Father Adam Benson held the now cold cup of coffee in his hand and gazed unseeing out the triple paned window set into the chapel door.  The dream he’d had still echoed in his mind.  He was trying to understand it as an allegory but the part of his memory that held the science fiction stories of his youth kept popping up and telling him that the demon had been a space ship.

 Perhaps like the space ship that was headed towards Earth right now.

 Shaking his head, he noticed the cold coffee and sighed.  That was the second cup he’d almost drunk this morning.  Morning mass had been standing room only, not because of his scintillating sermon but because of the uncertainty of knowing that something was approaching Earth and their communications were cut off.  He’d already heard thirty confessions this morning but for the moment, the chapel was empty so he was free to make his way to the mess hall and have some professional caffeine.

 The weather certainly had been strange lately he mused, noting the mounds of snow in the gray-white light of a winter day in the Northwest Territories.  He promised himself a trip to the command post to see if the weatherman had figured out the patterns and to see if the communications had come back up.  After he got his coffee.  He nodded to the cooks while he made his way to the large steel coffee makers.  Pouring his first cup, he thought as he always did that the base would stop running if the coffee ever ran out.

 “Padre!”

 He turned to find a gaggle of civilians led by Captain Brewer.  “Neil, I see you’ve become a guide again.  I’m Father Benson.”

 The introductions were brief and he took pity on the young captain, asking if he could join them.  The grateful look he received was thanks enough.  Their conversation was stilted as if they couldn’t speak freely in front of him.  It didn’t help that every eye in the place was on them.  Visitors at this time of year were not common, especially civilians.  And this bunch appeared odder than most, with their disparate range of ages from teens to sixties.

 When the loud speaker asked Captain Brewer and guests to return to the command post, he invited himself along.  Something was going on and a little chill up his spine told him that he was needed.  It only happened when there was danger and so far it had saved his life twice so he wasn’t going to argue with it.  Just send up a quick prayer to God to guide him and then go ahead and do the best he could.

 Colonel Green was just coming in, brushing off snow and laughing at something the strange officer behind him said.  “Ah, Padre, meet Major Peter Hamilton.  Peter, this is Father Adam Benson, our Chaplain.  It appears we’re going to need your prayers, Padre.  This band of intrepid adventurers is going up to meet whoever is flying towards Earth.  Where are the other two?”

 “I’ll go and wake them, Colonel.”  The red headed woman smiled and moved serenely to the door into the conference room.
 
 “I’ll come too, Marag.”  The American Captain made a movement to follow her and the young lad who looked somewhat like him threw an arm around his shoulder, holding him in place.

 “Nah, Peter, you need to stay and tell us about this Albatross we’re going to be flying up to Meighen’s Island.”  His laugh diffused the brief tension that had filled the command post.

 Father Adam wrinkled his eyes and tried to decipher the different dynamics of this odd group.  Colonel Green had obviously accepted them and whatever story they’d told him but what would bring together such a mixed bag of ages and sexes.  He listened intently to their plans and the questions they asked the weatherman.  It sounded like they knew where the aliens were going to land and who the aliens were.

 But that wasn’t possible.  Was it?

 “Sorry, Father Adam, it sounds quite crazy doesn’t it?”  The young Chinese girl smiled up at him.

 “I wouldn’t go so far as to say crazy but I do wonder at your strong belief in this situation.  We’ve never faced such a situation before except in the movie theaters.”  He returned her smile.

 “But we have experienced it before.  The Ikiiri come every two thousand years.  The last time was in ancient China and Ruth was our mother when she faced them down.”  Mei Ling spoke calmly but with complete assurance.

 But he couldn’t respond because he was held tight in the grip of the nightmare of the night before.  Seeing the silver dragon, hearing its unearthly screech, tasting the blood as he bit his tongue in fright, smelling the scorched ozone that the air became and feeling his solid prayer beads held in faltering fingers.

 “Father . . . Father Adam, come back to now.  Leave that memory behind and follow the sound of my voice back to us.  Come on, you can do it.”  The sharp voice held confidence and the promise of safety.

 He came back to the command post eye to eye with the grizzled old man who’d hung back when the group was introduced in the mess hall.  Joe, that was his name.

 “Good, you made it back.  Did you by chance have a dream last night?”  He let go of Adam’s shoulders but kept one hand gently on his arm to help ground him.

 Adam managed a nod and wondered why the Major was shaking his head and muttering something about the Hamilton curse.  “I was a monk in China, leading a woman to the sacred mountain.”

 “Ah, I thought so.  It may help you to know that all of us who came up here have had such a dream.  Although we pretty much cover the whole spectrum of Ruth’s last three lives and the countries we lived in.”  His voice sounded so matter of fact that Adam found himself nodding in agreement before his mind caught up to the words.

 “But that’s not possible.  Reincarnation is a pagan belief.”  He stammered.

 The young Asian girl just patted his shoulder while the others looked at him with varying degrees of pity.  Joe nodded as if he’d heard just what he expected.  “Perhaps it was simply a manifestation of Jung’s collective unconscious.  He always did feel that our dreams could be deciphered in terms of the myths and symbols that have lasted through the ages.”

 “Now, that makes sense to me.”  Adam straightened and returned the shy smile Joe gave him.

 “Of course it does, Father.  We can use your prayers to help us through the coming meeting with the Ikiiri ship.”  Joe removed his hand and stepped back to fade in self-effacement into the bearded man’s shadow.

 “All of you believe this?  That you’ve shared lives with that woman?”  Adam looked into each face and registered their serene acceptance of the impossible idea.

 The American major glanced sharply at him and Adam wondered why but didn’t want to ask. At that moment Marag returned with the missing members of the party and his attention went to them.  One was a Marine Colonel who moved with the same air of command that his own Colonel radiated.  The man at his side looked translucent with an inner light that shone from him and Adam shook his head at the strange thought.

 “Feeling better, Sam?”  The American major asked with a note of concern in his voice.

 “Yes, big brother, I’m fine.  I just needed some sleep.”  He smiled affectionately and crossed to the pilot’s side.

  From his vantage point at the side of the room, Adam watched them all while he tried to sort out the personalities involved in this strange group.  The bearded man stood with Marag and Joe, listening to the young Asian girl ask a quiet question.  Toby, the youngest brother stood near her with one hand on her shoulder even while his attention appeared to be with his siblings.

 The major was eyeing them all with a puzzled look that Adam felt should be his own expression.  It was certainly the way he was feeling.  The Marine Colonel was speaking with Colonel Green but he kept a weather eye on the one they called Sam.  Even from here, Adam could feel the connection between the two of them.

 How odd said the inquisitive part of his brain.  But the stern taskmaster of his psyche who always sounded like gruff old Father O’Connell from the seminary, looked on disapprovingly at them as he listened to them plan to actually fly up to the frozen island where they firmly expected to find their friend waiting for the alien ship.  He didn’t understand their comments on the odd weather pattern west of the island.

 It was a weapon?

 That wasn’t possible.  Then his stomach clenched at a sudden memory of the earth heaving and rolling like a giant roller coaster.  No, no, no.  That isn’t possible.  It was a dream.  Just a dream sent by my subconscious.  Not a memory.  He sucked in a deep breath and hoped no one had noticed his sudden abstraction.  His mental guardian, Father O’Connell, shook a finger in his face and told him to snap out of it.

 “Okay, we should probably shift the supplies we brought with us over to the Albatross.  Then if you’ll provide us with some navigational charts to Meighen’s Island, we’ll be on our way.”  Colonel . . . Adam squinted a bit to read his name tag . . . Griffin said with a smile.  “David, is there room for you to go along?  It would be nice to have a Canadian presence when we get up there.”

 “Ha!  Wouldn’t I just love it?”  Colonel Green snorted but shook his head.  “I’d be shot for abandoning my post, if the Powers That Be ever found out.”

 “I could go.”  Adam surprised himself by stepping forward and volunteering while Father O’Connell berated him mentally.

 Startled green eyes met his and he stood quietly while they assessed him.  “Why would you wish to go into such danger, Father?”

 Adam thought a moment, pushing Father O’Connell down into his subconscious where he belonged.  Why did he want to go?  “They may have told you that I had a dream last night.  I don’t believe in reincarnation but part of me wants to see if the alien ship matches the . . .” he blushed at the need to put it into words, “the dragon in my dream.”

 “Ah, I see.  Well then, welcome Father.  Will you have any problem with my commanding this little group?”  Those eyes seemed to read straight through to his soul.

 “No.  Are you prepared to have me pray for all of us?”

 The eyes crinkled up and a smile blossomed.  “I never turn down a prayer, Father.  We can use all of those we can get.  Are you all right with this, David?”

 Colonel Green nodded and sent Adam a smile of approval.  “Father Adam will be a good addition to your party.  He has a most retentive memory and will be able to tell me all about it when you get back.”

 If you get back.  Adam heard the unspoken words as loudly as a clap of thunder.  He shivered and wondered if he’d finally gone insane.

********

 Once in the air, he sat back and noted the coming and goings of the entire group.  Marag was whipping up a banquet for nine out of the supplies they’d brought with them.  The bearded man who she called Simon but everyone else called Wolf was helping her.  Joe was curled up near him and the two teenagers were playing a game of hearts across the aisle, arguing good-naturedly over the cards.  Colonel Griffin and Major Hamilton were piloting the old plane while Sam sat between them in the navigator’s seat.

 “Joe, would you mind telling me your dream of the past?”  Adam needed to know more about these supposed memories that his companions seem to think proved the hypothesis of reincarnation.

 The old man nodded and gave him a potted history of his life up to the moment he met Ruth and recognized her from his dreams, those dreams of fabled Atlantis and the reason why she sank beneath the waves of the Pacific.  The small boy in him wanted desperately to believe the story but the part of him that sounded like Father O’Connell listened with a disapproving air.

 Suddenly, Joe said something that struck a nerve.

 “Excuse me?  She escaped from an insane asylum?”

 “Yes, I know.  Proves that the dreams couldn’t be true, don’t you think?”  Joe smiled wryly.  “A hundred years ago when I was a practicing psychologist, I’d have agreed with you.  They can be explained away as the onset of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.  Multiple personalities released by the trauma of being blown up.”

 “But you don’t think that’s the case?”  Adam looked a question.

 “No.  Too many things are left unexplained by that theory.”  Joe’s faded blue eyes looked into his.  “The dreams are all different but they all have the immediacy of events lived.  All five senses are involved in every case.  And how did she heal Wolf and I with the crystal?”

 “Faith healers have been around for centuries.  And even some saints have had the power to heal.  Power given to them by God.”  Adam was on solid ground here.  “Perhaps you healed because you wanted to be healed?  Belief can be a powerful source of God’s power.”

 Joe nodded.  “You could be right, Father.  Perhaps that explains my need to drink disappearing but it’s a little harder to explain the spontaneous remission of Wolf’s lung cancer.  Instead of only having six months left to live, his doctor says there’s no trace of the disease anywhere in his body.”

 Adam looked over at the large man who was smiling down at his beautiful companion.  He seemed to be fit and in excellent shape for a man who’d been dying a week before.  Nothing in his studies except for the stories of the saints fit the picture that the old man was painting.  But she couldn’t be a saint, not if she worshipped a pagan goddess.

 “Perhaps, her Goddess is just a manifestation of the Virgin Mary.”  Adam offered up a tentative explanation.

 Joe smiled.  “Entirely possible, Father.  The feminine energy of the universe goes by many names, I think.  It’s a fascinating study and one I plan to pursue if we get out of this alive.”

 Adam felt a shiver go up his spine.  “Yes, there is that.  What if it isn’t this race you’ve named the Ikiiri?”

 “Well, that would be a poser wouldn’t it?”  He grinned suddenly.  “What do you think about that, Toby?  What if it isn’t the Ikiiri?”

 The young man looked up with a grin.  “I don’t think it matters.  If worst comes to worst, the typhoon that’s brewing west of here won’t leave any trace of them.  No matter who they are, if they come to conquer then they’ll be taken care of.”

 “Along with all of us.”  Adam couldn’t help mentioning.

 Toby just smiled at Mei Ling and she answered for them both.  “Father, beyond everything I hold dear one thing keeps coming back to me.  Catholicism believes in acts of faith, don’t they?”

 “Yes, we do.”

 “Well, I have faith in Ruth.  Even if she’s crazy or deluded or any other derogatory term you want to use, she’s the one who warned us.  And she has a rock solid belief in her ability to protect the world from its invaders.  A belief that most of us share in one form or another.”  She held out her hand to meet Toby’s.  “If there is a way out of this which will protect us and the peoples of Earth, I believe she will find it.”

 “It may sound odd, Father, but we have faith in her.  Even is she does believe in a Goddess who protects Earth.”  Wolf’s voice joined in their conversation while he put a plate down in front of the other two, loaded with all manner of food.

 “It’s easier for we women, Father.  There’s a point in all our lives, if we have children when we no longer pray to God but to his Mother to comfort us.  Because She was where we are now, birthing a child, taking care of him or her and letting them go free when they take their first steps out into the world.”  Marag’s green gaze was steady on Adam’s while she set down their dinners.

 Adam nodded an acknowledgment of her words but he stayed silent because of a sudden memory of one of the parishioners at the parish he’d served with as an apprentice priest before graduation.  The old woman came faithfully every day at seven in the morning and again at eight every night.  She always lit a candle by the Madonna in one of the side chapels and prayed for a long time before her image.  One day, she had struggled to get up from rheumatic knees and Adam had rushed to help her.

 Thanking him shyly, she had patted his arm and told him what a good son he was.  She had told him that one of her daughters was a Bride of Christ, serving in the next state in a Benedictine order.  He had smiled and walked her to the front doors while she explained that she thought of the priests as Mary’s sons since the nuns were thought of as Her daughters in law.  He’d managed to hold back his laughter but he couldn’t help telling Father Randolph that night over supper what she’d said.

 The old priest had looked at him with a twinkle in his eye and told him that in a very real sense, they were Mary’s sons since they were standing in for Him in this wicked world.  For some reason that memory had stayed with him and he found himself back in the present with a start while he ate mechanically from the plate in front of him.  The others were all eating and chatting back and forth as if they’d known each other for years instead of weeks.

 His questioning of Wolf about the dream he’d had, brought Marag and Joe back into the conversation.  But when Toby and Mei Ling began to talk about their life in China, he began to tremble in shock while their modern faces changed to the solemn little faces he’d seen in his dream memory.  He’d managed to hide his reaction amongst the others’ questions but he was shaken to his soul at the reminder that they truly thought these were past live memories.

 Nothing in his thirty-six years had prepared him for the questions he now had.

 Sam came through with empty plates and Toby got up to join him at the back of the plane.  But even over the engine noise, he could still hear them.

 “Did you say anything?”  Toby asked.

 “No, of course not.  He doesn’t need to know anything is changed while we’ve got an invasion in front of us.”  Sam blushed.  “Besides I’m kind of afraid he’ll have the same reaction that Dad had.”

 “No way.  Peter will surprise you.  I had to think about it for a while but hey, you’re my favorite doctor brother so whomever you love I’ll accept.  Unless it was Eleanor, of course.”  Toby said solemnly.

 Sam broke into delighted laughter and Adam watching him out of the corner of his eye saw that luminosity return that he’d seen earlier.  Now that he knew that he was an officer in the Guard and a doctor, he wondered just what they could be keeping from their oldest brother.  Getting up, he took his empty cup with him and crossed to the two brothers.
 
 “Is there any coffee left?”  He asked quietly.

 “I think so, Father.”  Sam shook one of the thermoses and smiled when he found a full one.  “Here you go.  I’d better take some more up to the cockpit.  Peter lives on this stuff.”

 “I’ll join you if I may?”  Adam asked him with a smile.

 Sam and Toby exchanged a quick look then the doctor grinned and nodded.  “Sure, Father.  I’m guessing that you’re curious about the dreams we had?”

 Adam nodded ruefully.  “The details are so intriguing even if I can’t believe that they are memories.”

 “Fair enough.  Come on forward with me.”  Sam took the thermos with him.

 Climbing the short ladder that led to the cockpit, Adam spotted the fold up seat that the crew chief usually used.  A pair of green eyes flashed over at him, softening when they saw Sam beside him.

 “Okay, guys, here’s the last of the coffee.  Make it last, Peter.”  Sam joked with his brother and divided the coffee evenly between the two cups held out to him.  “The good Father here would like us to describe our dreams for him.”

 Adam sat quietly while Sam told his dream of ancient Greece with the Colonel adding in details from his.  The priest noticed that Peter listened intently, his eyes going back and forth between his brother and the Marine.  Something about the story widened his eyes and his questions were short and to the point.  Adam had missed something but he couldn’t think what.
 
 But then the Major was telling them his dream in full detail and Adam winced at the whole polar bear goddess story.  Peter drolly told them Colonel Green’s interpretation ending with his belief that it was a reminder to call his mother.  The priest joined in the rather strained laughter that followed that quip, watching Sam and the Colonel exchange a look he couldn’t interpret.

 But just then a flash from outside the small windows lit up the gray skies.  The Colonel spoke a terse command and the Major grabbed a pair of binoculars, training them on the ice below.  Sam stood and looked over his brother’s shoulders.  Adam felt his heart beat quicken while he said a prayer for their safety.

 “I don’t believe it but there’s like a minor sun burning out there.”  Peter kept his eyes on the light.

 “It’s the crystal.  I think it’s her signaling device.  So the Ikiiri know where to land.”  Sam said tersely.  “We need to get as near it as possible.  Is there any sign of the Ikiiri?”

 “Nothing that I can see yet.  There’s still nothing but static on the radio.”  The Colonel began a controlled descent, pointing the nose of the plane towards the light.

 Adam realized that they were going to be landing soon and he really needed to be someplace where he couldn’t see anything.  “I’ll go tell the others we’re heading in.”

 They just nodded while the two officers spoke cryptic little asides to each other involving landing gear and wing flaps.  Adam kept tight control of his voice as he gave the other the news that they’d soon be landing.  Everyone buckled up and sat back to wait for the word to move.

 Adam closed his eyes and prayed for a safe landing.  Father, bless us and hold us safely in your hands.  I really, really hate landings.  Why do I fly?  Trains are so much safer.  Except when they crash of course.  Crashing.  Don’t be an idiot, Adam.  We’re not going to crash.  We’re going to land safely so we can meet the alien invaders in one piece.

 He began to pray in earnest, reciting his prayers with a fervor he usually reserved for baptisms or the occasional exorcism.  The sense that they were dropping swiftly made his stomach flutter.  It seemed to last forever but when he checked his watch only five minutes had passed when he felt them begin a controlled skid on the ice covered plain at the southern tip of Meighen’s Island.

 Changing his prayer to one of thanksgiving, he opened his eyes and found the others already on their feet and helping each other into the cold weather gear they’d stored beneath the seats.  He accepted the one piece insulated jumpsuit and pulled it on over his uniform.  His parka barely fit over the down filled suit but the heat was already leaching out of the plane now that the engines had stopped.  The three from the cockpit joined them and when they were all suited up, they opened the side door to step down onto the frozen surface.

 Adam was the last to disembark and he helped the Major close the door behind them.  The others were already heading towards the shining beacon that blazed in the distance.  He found himself praying again but none of his memorized prayers seemed to fit the situation so his importuning were more like the prayers he’d prayed as a child.

 Protect us, Father, and guide us now and in the battle to come.

 “There she is.”  He couldn’t tell which of them had spoken since the suits tended to make all of them look the same except for their heights but he followed the uplifted arm and he hurried to catch up with the others.

 In another few moments, they were approaching the still figure that was clad in a simple sweater and jeans, holding aloft the light they’d followed to landfall.  She seemed too still to be living and how she’d survived the sixty-degree below zero weather, Adam couldn’t understand.

 “Well, I see you couldn’t stay away.”  She kept her eyes on the light in her cupped hands but her voice was full of affection.  “Mother said you were coming of your own free will.”

 “Yes, we did.  It’s our world too, Ruth.  Win or lose, we need to help.”  Sam spoke simply to the small woman who stood so straight before him.

 Her sigh seemed to come from deep within.  “I had thought to spare you this confrontation but it seems that we must go to Plan B.”

 A high-pitched whistle came from overhead and Adam looked up to see the dragon of his dream come plummeting down towards them.  As it landed, he found himself empty of prayers while he waited to see what came out of the hatch that slowly slid open before them.

******************
End chapter seventeen