Chapter XXVII

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Earth. 3rd Planet from the star, Sol, 21st Century,

Paris, France. Current day.


The suppositions in Misty's brilliant paper set Julius' mind racing like nothing since his first meeting with Emilio. If what she was indicating was a possibility, it could turn the world on its head in countless ways. Religion, philosophy, history, art, damn near everything. Where did this idea come from? Did she have empirical evidence or was it just pure speculation and fantasy ginned up for a good grade? Either way, that was going to happen just for providing a break in his boring daily routine. He had to speak to this girl and find out what kind of amazing soul generated such beauty in so few pages.

He marked the paper and scribbled a note on the cover sheet. "Misty, I would like to schedule a time to discuss the ideas you have written into your paper. My itinerary is open on Thursday evening for dinner if you are available. Thank you, Julius."

...

Misty sat starry eyed opposite her professor in the fantastically expensive Le Restaurant. Julius was quick to tell the very attractive and very southern American student that the hotel surrounding them was where Oscar Wilde spent his last days. He assumed he probably could have spoken about the importance of dental hygiene and she would have been fine with that conversation as well. She was too enamored with the plush red seat she sat in.

"Ms. Taylor, would you like some Saint Amour Pinot Noir. It is very good."

"Oh, yes, please." The pretty young woman looked up from the chair and gave Julius a large smile."...and do call me Misty. I love your class, by the way, Mr. Mannheim. But, I have a sneaky suspicion you didn't ask me out on a date to talk about old strange authors and to get me drunk on expensive wine did you?"

Julius smiled sheepishly. "No, not in particular. This is not really a date, by the way, Ms. Taylor. I would assume the university faculty would frown on the activity labeled as such."

"Please, where I come from, any man that takes a lady to any kind of seductive restaurant like this is not playin' around. So, are you playin' around with me, Julius?" Misty ran her fingers over the white linen on the table's surface admiring the material. She glanced up at her blushing German professor.

"No. I always eat here. However, I am typically alone. It is nice to have some company for a change."

"Awww, that's sweet." Misty smiled warmly. "Well, I didn't mean to come off all rude and such. If I did, I do apologize, Julius, but a lady can never be too sure when it comes to her honor," she snickered. Keeping her eyes focused on her professor, Misty secured a sweaty crystal glass filled with ice water, lifted it to her lips, and took a sip.

Julius inadvertently found himself watching the act jealous of the ice cube swimming in the clear liquid. He cleared his throat and returned his weakened attention to an approaching familiar figure. "Ah, maître d!" Julius announced at the arrival of the tuxedo-clad gentleman.

"Good evening, monsieur Mannheim. I see you have a very lovely guest dining with you tonight. Madame." the tall man said as he formally dipped his head and bowed toward Misty. He presented her with a finely bound book. "I shall give you a few moments to look over the menu and will return momentarily."

"Je vous remercie," Julius said to the departing maître d. "So, what do you fancy, Ms. Taylor?"

Misty smiled.

The serveur arrived with Misty's order of wild pigeon. Julius requested the monkfish. Regardless of his innocent intentions, the professor could tell his very attractive student was enamored with the entirety of the evening. The German assumed this could go in a very inappropriate direction if he was not careful. He knew she was experiencing something between them and he really felt it. He had been feeling it.

When Misty brought a berry dipped in fresh cream to her glossy pink tinted lips and licked it, Julius found the activity almost erotic. He nearly shuddered. What made the event even more fantastic, Misty was not even trying, too busy describing some Indian mound artifact cataloging project she was involved in Natchez, Mississippi a year or so ago. Julius felt like a dog watching someone wave a treat around as the woman dipped another berry and continued to speak with it firmly held in her fingers. The cream ran down the berry and onto her slender fingers He wanted to put the damn berry in Misty's pouty mouth himself and lick the cream from her hand. "...stop it, Julius," he thought.

Misty noticed Julius' lustful gaze. She was now very aware that the evening's direction had changed. She could see the German's eyes were no longer the eyes of a university professor. Right now, they were the eyes of a man she could lead around like a puppy if she wanted and she loved puppies. More importantly, she loved men and she had not been with one for far too long. Misty was in Paris after all.

The rest of the evening contained very little discussion about archaeology and Misty's paper. Dinner consisted of three hours of foreplay with food followed by a desert containing no discussion at all that went on the rest of the night. Any conversation would have to wait until the morning over breakfast.

...

Morning found Julius sitting upright in the hotel room bed watching the beautiful Misty sleep. It would have been much too early for him to even pretend he might have found the next Emilio. Regardless, he was still relishing the lovely smell of her next to him and on him. He thought about waking her up...he did not have to.

Julius heard a light knock at the door. He ordered room service.

"Crepe?" Julius brought over a plate of fruit and pastries from the cart and placed it on the bed next to Misty. He could not help but notice that the young woman was just as striking in the morning as the night before. Even with her dark hair all tousled about. Misty sat up and smiled softly. She picked up the flaky bread and tore some off. A few crumbles fell into the bed.

"Ooops, I'm sorry. Julius. I'm bein' messy."

"No. We'll just save them for later," he said, smiling confidently.

Misty chuckled at Julius' self-assuredness. "You think so, huh? Okay, then we'll save them til' later. But, after this wonderful breakfast, I...am goin' to go take a shower and come back in here and we are goin' to talk about what we were supposed to talk about last night before you managed to finagle me into your boudoir."

Julius did not correct Misty on her southern-fried French bastardization. "If that is how you want to look at it, then, yes it was entirely my fault. One that I will happily repeat."

Misty emerged from the shower wrapping a plush white towel around her head. She had already knotted another in some magically tight fashion around her curvaceous body. There was a toothbrush clenched between her teeth.

Julius sat on the bed, thumbing through her paper. "Now, what did you mean when you said you believed that history was like Schrodinger's cat? Religion and science are both correct and wrong all at the same time. I understand the concept, but how could everything we believe or discover be wrong and right at the same time?"

"Hang on..." Misty muttered. She skipped off toward the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste.

Julius heard the faucet run and turn off.

"Okay, Julius. Think of it thisaway..." the towel-clad beauty plopped down on the bed next to the German archeologist. "Let's assume stories told in the Old Testament of the Bible and the Torah, just to name two religious texts, are basically correct but missing certain details. Facts that make the stories deficient because they leave out scientifically proven details. Now, what if science is correct in saying that we were the accidental result of a an assortment of perfectly aligning elements and events culminating in an evolutionary path that wound its way through time to this very moment where we are sitting here snacking on these lovely crepes, today?" Misty huffed holding up one of the flaky pieces of bread. "Whew! But, science is also basically incorrect, because it leaves out the idea that this was all created initially by someone or something...maybe even nudging the process."

"Alright, I am following you...go on."

"Now, I can't answer why this creator would want to make our universe and us. However, I do believe...well, my theory implies that there has to be some sort of convergence point where religion and science intersect. Take a look at Genesis and other similar stories of creation in several of the ancient religions and their reference to some sort of Garden of Eden. Then take into consideration the appearance of homo sapiens in Africa, basically from nowhere, I believe that is where you will find evidence for my suppositions. In Africa. That is the convergence point of man and creator. Science is not looking at Adam and Eve like religion looks at Adam and Eve. I know it is a loose idea. But, I would like to search based on that thought. I want to search using both ideas at their convergence point."

"You want to go hunting for Eden?"

"Yes and no. I want to search for the oldest constructed temples we can find. The further back we go, I believe we will slowly discover where our modern religious ideas came from. The closer we get to the convergence of science and religion, the less the lines will be blurred. I think we will know it when we find it."

"What if what you are speculating turns out to be nothing more than human imagination? Early people simply looking to the heavens in fear, trying to understand what they were seeing."

"But, there it is...you just said it without even knowing it. Why? Why would man have imagination? Why try to understand anything? Most animals don't. They react on instinct. Not man. We dream, we think, and we wield emotions like weapons and all of that just appeared from nowhere. One minute we were animals. The next we were building cities and travelling to other planets. I think if we can find the right temple, then I believe we might get closer to answering the oldest question in the universe...Why?"

"Answers?" Julius grabbed the surprised Misty and planted a huge kiss on her lips. He had spent his whole life trying to figure out what his purpose was. Maybe, this was it. "I think I might love you."

"Hang on a minute, now, cowboy!"

...

Julius and Misty completed each of their semesters and began the process of securing grants for their upcoming hunts. Misty's theory they were proposing was not well received in some of the various societies they pitched to. Conversely, Misty had an idea to also petition some various religious organizations. This idea paid off very well with a grant offering from a very strange and unorthodox group, The Church of the Holy Man. It was a large sum of money, and came with a very large string attached. Misty and Julius had to come present their idea to the congregation. The money was not from just one lone investor or organization, it was a pool of money from a large group of people who lived in a place rather close to her parents' home in Georgia.

...

Misty stood at the podium in front of a lovely and quaint late 1800's wooden church. A structure nestled in the Blue Ridge Foothills of North Carolina. The drive to the place was as spectacular as she remembered. Julius kept making comparisons to odd-named places in Germany as he stared out the rental car's windows. Since Misty had never been, she had to take his word for it. If it was this beautiful, she wanted to go there as well, because she always loved the trips up through the Carolinas with her parents when she was younger. The breathtaking scenery she witnessed on the way to her family's vacation cabin near Ashville was the best in her book. However, this time, this trip into the mountains was for business. Strange business.

"...so, that is why Julius and I are requesting your financial assistance in locating what I believe could take us right to Eden."

"Thank you, Sister Misty and Brother Julius...and that is a very lovely name. Misty. Now, Brothers and Sisters what do you think of this missionary work? Is this something that you believe might be the Lord's doin'? Do you believe this might be something that we should get behind?" Pastor J.D. Rose now stood behind the lectern. The preacher was a man above average height who appeared to be in his late 50s or early 60s with a large smile and a very pleasant demeanor. He was the epitome of kindness. Misty really liked him.

"I have something to say. "An elderly, very stout man with round spectacles, who Misty thought favored Benjamin Franklin wearing a bowtie, stood and addressed the congregation.

"Yes, Brother Hanover. Please."

"Thank you, Sister Misty and Brother Julius for coming and visiting with us today. My name is Dr. Glen Hanover and this is my wife Dr. Gertrude Hanover. We are both retired physicists that use to work in the Pine Valley Cyclotron Laboratories. I have to admit that what you are proposing is a tiny bit outlandish. But, isn't that why we are all here, Brothers and Sisters?"

"Yes, yes...that's right. Amen." The mostly female members of the church all nodded their heads in agreement. Misty noticed several of the ladies flitting their little lacy fans a bit faster each time they glanced at Julius. It was cute she thought and very early last century, but then again, they didn't have air conditioning in this old antique building.

"This church was abandoned long ago by a logging company that went out of business. We, the citizens of this charming little community, acquired it and the small cemetery next to it along with 500 acres of regrown forest. We rebuilt this House of the Lord and made it the focal point of our village of retired academics and scientists. The late Dr. Zachariah Kenner, a Doctor of Philosophy in Science Education, hatched the idea for all of this several decades ago. He was also a very devout Southern Baptist minister. One might say this was an odd combination. He would argue differently. I would dare to mention, that you two would not be able to escape his conversational clutches. Because what you are alluding to was the stuff he lived for. All of us in this church have felt that we neither fit in a mainstream church nor do we fit solely in a purely academic setting...and that was where his idea for this belief system and the community surrounding it came from."

Mrs. Hanover stood up, "Dear, let me step in..."

"Yes, honey," the old man said as he sat down with a grunt.

"What my husband is taking an extraordinarily long time to get around to, is that although we might think that your idea maybe a little strange, it is not without merit and dear Zachariah would have been the first to assist you with your financial request. Therefore, we personally will do as we felt he would do. We would like to pledge you an additional $2,000,000 above the $3,000,000 the Church is granting you..."

Julius and Misty looked at each other and then at Mrs. Hanover with disbelief.

"Regardless, this money does come with stipulations. Every penny is to be itemized and accounted for and is not to be wasted on alcohol or anything illicit."

Julius cleared his throat. "Done."

"We all have grandchildren, some of them in college and universities. The ones that are in associated studies are to be taken with you as interns if they so choose."

"Agreed."

"And finally...we want any of your significant finds associated with the Church of the Holy Man."

"You mean you want us to 'brand' our finds when we reveal our discoveries?" Julius asked.

"Yes, my dear. This is North Carolina. We do it to Nascar and we will do it with archaeology."

The crowd of people occupying the pews chuckled. Misty grinned. She loved the South.

"We want the world to know that they have a choice in how they believe. They do not have to pick a side. They can believe in both science and religion. They will hear the holy message of our Church through your work and you will be paid just as God pays those that work for Him. Romans 2:6-11."

Misty looked at Julius and shrugged her shoulders. She leaned over and whispered, "What difference does it make? I only care about finding out the truth. We could really use that money."

"Yes, I agree, Misty. Very well."

Julius stood. The fans fluttered faster and faster. "Mr. and Mrs. Hanover and the congregation of the Church of the Holy Man. We accept your terms. Our finds are the church's finds."

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