the woman moved closer and examined the tree as though seeing
it for the first time.  He was right; it was beyond description. 
She touched its leaves cautiously.  She felt its fibrous texture
beneath her fingers.  Its life emanations were sensual.  Her eyes
examined the ripened fruit hanging from the bows.  She touched
the fruit experimentally.  The tree would indeed be good for food. 
Her eyes registered the beauty of the tree and its fruit.  The
lush green foliage was fresh and aromatic; almost intoxicating. 
The branches swayed rhythmically in the gentle breeze.  The fruits
shown brilliantly and her enhanced vision recorded every detail of
the beautiful creation before her.  The words of the angel beside
her echoed in her thoughts.  She expanded her mind to take in
every available bit of information about the tree she could
recall.  She did wish to know more and there was so much to learn
in the universe.  How could she be complete if she only knew good
and not evil.  The Father knew the difference yet He had not
revealed it to her or the man.
     The fruit under her fingers gave way and fell.  She caught it
and held it up to her face for closer inspection.  Her sense of
smell captured its wonderful fragrance.  She heard whisperings of
encouragement all around her as though the breeze itself were
caressing her thoughts spiritually.   She bit the fruit.
     Waves of new emotions flooded over her mind and she felt as
though she were soaring like the feathered creatures.  She laughed
beatifically and bit more vigorously into the fruit.  The rush of
emotions again flooded her being and she felt alive as never
before.  Every fiber of her being buzzed and vibrated.  She
quickly devoured the sweet fruit in her hand and pulled another
from the glowing tree before her.  Her mind reeled with the
excitement.  Her body felt alive and she whirled and ran through
the forest letting the branches slap her body again and again. 
Her laugh was loud and vociferous as she ran.  Frightened animals
and birds scattered before her as she plunged through the cool
forest.  doubling back, she burst into the open and ran directly
for the tranquil pond in the meadow's center.  She dove into the
cool waters and embraced the freshness as it slid over her naked
body.  Touching bottom, she sprang for the surface; her boisterous
laugh sounding guttural across the meadow as her head broke the
surface.
     Climbing from the water, she shook herself and felt the
droplets of water dance over her skin.  "It feels wonderful," she
cried into the trees.  All of the animals had moved into the cover
of the forest.  She called to them.  "Don't be afraid little
ones.  Come to me."  She could no longer sense their mental
vibrations.  "What's the matter?" she questioned but there was no
answer.  "Come," she called again but the animals remained hidden.
     Feeling something on her back, she turned.  It was the sun as
it hung just over the tops of the trees as it began its descent
toward the edge of the world.  It somehow seemed different to her
but the warm rays of its light felt wonderful against her damp
skin.  She stood and let the light continue to warm and dry her
body.  She stretched out her thoughts and attempted to contact her
husband to express her wonderful feeling but she could not sense
him for some reason.  She smiled, "No matter," she said out loud. 
"I'll share my discovery with him when he returns.  He is here,"
she reaffirmed herself, "I just can't feel him at the moment." 
Returning to the forbidden tree, she ate again and the power waves
of emotions assaulted her mind.  They were even more powerful this
time and she began to laugh uncontrollably.  She ripped fruit
from the tree and bit frantically again and again into the
sweetness she held in her hands; tossing them in different
directions after only taking one or two bites from each. 
Stumbling to her hands and knees, she continued laughing
violently.  Her fingers closed around the lush grass beneath her
fingers and she pulled it from the earth and tossed it into the
air.  The breeze blew it back into her face and she laughed
again; shacking her head and letting it tickle her back as it
drifted to the ground.  "I love you earth," she cried into the
cool air.
     Her husband stood staring at her from the edge of the forest
across the meadow a hundred yards away.  He had just walked into
the clearing and saw her.  "eve," he cried, concern penetrating
his voice.  "What's wrong."
     She got to her feet and ran to him; throwing her arms around
him.  "It's good to see you love," she whispered against his
chest; her head berried in the embrace.
     "Eve," he said again, "what's wrong."
     She looked up into his eyes then.  "Why, nothing is wrong my
love.  I've just been waiting for you, that's all."
     Her voice was throaty and somehow husky.  He felt the
wrongness about her but could find no foundation for his feelings. 
Her skin was soiled and her color was somehow wrong he noticed. 
He pressed his thoughts deep into her mind searching for an answer
but to his amazement, he could no longer touch her thoughts with
his.  "Eve," something is wrong.  Tell me what has happen."
     "Why Adam," she purred, "absolutely nothing is wrong.  Come,"
she said pulling at his hand, "let me show you something."
     They walked quickly across the open field until they stopped
in front of the forbidden tree.  "Isn't it beautiful," she said;
wonder and awe filling her voice.
     "Eve," her husband said after seeing the fruit on the ground,
"you have eaten the fruit of the forbidden tree."
     "Forbidden?" she said; her voice forming a question.  "Why
would something so beautiful and so wonderful be forbidden.  I
have, yes, eaten of the tree and I have experience things never
known to me before.  I feel powerful and alive and," she hesitated
searching for the word, "different."
     The man stood and looked at his wife for some time before
answering.  "I am sorry I was not here to spare you.  It is my
fault.  The deceiver has tried so many times over the centuries to
get us to eat of the tree and he has always failed.  I did not
anticipate his attack would be so effective this time.  I felt
something was wrong today as I worked the fields so far away but I
somehow seemed distracted by my work.  I should have listened to
my feelings and returned immediately to your side."  His wife said
nothing but stood near him as though distracted by something.  Her
eyes no longer could see him in the way they had when he was
created, he knew, and she no longer could sense his thoughts. 
They seemed to be no longer one and there was nothing he could do
about it spiritually.
     "You have been deceive by the father of lies my wife and thus
we have been separated from one another; no longer one."  Her eyes
darkened; her smile fading from her lips.  "The Heavenly Father
was right, of course, and there will be a price to pay for our
disobedience."
     "Our disobedience?" realization invading her thoughts, "But
it was I..."
     He placed his fingers on her lips, "Hush my love.  We are one
and will always be thus but it cannot remain as it once was for
us.  Though we had never experienced sin, the Father was right
about its consequences and effects.  It is not possible for us to
remain this way.  To be one, I must do that which I was forbidden
to do."
     Tears fell from her beautiful green eyes; something he had
never seen before.  He touched them as they trickled down her
smooth skin; the force of realization striking her body like a
powerful wind.  "Do not weep," he consoled, "somehow the Father
will make provision for us."  And with that, her husband turned
before she realized what he was doing and pulled a ripened fruit
from the forbidden tree and bit into it.
     He felt the change wash over him but he did not rejoice as is
wife had.  Throwing the fruit to the ground, he stared at his wife
as though seeing her for the first time.  Her head hung in shame
and for the first time in their lives, they realized they were
naked.  "Come my wife," he said holding out his hand to her,
"Let's cover ourselves with leaves."
     The couple seated at the table unfolded their minds and sat
back in their chairs.  The sun was beginning to rise.
     "It is a sad story," she said with her lips, "but it is in
fact our heritage."
     "Yes," he agreed softly.  "Of course the Father knew all
these things before.  His love is so evident in all that He
does."
     She agreed mentally but said with her lips, "He knows all
things and though it must have sadden Him greatly to know they
had disobeyed Him, He yet provided for them and for all of us in
such a wonderful way."
     Adam and Eve, more than any other persons on earth,
experienced sin firsthand," he said evenly.  "Though we can probe
the past, it is still impossible to secure the reality of their
emotions when they committed their sinful act.  We know, of
course," he continued, "they made clothing from large tree leaves
to cover themselves.  Then Adam tried to blame everything on his
wife when the Father came and spoke to them of their sin."
     "Yes," she harmonized, "interesting how the fallen nature of
man so quickly comes to the forefront when the truth is
solicited."
     "With the sinful nature," he responded, "it is easier to lie
than to tell the truth."
     They ceased talking then for awhile and listened to the night
sounds as they drifted away and the morning sounds replaced them. 
Birds awakened and began their morning songs.  People began to
move about the streets and enter the buildings for work.
     "Such heartache the first man and woman suffered though<" she
said ponderously.
     "They suffered a great deal, of course," he agreed, "but then
they had the memories of the garden and of the oneness with the
Father which is difficult for us to comprehend now."
     "I know," she said almost tiredly, "but then they were driven
from the garden after the Father had slain animals and used the
skins to cover their bodies.  That must have been terrible."
     "Of course," her husband confirmed "but imagine the terrible
grief they suffered when the first two sons were born and later
Cain killed his brother."
     "Yes," she said with a small voice, "it must have been nearly
unbearable for them both.  the world most certainly began to
change radically once the forbidden fruit had been eaten."
     "It did indeed," he said agreeably.  "The change however was
of course dichotomous. with two separate and distinct races on the
earth."
     "Much as it is now?" she said.
     "Exactly," he confirmed.
     Following long minutes of silence, her husband got to his
feet and took her hand.  "Come," lets make our way to the tunnel
and begin our trek across the Atlantic.
     As they left the outdoor cafe table, two men sat and watched
their departure from the shadows.  Steam rose from their hot cups
of coffee as miniature clouds of morning fog.  They exchanged
looks and finally one spoke.  "Sons of God..." his voice trailed
off.
     "Yep," the other man grunted.  "Where would the world be
without them," he said; his tone heavy with sarcasm.
     "They are superior, you know," his partner said flatly.
     "Superior my eye," the larger man snorted.  "They think
they're superior," he said emphasizing the word think.
     "Well, they are," the smaller man intoned.
     "Come on Pete," the big man said tonelessly, "they aren't any
better than the rest of us."
     "I didn't say they were better," he said after blowing his
nose on a large red handkerchief, "I said they were superior."
     The big man bang his coffee cup down hard; sending up a
geyser of dark brown spray.  Staring at the droplets on the cold
table's surface, he finally said ominously, "What you mean then?"
     "Well," the smaller man said as though he never noticed his
partner's outburst, "they have bodies which defy scientific
explanation for starters."
     The big man grunted loudly.  "Come on Pete; don't give me
that.  You know as well as I do that there were some really bazaar
things that came out of the thermal nuclear wars.  The scientists
even say that big commit which struck the earth broadside didn't
help matters either.  The radiation around the world made some
pretty weird things happen to what was left of the population."
     "I know," his partner said easily, "but that doesn't change
some things."
     "What things?"
     "Well," he said slowly, "they don't sleep, they don't need to
eat and I've seen them walk on water."
     "You are unbelievable Pete," he blustered vociferously.  "You
don't believe those superstitious stories about them people being
able to walk on water and under water and fly to the moon and all
that supernatural junk do ya?"
     The other man said nothing for a long time.  When he finally
spoke, his voice could barely be heard.  "Yes I do."
     "Well, partner," the big man said heavily, "there's a lot of
people on this old planet that not only disagree with you but have
plans for them weirdo mutants."
     "What's that mean?" the smaller man said; his head coming up
quickly.  "You know something I don't?"
     "Just what I said is all," he replied, finishing is coffee
with a gulp.  "I hear tell there's a group gathering around the
world planning to take back the old ball of dirt in a few years."
     "Do tell," the smaller man exclaimed with heavily sarcasm. 
"Well, then, you better tell them folk they better bring there
lunch cuz it gonna take them all day to accomplished that."
     The big man leaned back on his chair and folded is arms. 
"Naw," he sniffed loudly, "it won't take 'em all that long."
     "The smaller and younger man watched his partner take shape
in the gathering morning light and said, "I think maybe you do
know something."
     "Maybe," he smiled broadly.  "Stop and think about it Pete. 
These elitists are few in number compared to the rest of the
population.  Since the war, we've come back in record numbers. 
Though we aren't super men, we've certainly come a long ways. 
I've studied a lot of the old records which were spared in the
deep underground archives.  The world was moving toward what we
now have available to us through technology and enlightenment."
     "Enlightenment?" the younger man exclaimed.  "What
enlightenment?"
     "Let's save that for another time," the larger man said
deprecatingly.  "besides that, as I said, we out number them two-
to-one now and in a few more years, the ratio will be even
greater."
     "So," the younger man said replacing his empty cup on the
table, "numbers mean nothing."
     "You're right," his partner said agreeably, "but numbers and
brains, coupled with the enlightenment," he said lowering his
voice on the last word, "will make a big difference."
     "You've been reading too many books."
     "Would you like to meet some other people who can change your
mind?"
     The younger man stopped fiddling with his empty cup and
looked up sharply.  He could see his partner's face clearly now
that the day was bright.  He saw no facetiousness etched into the
big man's features.  "Sure," he replied off handedly, "why not."
     "There's a meeting soon to be announced," he remarked
casually.  "If you're interested, I'll take you."
     "Sounds secretive," the younger replied.
     "That it is and I hope I have you're word you'll not discuss
anything we've said with anyone."
     "Okay," he said nonchalantly, "I won't since I don't know
what it is we're really talking about anyhow."
     Getting to his feet, he said, "Let's get some work done. 
I've got to run some scans on the tunnel com-links to Europe
today."
     Leaving their table, they both walked side-by-side down the
busy sidewalks in the bright sunshine to the commute tubes.  After
showing identification, they stepped into the loading car and
when the lights over the door switched from red to green, they
leaped into the antigrav field and held fast to the wall bars as
they were propelled at lightning speeds down the hollow passageway
toward the Atlantic highway tunnel.

end of Chapter.