rest of the group looked at her—apparently they expected more. She didn’t have anything else to offer.
“All right then,” Rafe said. “I will get together with Emilia and a few other engineers and we will begin to rig a connection to the primitive Internet system. We’ve been studying the mountain’s computers and the technology is far beyond anything we could understand, but Emilia’s got half her workshop already up and running.”
“Good,” said Circe. “And we’ll begin having group meditations every day, with the entire population of the mountain,” she added.
“Everyone? Every day?” Xavier asked. “I don’t know if I can get them to cooperate with that.”
“It’s the only way,” Magda finally said. “We need everyone working on this round the clock. They need to wake up. This ascension is the only way to open their awareness to the fact that the human race has been enslaved for hundreds of thousands of years. If we don’t get the group working, they can’t ascend. If they don’t ascend, they won’t wake the hell up!” Magda shouted.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to them. I get it, Magda. Don’t get so worked up,” Xavier said, trying to soothe her.
“I can’t help it. This is the only way we can save the world and get rid of the Anu. The Council won’t help us otherwise, and we can’t beat the Anu without them. Don’t you want them gone?”
“Of course, Mags. We all do. Look, kid. We’re all in this together. I think you need to take a break or something. Go get some sleep. You look like hell,” Rafe said, patting her back.
“I’m fine,” she said, brushing him away and moving toward the door. “Come tell me when the transmission is ready. Tomorrow we start our practice with the whole group.”
Chapter Nine
With Cassie and Circe by her side, Magda sat at the center of the meditation room surrounded by the entire New San Diego group. Even the hybrid babies were in the room, nestled in their mothers’ arms. After what Magda had seen in the trailer back at New San Diego, she knew that the children were developing at an accelerated pace. The mothers had never brought them into the meditation chamber before.
As she sank deeper within, she could feel the magnitude of the energy of the people before her. The collective consciousness of the entire group washed over her like a tidal wave. She sank deeper, Cassie and Circe’s quiet confidence beside her. She could feel something else as well. The influence of the tiny children seemed to be the missing ingredient she had felt they needed before.
The longer they sat, working with the computers, the closer she felt they were to bursting through to the fourth dimension. Lights shot across her vision and she could feel the energy barreling toward her as her consciousness expanded. All three women at the center of the group took a deep breath in unison as the group came to the edge of the boundary.
For a brief moment, she felt them tip over. A hum sounded within the group as their minds expanded and connected on the other side. Magda’s heart pounded with excitement, feeling she might actually have led them to their ascension. But as soon as the group touched the fourth dimension, it came tumbling back down.
The group’s consciousness retracted and Magda opened her eyes to see the group blinking blankly at her. She sighed. They’d been so close. They’d almost made it. They had made it over the edge, but they needed to be able to stay there for greater lengths of time.
Cassie and Circe looked at each other, pleased. But Magda felt disappointed. She stood and told the group they’d done well and were dismissed for lunch, but she couldn’t help but feel a growing lump in her stomach.
She followed the rest of the group out and met with Cassie and Circe in Emilia’s workshop with Rafe. She sat down and looked around at Emilia’s human computer equipment that interfaced with the alien technology.
“We’ve