Solutions.

I'm sitting at my McGuire desk formulating a plan to make amends to Tech7 while she is in town visiting family and friends. Yal-hune appears in my office and she is smiling.

She always seems to be smiling so this isn't that strange, but today she is smiling a bit more broadly and I can guess the reason.

"I found a solution."

"A solution that breaks the loop of nuclear futures?"

"Yes."

"Does it require any special effort on our part?"

"Actually, it does. You and I have a very important mission to accomplish. To break out of this loop seemed nearly impossible and I had to view more and more possible futures based upon our actions. After reviewing literally hundreds of thousands of futures and possibilities, I stumbled across a course of action that is integral to breaking the loop and throwing the Earth into another cycle, one that is much more constructive than the alternative - and also drastically alters your futures for the better again as well."

"Sounds great! What do we need to do?"

"We are going to be traveling. Prepare yourself."

I stand up and just close my eyes, and let Yal-hune do the heavy lifting. I feel my body being changed into energy and carried through time and space and feel it solidify again.

Before I even open my eyes, I know we are in the White House. I recognize the smell of the cleaning fluid used daily on the hardwood floors. The decor may change, but that cleaning fluid has been in use since at least 1990.

As I open my eyes, I see we are in the antechamber to the Oval Office. The President's computer sits there, running silently. Yal-hune sits herself down at the desk and starts typing. I know there are at least three different cameras pointed towards this spot, but Yal-hune isn't seemingly concerned about them.

"What are you doing?"

"We're going to be sending out some Presidential e-mails."

"Is that it?"

"No, this is just one stop. We have more before the evening is over."

I watch over her shoulder and she has all the passwords and manages to enter Obama's e-mail. Her fingers move so quickly it is hard to fathom she almost never works keyboards.

I'm wondering where in the heck the Secret Service is. This room is on a 24 hour feed to one of several command centers underneath the White House.

"The monitors don't show our presence. None of the sensors are detecting anything other than an empty room."

I have long since learned Yal-hune can do pretty much anything she wants to. The only thing I wonder is why she even bothers to come here physically to do this. She addresses my question as her fingers dance over the keyboard.

"It's complex. In this instance, to get the benefit - we had to be here physically."

I remember she has these things mapped out to the nth degree. When you see so many possible futures you learn the consequences of each action and the details become all-important.

"So who are you sending emails to from Obama?"

"Just a few world leaders."

"What does the email say?"

"It's a riddle."

"A riddle?"

"I'll explain later."

She keeps on typing and I look around the Oval Office and take a seat behind the desk. I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this when President Bush was in office, but things change. I like my desk and chair better at Shamballa, both are more comfortable. The new decor is pretty bad and the furniture looks like something bought at a furniture mall. In fact, you almost feel like you are looking at a display set and all you want to see is the price tag stuck to one of the coffee colored chairs.

"You keep biasing things - nonstop"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You only hurt yourself - not me."

"Are you almost done? I know Obama is in Hawaii by now, but someone might come in anyway."

Yal-hune looks over and smiles at me. She knows exactly where everyone is and what's going on. All my instincts and clandestine training are put completely to waste with her on a mission. Her skills and sensory awareness make them obsolete. I use my mind like Yal-hune uses hers and I see the guards patrolling and the staff enjoying Christmas eve as best they can.

"Okay. We're done here. You ready for our next stop."

I get up from the desk and walk towards Yal-hune.

"As ready as I'll ever be...activate the transporter anytime!"

I leave my eyes open. It's getting fun watching one environment morph into another in an instant. I watch the oval office and the hideous coffee table disappear and are replaced by a sterile looking room with walls of what appear to be steel and many small lock boxes.

"Where are we?"

"We are in the vault of the International Fidelity Commerce Bank in Geneva, Switzerland. We are about to make an unauthorized access."

"Theft?"

"Not exactly. You see, the box is wired to a sensor. When it opens it transmits a signal to a certain party."

"Who? What is in the box?"

Yal-hune walks over to the box and merely taps it with her finger. She slides the box out. I see what appears to be a small black book, several million dollars in diamonds and cash and a very unusual wrist watch. Yal-hune merely touches the watch with her finger and then she slides the box back in its place in the wall.

"That's it? Touch a wrist watch in a lock box?"

"That was not a wrist watch. That was an advanced genetic scanner and is not of this Earth. The owner of this box is not of Earth."

"I'm confused. First e-mails from Obama and then an alien genetic scanner? These things break the loop?"

"Yes. But we're not done yet. Prepare yourself."

"I'm ready."

The bank vault disappears. We reappear on the Great Wall in China. It is night and the stars are visible.

"Why are we here?"

"We are going to meet someone."

I barely have time to process her words and a being appears. Clearly not human. A female form about 7 feet tall. Very beautiful. White hair, silvery skin. She looks almost like the spirit of winter come to life.

"Yal-hune?"

I sense something amiss, but I don't quite know what it is. The female alien looks over at me and smiles. I get a deja-vu of this whole scene and it is linked to something really important, I just don't know what.

Yal-hune turns and smiles and then disappears.

The white haired woman walks over to me and speaks in my mind.

"Hello."

"Um....hi...where did Yal-hune go?"

"She has left the Earth. My name is Yaylu. I'm a friend of Yal-hune's and she asked me to take you back to Shamballa."

"I don't get it. Is our mission done? Why didn't Yal-hune tell me about this?"

"The mission is complete the loop has been broken. You will not see Yal-hune for some time. She asked me to look out for you."

I look over this striking (and very tall) female now that she is standing in front of me - looking down at me. Her silvery skin doesn't look metallic, but almost a very soft pale blue/silver. Her white hair and white eyebrows frame a face that is almost human looking. Her eyes are at least 1/3 again as large as human eyes and her jaw is unlike any I have ever encountered - the bones are sculpted differently. She does look very beautiful and her smile and eyes are quite attractive. She has that spark and I wonder just how developed she is and what world she calls home.

"We will get a chance to know each other much better. Yal-hune has left the Earth because her departure was one of the parameters that were necessary to break the loop."

As she speaks in my mind she seems very familiar. I keep getting the feeling that I know her. I know I would be sad about Yal-hune's departure if I were not being shielded somehow from overshadowers. In stead I am left with understanding - and an awareness that Yaylu has the ability to shield me and teleport like Yal-hune.

"I am another emissary. My world is not a member of the Confederation. I have lived on Earth for 65 years now - since the first atomic explosions."

"You look all of 28?"

"I am 393 Earth years old. The average lifespan of my race is about 700 years"

For a 393 year old woman she is a knock out. I realize that cycles of energy control the DNA and the cells and that these other worlds simply possess different cycles which keep cells youthful longer.

"Do you know Yal-hune personally? Had you met before?"

"Yes. Yal-hune was familiar and in contact with all the aliens living on Earth."

"That's interesting. I did not know that."

As I converse in her mind, I see she has a very different personality and feel than Yal-hune. It's hard to convey or describe, but she is...well..playful or less serious or something. Her thoughts are not as orderly, she has almost a whimsical mind - now as I think about it, her mind instantly becomes almost as cool as her silver/white appearance. The disparity is unnerving and I put up mental markers to shield my thoughts and I don't intend to let them down anytime soon.

She puts her hands together and a white ball appears around them. It gets larger and larger and envelopes us both. I feel time and space altering and I see she has her own method of teleporting. We are back in my office at Shamballa. The clock says 12:33 AM. It is now Christmas.

Yaylu looks down at me.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too."