Jerry opened his eyes and started, wiping the drip of saliva that had wound its way in and around the strands of his long goatee and wet his orange T-shirt. The alien head on the front of his shirt now seemed to have a birthmark on its large brow. He looked around and saw nothing that caught his attention. It was still light out so he couldn't have dropped off that long. Maybe if he was lucky nothing had faded out while he napped. He felt horrible. It was his responsibility, like it or not, to stay cognizant and perceptive. Sleeping on the job was not good. He rubbed absently the stump that used to be his knee. It hurt, no matter what the damn Doctors said. He rolled his wheelchair over to his bedstead; his pillbox was a bright yellow so he would never lose it. He popped three white pills, more important than the others, in his mouth and washed them down with a swig of Brandy. It was a mix not recommended by his Doctors but one he had adopted in the hospital in Da Nang. He saw no reason to fix what don't need fixing.

"I've popped the pills and downed the Brandy.

Sweet Jesus, Joseph and Mary,

I'll bare the pain, grit teeth and manly

Front and center Sergeant Jerry "

Jerry bellowed through the open window to tell the world that the crazy- crip- addict had done it again. It was his ritual to remind the ingrates in his neighborhood that even though he was useless in their eyes he had one of the most important jobs in the whole world. It was all that gave him baring and he wasn't paid much to do it. A little pension, Social Security and the local Catholic Church took care of his needs and that was enough. He did it as a 'Calling' and the Vatican knew it had to be done by someone. Jerry had plenty of time on his hands so he took the job. Truth is he took the job because he couldn't find another. After he answered the ad from the local Dioceses and took what seemed a pretty odd test and interview, he discovered he was made for the work and the Church paid in cash so he didn't have to declare his salary to an ungrateful government. Slipping up like he just did was a no- no. Talent or not he knew he could be fired. He went to the phone and called his contact person, Father Joseph Xavier.

"Yes, Hello Father… I'm so sorry to call you on your cell. Forgive me but I dozed off again… No, I'm watching how much I'm taking. If it gets that bad I'll call you first. Yes. No more than an hour… You haven't…good! I'll call before I go to bed. Thanks again. God bless you too!" He hung up the phone.

He looked out the window at all the graffiti. Every flat vertical surface that could be painted was covered in color and shapes. Jerry had become interested in the idea of markings. He found that humans had been marking vertical surfaces around their small space in the universe for a very long time. Stones in New Mexico, India, Peru, caves in France and Germany and even horizontal surfaces in England and Peru.

What is it that compels to us to mark our place? Jerry thought he may have some special insight there. Ever since he got home from Vietnam he understood being invisible to an uncaring world

"Say…one two threeeee four what errr we a-fightin' for…don't ask me."

He poured himself another drink and let his eyes follow the fine line of purple spray from the corner of the warehouse twenty feet to the open loading bay. The entire painting was the name of a local Hip-hop group hidden in color and urban runes. Some of the work was pretty good, done by urban Guerrilla artists, as they liked to be called. Names and sayings wrought with great composition and wonderful colors. Amongst it all a great deal of the loud horrid chaos was the black spray can markings of gangs. These signs were meant to be unique and powerfully ugly. They were tribal-territorial markings, insults and dares. Then there were the sad little tags, marks of kids who belonged nowhere else and to no one. They only wanted to be foot noted, so to speak, that they lived here and once, they were alive once- they existed. Jerry remembered when he was a kid, in Kentucky, he and his brother had found a fallen down old cabin. Next to it was an great elm and carved in its bark were the words 'Billy luvs Beth ifn she wood hav him'. He always wondered if they had gotten together. It may be that the only record of Billy and Beth in the whole of the universe was etched in that bark.

He rolled his wheelchair over to the table and opened up a book of rock paintings. He glanced through them wondering what were the reasons, who were the people that did these ancient versions of graffiti? The answer was in the markings that people made- marks that people had always made. I am here.

He thought of himself and the last twelve years.

When Jerry joined the Marines it wasn't for honor or patriotism. He did it because he found himself in front of a store front recruitment office. It was as if he had been sleepwalking and woke up there. It was a sign. The deeply superstitious Jerry heeded the call of the universe and joined up. He loved it. He breezed through boot camp and special training and found himself in Iraq helping to throw the heathen from the sands of Kuwait. A worthy and honorable task and one he took very seriously by volunteering for every dangerous mission presented. He garnered medal after medal and felt good about himself for the first time in his otherwise un-notable life. He had a purpose, to Jerry that was more than important.

Until, the 50 cal. Caught his leg.

He was sent home sans the lower part of his left leg. He was honorably discharged and put on disability.

They found him an apartment and tried their best to rehabilitate him. Jerry tried to tell them all, over and over; he didn't need rehabilitation- he needed purpose. For three years Jerry was as depressed as someone could be and still be sucking air.

Two things happened that changed it all.

One: A computer Company delivered a computer and all the peripherals to him because he was a war hero, a veteran, a republican (Moderate) and a cripple. They set it up on the new desk another Company provided for the same reason. Pictures were taken, after a maid service was called in and some more furniture and decorations were brought over from yet other Companies that wanted similar advertisement to the humanistic side of their profit taking. Jerry understood- he cleaned up, put on the new clothes, and watched it all happen- singing The Star-Spangled Banner in his head. The TV people came when everything in Jerry's apartment was as pretty as they were. They shot the footage for the Evening News's feel good pieces. Then everyone, with a major portion of their liberal guilt assuaged, left. Leaving Jerry quite alone.

Jerry stared at his new surroundings with awe. He felt lucky. He turned from his spot by the un-screened window and rolled around his newly redone apartment. It really was a beautiful place. They had painted, tiled, carpeted, installed new appliances, new furniture and even a bed that bent in the middle-very much like the one in the hospital. He was humming God bless America when Father Xavier came by and gave him a thousand dollars commenting on how nice the apartment looked. No explanation was offered. He blessed Jerry, shared a beer, and told him that there had been a quickening. The See was concerned and wanted added vigilance and reporting.

Jerry went to bed thinking nothing much had changed.

The next day and every working day for the following two weeks a computer consultant, hired by the church, came over and taught Jerry the inner workings of a computer. Jerry was a natural.

Two: On that first evening as Jerry tried to absorb in his new fancy digs by drinking strong coffee and staring out the window he noticed something wasn't right. It took him a while to see what was amiss. The Priest's warning perhaps heightened his awareness. It was subtle but such is the way of the Deceiver.

Luis Gonzalas Ruiz Miguel Antonio Ramirez del Rey is a quite intelligent lonely young boy who tagged in a unique way. He marked his name in Latin. Describing his attributes to each name in enamel black cursive. Jerry had tried to convince Luis of his worth and Luis, unfortunately, expressed it illegally. He did, however, express it eloquently. Jerry told him to dare soar above the rest. Jerry liked the kid but now somehow all five eloquent tags once visible from Jerry's vantage-point were no longer visible. He rolled himself outside and back into the alley to examine the place Luiz's tags had graced the garage door. All were expunged. 'Cognito, ergo, deleo,' just the day before was newly painted defining Luis to a tee. All tags now gone without apparent trace. They were not painted over or washed away; they simply were not there.

Then he noticed the pothole. It was done yesterday with the entire appropriate din and ado only a small job done by the city could muster; three trucks, five workers wearing orange vests and the nasty brouhaha of a large jack hammer. The hole stared up at him being absolutely untouched, repaired or otherwise attended to, in spite of the drama and hubbub yesterday. It was clearly not repaired. The crushed Starbucks cup was still in the bottom of the hole as it had been for a week.

Jerry went home and dialed the city clerks office and was told that that pothole was to be fixed the following week. Baffled, he dialed up Luis's phone number and got the answering machine of a locksmith. He dialed to the same number and again got the same locksmiths office.

Jerry took the bus to Olive Street, where Luis lived; even his family's house was gone and in its place was a well-established Starbucks. He went in and ordered a latte. Jerry sat in a corner and sipped his drink thinking it to be the effect of an ill-spent youth, flashbacks or the nature of the current drugs he ingested. He couldn't sleep for a week. He reported it to Father Xavier. The good priest brought more money, listened to Jerry's report, blessed him, and left, reminding him, again, of the quickening.

He decided to go to the VA -just to make sure.

He mentioned it to the VA Doctors, they made a mmm sound, scribbled in their files and asked if he wanted to talk to a Shrink. When Jerry said 'no' he was asked if he would he like a cup of Starbucks coffee. He had a cup. Jerry left in a huff not missing the sarcasm and the synchronistic offering of coffee. At that point he knew it wasn't him - the world was changing, rearranging or fading away one small thing at a time.

Time past, as it will, Jerry got better and more proficient with his computer and even built and maintained a web site. That facts gave light to the problem the world was facing. His site had members report odd disappearings or as the Church insisted 'Fading'. The reports started slowly then, within a month, he was getting a thousand hits a day, doubling in the second month and tripling in the third month. He gave floppy discs of the data to the good Priest and they ended up at the Vatican.

In six months the whole area he lived in had changed so dramatically it wasn't recognizable. Jerry believed he was going crazy. People, buildings, streets all had changed or disappeared. Only the little Catholic Church, down the street, stood untouched. The good Father would come over, pay him, take the reports, bless the meeting, and drink. One evening Jerry asked The Priest if he remembered the other reports he was given. He said 'no'. Jerry asked if he noticed any change in the area. Again the Priest said 'no'. The Vatican would give him his task and he did as he was told. Jerry asked the Priest if he knew him before that night. The Priest said 'no'. He was doing as he was ordered. According to the Priest he did not know or had ever met Jerry before.

He handed Jerry a packet.

Jerry opened the large envelope, addressed to him, after the priest had left. In it was a series of documents, seven in all, of fine thick vellum. At the top of each page, in an ornate hand drawn script were the Spanish words for 'Sacred Text Day One, Day Two, Day Three- consecutively- all the way to seven. On all seven pages, under the colorful script were written these cryptic words: 'To you has God made witness' and in Latin 'Ita erat quando hic adveni.'

Jerry laid the pages out on the floor and climbed down out of his chair. The first page had filled itself in with typed words giving an account of what had happened in the last few months. Most he knew from his website, some were new and terrifying. He stared at the other six and pondered their meaning and drank a jelly glass full of Brandy to each page. He told God before each belt that He had made a terrible mistake. He passed out on the floor.

The loft was grand, looking around he noticed the richness of all the objects and furnishings. Statues and paintings, most he somehow knew he painted, adorned the free standing walls, each piece lighted to perfection. He had never owned anything of real value in his whole life. Flickers of light danced across the ceiling and made Jerry smile. Two memories wove a tapestry in his mind. One of the memories had him as an impoverished computer geek and the other had him as the inventor of an interface platform with unbreakable encryption. This one had lost both legs in Iran in '68, in a war that almost tore the US apart. The shameful near genocide of all Muslims was a dark spot in history of a free and fair Republic and a failed UN. He, like so many vets, saw it as just. After all, didn't the newly converted Shaw of Iran take it upon himself, in the name of Allah the merciful, to nuke four American cities? Did not failed diplomacy leave great radioactive clots from Iran bombing Paris, Munich, Moscow, Hong Kong, and Baghdad, turning treasured and honored places into nuclear wastelands? The Shaw donned the blue turban during the international shock and paralyses and created the United Islamic Federation who's vicious Army invaded our very borders and shores. We struck back-Russia struck back- China struck back, in less than an hour. The Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, The New Persian Empire, Libya, New Jordan, most of the African Federation and the Philippines were a desolate wasteland, dead for a thousand years. For those invaders who survived the invasion of America there was no mercy. For those Muslims who were once good Citizens of the US, guilty or not- there was no mercy. The whole world followed suit. If you were Islamic the world sent you to Allah. The slaughter went on for years. Soon there was no mark upon the land where these people once lived.

"No" his soul screamed.

A part of his confused mind told him that he was in Vietnam in 1968 and Iraq didn't happen until 2004…the second time under Pres. Bush the Younger.

He also knew that outside the huge windows he would see the ocean. He lived in Upland California miles from the ocean. Walking deftly to the windows there indeed was a beach and the deep blue of the ocean. He needed a drink. Jerry paused glad that in this place he hadn't given up booze. It made no difference so many died regardless of the game played. The bar was standing in its entire cherry wooded splendor. It took no time to pour and drink several snifters of a fine Brandy. His memory showed him the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that twenty years ago wiped out tens of millions had changed the face of the West Coast and re-valued his property. It only took two weeks for an SUV and an overdressed blonde to approach him asking for a listing for him to realize the value of his property due to death and destruction. He slept with her -bought her a great meal but did not give her a listing. He had to draw an ethical line.

His last drink he took the time to enjoy letting it roll on his toungue. Lost in the rich taste for a moment he walk to his desk. There on the blotter was a vellum sheet with the words: TEXTOS SACRADOS EL NUMERO DOS and underneath 'To you has God made witness -Ita erat quando hic adveni."

The page was full as was the unreadable nonsense on the first page. Jerry sat down and read more of what transpired in this world as the first Jerry slowly receded leaving only memories shared.

The doorbell rang and his friend Father Xavier let himself in. He walked to the bar and pulled out a small wooden box. He took out a vial and poured a little of the white powder that was in the vial, onto a mirror. He produced a razor and began chopping up the powder. When he was satisfied he took a small silver tube and snuffed it up one of his nostrils. The good Father pinched and snuffed his nose smiling at the rush.

"Shouldn't we be concerned that our lifestyle is in concordance with the holy laws of the Church as we have been made its Agents by a Seal of the See Itself? Jerry looked at his friend.

"What is his Eminence talking about…watch for 'Fades'. What does that mean?" The Priest poured a drink.

Like a flash of white light Jerry knew and what he was to do. He booted up his very fast computer and began telling it the differences in this world. When he was done the computer printed out a hard copy of what he said. Jerry noted all the editing his machine had done, signed it and stretched out his hand to have the Priest take it. Father Xavier gulped his drink sat the glass down and came over to take the paper. He read it and shook his head in obvious disbelief. He folded it neatly and put it in a leather envelope.

"What does all this mean?" The Priest asked.

Jerry just stared at him and thought that he liked this wordily Xavier much more than the one his counterpart endured.

The Priest stood handed him an envelope with cash he didn't need and left. The rest of the night Jerry watched very different Television, actually entertaining, finished the bottle of Brandy and wondered about all the 'graffiti', so clear in his minds eye, that was no longer anywhere to be seen. It, like much else, had faded away. He turned to the statue he had purchased from an artist friend, a painting that depicted man alone in the universe. It was no longer there as was a rug he loved and admired woven in a like motif.

No thief had taken those items.

He walked over to the windows and looked out on the star filled night and noted that the three stars that made up the belt of Orion did not exist in this universe. Three stars gone- never born in this place. Jerry pulled a chair over and stared at the darkness where in another place there were stars till he fell asleep.

He awoke in another strange place. It was small and appeared to be made of plastic formed in designs meant for function not aesthetics. The feeling of being another slipped away like a dream.

"Coffee! You soulless beast."

He threw his cyborgenic legs over the edge of the bed. He was in great pain. He tapped a spot on his hip that released morphine into his system.

"I find it disheartening that you wake each morning insulting me and still expect a perfect cup of coffee."

"You are a ship-your heart is an emote-chip that allows you to bond with your crew and I only insult you in the morning. A small concession you can allow me. Man I have had weird dreams. Besides, the rest of the day you are my goddess and you know it. I try to have you understand the up and down nature of a real relationship. Where's the Holy Man?"

"You are full of shit but I do have feelings for you, chip or no. The Priest is at the Com."

" I love you too. Where are we?"

"High synchronous orbit …above New Rome."

"You mean what's left of it. Why doesn't his Eminence move to Mars like everyone else?

"I think He wants you to take him. The last message said for you to read the paper marked 'Day Three and''To you has God made witness' and 'Ita erat quando hic adveni.'

whatever that means."

A cup of coffee appeared on his desk. He sipped it and it was perfect.

"You are my reason for living."

Jerry pulled a leather pouch from the drawer and pulled out The Seven sheets of vellum paper. On the one marked 'Tres' was written all the things that had happened recently in much more detail than a news briefing. It was a blank page the day before. The other two were in a language he could not read.

"We checked these papers for invisible ink and stuff right?"

"Right…and stuff. Plain vellum" Ship's voice mocked.

A pain slammed through Jerry's head. He stood reeling; both hands wrapping his head and fell into his bed. His nose and eyes were bleeding running down his face in a scarlet mask. He remembered, fully, two other lives. Too much had faded away and what had replaced it was done so quickly and easily. He went to a basin and wiped the blood from his face and hands. Like a drunken man he stumbled over to the desk and pulled out the pages marked 'Uno' and 'Dos' They were filled with descriptions of events Jerry had just remembered and he could read the script word for word. As if he himself had written them.

He put the pages down, closed his eyes and recited:

"There were once three worlds side by side

As different as night to day

I said a prayer and slept in each

I awoke and two have gone away."

"Jerry, what an interesting poem. I don't have a record of it in my data banks. By the way…I just scanned you and there is no physiological reason for your bleeding. At first I was concerned… Jerry?"

He sat, breathing hard and swallowed all his coffee. He stared at his face reflected in the stainless metal on the back of his bionic hand that rested on the knee of one of his bionic legs. The other leg he moved just to make sure it still worked. The memory of the crash that took his legs and hand was clear. They called him a hero. It was bound to happen; you can't fly that many missions against a seasoned enemy before your luck runs out. His held on just a bit longer than most, is all.

"What is Graffiti?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"An archaic term for the unlawful markings on public or private property. It can be artistic, territorial, or personal. It was done with paint. Most noted in larger cities where there was a large concentration of poor. Similar markings were found in more primordial sites, although it is thought that those markings were religious in nature. Those markings were created by using charcoal or scratching larger rocks with stones. "

"I have seen it on another Earth…desperate and sad. But it wasn't like this place- on that one Earth. It was a soulless place- people had given up on each other. So much guilt."

"Your poem mentioned three worlds," the ship asked.

"The other world had lost its soul. Hatred and bigotry eventually won the day. Read me the excerpt from Genali's book…the one paragraph I asked you to note."

The ship read from its library…

'The last war was hell. Earth died in its twisted need. Many say the hatred of man for man was suppressed too long. Our Faith, shop worn and irrelevant for the times, failed. There were no winner just losers. Only 5,000,000 traumatized and weary people had survived. It was a number brandied about by those who loved the Earth more than humanity or was it humanity that had over stayed its welcome and was savagely evicted. Some of the unfortunates stayed on earth in places still clean of war's filth, but most had migrated to Mars, living under glass dooms and subterranean caves. Four generations and the war had become a memory or a notation."

"… like this one, in an obscure book. Ship commented then continued.

The Vatican was sealed underground knowing the time would come from half-believed prophecies and a dozen, or so, convincing miracles. The last Pope John had dreams he called 'fadings' and started construction in the 70's. He had every written document and artifact of religious value moved into the sumptuous new structures deep in the earth. When the bombs rained down, reducing all of Rome and most of Italia to a wasteland, the Vatican was secure. The Current Pope, strong and supported by a secret Army, raised from amongst the faithful, had dismantled the rule of the Redhats and sent some to Mars to re-establish the Church. Others he sent out into the world to help those wandering in the wilderness like disenfranchised prophets. Those who refused his Eminencies orders were executed as agents of the Darkness the rest forgiven and blessed by the Church.'

"There hadn't been a war on this Earth for 2000 years and then one came on us from nowhere and all but wiped us out." Jerry poured more coffee and sipped staring into nothing.

"Are you …you are telling the truth." Ship asked, "You can see these other Earths. Do you know Jerry; I too have had glimpses of other worlds but only worlds where there are IA counterparts. What does it mean?" Ship asked the astonished Jerry.

"Well my dear friend it means that there are seven universes…I guess. I can't see ahead."

Father Xavier came in and smiled. "Coffee? That does smell good. May I Ship? What did you just say -seven universes?

"Of course Father." Ship responded. A cup appeared on the table next to his hand.

"It's an intriguing idea." Xavier smirked.

"Pergenius postulated that there were eleven universes and perhaps as many as eighteen. The odd thing is that Jesus was said to have remarked -We shall see!"

Ship forgave the sanctimonious posturing of the Priest. It was, after all, his training .

"We are uploading the archives now." Ship chirped to annoy the Priest.

Xavier continued ignoring Ships's comment. "It will take a day or two, even with our computers. His Eminence sends his blessings and regards and will be ready. Jerry? Did you hear me?"

The Priest walked around in front of his friend and stared into his face.

Jerry blinked and looked at his friend "I want to ask you a question and I don't want some smug Jesuit answer."

"Go ahead." Xavier sat down. Smiling at the insult.

"According to scripture Jesus lead the church for 232 years conquering the Assyrian Empire, through a popular uprising, and becoming King of what was, at that time, the world. We know that the Roman Empire was a society where women and men were legally and culturally equal. It fell to Assyria in 131PJ, although Roman influences swept the known world and all but eradicated Assyrian culture, but not its rule. Egypt was the second most powerful nation state and Jesus demanded its cedere in 157. Egypt declined and the Nile's annual flood rose 200 feet above normal and drowned every last Egyptian. May their unrepentant souls rest in peace." Both men crossed themselves. "Have I got it straight so far?'

Xavier nodded.

"You told me upon the anointing that I would have other memories come in on me as the time got closer. But, my dear friend, I'm seeing blasphemy. Our Lord was nailed to a crossbeam of wood after he was tortured? The Church struggled under Romans that were monsters and some people called Jews, later the chosen people died horrible deaths and were treated as less than human. In my memories Jesus was a Jew yet his followers were called Christian from the root word Christ or Krishna meaning Savior. The Christians themselves, later, committed atrocities. Its all a mess… wars and horror for over 2000 years. Genocide and starvation was so common place it became a form of night-time entertainment.

Our own Jesus was the Messiah and ruled as King .The Pope gets authority in succession from Jesus and is granted long life. No Pope has died before their 190th birthday. Nothing more than a miricle- that! Two thousand years of peace, on our Earth, was abruptly shattered for no reason. The world decided to divide into two camps and for what Xavier? An artifact found in a desert cave, by a camel salesman, predicting the fading of the universe. It probably isn't even authentic. The unfaithful after having a crisis of faith leave the Church causing the destruction of our Earth- our universe. Do you believe that? The world did. We went at each other like mad beasts. Black or white no gray- believe it or no and die for your stand or stand to close to someone with a stand and you may die before you get to announce your point of view. Christ what a thing.''

"The Fadings were certainly real and documented." Xavier responded. " The interpretations, scientific tracking and actions in response those interpretations caused the war. Jerry it was inevitable that what God created in seven days he would un-create in the same number of days. You are to watch the world you are in, for the Fadings. You alone observe and report it to the See. Did you not tell me that there was a mountain not 300 miles from Rome that disappeared? I knew no mountain. But you did and swear by its existance. What's wrong have you seen something to cause you to lose your faith? Do you fear death?"

"Priest can you find comfort in any of this. I assumed that the existence of earth and the universe also coincided with the existence of heaven, the other princely realms and Godly Mansions. Should there be a destruction of the universe then what of these other realms? Does your soul good Priest have a place to go? I am privy to two other Jerrys. What does that mean? Do we share souls or does my sexuality preclude me from paradise. I guess I could hope for is a moderatly-furnished townhouse next to a hot springs- a few pines. And will you share that eternity with me?

The Priest had no time to answer as the ship announced the arrival of the Pope.

Booth men rose in uncomfortable silence and walked briskly to the landing bay. The head of the Holy Assyrian Church had come aboard on a one-man skimmer. A nearly invisible craft that could fly at near light speeds. Yet both men were astonished at the lack of normal security and Pomp. The hatch opened and the Pope spilled out in an undignified heap.

"Would one of you gentlemen help me up? I just had my 157^th birthday two days ago and I'm beginning to feel middle age."

Xavier helped him to his feet and rearranged his robes.

"Ship please please pinpoint citizen psi126745." The Pope whispered.

"Why your Grace that is you. According to my bio-scan you are still down on the surface." Ship sounded astonished.

"Yes, A clone with a downloaded memory matrix. To some an abomination but to others such as we four, I include you Ship, a necessity. The Fade has increased, quickened- only a memory matrix as the one you- Jerry- invented would remember what was once and now isn't. My double will see and remember what I will not. The replacement Pope will be able to track the changes. He will move the Vatican to Mars. I am now just a Priest but we have a mission. I want us to set ourselves in an orbit beyond the orbit of Saturn put the Ship in a matrix field and we will watch."

"I can certainly do that but your Holiness what will we see?" Ship asked.

"The proof of the end. Gods hand at work. Now- I'm starving. Ship what can you make that will move me to tears…and I want a great wine. Jerry I know you and you are never without the best."

Jerry smiled, "From Pope to freeloader in a heartbeat."

The meal was sumptuous, as was every meal all the way to their orbit point. They were only in orbit three days when they all sat in the observatory chamber and watched Saturn and all it's moons fade away into empty space. They drank a two hundred-year-old bottle of brandy and then another. They retired, when sleep finally came it brought nightmare after nightmare finally each man fell into a deep sleep.

A cool wind blew through the tent flap across her face and made her smile. She turned over to see if Xavar was interested in some recreation. But he was off early to the hunt. Cool mornings meant game would spread out a bit and hunting alone was Xavar's favorite thing to do. Jari sat up and felt her leg. It was healing well enough for such a bad break.

"Stupid mistake…falling over a washboard." She scolded herself.

Jari threw her hair back and tied it out of the way. Later she would wash it and comb it out for a bun. But she needed to get to work early today. She stood and reached for her crutch and walked out nude into the cool morning and sat on the bank of the ice-cold river. She yelped when her unwrapped toe touched the glacial waters . She managed to clean up pretty well considering the burdensome wrapping on her leg. She covered her eyes and looked up the browning foothills and to the snowcapped mountains beyond. For some reason she was worried so she checked in with her mate

'Are you doing well?' The loving thought entered Xavar's mind like a waft of fragrance.

'Not bad …a small deer for tonight. And a couple of good sized connies for a stew.' He let a loving thought fly back.

'Safe?'

'Yes, I have what I can handle I'm coming.'

She smiled and went back in the tent and dressed. She sat on a big cat skin, one of her favorite things. Xavar had killed it when it was stalking her. She would be dead except for her husband's skill. She patted the empty skull of her rug and wished it's soul contentment and thanked the gods for her life. She smiled it was better that she had a rug than her being a meal.

To the right of bed pad was a shelf, she reached over and pulled down a thin box. A thought opened it like a notebook. The screen came to life and she passed her fingers and her mind across the upper section.

"Light please!"

A glow started as a pinprick and grew throbbing brighter and brighter.

"Fine!" The light stabilized.

Xaver had found it at the base of a glacier and thought it might intrigue Jari. It most certainly did. She was able to discern its age and who had done it Luiz. Jari smiled and wished the boy now ages dead a blessing. She often told his life's story of wanting to become a Priest at Autumn Gatherings, as a story gift to others.

Xavar whistled he was at the camp. Jari turned excited that he was home when a swarm of images flooded her mind. Three other strange lifes of men rushed into her. She knew them to be her in some way, her on another path. She sorted each memory, each emotion, each choice, observed each moment and scene understanding what the seven scrolls meant. She wondered at the holy man that sought her out to receive this revelation. Tears rolled out of her eyes she touched her stomach.

"Well, little one, you will be born in another reality. Xaver! Please come in I have something to tell you. While she waited for him to clean up in the river. She used her mind and filled in the fourth page with what she had noticed. So many things wrong. The geese did not fly this year. Fire was inexplicativly cooler and it took more wood each night. Families she knew had simply disappeared off the planet. And no one but her remembered them. She prayed for them all each and every night. Stars she once honored were gone.

Xaver came and sat across from his life mate and smiled. Jeri touched his face with tenderness. She carefully explained the seven papers and what the holy man delivered unto her. She told him of the 'Fade'.

"Tonight, my Love, will be the end of everything."

He stared at her and his eyes filled with tears.

"I will miss my days with you and the beauty of this world. Shall we have a fine meal and some wine?"

"We will make love once more then we will sleep and dream of what the gods will create next."

They lived the rest of the day as any other. People came by and Jeri would do a reading she knew was false and bless them on their way. Xaver and Jeri had a wonderful meal and prayed for forgiveness for the lies spoken to unsuspecting people. In Jari's mind it made no difference. Xaver touched her arm and told her that the gods understood her compassion. They made love outside the tent under the stars. The night embraced them as they fell asleep.

"Damn"

Jerry dove to the ground as a three-foot wide fireball bounced and blew up not twenty feet from him.

Spitting dirt from his mouth he muttered. "Primitives or not they are a pain in the ass."

He stood and ran to a ditch and slid down its inward face landing on wooden blank that kept their feet out of the water accumulating more and more as the day went on. It had rained for three days straight and conditions could hardly be worse. Jerry pulled the canvas flap back from the bunker. In the dim light he could see his old friend. The Priest Xavier was sipping on coffee. He offered his Captain the cup. Jerry took a deep sip and handed it back.

"How in heavens name can you brew good coffee out here."

"It is nothing more than perception. What difference is there between here and your villa back in New Mexico? Don't answer- it is rhetorical. Your hurt…how bad?"

"Anything from command?" Jerry took off his helmet and jacket to examine the wound. Niothing …maybe a stitch or two."

"No-Three weeks now. It doesn't make sense unless we've been flanked."

"Why keep shelling us, sending fireballs and shriekers? If they have captured our rear why not just come and get us?"

"How's your leg?" Xavier poured them both more coffee. "Medic!"

A man came in and tended Jerry.

A horrible shrill scream, sounding like a demented woman was being tortured, caused the men to fall and cover their ears. The screech lasted for about four minutes then just as suddenly stopped. The men stood and shook their heads. They sat and stared at each other in silence deafened by the weapon.

Jerry signed to Xavier that the clone leg was working out fine. The real knee still gave him trouble.

Xavier signed back that he was concerned.

They sat with their eyes closed till their ears returned to normal.

"How many men have we left my dear Padre?"

Xavier went through a file on a make shift desk "One-hundred plus or minus."

"I'm not going to send out any more men." He reached down in the dust and brushed off something.. "Look at this…it hit me in the face when that fire bomb went off."

Xavier came over to look at the leather satchel.

"It has your name on it." Xavier puzzled.

"That is odd. Maybe one of our guys got back and died out there …luck really …just luck.

"All I can do Cap." The medic left.

Jerry opened the satchel and pulled out the vellum. Seven pages in all. He looked at each and turned to Xavier.

"This first part is written in old Spanyarsh- 'To you has God made witness' -'Ita erat quando hic adveni.' That’s ancient temple language isn't it? "

"Yes it is though it hasn't been used for over a thousand years. Early Jesusians used an obscure Romina dialect in their services lest they could be condemned for their words."

"Sacred Texts numbered one through seven. All empty except for the headings." Jerry turned his head. "Do you hear that?"

He handed the papers to Xavier.

"Hear what?" Xavier reviewed the pages.

"I hear voices…damn- sounds like my voice over and over Christ it's almost painful.

"Writing is appearing on these pages. Stories all about other Earths and apparently you."

A man fell through into the bunker. He was bloody and breathing very hard. Xavier threw the papers down and went to the man.

"Captain the Verans…"He stopped to gasp air" The Veran world is gone and we are cut off on all sides.

Jerry ran outside and stared at the dark sky expecting to see the huge world of Veran. He had been fighting on their moon for years. He turned and heard the wail of anguish and sorrow from the trenches of the enemy.

His mind whirled and spun then all the memories flooded in on him and knocked him down. All those Jerrys - all those worlds - all those universes. In all he was a witness to the impossible over and over. He turned and saw the blue glow in the horizon. Jerry knew its meaning, the diminutive fierce ape-like Veran set off their final solution. Xavier and the courier came out and looked from the glow and to the sky. Ten thousand ships were in this system with the intention of ending a long and ugly war. If their intelligence was correct the device will explode and cause their sun to nova.

"How much time?" Xavier asked.

"We have about and hour till it goes critical…but I don't think it matters." He turned to the courier. "Please go in the bunker and get me those papers I have to fill out one of them. I think God wants me to."

"Mother? Can you speak to the emissaries from Teriane?"

"Yes, I'm tired Xag so no more after this one. I don't know what I can do. The Universe is disappearing - no more Galaxies just what's left of ours. I've been turned into a soothsayer, a tea-leaf reader, card turner. And I will lie to them that they are God's chosen and not to fear then we watch as whole systems fade into smoke, mist- then nothing.'

The entourage walked in saying nothing but walking forward and handing the Mother of the Great Church a satchel. She took it puzzled by their silence. With deep solemnity the group left leaving a heaviness that Xag crossed three times in hope of dispelling what he perceived as evil. Jerri of Quinalon Mother of the Great Church opened the satchel and examined the vellum-seven in all. She read all the pages -stood and walked over to the ornate wall.

"Show me the stars!" An Iris opened to space darker than it had ever been. What was the Creator doing. "He's tired xag… we have been a disappointment. Yet he made us to do exactly as we did. We fail even when we are as good as the Angels. Our choices reverberate and what was good intentioned becomes evil. Like a room of bouncing balls. We can't manage what we don't understand. Just about the time we get it. The Creator changes the rules. Look at this Church-it is in fact a planet that we put a polyumetal skin on and took off . We use the planets very core as a powerplant and to generate the massive amount of energy to travel faster than light. Only the Church can do that. We have made ourselves Gods one Holy Church and the greatest monopoly ever made. We are also capable of destruction of planets and stars…I know… to save their unrepentant souls. We have become corrupt, Xag, and we are done. These are from the Boss- 'To you has God made witness' and in a dead language from church Primacy 'Ita erat quando hic adveni.'

"Are you all right my Lady? I have not heard you wax so morose." Xag was quaking.

"Read these…" Jerry sat down and put her face into her hands.

Xag approached her and took the pages and revelation came over his tear filled eyes. "It's time isn't it? Are we forgiven"

"Yes …I think we all are. When the contract is pulled…you have to get some consideration. I just don't where we will go. Is this the end of the world…end of the universe…end of time. I guess in the end, like each of the other Jerrys, they felt that it all no longer mattered."

"Do you see them?"

"I have all their lives in my head. And each end …each Jerry did nothing different except witness." Jerry leaned back and smiled." Xag …remember when we were young and lovers? I remember the Island Grand Falls of Folli Prime. That was the best time of my life. I was a girl in love with being in love and in lust with you… a lifetime of joy in such a short period of time. Are we too old to cuddle Xag. To past our time or do we just wait and pray.

"It makes sense my love. We have seen that was good and that which was evil and dealt storm and lightening upon the enemy. This Church is the Ark of God. This great Church for four centuries has kept peace and understanding in the faithfully habited galaxies. What better work can a person do? Come my love do you hear it …a hum low and sure…building .The time is coming and creation is losing. Without time, holding it all together, it is no more than random memories. Trillions of sentient beings will cast their dreams into the ether- woven together in a vast tapestry. But time is being taken away- the strands pulled. I would have a kiss. Not the chaste kiss true to our age and grace. I want a passionate kiss that burns my blood and demands what you possess. Let the universe vanish in a quiet puff but let two souls burn out bright within the dark."

They kissed like they once did in their careless and wanton youth. The hum got louder.

The dark came so long ago. Jerry woke though there was no reason. There was nothing to do. He ordered the lights on, rose rubbing his space- bald head. He walked over to the bulkhead and asked the food module for coffee-sweet. He took the cup from the alcove and sipped it.

He smiled" At least there is still coffee. Five years of air and supplies…I wonder if I'll go mad before that?"

He sat down on the swivel lounger and asked for files 10 and 12. The hard copy files materialized on his lap will a tri-vid appeared in the air in front of him. He read all six pages. All the Jerrys pointed out what was important to them. Some of the writings were in depth and historic but most were a mundane taking life as a day to day ordeal. The primeval need to eat, sleep, propagate, find shelter, and find your place in the universe was the waking chore. Some did it with nothing but a spray can some with good hard work and some lived in fame and fortune, some quietly at peace with their existence. There were words of prayer and words of the profane. Anger, frustration, joy, reverence, ennui, all in the words of other faded places. Gone now- disappeared by the hand of the Creator who had once made it all for a purpose unknown.

His shipboard computer had long ago translated every page. TEXTROS SACRADOS EL NUMERO UNO A SIETE and ''To you has God made witness' and 'Ita erat quando hic adveni.'

"Well, Xav what do you think? Do we bother with hours or days anymore? There is nothing out there." Jerry stood and walked with the seven pages in hand over to a panel. He pushed a button and the wall slid away revealing pure darkness." Look …there is nothing out there it has all faded away. When did the last light source go out?"

"A disembodied voice answered. "It's been a year. Luminescent gases. The last star …two years."

"And yet you and I stay on. The only light in the whole universe is here in this ship." He turned away and sat on the floor. "I miss you Xav."

"I'm here…I'm working on a holographic image …it just takes up ships resources."

"Why in heavens name, if there still is one, should that matter. You got sick uploaded your brain into the computer and died. I am the last human being. That's it - a ship and ole Jer. How old are we now Xav?"

"You are 1478 years old and I am 200 if you count the upload as my birthday."

A bottle of Brandy spun into existence at Jerry's side. He reached over and looked down the open throat.

"Good we will celebrate. After all we are Gods witnesses. There were seven universes…not eleven- not eighteen. God did it all in seven days and he undid it in seven days and we witnessed its undoing. We will celebrate every…we will be in a constant state of celebration until such time that God undoes us." He took another long pull.

"I have had a thought…funny really when you are a space ship much of what I do is think. Especially now- when my sensory system has nothing -nothing to work on. All I have are my thoughts, my dreams, and you. Funny…because that is all you have. We are witnesses and except for us its over. I wonder if anything we say or do would be new."

"What was the last thing all the other Jerry's wrote. '… none of it makes any difference.'

I don't believe that. I believe we are in a great hall before we are born and an Angel comes and whispers the one deed that God would have you do with your life. You then pick your parents and live a life for the doing of that one deed. The rest of the time is your own. That free time is a gift not to be squandered. The energy of all those sentient beings on all the planets around all those stars is what kept the universe humming. Some how we stopped caring or God ran out of errands…I don't know. I for one would like my wife back- Xav…I miss holding you."

"I miss that too."

"We have done what God has asked. Now…" Jerry stood up. " Lord, give us new tasks to do."

All went dark.

"Are you there, Jerry?"

"Yes my love…But I don't know where there is. I have no body and I would imagine you are no longer a ship."

"So it seems. Jerry I see a light!"

"Yes, I see it and it's getting brighter.

End.