"Thank you, Elgon Ten," I said, declining his invitation, "but I plan to remain in the Macro society."
He laughed a big booming laugh and said, 'You still think that someone who grew up in the micro society of the 20th century can live happily in the Macro society. Believe me, Jon Ten, if I who spent my first 50 years in the Macro society couldn't stand it, you won't be able to, either!"
"It was your pride and desire for personal power that made you dislike the Macro society," Carol said to Elgon. "Jon doesn't want personal power, so your offer of high position in your government doesn't interest him."
Elgon's face tightened its granite hardness, and I became aware of a heightened redness in his aura. However, he replied calmly that Carol was too young to understand the delights of micro existence.
Our transair landed in the beautiful courtyard of the presidential palace, where Elgon insisted on giving us a personally guided tour of his glittering domain.
As we walked through his gardens my enjoyment of their beauty was marred by my memory of the faces of the dozens of poorly fed children we had seen during the day. Finally I interrupted Elgon to ask how the people managed to produce such huge families. He explained that people could buy fertility pills that would insure multiple births. Large families were not only a source of great pride and a religious and state duty, but also an economic advantage, since children of twelve or over could earn money by becoming gladiators or prostitutes.
An hour later I had seen enough of the lavishly appointed rooms, hallways, and courtyards filled with rare and precious possessions that Elgon and Sela doted on. Elgon recognized my growing restlessness and escorted us to a sumptuous suite of rooms which he said I could occupy as long as I wished. Then he and Sela left us alone with a reminder that they would see us at dinner:
Once we were alone I threw myself onto the giant canopied bed and said, "I'm tired of Micro Island already, and I'm especially tired of Elgon Ten and Sela Nine. Let's take a quick nap so I can get through the evening."
Carol didn't reply immediately and I saw that she was standing pensively chewing on her lower lip. For the first time I saw the sparkling pink in her aura give way to the red of anxiety. I reached out to establish mind contact and discovered her mental struggle with some sort of doubt that she kept trying to hide from me.
"Please, Carol," I pleaded, "tell me what's bothering you. I've never known you to try to hide your thoughts from me."
She shook her head slowly and finally, with a sigh of resignation, said, "It's going to start sooner than Rana thought." Then she looked away from me.
"Ok, Carol, don't keep me in suspense," I implored. "What's going to happen sooner than Rana thought?"
"I'm not sure," she answered, taking my hand. "Rana thought they would wait two or three days before putting heavy pressure on you. But I have a strong premonition that something. unpleasant is going to happen very soon."
I knew that Carol's precognitive power was much more sensitive than mine, so I said, "Are you sure you don't have any idea what this unpleasantness is going to be?"
Carol looked at me for a long moment, then with a soft cry she buried her face in my shoulder. A moment later we were devouring each other with kisses. Soon our desire for greater oneness was more than we could resist and slipping out of our tunics we began the joyous love play that only two closely attuned souls can ever know. Suddenly with clairaudient awareness I could hear the beat of our soul notes mounting in intensity as our bodies and minds sought ever closer oneness till we attained the ecstasy of Macro immersion.
Later as we swam lazily about in the mammoth sunken pool of our bathroom I remembered that Carol had never answered my last question about her premonition. I decided that if she didn't want to tell me I wouldn't press her. Immediately upon making this decision I received her telepathic note of thanks.
Back in our bedroom we discovered that our aura reflecting tunics had been replaced by a beautiful golden tunic covered with flashing jewels for Carol and a gleaming white fabric one for me.
Carol seemed to have recovered her usual sunny disposition and, having quickly donned her new tunic, was complaining about its extraordinary weight when five male servants, representing each of the five races of the micro states, came to escort us to dinner.
The dining room in Elgon's palace was large enough to easily accommodate two standard-sized football fields placed side by side, and it was almost completely filled with men and women in stunningly handsome uniforms and beautifully lavish gowns.
We were escorted to a raised platform at one end of this room where Elgon and Sela were sitting at a small table facing the other much longer tables in this vast dining room. It had been filled with the sounds of many voices when we entered, but was now becoming quiet.
By the time Elgon and Sela had seated Carol and me between them the great room was gripped in funeral-like silence and somehow my mind felt like it was in a giant vise that was slowly, inexorably being squeezed tighter and tighter. I became aware of Elgon making a speech of welcome in my honor, but my head felt like bands of steel were crushing it. I realized dimly that Carol, too, was suffering this mind pressure. The rest of the evening was a blur of interminable dishes of strange foods being served along with different beverages; most of which I rarely sampled. I was aware of Elgon and Sela talking to me and that I obviously gave appropriate responses, for they seemed very pleased, but I have no memory of what anyone said. The last thing I remember of that evening was following our five servant escorts back to our room, where Carol and I immediately lay down on the bed without even removing our clothes.
I found myself back in 1976 groping for the night light, which revealed that it was three o'clock in the morning. I was not able to banish the dark fear in my mind. Why was I so frightened, I wondered. Nothing had happened to either Carol or me which could account for my strange feeling of anxiety and dread.
I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and remembered the feeling of great pressure on my head during the dinner with Elgon. I wondered what had caused that excruciating sensation that had effectively blotted out most of my awareness during the dinner. As I pondered this question I felt the answer beginning to rise to consciousness from some great depth in my mind. I waited until a picture of the dining room began to form in my mind. This picture was filled with hundreds of faces which were empty except for a single eye brightly staring at me from many foreheads. It was the symbol of the telepathic mind net which Elgon had focused on me again.
But why did I still feel a crushing sense of anxiety and fear? Then I felt almost overwhelmed by a driving need to return to 2150 and discover if Carol was all right. Of course, the harder I tried to put myself asleep the more wide awake I became, until I realized that I must calm myself by balancing my mind with acceptance of what is as perfect. Failing that, I attempted Macro contact recall. A few minutes later, having succeeded in this attempt, I slipped gently into sleep and awakened back in 2150 to find myself lying alone, still dressed, in the great canopied bed.