Olearia

OLEARIA

Matthew Tait

Olearia is an odyssey both beyond our world and within ourselves. The ease with which Matthew Tait switches from the familiar to the fantastic is both tantalizing and troubling. This epic adventure will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about reality.

Cameron Trost, author of The Tunnel Runner

Olearia

Copyright © 2017 Matthew Tait

First Edition

This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or photographs contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author or artist.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

C tmp_f92d31490b9977491dca685079d44e60_IgS_fv_html_52599c8e.gif over Art: Tom Tait

Editor: Daniel I Russell

For Whitley

The Story So Far

Peru 1835, and the Order of Sant’Antonia witness something that goes against secular belief: a disk of light has penetrated their sanctuary. Nobody has seen anything like it before yet Brother Chubuca Cristal knows one of his own flock summoned its presence. When Brother Meridian is abducted by the flying object and taken away, the head of the Order blames himself. Convinced the strange object was a manifestation of satanic powers, Brother Critsal commits suicide, slitting his wrists and warning his flock of more calamities to come.

In the latter part of the twentieth century, Adam Lavas and his rock band Solid State have conquered the world. For over a decade, Solid State reigned at the very apex of musical success, touring incessantly and partaking of every hedonistic excess. But the dizzying heights of popularity have a dark price: one whose value Adam considers far too high. With his depression and misgivings spiraling out of control, Adam makes a snap decision to retire the band permanently. Deciding there will be no final goodbye or farewell shows, Adam resolves to return home to the place where his journey into stardom began: Australia. It is here, nestled in the sprawling hills of Adelaide, he and his bodyguard Kane encounter a strange mansion found nowhere on any map: Meridian. A vast house whose architecture and scale is more on par with something from a bygone era, Meridian broods over the city below like an unknown leviathan. And surrounding this estate, giant swaths of surreptitious forest keep the house secluded from prying eyes. Not only is Meridian a perfect place for exile … it’s a dwelling where Adam can withdraw from a life and world he feels evicted from.

Laura Brenton is a single mother living in Adelaide. She is also what is loosely coined in pop culture as an ‘alien abductee.’ Returning from one of her therapy sessions where other’s meet to share stories of the phenomenon, Laura and her son Daniel decide on an early roadside breakfast before returning home. Walking into the eatery, they encounter an enigmatic stranger … though he is one Laura suddenly recalls in frightening detail: she has been by his side during many nights of the abduction scenario. At first convinced he is being stalked, Adam Lavas quickly disappears in a Red Capri – but soon returns upon recalling a strange familiarity with the woman and her child. Thereafter he transports them back to Meridian, with only the faintest understanding behind his logic in doing so. It is here, relaxed and settled into their new environment, that Laura reveals her lifetime of encounters with non-human entities and UFO’s, the real reason she accosted him in the eatery. After spending the night in the mansion, Laura and Daniel come to the hesitant conclusion meeting Adam Lavas is no mere coincidence; that all three of them are propelled toward each other for some inconceivable reason…

In England, a mysterious group called Chapter House has gathered together in a dilapidated mansion. Their meetings, much like their agenda, are clandestine and unknown to the public at large. For they are possessed of a knowledge few know: the existence of a world called Olearia, and the beings who reside there. Beings who sometimes enter the earth’s atmosphere in spacecraft and walk among the human quarry. Swearing a fealty generations ago, their purpose is to create misinformation: to routinely subjugate and keep secret any known intrusions of Olearia into earth’s realm. In short, to keep the human flock blind to the mysteries of the skies. Their leader, Elrod Winifred, is himself cloaked in mystery – a gentile Englishman consistently late to every announced conclave and secretive in his actions. And this night is no exception. When Elrod finally arrives to join Chapter House (on orders from his father to dissolve them) he decides instead to concoct a cunning ruse of illusion for the members present: to use his natural, inhuman abilities and make them believe an alien hides among them - has, in fact, infiltrated their very group. Though execution is required to complete the illusion, the ruse is a success. Believing Elrod has saved them (and disbanding the group at his insistence), they remain ignorant that their leader himself is the infiltrator … a being from Olearia.

Though Olearia is a world light-years away from earth, travel is not only possible by spacecraft, but also by using a transportation machine called a Meglithi. A stationary transportal into other worlds, a passenger merely needs to step into a Meglithi’s revolving, spherical rings and chart a course. Upon arrival back home to his London apartment, Elrod uses his personal Meglithi to visit his father Lotan – a being at the center of a bourgeoning empire in the world of Olearia.

Back in Meridian, and the property is breached by an outsider who uses his vehicle to penetrate the estate, speeding off an embankment to gain access into the labyrinthine forest surrounding the property. Though initially an act of suicide, he survives the attempt, and after being alerted to the disturbance on Meridian’s private security cameras, both Adam and Kane bring the wounded young man back inside the mansion there to heal his injuries. Previously envisioning his new home to be one of complete isolation, Adam Lavas now finds himself the host of three strangers … and cannot shake the feeling he has met them all before.

Inside the world of Olearia, Orders and schools of thought multiply. Lotan, the head of such of such an Order, welcomes his son Elrod into an empty city named the Utero Sans. With vast computers the size of moons at their disposal, it is not uncommon for those in power to fashion limitless spaces to occupy. And, while telepathy is a common form of communication for those native to Olearia, Lotan forbids it inside the Utero Sans. Here, inside this space, both father and son talk of their enemy, a creature called Meridian; a being at the head of his own Order who disappeared Cycles ago into the realm of earth. Since his departure, a vacuum was created, enabling some Orders to flourish into cults and fictionalize Meridian’s eventual return as a prophecy, bringing with him a philosophy of reconciliation. Lotan, abhorring this prospect of a relationship with a primitive realm, has founded his entire kingdom on the foundation of opposing a fusion of the species. His son, fashioned as a weapon for the cause, is supplied with errands on Earth to squelch the human taint and purge Meridian’s ideals. After informing his son the long search for Meridian might soon be over, Lotan hands over the coordinates to his next mission.

Now conscious and talking inside Meridian, the suicidal man is revealed to be Seth Kessler, a (seemingly) average young Australian suffering depressive traits similar to Adam. Though sustaining life-threatening injuries, he is quickly healed by Kane, who then divulges his true nature: he is also a native of the world called Olearia, and possesses prodigious abilities. The others, ignorant of this fact at first, are given a demonstration while all are gathered in Meridian’s sunroom. Kane, tired of the secrecy, finally shows his true face: an alien visage with large black eyes – a countenance who has guarded and guided Adam over the course a lifetime, and who has also anticipated the arrival of Laura, Daniel and Seth. They are the final pieces of the puzzle; one whose solving will also unleash the true nature of Adam Lavas.

Guided by his father’s instructions, Elrod Winifred travels by craft to the South Pole, there to rendezvous with a messenger named Loch, a banished recluse who now lives out the days of his life sheltered by an igloo and existing in exile. Loch, a hybridization of both human and Olearian, knows the secret hiding place of Meridian, and after a heated exchange finally discloses his whereabouts. Armed with knowledge the being has chosen amnesia as a way to hide its identity, Elrod can now begin concocting a plan to assault its fortress and confront his nemesis.

Past midnight in Meridian, and Adam Lavas has awoken from an uneasy slumber. Answering the call of nature he is surprised to see something that has no bearing in standard reality: in place of his window now sits a small wooden door. With revelations the previous day concerning his confidant Kane, Adam is not altogether surprised, seeing them part of the same mystery. Although apprehensive about the development, he decides to pursue the door as an invitation. What harm can come from opening it? After all, the house of Meridian was originally intended as a mausoleum, and Adam has nothing to lose by giving into its strange enchantments. Entering, a pink light gives way to a new world entirely; the world of Peru in 1835.

By a black flowing river, Adam is greeted by a mysterious girl of nine or ten with a blueish-black stone in lieu of a left eye. Not far from the river, a steep embankment meanders toward a medieval church. Welcoming, the girl proceeds to ask Adam’s true name. Replying, he is surprised when the girl informs him Adam isn’t his real name at all … but she knows what it is.

Observing from the sidelines, Adam and the girl witness the Order of Sant’Antonio chase one of their flock out of the temple. Robed and laden with a torch of fire, the escapee bears a remarkable resemblance to Adam himself.

‘Search your feelings,’ the girl says. ‘It’s time for you to know who you really are … Meridian.’

Overtaken by a sudden and perplexing agony, Adam feels the first stages of remembrance, of many lifetimes lived down the passage of years. He becomes aware the fleeing man is indeed himself, a monk who went by the name of Meridian many generations ago. Astonishingly, the message from the girl is simple: Meridian is his true name. His current incarnation, Adam Lavas, is only the most recent in a long line of identity’s. During his life as a monk in 1835, the Meridian persona bled into the amnesiac one. On top of this revelation, Adam learns of the world called Olearia, a planet the girl calls home and whose infrequent presence on earth is responsible for a large spate of UFO sightings going back decades. Seeing the strange craft coming to abduct one of their own, the monks can only bear witness as Adam’s past self is engulfed in a world of light and taken away. When Adam asks the girl who would do this, who would curse him with lifetime upon lifetime of amnesia, the girl simply replies: ‘You did.’

Still as his guide, the girl ushers Adam, now Meridian, away from the temple and into the world of Olearia. Though only a vision of sorts, Adam is shown the landscape and geography of a realm teeming with many different species, where schools of thought have evolved into Orders. Meridian, once the head of an Order called the Aemeril, had previously mapped a pathway to earth. Above all else, Meridian desired a union between the worlds. Yet other factions, viewing the earth as a primitive taint, opposed not only the philosophy of unification, but the human species as a whole. Eradicating the life form entirely would make certain the taint could never take hold.

Thus Meridian chose amnesia and exile on earth; the only way to ensure his survival.

Before leaving, the girl imparts one final admission: Meridian chose three others to help him in his quest. Working as one with all the prodigious power at their disposal, the four built an immense mansion on earth, a place where they could one day begin their mission again. This day. Though they do not yet know it, Laura, Daniel, and Seth are his friends of old and the architects of the mansion. Once more together again in the place they fashioned centuries before, a new chapter in the life of Meridian is about to begin.

Chapter One

Though they didn’t awaken simultaneously, Laura, Daniel, and Seth came padding into the living parlor at the same time. The events concerning Adam Lavas the previous night (concerning all of them), were felt but not articulated. Laura had little to say while as a group they waited for the owner of the house to join them.

Seth Kessler’s demeanor had altered radically; he no longer wore the expression of a suffering child. Laura’s son, Daniel, even looked a little guilty … presumably from their mini-showdown after learning a creature from another world stood in their midst.

A creature from another world …

Her reasons for attending an abduction group were entirely legitimate, but now she and her son shared a castle with one of those abductors, and just where it lurked now was a mystery …

A cough sounded. ‘Well, well …’

All three jumped at the sound at the voice. Turning, they found Adam Lavas sauntering into the room.

Holding up a hand, he said, ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.’

Walking over to a high-backed couch he slumped into it, sleep still in his in posture. ‘When I moved here I thought peace would come with isolation … but I’m beginning to believe it’s just the opposite.’

Seth said, ‘I’m relieved, Adam.’

‘Relieved about what?’

‘Relieved you’re no longer isolated. Mainly, I’m just glad to still be alive after yesterday … although I have a hunch I’m very hard to kill.’

Daniel chuckled.

Laura said, ‘A very different kind of visitor came to me last night. The first time in a long while. For the first time I wasn’t frightened.’

‘A young girl?’ Seth asked. ‘Old school wardrobe? Blue stone for an eye?’

‘She was about my age,’ Daniel said. ‘Yeah, she must have been some kind of time traveler with that get up.’

A wan smile came over Laura’s face as she looked down at her son. He still sounded like an eleven year old; of course, revelations last night had told her otherwise.

Adam stood from his recliner. ‘According to our girl sage, Adam isn’t the name I go by anymore. But I can’t see any changes taking place just yet. How about we only refer to the house as Meridian for the time being. Is that cool with everyone?’As a group, they nodded in agreement.

‘Speaking of the house, it might be time to do some exploring. I believe an expedition is in order.’

***

Meridian boasted two libraries. Following coffee, Laura suggested they visit one. Nobody objected and after a brief breakfast of croissants they wandered out of the kitchen with Adam in the lead. His hair, Laura noticed, had subtly changed: the sides slicked back; his mop of fringe now overhanging the brow. In fact, his whole demeanor had visibly shifted … the dark underscore of addiction seemingly waylaid overnight. She herself still wore the same loose fitting blouse and pants from yesterday, all of it now wrinkled.

‘To be honest, I haven’t seen much of the libraries,’ Adam said, turning around to face them. ‘Though books were everything to me as a kid. Sci-fi was mainly my bag, along with dark fantasy.’

No one replied. Seth, loitering, struggled to keep up – no doubt transported by everything in sight. Here, a massive fireplace with an ornate mirror on top; there, a towering grandfather clock placed in between a jutting section of wall, every inch of it adorned with carvings. Though Laura wanted to inspect the clock further, Adam was already leading them down another staircase, this one peppered with chocolate-colored tiles. After more forward momentum, the group finally came to a typically Meridian vast archway with gilded edges.

‘Shall we?’ Adam asked. Grinning, he beckoned them forward.

***

The first library of Meridian proved akin to a cathedral. A narrow corridor ran through its center, the far end obscured by distance. Planted through its span: floor-rugs swirling with insignia. On each side of this centrifuge were hundreds of towering bookcases, each one evenly spaced and riddled with tomes. Next to the shelves, archaic world-globes latticed with four pronged struts. The ceiling, not consistent with the adjoining hallway and perforated with patterns, rose to a giddy height.

‘In what part of the house are we?’ Seth asked. He stood beside the first globe, frowning at it. ‘I can hardly tell if we’re at the front, the middle … what? Are we anywhere near the greenhouse we were in yesterday?’

Their host stepped into the center corridor, then paused with a look of puzzlement, as if trying to remember if there had been a yesterday. ‘This is on the east side, I think. It’s nowhere near the greenhouse. In fact …’ he trailed off and looked at each of them in turn. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if its location changes on a day to day basis. This library … I have no idea what kind of books have been collected here over the years.’

Laura interrupted by taking Daniel’s hand and side-stepping him away, purposely breaking Adam’s attention on the subject. Dealing with the mysteries of the mansion– of which there were many – were likely to take a toll if the owner brooded too carefully. For now it seemed to do the trick. He wandered away to the shelves, inspecting ladders. Seth had already disappeared into a shadowy corner containing an assortment of glass cases. That left Laura and Daniel with only one direct route to take: down the center.

Though her first steps were cautious, she soon let go of Daniel’s hand, content for him to explore on his own. A little ways down the corridor, Laura stopped and picked out a random shelf. A quick backward glance showed she was alone – the others had a private niche of their own.

She eyed the tomes, seemingly impervious to dust, and selected one at random: a purple bound relic, surprisingly lightweight despite its age. Flipping through the pages, she discovered penmanship like a theologian’s diary, one littered with various illustrations and text bordering on the otherworldly.

Hybrids are no longer uncommon in the minor Orders, the author wrote. Some, in addition to Astor Aemeril, even continue to serve as Elders. But there are rumors, dark whispers, that separatist schools are using them for genetic breeding programs; and still others who experiment on them for the grave mistake of existing – a way to punish the Aemeril for the unwholesome strain they have bled into Olearia. If Lotan’s insurrectionists cannot unsaddle their leader from the power arena, they will break their backs by genocide alone …

There was more, with most of it meaningless to Laura. It was obvious, however, that fictions were not being concocted for the sake of entertainment. Although the possibility existed – given the current predicament – that veracity lay in the scrawl, the tone itself was more the sublime effort of a visionary lunatic. Returning the book, Laura proceeded further up the aisle only to stop at one of the globes. Almost a work of art in itself, this one shimmered with an internal light, its outer circumference ringed with metal spheres.

This is isn’t the earth, she thought. No surprises there.

More in line with an artist’s impression of an exoplanet, great sweeps of brush-stroke and a combination of wood and paper-mâché lent it the gravitas of a real world. Exotic names dotted the geography, three separate continents divided by three separate seas.

Is this home? she wondered. The place where the young girl said my true memories resided? Is this the world of Olearia?

Laura waited, hoping for some kind of intimate revelation or recollection. She studied the poles, the whorls of the currents, and ran her fingers over the intricate webbing of lakes and sea. Finally she spun the globe itself, listing its axis point until an entire day had made its slow revolution.

Nothing.

There were no insights to be had here.

Abandoning the globe, Laura continued her wanderings. On one occasion she found herself in an open reading area consisting of cushions, the dwarf statue of a child, and a group of steps leading down into darkness. Her first instinct was to traverse those steps. To just wander unescorted and discover where they led …

But then voices arose from the central corridor, and Laura turned to see Daniel and Seth had found one another. They gestured to her, signaling their time was up. Behind them, Adam’s shadow sneaked up, as if he knew every creak and dimple in the wood. For all Laura knew, he did.

‘A person could get lost in here,’ he said. ‘There’s certainly a lot to learn. I think this is the place we’ll eventually begin to do just that. After, of course, we have witnessed for ourselves.’

‘Witnessed what?’ Seth pressed.

‘Witnessed with our own eyes.’

‘What with our own eyes?’ Daniel asked.

‘The world,’ Adam said. ‘Contained within these books.’

***

After the time spent in the library the small group decided not to explore the interior further, though Daniel’s eyes beamed upon learning of an infinity pool. Instead, the forest beckoned. Laura had a suspicion this is where Adam had wanted to lead them all along. Taking a different route this time, the journey back was shorter and not nearly as intoxicating. Soon they were lined up against the sliding door of a sunroom, staring out at the enormous palm trees Adam had likened to sentinels the previous afternoon.

Daniel stepped forward first, his expression still beaming. There were secrets locked inside the boy, all of them knew this, just as they were now privy to their own … but his body and mind were still innocent. Sliding back the door, he skipped through its opening, grinning back at them over his shoulder. The others made to follow suit, but before Adam stepped out, Laura placed a hand on his right shoulder.

‘Things are different now, aren’t they?’ she asked. ‘I mean, are we going to be safe out there?’

‘I don’t think we’re going to be immune from whatever raptures hold the house together,’ he said, stepping outside and prompting her to follow. ‘But something tells me, if there is any kind of danger, we all have something to counteract it.’

She nodded, biting her lower lip and mulling this over.

Past the statuesque palms they walked and onto the red sandstone path. Busy amongst the boughs and plants were flying creatures but by some unspoken command they stayed well away from the interlopers. On Laura’s left, jutting away from a grassy curvature, a humanoid pattern extended all the way from the base of one tree to another. Composed of lilting flowers with wild grass for eyes, it appeared androgynous with split columns of brick where its sex should sprout. As her eyes adjusted, Laura found a rhythm and pattern to the shape.

It’s like looking at one of those coded autostereogram pictures, she thought. Where the illusion reveals itself only after altering one’s perception.

The longer she looked, the more the shadows drew back and marked out fissures and angles. Was that not a dirt nipple, subtly peeking through? And to the left of a crimson weed, a sculpted cross section that could only be a hand. Laura’s sight roved, and the dots connected. Soon the woman’s eyes made their reveal, followed by her torso and thighs. When the entire mosaic came into being, she let out an audible sigh.

‘What is it?’ Seth asked.

‘It’s all around us,’ she murmured. ‘Do you see it? At first I thought I was only seeing what my eyes wanted. But there’s a pattern to everything here.’

‘I see it,’ Daniel said. ‘It’s a lady.’

Adam came to a standstill and looked on with them, smiling. Laura suspected he knew more about the gardens than he was willing to lay testament to.

‘Not only that,’ he said. ‘Look up there.’

He pointed upwards, toward the higher turrets of Meridian, where a juxtaposition of attic windows were arrayed. Broadcasting from within, a lapis lazuli ornamentation of color pulsed with the timely precision of a beacon.

For several moments, no one spoke.

It’s like the beating heart of the house, Laura thought. The power at the center of things.

‘Let’s keep moving,’ Adam said, breaking the reverie. ‘There’s a lot of ground to cover.’

Laura shuffled forward, but time and time again her gaze returned to the attic light.

Purple, blue, indigo.