Donald Chivers - Prorogatio: Only The Chosen

Prorogatio

Only The Chosen

Donald Chivers

Copyright 2012 by Donald Chivers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012907601

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4771-0263-3

Softcover 978-1-4771-0262-6

Ebook 978-1-4771-0264-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

115909

Contents

W HEN HITLER CAME to power, almost three quarters of a century before this story begins; he was already convinced of Reichmanns genius and imminent success in solving the problem of mortality.

He postponed the pleasure of sending Reichmann to a Jewish concentration camp, and instead set him up in his own lavishly equipped laboratory, with the promise that he, Reichmann, would share in the success of his findings.

Having seen and heard the propaganda of the Third Reich, depicting Jews as vermin to be exterminated, Reichmann knew better than to trust his captor. A couple of years later Reichmann committed suicide leaving a note that provoked many years of hope and speculation. Hitler took the bait and concluded that Reichmann had also cheated him by smuggling out the successful results of a lifetime of research in pursuing immortality.

Hitler believed that Reichmann had killed himself to keep his secret inviolate. He was aware of Reichmanns distrust, and credited him for being too smart to be used. It was the potential of Reichmanns success that inspired Hitler to step up the annihilation of the Jews, to start a Second World War, and hand-pick his super race of Aryans to secure the future of mankind.

His boast that the Third Reich would last a thousand years was based on an insane belief that he and his hand-picked cronies would still be alive to rule the world, but perhaps not without the genius of Reichmanns findings.

The myth continued long after the war ended and the subsequent deaths that occurred within a natural lifespan. Reichmanns research had vanished but was not forgotten.

This then was the secret misconception and the ongoing reason for the deadly struggle between the small clique who thought they might yet be chosen for immortality and those unaware of Reichmann and his supposed success in finding how to rewind the clock of life

The struggle to postpone death by body implants gained momentum with those impatient for the finding of Reichmanns research. A clandestine bias emerged against those ignorant of the possibility of immortality. Elimination of those judged limited by mortal beliefs continued on into the year 2080 to culminate in the end of the world as we know it.

* * *

The Golan Heights: June 1967.

The final days of the Six-Day War saw the Israeli forces led by Ilzhak Rabin, Chief of Staff, explode out in headlong pursuit of the Egyptians and their allies, the Jordanians, Syrians, and the Palestinians.

Jerusalem, Christianitys holiest of holy places, had fallen to the Israelis. It was considered a sign from heaven, and Moshe Dayan, their one-eyed defense minister, swore that Israel would never again relinquish it.

The troops of the Egyptian president, Nasser, and their allies, were routed in the ensuing battle that raged north of the Golan Heights, and south through Gaza, across the Sinai Peninsula as far as the Suez Canal. The Israelis took Hebron from Jordan, raised the Egyptian blockade at the Gulf of Aqaba, and opened the Strait of Tiran. The Arab world was faced with a shamefully quick defeat.

* * *

The man with the rifle had reached the flat school roof sometime during the night. From the darkness of the boiler-house doorway, the boy spotted his traditional Arab garb rippling white in the early morning breeze. He was covering the empty playground and the road that ran around the perimeter of the school. If he knew where the boys family was hiding, he would keep them pinned down until his comrades in the Al Fatah arrived, together with members of Baader Meinhofs Red Army Faction.

The Hyram familyJoseph, a boy of nine, his father, Abe, mother, and his uncle Ramonhad spent the night in between the two boilers, hoping they would heat up to provide warmth for the cold mornings. But the boilers had remained unfriendly and cold, and their thin summer wear had afforded little protection against the cold desert night.

The shortest open span of ground was some sixty yards to an abandoned truck, and then on some twenty yards to the houses beyond. His father recognized it as the only feasible escape route. Weve no alternative but to make a run for it, he said grimly. He turned to his younger brother. Ramon, you go first, and take the box with you. If you drop it, one of us can pick it up. Joseph stared at the welded steel box and thought of the years his family had burdened themselves with the mystery of its contents.

The man on the roof remained still, staring out in the opposite direction, and Ramon dashed across the open space to disappear behind the truck.

You go next. He was looking down at Joseph, his hand on his shoulder. Go when I say, and zigzag as you run. His father looked up at the man on the roof. He was lighting a cigarette butt in cupped hands, his rifle slung on one shoulder. Now!

Joseph charged across the space and joined Ramon. He looked back beneath the truck and saw his father kiss his mother before she removed her shoes to come racing toward them. Fortunately she was dressed in a Western style silk dress of the well-to-do city woman, not the traditional qamis that would have impeded her running. She reached the shelter of the truck, and fell to the ground, clutching her shoes and gasping for breath.

The man on the roof turned and walked to the edge to look down. He threw his cigarette onto the mud-baked yard below, and stood contemplating the smoking butt.

Joseph prayed that his father would stay and wait for the right moment. Minutes passed, and the Arab was like a statue except for his rippling garb. Then he spat and turned, and it was then that his father started to run. Ten, twenty, thirty yards! He was going to make it. But then the man on the roof turned, saw him, snatched his rifle to his shoulder and fired. His father straightened, but kept running in a crazy, drunken manner.

Reichmanns steel box containing his research into immortality had never left the Hyram familys possession. They had guarded it with their lives, taking it with them everywhere, even to their coastal residence during the summer months. They had fled only four days before, minutes ahead of the Al Fatah who had broken down their door. Now they were trapped in the path of Nassers retreating forces, trapped with nowhere to go except deeper into territory known as the Golan Heights.

On the fourth morning, Josephs father lay behind the truck with an Al Fatah bullet in his back. Joseph was still haunted by the running impetus that had brought him to them, spinning crazily like a ballet dancer off balance. They knelt at his side under the cover of the truck, and the father directed his last lesson to his son. Im dying, Joseph, he gasped. But whats important is how and why we die. He urgently gripped his brothers hand. Is he still on the roof?

Ramon stole a look under the truck. Yes. His gun is pointed at the boiler-house.

Good! Hes afraid to leave his post, thinking there are others in there. He turned back to Joseph. Your grandfather was tortured and maimed, but he never betrayed his covenant. If anything happens to Ramon, you will be the next to get the box. You will be responsible. His voice grew weaker. You must promise me that youll look after your mother, and guard the box. Reichmann trusted your grandfather and together they thwarted Hitler. The forces of evil must never get the box. It could all start up again. Promise me He stiffened with pain, gasped, and died before the boy could give the assurance that was on his lips. It was all too much, and at nine, Joseph knew he was too old to cry, and too young to take the responsibility of Reichmanns work.