Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy, Volume One) (4 page)

Chapter 3

Eyes closed in deep meditation, Steffor took another deep, purposeful breath. Inner silence consumed the mind as the Source merged with both soul and material body. The cheers of millions abruptly melted away as his core being swam in divine energy. Aligned with the Provider, where both time and space hold no meaning, in a dimension where the ego was powerless, Steffor shut out all conscious thought and manifested his immediate future.

The Dive Chute below his feet unfolded before his mind's eye: an arborescent tube shifted from interwoven branches, thickets of stems and tangled vines. Steffor observed his sinewy body, shielded by a transparent she
ll of electric blue Source, fly down the manmade shaft as it traversed the Provider's mighty limbs. Presented with thousands of course options, he deftly dodged one bone crushing dead end after the other and successfully navigated his predetermined route.

Steffor shot from the Dive Chute at maximum velocity, leading his fellow divers into the final leg of the race, a five-mile high free fall. As the Deagron Fields raced toward him, he sensed Grimlock and Vejax bear down on him in one last, vain attempt to
gain the lead. A millisecond away from smashing into the lush grassland, Steffor emitted a powerful Source sphere to break his fall. Dive Shifters raised their flags, indicating Steffor was first to hit land and win this year's Dive Championship. He had done it! He had become the youngest dive champion in history.

His vision locked with the future's pending reality, a moment yet to fully occur, but certain to happen, Steffor closed with a prayer.

"I love you Father. Thank you for all that exists. Please forgive me."

*****

Steffor trusted his garments as he did every gift from the Provider. Bestowed at induction, garments intuitively conformed to a Guardian's physiological needs, making it possible to survive most any condition, including the extreme altitudes of his starting block. That be as it may, reactive shock ran through his system all the same as he transitioned from deep meditation to the thin, frozen air atop of the world.

In
an attempt to shake the lethargy still lingering from his recent theta immersion—a deep state of consciousness he had maintained for the past two hours—Steffor soaked in his new, awe inducing surroundings. He gazed skyward, his powerful site revealing the curve that separated the Provider's upper atmosphere from outer space. He then trained his site onto the panoramic view below his feet, the vast snow covered evergreen canopy known as Toliver's Peak. Steffor scanned for miles across the Provider's northern most branches until his heightened vision spotted the tops of Instenkul's piney foliage, bringing into focus the point of demarcation between the two regions.

He would have stared at the majestic vista for hours on end if not for the pressing task at hand. Having served its purpose in waking his physical senses, Steffor took
one last moment to acknowledging the fruition of his dream to one-day stand atop the world, for without gratitude, nothing mattered past this point.

Steffor brought his attention back to his near surroundings. Vejax stood on an identical starting block a f
ew yards off to his right. After a curt nod, Vejax returned his attention on the dive chute directly below feet. He is committed to his vision, Steffor thought with respect.

Grimlock stood to his left. With concern, Steffor studied the big man still immers
ed in a deep meditative state.
Come on Grimlock, lock it all together
, Steffor thought with a natural impulse to help his friend. Steffor’s confidence in the manifestation of his immediate and pending future placated his concerns, ensuring him that Grimlock will not only gather his wits in the coming seconds but also surprise everyone but himself this day.

Ripping his gaze away from his tormented friend, Steffor concentrated instead on the narrow stem supporting his starter block. Shifted directly from the
rim of his dive chute, the long pole elevated thousands of feet above the Provider's snow covered peak. Despite his garment's ability to feed his body with oxygen, Steffor began to recognize the precursors of hypoxia setting in; realizing the time to start the race had finally arrived.

As if on cue, the Master Dive Shifter and Dive Mystic emerged from a square opening in the center of the observatory platform located between the three starter blocks. Swaddled in thick robes, both men wrapped
their head in scarves, the Shifter an indigo blue, the Mystic pearl white. Getting down to business—their ability to survive at this altitude rapidly diminishing the second he arrived from the elevator shifted below the platform—the Mystic stepped forward first and raised his arms chest high in front of his body.

The Mystic
—a telepathic conduit to every Citizen—looked deep into the eyes of each competitor for several moments then transmitted the images of the Guardians atop their respective starter blocks to the Mystics strategically placed along each dive chute and amphitheater. The instant the Mysticnet feed was established and synced to millions of Citizens around the world, Steffor and the euphoric wave of energy produced by the expectant spectators merged, bent to one purpose.

The Master Dive Mystic zoomed out at that point to provide a view
of all three divers then lowered his arms, moving to his left as the Master Dive Shifter took his place. The niche Shifter then promptly addressed them with the customary introduction.

"May the Provider guide the Source in each of you!"

"May your craft touch the Provider and do his Will!" came the accustomed response from each Guardian.

A rush of silence seized the crowd in excite
d anticipation. The Source flowed in every leaf; its energy vibrated in each custom crafted seat. Citizens drank in the Source as all prepared to witness history. It was time to dive.

Meeting the eye of each competitor one last time, the Master Dive Shifte
r contorted arms and hands in three brisk, succinct movements, simultaneously dropping each starting block. Steffor forward flipped, straitened his body like an arrow and aimed for the upper left quadrant of his dive chute opening.

Body fully enveloped wit
h the Source, forming a protective 'halo', garments encasing him head-to-toe in aerial-dynamic body armor, Steffor shot toward what appeared to be a dense thicket of conifer branches. Hitting full speed moments before reaching the thicket, Steffor safely flew through a small, camouflaged opening.

The reward for avoiding the more inviting, wide-open entry located on the bottom right was a clear path down the left hand side of the chute. Had he gone to the right, he would have exhausted much of his energy on
the first leg of the race navigating a tight weave of barbed branches. Instead, he now faced a clear flight to the first amphitheater juncture.

Steffor admired the expert craftsmanship of his chute, enjoying the adrenaline rush produce
d with each sharp curve designed to test the limits of his shifting abilities. After a dozen spine-tingling bends, the chute straitened and aimed downward, temporarily juxtaposing into art: a trellised passage replete with diamond shaped wickets from which bright sunrays beamed a kaleidoscope of geometric designs.

He flew through the aesthetic patterns, calming both mind and spirit
within their precise mathematics to pull forth his vision for the immediate future. He replayed the events of Vejax, who had chosen a similar, not so obvious entry and was only a few seconds behind Steffor. His friend's chute was relatively open but much narrower, requiring him to exert small bursts of the Source to prevent being thwacked by a multitude of pesky stems.

Grimlock, on the other hand, had chosen the obvious and only entry his chute presented, forcing him down a tight passage similar to the one
Steffor had deftly avoided. Grimlock would be far behind both he and Vejax come the first amphitheater, but he had passed the first test that will reward him with the opportunity to make up ground, assuming he lasted long enough to see it.

Steffor entered
the first amphitheater like a projectile shot from a rifling barrel. The excited crowd met his arrival with a heady dose of raw Source, a sensation akin to slicing through a massive cloud of ether. Steffor spread arms and legs wide, slowing his descent long enough to locate his chute reentry found catty-corner to his entrance. Milliseconds later, he experienced firsthand the impact of Vejax's expansive power.

Having emerged from his own entrance a second after Steffor, the crafty veteran drafted a few inche
s behind, perfectly timing his jarring and potentially fatal pulse of Source. Steffor had anticipated this move, but underestimated the Teuton's aggressive power, the impact instantly launching Steffor a hundred yards down and to the right. If not for Steffor's last second counter punch, used to deflect Vejax's power and project him in the direction of his reentry, he would have smashed into the surrounding stands.

Despite events transpiring as envisioned, his first direct clash with Vejax startled Steffor
in ways he had not anticipated. He gathered the Source around him, hovered in midair for the briefest of seconds, and collected his frazzled thoughts. The multi-level, beehive shaped amphitheater disappeared and the roar of the packed stands faded as Steffor connected to inner self.

Vejax's power will only grow stronger. This is the first and easiest of three amphitheater confrontations and Grimlock has yet to come into play. You cannot allow the sensation to consume you. Do not lose sight of what you know
to be true. It’s visceral; to believe otherwise means certain failure.

Driven by the fear of not achieving all he was capable more than death itself, Steffor returned to the present, aligned himself toward his reentry with a forward one-and-a-half somersau
lt and darted through the upper right quadrant of his chute. Once clear of the free falling, wide-open, spectator-filled stadium, Steffor’s confidence returned within the relative closed quarters of the dive chute. In the chute, it was just him and the Provider's body.

True to his harvest Shifter heritage, Steffor embraced the challenging second leg of his chute with hard labor efficiently. He pounded his way down the compact network of branches, so tightly shifted that many of the openings were only inches
wider than his shoulders, punching the Provider to make room when needed. By the time he reached the next amphitheater, Steffor was in a full sweat and clear of mind.

The three Guardians emerged simultaneously into the second amphitheater, with Steffor co
ming from the right, Grimlock from the left and Vejax in the center. Steffor located his reentry in the opposite corner. Grimlock faced the same while Vejax's was directly below him. Steffor assessed the flight angle of his competitors compared to his own and calculated that their paths would intersect directly in the middle, configured perfectly for a three-way head on collision.

The knowing look on the faces of Vejax and Grimlock led him to conclude they had surmised the same fate. Given their respective
trajectories, reentry locations and experience, the situation represented a huge advantage for Vejax. A reality Steffor was certain Vejax was very cognizant. The outcome of this crucial juncture dictated who would become this year's dive champion.

He sense
d both Guardians gather in the Source, preparing for the inevitable impact only seconds away. Steffor had started the same process of drawing in the Source but then, without clear reason, he hesitated. As was the case with every vision he desired to manifest in his life, the "how" it would materialize always remained blurry, sitting at the edge of his inner sight.

For the how things worked out within the laws governing his physical reality was not his concern. His responsibility was to act and follow the si
gns when presented. With devout conviction, Steffor committed to living his life according to this simple rule long ago, having come to trust the Deeds and their sacred message: the Provider is in you, and through you he will show the way.

Steffor dove dee
p into his core, slowing time to merge logical thoughts with supernatural instincts. Learning from his last run in with Vejax, Steffor concluded he could not win a one-on-one collision with the man, not to mention the combined influence of Grimlock. Yet, to make it through this juncture, he must go through each of them. Going around was not an option, the concussion of their impact would surely throw Steffor way off course, ending any chance he might have at winning. The thought of cocooning himself in his garments, encapsulated by a dense layer of protective Source came to mind, but he knew it would not be enough to stay on course and make his reentry.

Still lacking any solution, fear crept into Steffor
’s frantic mind as his ability to hold off the very fast approaching future waned.
Faith!
The thought sliced through his consciousness, shedding new light on the Provider's message:
Join me and fulfill your destiny. Let fear rule you and failure is certain.
The words caressed his soul and brought a knowing smile to his face. Juxtaposing back to the present, Steffor braced for impact.

If he had chosen to send his own burst of the Source into the foray, a void between the three Guardians would have formed at the point of impact. Vejax, leveraging his superior ski
ll and power, would have maneuvered through the void while deflecting both Steffor and Grimlock way off course. Steffor's plan, in lieu of shifting his own burst of the Source, was to aim his body toward the void he predicted would occur between Vejax and Grimlock.