

  Chapter Twenty

  In the private chambers of the King

  Isabelle moves into the palace

  The prima donna role in the opera

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Louis’ very special present

  Jealousy of the court ladies

  Isabelle’s death

  Chicago U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Ann talks with the psychic about fate

  A message from Michael

  Is Michael a corporate spy?

  Part Four: Peace

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Ann quizzes Rob on free will

  Tomo’s proposal and Ann’s choice

  Last visit to the psychic

  Smolensk Russia. July 1941

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Ann is Helen, an American agent in Russia

  Under the Nazi’s bombs

  Elena’s dream of home

  Yartsevo Russia. December 1941

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Elena falls for talk captain Konstantin

  Her homeland is in danger

  Kharkov, Ukraine

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Second meeting with Konstantin

  In the tank captain’s room

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Elena becomes a double agent

  Recruiting a Gestapo officer

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Elena’s pregnancy

  In the plane with Nazis

  Hans failed. Helen’s death.

  Chicago U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  In the Botanical Gardens with Michael

  Heaven

  Heaven. No-time place.

  Chapter Thirty

  Ann arrives in Heaven

  Reception of angels

  Epilogue

  Getting immortality and reuniting with Wu

  Ann’s new coach is an Archangel

  A fresh wave of romance with Michael

  Part One

  FREEDOM

  Chicago, U.S.A. 2045

  Chapter One

  Ann screamed.

  A huge, seemingly unending spiral held her in its powerful, merciless sway. She wanted to break away, to free herself, but she was helpless, swept along the spiral like a grain of sand buffeted by the sea. Small, insignificant and gripped with fear, she knew she could easily be lost forever in the infinite depths of this mysterious power.

  “I love you, Ann.” A man’s voice violated her sleep and pushed her to open her eyes. She started awake, shuddering and drenched in sweat. It was still dark. Very dark. The only light in the room came from the sleek mobile device on her bedside table. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she reached out an arm from beneath the covers and groped for it. Jabbing wearily at the off button, she noticed that the display said it was already half past six. No time for more sleep.

  “Your day is fully booked, my lady,” said the voice again. It was coming from the mobile device. She glanced back at it to see the 3D-face of Rob, her E-Assistant, smiling at her. “Time to get up!”

  Rob was the first Third Generation E-A, a pr
ototype that Ann had been testing for work purposes for just over a month. Working at Artificial Intelligence International, affectionately known as A.I.I., Ann had turned A.I.I.’s robotic products and solutions into the company’s major cash cows over the last three years. The company’s newest offering was the E-A, specifically designed for mobile devices. Her sales and marketing team had been tasked with the job of getting this latest model into the public arena, so she had taken on Rob to get a feel for how the product performed.

  “It’s another beautiful day,” said Rob, dazzling her with his smile as a pair of sleek shades appeared on his face. “The sun is shining and the temperature is perfect, just the way you like it.” Connecting to the apartment’s SmartHome server, the automated system that operated all of Ann’s domestic machines and appliances, he made the shutters in the floor-to-ceiling window behind Ann’s bed vanish into the wall with little more than a silky whisper, bathing her large, studio room in light. The view of Chicago was breath-taking. The city was spread out far below, punctuated by the vast, looming forms of skyscrapers, and in the distance Lake Michigan sparkled in the morning sunlight. But Ann didn’t even glance at it. Instead she shielded her eyes from the invasion of light.

  “Okay, okay!” said Ann, getting to her feet. “I get the message. I’m up.” And with that, and a long stretch, she headed to the bathroom.

  She gave herself a critical once-over in the mirror and sighed. Her dark hair, usually so easy-going and sleek, hung untidily across hunched up shoulders, and even her slender figure seemed somehow hunched and crooked. It really hadn’t been a good night’s sleep. She decided to use the usual remedy of a long, hot shower. Who cared if it meant she would be a bit late for work? At least she would look the part.

  Meanwhile, in the mirror, Rob began shaving the night’s growth of stubble. Although he was entirely digital—nothing more than a clever piece of programming—everything about him, his looks, his personality, his fields of knowledge and entertainment, even the requirement to shave and style his hair, was selected and adjusted by the owner as desired. And as he trimmed pixel bristles, he whistled contentedly to himself one of the many songs that Ann had chosen for his repertoire.

  “You look great, as always,” he said, winking a green eye at her with a charming smile.

  “You’re a terrible liar, Rob,” said Ann, stepping into the shower. Immediately jets of water burst into life from the wall, already at the optimum temperature. “But I will do soon!”

  As she felt the last strands of sleep wash away, Ann let her mind wander briefly back to the dream. It was the same nightmare that had been haunting her for a few nights, bringing with it a sense of unease and apprehension that she found hard to shake off. Why do I feel so bad? Where are these destructive feelings coming from? Ann shuddered and faced the jets of water. I have security in my life and things that most people can only imagine: prosperity, a great job, success and a position of leadership. So the dreams can’t reflect my physical world… She put her hand under the splashing water and let it massage her palm, thinking again of the images from her dream. They must be a sign of something else. Could they belong to non-materialistic matters? Religion? What the priests speak of in church? She shampooed her hair, thinking, what I do know about that world?

  ~

  “You had a bad dream,” Rob observed, as Ann came back out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Ann paused. Her chest still felt tight, as if the dream still had her in its grip. “They’re quite common. One out of two adults has a nightmare on occasion,” he told her.

  “It doesn’t help,” Ann frowned.

  Perceiving her needs and her moods, and even anticipating what information she might request at any moment, was one of the great advantages of the E-A, and something Ann’s team had found to be a major selling point for their clients. Although an E-A primarily interacted with its user via a mobile device, it was really located in the Artificial Intelligence Center, which was housed in the vast underground vaults of the A.I.I. building. What the user saw was the front-end, the personality, mannerisms and appearance that they had selected. But behind this was a wealth of technology, intelligence and smart implementation. Each E-A had access to the largest databases and e-libraries in the world, and was capable of processing and analyzing any kind of information incredibly fast, far beyond the mental capacity of any human being. As such, not only was Rob never actually off, but he was able to perform a vast array of functions in the background such as researching, gathering and collating information in any language, sorting and dealing with Ann’s emails, editing documents, taking calls and so on. It usually gave Ann a feeling of satisfaction to see Rob performing his job so well, but this morning she felt uncharacteristically irritated, and Rob’s comment on the statistical frequency of nightmares did little to comfort her.

  “Rob,” she said, impulsively. “Please check your information pools and see what you can tell me about religion and…God perhaps.”

  ~

  Rob sat on the dash of the car, a beautiful sporty number, as she turned it down the ramp of the underground parking lot and eased the vehicle into her usual space by the elevator. The effect was slightly spoiled by her foot slipping on the gas pedal at the last moment, causing the car to jerk forward, narrowly missing one of the huge concrete pillars.

  “Smooth,” said Rob. He smiled up from the device, shaking his head slightly and causing the pixels of his dark-blonde hair to wobble slightly. “I still love you, though.”

  “Whoops!” Ann knocked the device into the footwell with a graceful flick of her wrist and a sarcastic, “Sorry.”

  Smiling to herself, she picked it up, grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and headed for the elevator.

  “Ann, you’re late!”

  She glanced around at the man approaching her from across the sales and marketing floor. The office space was already teeming with life. To either side of the long, central gangway, desks stretched away to the far walls, which were filled with rows of easily accessible boxes brimming over with data-rich plastic files. Dotted among the desks, and breaking up the formal lines of the room, were small rooms equipped with 3D screens, where workers could engage in private conversations with their clients from across the United States and throughout the world. Almost all the desks were filled with people busy at their work, their slim computer terminals pouring out information as though they had a life of their own, which, in a sense, they did.

  “I think the correct greeting, Peter, would be “Good morning,” said Ann curtly, not bothering to slow down as she made her way across the vast office. And it truly was vast. Its walls spanned over three hundred meters, its ceiling was impractically, yet impressively, high, and at the far end there rose a single, enormous window. “And I think you’ll find I am never late,” she added, as Peter caught up with her. “I’m here when I’m here, which is already far too much of the time.”

  Peter kept up with her as she strode along the immaculately polished gangway, but couldn’t think of anything to say. Suddenly Ann stopped and turned to face him.

  “I spoiled you boys too much, that’s your problem. If it was up to you, I’d be living here, mothering you and holding your hand through every little task.”

  “Hah!” said Peter, with a grin. “If my mother was as pretty as you, I’d never leave the house.”

  There was a pause as Ann frowned at him, just long enough to make him feel slightly uncomfortable.

  “You know that sounds weird, right?”

  “Yeah,” said Peter, after a moment’s thought. “I guess so.”

  “My poor little baby.” Ann reached up and pinched his cheek between her perfectly manicured fingers. Then, laughing, she turned and walked away, leaving him staring after her, absentmindedly rubbing his cheek.

  “Good morning, Ann,” said Linda, smiling warmly at her. Ann did not really approve of Linda. She was far too bubbly and fussy for her liking. And her penchant for wearing an excessive amount of perfume and dre
sses with huge flowers across them simply did not match the casual dress code of the A.I.I., but Ann understood her reasons. Linda’s job as coordinator of the sales and marketing floor was slowly being made obsolete thanks to the AI machines such as the Mikes, so she was desperately trying to find a new role to fill. The trouble was that she tried too hard, hence the perfume and the frankly terrifying flowers on her dresses.

  Ann waved a hand across her face to ward off the overpowering fumes of the scent. Thankfully, Linda did not stop to chat, but eagerly moved on, welcoming others with her most winning smile as she made her way around the office. Ann turned to Peter and pointed at Linda’s retreating back.

  “You see?” she called to him. “Good morning. That’s the way to greet someone.” And then, with her head up and her back straight, she strode away.

  Her domain was on one of the eight raised areas that looked out over the office space, each one the home of a Sales and Marketing team leader. Her seven counterparts were all men. In fact, Ann was the only female team leader in the company, but she was comfortable working with men and knew being the only woman among their number gave her a competitive edge. As Ann approached her table, members of her team, whose desks were nearest to hers, noticed. They sat up straighter and took on a more purposeful appearance as Ann walked past.