Ella`s Story
My Love From The Future
BOOK FOUR

Chapter 6 : The Visitors

Episode 39 : January 15 2021 Monday 10th grade10

Copyright © 2019-2025 Gary Brandt. All rights reserved.

Ella thrashed beneath her covers, caught in the grip of the most vivid dream she`d ever experienced.

Images cascaded through her mind like a torrential flood—mountain faces, hidden doorways, coordinates that burned themselves into her memory.

She jolted upright with a gasp, her heart hammering against her ribs. "What the hell was that?" she whispered into the darkness. Roxana, who had spent the night on the pullout bed, stirred at the sound.

"What? Huh?" She rubbed her eyes, instantly alert.

"What`s going on, Ella?" Ella pressed her palms against her temples, trying to process what had just happened.

"I just had the weirdest dream.

But it wasn`t really a dream—it felt like some kind of download, like information being directly uploaded into my brain." She shivered, pulling her knees to her chest.

"I have to talk to Mom about it.

There were these old Native American people in it, and I think my great-grandmother was one of them." Roxana sat up, fully awake now.

"Your great-grandmother sent you a download?" "No, no—the download came from somewhere else entirely.

My great-grandmother was just...

there.

Like we had both walked into the same library or something, and she just happened to be browsing in the next aisle.

She didn`t even see me." Ella`s voice carried a note of wonder mixed with unease. "So who did send the download?" Roxana pressed. Ella struggled to find the right words.

"I`m not really sure.

They didn`t communicate with language—at least not any language I recognize.

It was all images: places near mountains, locations scattered across the world.

But underneath it all, I could feel their emotions, their intentions.

One of those feelings was crystal clear—`We are the Visitors.` That`s what they wanted me to know." "So it was all in a dream state?" "Most of it, yes.

But I woke up because..." Ella`s face contorted with revulsion.

"I felt something touch my leg.

Something cold and definitely not human.

When I opened my eyes, though, there was nothing there." She shuddered again.

"Just empty air." Roxana frowned thoughtfully.

"I`m surprised it was only you who received it.

Usually when we have these kinds of experiences, it happens to all of us." Without thinking, Ella replied, "It`s because this is for my job, not yours." "Your job? What job?" Ella blinked, startled by her own words.

"I...

I don`t know why I said that.

I must still be processing whatever they downloaded into me.

I guess these places have something to do with work I`ll be doing in the future, like Helana predicted." Great-Grandmother? Later that morning, Ella found her mother in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and reading the news on her tablet. "Mom, do we have any pictures of Great-Grandmother?" Ella asked without preamble. Alisha looked up, studying her daughter`s face.

"I think I have one or two somewhere.

Why do you ask?" "I saw a woman in my dream last night, and I think it might have been her." Setting down her coffee, Alisha disappeared into the hall closet.

The sound of boxes shifting and papers rustling filled the silence.

When she returned, she held a faded black-and-white photograph. "This is the only one I could find.

The quality isn`t great—it was taken when she was quite elderly." Ella took the photograph, and her breath caught.

The weathered face, the intelligent eyes, the way she held her shoulders—it was unmistakably the woman she`d seen.

"It`s good enough.

That`s definitely her." A smile spread across Alisha`s face.

"Oh, how wonderful.

You received a visitation.

What did she say to you?" "She didn`t say anything.

She was just...

present.

I don`t think she even knew I was there." "Then what was the dream about?" Ella sank into a chair across from her mother.

"It was some kind of information transfer from a group that calls themselves `The Visitors.` They don`t use words at all—everything was communicated through images and feelings.

They showed me places all around the world." Alisha nodded slowly, as if pieces of a puzzle were falling into place.

"I think I understand what happened.

Your great-grandmother must have been close to you spiritually, but on the other side of the veil.

When these Visitors opened a portal to reach you, you were able to see her in that space because she was nearby." Ella stared at her mother in amazement.

"So the Visitors are ghosts? And since when do you know about all this spiritual stuff, Mom?" "It runs in the family, sweetheart." Alisha`s smile was gentle but knowing.

"I just don`t talk about it much because people tend to think you`re crazy when you mention seeing things that aren`t supposed to be there.

You`re not the only one in this family with spiritual insight, dear." She paused, choosing her words carefully.

"There are many kinds of entities on the other side—not just ghosts.

Most likely, these Visitor entities use that dimension as a pathway, a portal to reach our world.

They don`t actually live there." "This is totally creeping me out." Ella wrapped her arms around herself.

"I need to talk to Melanie about this." At the Office During her lunch break, Ella made her way to the Navy office.

Commander Beaker and Melanie gathered around a computer as Ella shared her experience. "Here`s what`s really strange," Ella explained, manipulating the Google Earth interface.

"When I look at these satellite views, I immediately recognize the locations from the download—like the coordinates were burned into my memory.

But when I switch to ground-level views, everything looks completely different." She zoomed in on a mountainous region.

"See this location? Right now it`s just a flat rock face on the side of a mountain.

But in the images they showed me, there`s a massive door built into the rock, with a paved road leading right up to it." Melanie leaned back in her chair, processing this information.

"I`m beginning to think the images you received don`t show these places as they are now, but as they will be in the future.

It sounds like you`ve been given a blueprint—and the job of making it reality." "But I don`t know anything about drilling holes in mountains," Ella protested. Commander Beaker chuckled.

"You`d better plan on taking some engineering classes in college." "Forget that," Ella shot back with a grin.

"I`ll get a bunch of money and hire the engineers." "So the images are primarily of locations with these doorways?" Melanie asked. "Yeah, mostly.

But there were also some random images that didn`t seem to fit the pattern." "Such as?" "Well, there were pictures of a bank, some kind of large boat, computers, heavy machinery, electrical equipment—things like that." Melanie`s eyes widened as she pulled up an image on her computer.

"Did the boat look anything like this?" Ella studied the biblical illustration of Noah`s Ark.

"Yes, exactly like that." "An ark and a bank," Commander Beaker murmured, his expression growing serious.

"This is starting to make sense.

There`s something called the Global Seed Vault—it contains thousands of seed varieties stored in case of worldwide catastrophe.

There`s also a genetic repository that houses millions of DNA samples from plants and animals, again as insurance against planetary destruction.

The project is called the ARK, like Noah`s ark.

It`s part of the Continuity of Government program." "I don`t understand why they`d be showing Ella these sites if COG already has them covered," Melanie said. "I suspect it`s because our program represents something much larger—Continuity of Culture, not just Continuity of Government.

COG is focused on preserving political structures and military leadership.

What we`re talking about is preserving human knowledge, art, technology—the entire spectrum of human achievement." Commander Beaker pulled up another location on the screen.

"Let`s test this theory.

How about this site? It`s a known COG facility." Ella glanced at the coordinates and shook her head dismissively.

"Oh, I ignored that one.

In the images they showed me, it`s just a big crater in the ground, like a meteor impact site." The room fell silent.

Commander Beaker`s face had gone pale. "If this information is accurate, we`re looking at critical intelligence from the future," he said slowly.

"It appears they were showing you which vault sites survive the coming conflict and which ones don`t.

The COG sites—being strategic military targets—are destroyed in whatever war is coming.

It sounds like you have an enormous amount of work ahead of you." "This is perfect," Melanie said, her excitement barely contained.

"Now we have a roadmap for preparing Ella for her future role." "Hold on just a minute!" Ella stood up, her voice rising.

"I`m not making any promises about doing any of this stuff.

I might decide to become an astronomer instead." "Life is what happens while you`re making other plans," Melanie replied gently.

"Besides, didn`t Helana predict you`d be involved in exactly this kind of work? Technology preservation, vault construction?" "Helana also said that looking at the future changes it.

This might all be complete nonsense." Ella`s frustration was evident.

"Whoever these Visitors are, they`re going to have to do a lot more convincing if they want my cooperation.

And I hope they don`t have a bunch of mysterious jobs lined up for my friends too.

I guess we`ll find out if they start getting downloads." Good News and Bad Later that afternoon, Melanie and Commander Beaker remained in the office, discussing the implications of Ella`s revelation. "This intelligence represents both good news and bad news," Commander Beaker said, staring at the map of coordinates they`d compiled.

"If these Visitors can actually predict future events, it means we`re going to be unable to prevent the coming conflict.

Those craters Ella described—they sound like the aftermath of nuclear bunker-busters.

The COG underground cities will be completely destroyed." He paused, pointing to other locations.

"The good news is that our COC technology vaults will apparently survive." "I`m not convinced they`re viewing an actual future," Melanie countered.

"They might be showing her how things should be constructed, rather than how they will be.

What concerns me is the timing.

They`re giving this information to a teenager.

To influence a project of this magnitude, she`d need to be well into her forties or fifties, with the political connections and financial resources to appropriate several trillion dollars." "Maybe their timing is exactly right," Commander Beaker replied thoughtfully.

"A project this enormous will require decades just for Ella to fully comprehend its scope.

It will take decades more to assemble the tens of thousands of workers needed to execute it.

My concern is whether this responsibility might simply overwhelm her." "Their `predictions` might be exactly that—educated guesses rather than actual glimpses of the future," Melanie said.

"What we need to do immediately is get the coordinates of all these sites and verify their suitability for construction.

Then we need to figure out how to secure the properties.

Most appear to be on public land, but they`ll need to be protected and defended.

I`m not sure how we accomplish that." "Agreed.

Let`s get Ella back in here as soon as possible for a complete debriefing.

I assume the details of her download will fade over time." Commander Beaker stood and walked to the window.

"This certainly validates Helana`s predictions, which gives me hope that our efforts aren`t in vain."

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NEXT >> Chapter 40
Science Fair Project

A Navy commander recruits teenagers through a secret program to develop a `Continuity of Culture` plan for preserving human civilization and technology after a potential global catastrophe, since government officials are too focused on political infighting to address the threat. When the teens propose a science fair project to begin introducing these survival concepts to the public, they secretly enlist help from a local UFO enthusiast group, creating an unlikely alliance of military personnel, psychic teenagers, and civilian experts working to prepare humanity for what may be an inevitable extinction-level event.

<< PREVIOUS Chapter 38
38

Four teenage girls walking home from school encounter a homeless man who reveals himself to be an anthropologist studying homelessness by living among the community, and he leads them into a hidden forest encampment to educate them about the `throwaway people` of society. The girls, who are part of a Navy-sponsored program studying cultural survival, discover parallels between the camp's parasitic economy and indigenous communities, while the psychic member of their group senses the research may be crucial for an impending societal collapse.

FIRST Chapter 0 Sleep Over

Thirteen-year-old Ella and her best friends Eileen and Roxana encounter an interdimensional being named Helana during a sleepover, who appears as different benevolent figures to each girl and reveals glimpses of their legendary futures. When Helana tries to leave after accidentally revealing herself and disrupting their timelines, Ella cleverly traps the entity by claiming authority over her domain, forcing Helana to stay as their `genie in a bottle` despite her pleas to return home.