Sun of Zartha/7

ay was in the locker room, packing his final items to go in the transport. He had a mixture of emotions, ranging from nervousness to resentment to joy. Here he was, about to leave everything he had known for five years to travel 9 million light-years away.

He was holding the medallion necklace, which was still red-hot.

“Momma, I’m about to leave New York,” he prayed out loud. “I even had to turn in my neuralyzer.”

The response rang out in his brain. “You’ll be all right, baby. You have come to your destiny. You have come to your purpose. This is the time, Jason. This is the hour, baby. You are what you are.”

“Momma, that’s my question,” Jay prayed. “What exactly AM I?”

“You are T’Va'an, my precious child, blood of my blood,” Jay heard. “That means you are also a child of T’olaan, the Great and Powerful Sun - in fact you ARE T’olaan, reborn and resurrected. His FIRE - lives deep inside of you. It is all YOUR spirit, YOUR fire, YOUR knowledge, Jason. Yours to claim and yours to utilize. I know you will be a great and powerful king, baby. Do not be afraid of what you are, for what you are is special. The universe needs you, baby. The universe needs your fire, your bravery, your soul. Your time in New York, being the protector and guardian of the aliens and the Earth people - all that was to prepare you for this, my son. For this moment.”

Jay took a deep sigh. He was trembling slightly and starting to sweat. “I’m kinda scared, Momma,” Jay prayed.

“Remember, T’Vaan. Follow the light, and you’ll be all right.”

Jay knew Momma was trying to comfort him, and he thanked her for it. But he was still a nervous wreck. He finished cleaning out his locker, packing his knapsack, and left the MIB locker room for the last time.

He walked alone, down the lonely concrete hallway to the motor pool garage. Inside the garage, he saw it. The very same silvery egg-shaped transport Laura left Earth in not even 72 hours before. Two technicians were standing in front of it, taking readings with the special equipment they always used to diagnose alien spacecraft (Jay himself suggested improvements to the latest versions of these devices.) Kay and Frank stood about a foot or so away.

Jay stopped and stared at the craft for a second or two. It hovered electromagnetically about 3-4 inches off the floor.

Then, the crystal canopy automatically retracted.

“Well,” Jay said, “I guess it’s time to cut on’ outta here,” and he stepped into the cockpit.

The cockpit was fairly roomy and the controls seemed to be within easy reach. (Angie designed the latest versions of these craft herself, based slighly on the ‘66 VW Beetle she drove in New Orleans. The basic design was several hundred years old, however.)

Frank ran up to the ship and leaped in Jay’s lap. He then started licking Jay’s face. Jay blushed with embarrasment.

“Frank...Frank...come on now, man, you’re gonna make me start cryin’ again,” Jay said. He lifted the pug up and out of the ship.

“Sorry, kid, I can’t help it...I’m gonna miss ya,” replied Frank. “Give ‘em hell up there on Zartha. It’s about time you got promoted.”

“Zartha's a long way from the mailroom, Frank.” Jay replied.

"Just remember what I taught ya, kid," the pug replied. Jay smiled a little. He was sure gonna miss old annoying Frank.

“So long, slick,” Kay said.

Jay looked at Kay for a second, and said, in a terse voice, “So long, Kay.”

Kay looked at Jay with all the stoicism he could muster. It was all he could do to keep from crying. That boy is just like his momma, he thought to himself, thinking again those haunting thoughts he had for 25 years. He’s got your smart alecky mouth, your attitude...Damn it! I should have married your ass when I had the chance.

The canopy closed. A voice from the transport’s speakers said, “Clear area. Clear area. Transport will dematerialize in 10, 9, 8, 7...”

“Dematerialize?” Jay said, startled for a split second, before he realized that many other alien spacecraft did exactly the same thing.

So with a flash of brilliant, bluish-white light and a vigorous gust of electrically charged wind, the egg-shaped transport was gone.

It reappeared about 500 feet over the city. Jay got one last look at the Manhattan skyline in its early morning glow.

“I’m coming, baby. I’m coming,” Jay said with a nervous sigh. His heart was racing a mile a minute. And with that, the silvery egg-shaped transport shot off like an F-16, upward and onward into the morning sky. In about 30 seconds, Jason Edwards was completely out of the atmosphere of planet Earth and accelerating towards initial crusing speed.

-- Back in the small, spartan office, Agent Kay opened the top drawer to his desk. Immediately inside there was a strip of black-and-white pictures, the kind you used to get in those little booths in the mall. A young, brash Texan was sitting side by side with a powerfully built Negro woman of light complexion. The two of them were grinning from ear to ear. The last shot showed the young, brash Texan kissing the Negro woman on the cheek.

Kay stared at this strip of pictures.

The deneuralyzing process Jay helped him with brought everything back. Everything. And boy, was he so damn glad he had these memories, at last.

These were memories of a dark, cool night in a dinky little motel room in Mobile, Alabama.

These were memories of the only woman Kay ever really loved. He thought he loved the woman he eventually married, and divorced, but this woman in these pictures - she was the one. He knew it. He knew it in 1967. But he was a "good ol' boy" and she was...well, she was an extraterrestrial princess. There was no way they could have gotten married - interracial marriage was still illegal in much of the South. At the time, they were just foolin' around. She was one fine young mama, all right. And the way she looked at you, she made your spirit just want to soar up to the heavens, there was so much damn love in those eyes...and it wasn't fake, either. If she loved you, you knew it. Even when she felt like ripping your damn head off.

A chuckle and a smile made its way out of his lips, and a couple of tears made their way out of his eyes.

Everything she wanted, all these years, was finally happening. It was Kay's job to keep it under wraps for as long as possible, but she made sure - secretly - that he had a stake in it all, a real STAKE, a vested interest, so that he wasn't just a G-man doing his job, but a part of the big picture - nothing less than the coming of everlasting peace among all planets.

And the question remained, the one that haunted him for 35 years: "Why me? Why'd you pick me?"

Only this woman could tell him. And in three weeks, he was going to ask. In person. To her face.

"Well, you win, darlin," Kay said slowly to the woman in the pictures.

Also in the drawer was a copy of the MIB DNA test on one Jason LeRoi Tolan Edwards, dated January 1972. Jay never saw this copy, as it was always in this very spot, in this very drawer. Zed never assigned anyone else to this office after Kay left in 1997.

--

Meanwhile, about 34,000 miles above Manhattan now, Jay sat alone, hurtling along at 15 times the speed of light, and began to familiarize himself with the ship.

This spaceship is kind of cool, he thought to himself. I could see myself going all over the place in this thing.

...So what the hell is gonna happen to me now? My momma is ALIVE and she’s the QUEEN and tells Laura to send for me, Momma practically ORDERS me to leave Earth and go to Zartha.

I’m an ALIEN. Damn, I’m really an ALIEN. Momma’s an ALIEN. Even Dad was an alien. Holy mother of God. I always thought we were Creole.

All my life has been a lie. A big lie. A lie fabricated to protect me, a lie fabricated to protect the Earth. From me, From Laura. From the power of our love.

They could have just left me alone. I was just fine in Momma’s house...

So now I guess I go from being alien cop to king of the Aliens. At least I’m going to be with Laura. This is all worth it for Laura. I love that woman SO much.

Jay asked out loud, "Computer, how do I drive this thing?"

The on-board computer began to speak in Zarthan. Jay cringed. "Computer...I don't know how to speak Zarthan. Speak English."

The voice changed to a female voice with a slight Southern accent. "This transport is on autopilot, Your Highness. Within the next few days you will receive formal lessons on how to operate the unit. The crystal dome in the center of the dashboard, with the metal ring around it, is the control circle. One controls the movement of transport by waving one's hand over the control circle, and by touching the control circle with the palm of the hand..."

Jay was also briefed on the communications and on-board life support systems.

The on-board computer beeped three times. Then a voice began to speak in Zarthan through the speakers. “Computer, speak English!” Jay called out.

“Prepare to enter Zarthan atmosphere. Re-entry sequence to begin in t-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”

Jay saw the planet loom before him. It looked almost exactly like Earth, but much larger, about the size of Jupiter.

Jay felt the ship slow down as it entered the atmosphere. The ship took on a slight reddish glow.

Then, Jay saw hills, forests, and what looked like African villages below.

The dashboard readout told Jay the altitude. 20,000 feet. 15,000 feet. 10,000 feet.

So THIS is Zartha, Jay thought. Damn, this planet is so GREEN - like one great big New Orleans.

Jay saw the royal palace grounds below. The ship was now at a crusing speed of about 200 miles an hour and about a mile up.

After circling down in a spiral, the silvery egglike transport wafted softly to a gentle landing onto the fresh green moistness of the courtyard. The total trip from New York took 45 minutes.

There was a geometric precision to the layout of the palace gardens that reminded one of the great castles of pre-revolution France, and also of what some would call fractal patterns or “crop circles”.

The two suns were high in the sky and there was a cool azure mist wafting steadily throughout.

Jay emerged from the cockpit after the crystal dome automatically retracted. He strode across the grass, slowly at first and then more quickly, more intently.

Laura stood in a flowing green sundress in front of the fountain. She was nervous but didn’t show it. She began to walk towards him to meet him. Her olive face had tears that were meandering softly down.

As they met, they rapidly embraced in a tight, explosive, happy hug of longing and missing and remembering – as if they hadn’t seen one another in years.

Jay exclaimed, "Damn, girl, I'm so damn glad to see you!"

They kissed deeply for a moment, and embraced again. Jay was weeping softly by now. He held on to Laura for a long time, a surprisingly long time. A wave of joy, tears, and all encompassing comfort began to wash over Jason like a flood. The ONLY other person he EVER felt this safe with was his mother.

And now, he felt safe with this Laura Vasquez. The single most beautiful woman he had ever seen. A woman he thought he only knew for just a couple of weeks, but one that he ACTUALLY knew – and loved from the farthest depths of his subconscious soul – his entire life. Or at least since he was seven years old.

His mind zoomed back to New Orleans, 1978. Momma did bring him a baby to play with. At the time, Angie brought the then five-month old Laura to his house to play with. They were together an entire day. This was deliberately set up to begin the Knowing process in the children, so that they would be romantically linked later in life. Jay remembered feeling very good, like he wanted to protect his new friend forever.

Now, here on a distant planet, twenty-five years after that initial encounter, Jay was getting the chance to do exactly that.

“Laura, I remember now. It’s all coming back to me after all these years. When you were a baby. I held you, baby. I held you in my ARMS. We played together in my living room in New Orleans. I was seven years old.”

Laura looked at him with a delicate smile.

“Baby, you may find this hard to believe, but I remember all that too. I remember being a baby and watching cartoons with you, playing with your toys. I remember you giving me my bottle and those dumbass peas – I hated those peas, baby but I wanted to please you so bad, baby, so I ate them - and your mom showed you how to change my diaper!”

“Holy shit, baby, you remember THAT?” The both of them began to laugh hard through their tears.

Then they stared into one another’s eyes again.

“I forgot how much I loved you, Jay. I loved you so much. I felt SO safe and protected, Jay. Just like I feel right now." Laura's wide eyes were filled with a deep joy that radiated from her very soul. She went on.

“I missed you all these years - in my HEART, I missed you, Jay, but I couldn’t quite remember it all. I felt something special, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. The Men In Black erased my memories. There were other times we almost connected, Jay. Back in New York when we were teenagers, baby. They wiped us, they neuralyzed us each time, Jay. Your mom kept trying and trying to hook us up.

Jay looked up at the sky and more tears were flowing. He was still dealing with his feelings of resentment towards the Men In Black. “It seems as though we were never gonna be together, Laura. That really hurts, baby...”

“I guess it was kinda hopeless, Jay, until you came back. In Ben’s Pizza, baby, of all places! You actually came BACK for me, Jason. Think about that, you came BACK! That was NOT an accident, Jay. I don't like the fact that I lost Ben, but everything happens for a reason. All that was orchestrated. It was MEANT to happen.”

The two of them continued to stare into each other's eyes, and tears kept flowing down both of their faces. Jay was acutely aware that the two of them had lost so many years. So many years they could have been making things RIGHT in this universe.

Jay vowed to himself, right then and there, that he would never let this woman be taken from him again – EVER.

At just that moment, the azure mist began to coalesce into warm droplets of rain. The pair were warmly and softly locked in an increasingly damp embrace. Now, Laura’s eyes began to glow a teary pale whitish-green; Jay’s glowed hot coal red.

“Are we doing that, baby?” Jay asked. "This rain?"

“Yeah, I guess so. Our chemistry together changes the ionization of the atmosphere. That’s why it rained in New York when you missed me so much.” She looked at him with another deep smile that came from the depths of her heart.

“Welcome home, Jay.” she said softly as the droplets formed an intricate mosaic on her olive skin. “Welcome HOME.”

“Is this really my home, baby?”

“Yes, baby, it is. This really, really IS YOUR home. Think of it, baby. You and I were always meant to be together. ALWAYS.

When I left New York that night, when you guys discovered I was the Light of Zartha, I didn’t know it at the time, but it wasn’t just about me. All the time, the whole thing, the whole point was all about getting YOU up here, Jason, having us BOTH up here. Together. As one, baby.”

Jay looked in Laura’s eyes. The tears from both of them were really flowing big-time now.

“Laura...I can’t believe this. My greatest wish was to have someone like you be in my life...I’m a little nervous about all this, baby. This is a big change for me. So different from MIB. All of a sudden, I’m in this...this beautiful place...I don’t know how I’m gonna handle all this, Laura. I’m...I’m not sure if I’m really ready to be a king...I don’t even know if I want to get MARRIED yet...I don’t want to disappoint you, baby...I don’t want to let you down...”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Laura said, and she caressed the back of his head. “You ARE ready. Ready for being king AND ready for getting married. We’ve been preparing for each other all our lives.” Laura’s smile was deep. Jay could not resist feeling comfortable with her when she smiled like that. It was too beautiful, too loving, too caring not to accept...

“Follow the light, baby. Just follow the light, just like in our dream, Jay. The rest will come.”

Jay gave a nervous smile, and surrendered to the love energy Laura was sending.

And Jay and Laura kissed again. In the warm rain of Zartha.

After another few moments, the two walked, dripping wet, into the gargantuan palace. Jay marveled at the opulence. They went into a small hall off the main hallway which was bathed in a golden light. In this hall, the same one Shakita took Laura inside a few short nights before, Jay saw the silver and crystal table where the pictures of him were arranged. There were childhood pictures, photos of Jay in the Air Force, photos of Jay at the NYPD Police Academy, and classified pictures of him, Kay and Zed. And of course the picture of him and Laura. All the pictures had inscriptions in Zarthan. On the back wall were bas-relief sculputures of Jay in his MIB suit and sunglasses, raising his fist and shooting out beams of light. There were inscriptions on this sculpture in Zarthan. Neither Jay not Laura could read Zarthan - yet.

A pang of shock and wonder slammed again into Jay upon seeing this sight. “Laura...what the hell is all this? Where did they get all these?”

“Your mom had MIB send them up here from time to time,” Laura said. “This room is dedicated to you, Jay. Kind of like a temple in your honor. To remind the people of Zartha that you’re coming home from Earth to lead them and be their king.”

“Holy shit, baby...this shit is serious...” Jay stared at the pictures in disbelief. “I can’t believe all this is real.”

Jay and Laura continued down the hallway to the living quarters.

The main living space was outfitted not like the rest of the palace, but more like Earth dwellings, similar to a high-end condo that one might see in New York, Miami or Hollywood. There was a medium-sized kitchen with stainless steel appliances, including an authentic pizza oven. There was a living room with a large screen plasma TV, with a PlayStation unit hooked up to it (Jay had about 100 PlayStation games in New York) and a huge beige leather couch.

“This is our bedroom,” Laura said. Jay walked in and set his knapsack down.

“This...this really does exist,” Jay said. “This is the room I saw in my dream.” He turned to face Laura, who was standing in the doorway, droplets of rainwater drippling from her sundress and her black hair.

“Yeah, man, it’s very real.” Laura looked at Jay and another wave of desire shot through her like a laser blasting through metal. And with that, a smile erupted again. For here in front of her was a young man destined for greatness - far more greatness than even the two of them could be imagining even at that moment. Just the previous night, Laura had a dream of Jay. Jay was on the bridge of a huge Zarthan battle cruiser, launching an attack on Kylothian forces and in charge of 3000 battle eggs. In the dream, Jay was resolute, relatively calm, barking commands and making jokes and wisecracks. In other words, Jay was on top of his game and the Kylothians were on the receiving end of his excellence.

Laura often had prophetic dreams.

Jay actually had the exact same dream that night, after he finished packing all his stuff in his apartment in Brooklyn. He woke up with a sense of pride, but also a massive feeling of incredulous disbelief. But this was before he got up to go to work.

“I had a dream about you last night,” Laura said.

“Don’t tell me,” Jay replied, “I was leading a bunch of spaceships into battle against the Kylothians like I was some Captain Sisko or somebody.” Jay chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t laugh, Jay, that was the exact dream I had,” Laura said, and came close to him, putting her arms around him. “My dreams come TRUE.”

Jay looked into those huge eyes and smiled. “What the hell is it about you and me, Laura?”

“Destiny,” said Laura.

“I’ll believe it when I believe it. Part of me is expecting to go right back to work tomorrow.”

“The only place you’re going is out with me in the transport. We need to take the grand tour of the planet.”

“All right,” said Jay. “I guess I need to get to know my homeland, huh?”

“Yeah.” Laura’s smiling stare intensified, smoldering and playful. She moved in for a kiss. This was the way she acted with previous boyfriends in New York. Jay backed off for a second. Laura was surprised and slightly disappointed. She frowned slightly. "You wanted me pretty bad when we were outside..."

“It's just...well,” Jay said, “you are SO about kissing me.”

“I’m so about YOU, Jason.” Laura’s eyes began to glow a greenish-white.

Jay looked off and sighed. He placed his hands on Laura's shoulders. “Listen, baby, I’m goin’ through a lot of emotions right about now. One minute, I’m on the downtown bus thinking about how I’m gonna stick it to Zed and Kay for lying to me, the next minute I’ve got a care package from a mother I thought was DEAD, and the next minute, I find myself laid off from my job and told by YOU, I might add, to evacuate into deep space immdiately or risk destroying the Earth. Then I come into Buckingham Palace here, on an alien planet 9 million light years away, and find out that I really am like some Prince Charles or something, and there’s a damn shrine to me in this place like I’m...some god or something.”

Laura giggled and swayed closer into him. “You ARE some god or something! That’s the point!”

Jay continued. “I need some time to reflect on ALL this, Laura...I’m out of my element...”

Laura planted a quick kiss on Jay’s lips. She began to loosen Jay’s black tie. Jay was startled. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec, baby -”

“We need to get out of these wet clothes,” Laura said.

“I don’t know if I’m ready...”

“Ready for WHAT, Jason?” Laura’s expression was a mischevous smile.

Jay blushed with embarrasment. "Umm...uhh..umm..."

Laura went on. “You ARE ready, Jay. I can feel you.”

Jay giggled and his face got even redder. “My body has a mind of it’s own, Laura.”

“So does mine.”

“Laura, listen...when I date women, I usually wait about 3 or 4 dates before - umm, you know...look, I barely know you. I just MET you.”

“That’s not true, Jason, I told you before. We’ve known each other our entire lives. We were neuralyzed, so we forgot. It’s OK, baby. I trust you. I even looked at your medical charts.”

Jay’s eyes brightened and flashed a quick neon-red. He raised a playful eyebrow. “Are you sure? ‘Cause in about 10 seconds it’s gonna get a little late to change your mind.”

“My mind is made up, T’Va'an. I am your queen, whether you believe it, like it, or not. Now we NEED to get out of these wet clothes.” Laura turned around so her back was facing Jay. "Untie me," she said.

Jay sighed. “You know, that’s what I’m worried about, Laura. I DO like it - but I don't know if I believe it,” and Jay pulled the strings on the back of the dress.

"Just because you don't believe something doesn't mean it's not true," Laura replied. Her words were soft but there was some force behind those words, a joyful force. In about three seconds the damp dress hit the floor. Laura then spun around and faced Jay. "You may flash me now."

Jay gazed upon the totality of Laura, and that joyful force was now coming from his own soul. His eyes began blazing bright red. "Yeah, and it ain't gonna be with a neuralyzer," he breathed out.

And in about 10 more seconds, Jay’s slacks, shirt, suit jacket and his underwear hit the floor.

next: Conference Call with Momma | The Sun of Zartha