Generations of Divine Design

By S. G. Kuziak

The authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls left us clues that humans have been genetically manipulated by technologically advanced beings for millennia. Once in a great while some force of nature causes a drop in the population giving these nearly immortal scientists an opportunity to reset their study group. When a Coronal Mass Eruption destroys the electrical grid on a global scale, these 'men of God' are poised to once again act on their agenda for humanity.
Noah, a paleoclimatologist, and Ava, a botanist who is working on the Mars project are stationed in Antarctica when they are cut off from the rest of the world. They not only survive but find themselves miraculously reunited with family who are living in Central Pennsylvania, along with a farmer and his blended family, who are surviving with the help of the Amish community. All are unaware of the divine design which will be integrated into their genetics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667829258

Book preview

Prologue

As a young boy roaming around his family’s 600-acre farm, Mick could distinguish an Indian arrowhead from an ordinary piece of shale from 50 feet away yielding buckets of his treasured finds. Still visible to the trained eye was an outline of a Native American longhouse on the flat ground. To Mick, this was sacred ground. He would only enter the rectangular shape through where he imagined the doorway would have been careful never to walk through a wall seen in his mind’s eye.

Eating, sleeping and extreme cold were the only reasons Mick found to be inside their 150-year-old farmhouse. However, there was a time when Mick spent an extended stay inside. When he had a fever of 105 degrees. To this day he stands by his unwavering conviction that the Indians he saw peering through his living room window were real and not a product of his delirium when he was ill.

They were checking on me and wanted me to come out and play.

Unaware that many of his neighbors took pity on his family’s meager existence, often referring to them as land-poor, Mick thought he was one of the rich kids. When he grew too big for his bicycle, he would get another one just like all his peers. He never knew the local Police Chief would bring the bikes that were unclaimed by the lost and found. Mick’s family always had plenty of food to eat as the kind-hearted game commissioner would look the other way when he saw an extra turkey or buck beyond their respective legal limits. Unfortunately, just as the Native Americans had this same land stolen from them only two hundred years prior, the government would take the farm from his family to build a power plant.

Adding insult to injury, nineteen-year-old Mick was the one who had to use his deceased father’s bulldozer to raze and bury his childhood home, barn, and outbuildings. This hideous coal-fired plant would not only permanently mar their once beautiful farmland, but the power didn’t even serve those who lived near it. If stealing their land wasn’t enough, the rural community labored from dawn to dusk in the elements to provide taxes for services that country folk don’t even use.

Mick was determined to once again have the lifestyle he so appreciated as a child. His mother allowed him to plant Christmas trees on a fifty-acre hill she owned. While waiting for the ten years it took for the trees to mature, Mick started work at four in the morning at the local diner as a cook until the lunch crew took over when he would work renovating houses until late into the evening. Some days, his work ethic would get the better of him and he would forget to eat. Many a meal was a swallow of uncooked rice with a tall glass of water. To save money he lived at home with his widowed mother.

His hard work slowly began to pay off. He began buying commercial buildings in town and with his profits; he bought a farm. Once again, his relentless ambition left him little time to socialize, and didn’t begin to seriously date until his thirties. Mick met a realtor who had two children. Her ex-husband, a physician, uprooted their family from Kentucky to take a job at the biggest industry in the area, the local hospital. The population of the town was half of the population employed by the medical center.

Suzy, a stereotypical Southern country girl, had trouble finding common ground with the other doctors’ wives. In fact, she reached her breaking point at one of the many formal events she felt obligated to attend. Standing with a group of ladies intermittently listening to their conversation when one of them directed a question to Suzy.

Where do you have your eyebrows waxed? So annoyed by the question, Suzy conjured an image of herself cocking the 20 gauge she won at a Chinese auction one-handed, then shooting the woman between her meticulously, quaffed eyebrows. In reality, she smiled at the woman, politely excused herself, pulled her husband aside and asked to leave the party early. Suzy’s request was met with that all too familiar dropped eyelid stare. Like so many other arguments they had previously, the fight they had in the car on the drive home ended with him insisting Suzy should have married a country boy. Their marriage ended amicably.

Suzy needed to stay close to her children’s father so moving back to Kentucky was not an option. Mick always joked that Suzy was a ‘mail-order bride’ and that he had to send away to the southern state to find someone who could shoot a wild turkey in the morning, butcher the bird and serve it with two side dishes by dinner time. Twenty years and three more children added to the family, Mick lives on a 112-acre farm with two small ponds and a meandering stream running through it. And he found a woman who loves the lifestyle just as much.

Chapter 1

Danville

Suzy’s cell phone rang and without looking at the caller ID she knew who it was.

Good morning.

Hey Suzy, have you seen the news this mornin’?

Um, no… hang on a second momma, Suzy turned her head and her attention to her almost eighteen-year-old daughter, Crawford and Crawford’s boyfriend, as they were about to walk out the door.

Where are y’all going?

Breakfast and then to the movies, Crawford answered.

Make sure you take a sweater.

With the infamous teenage ‘eye roll’ Crawford protested, It’s already like a bazillion degrees outside.

Yeah well, they always crank up the A/C in the theater and it will be cold.

When Crawford saw her mother’s attention had become focused on the phone conversation with her grandmother, she scoffed, and left without taking the suggested garment.

Suzy regained her posture to again speak with her mother, Sorry, momma, just wanted to find out where Crawford and her young man were off to.

Oh, that’s okay. Where are they going?

Movies.

What are they gonna see?

I think that new doomsday flick.

Did you tell her to take a sweater?

Yes, Ma’am.

You know they always keep the theater so cold.

Yes, ma’am. Suzy rolled her eyes, What did you say about the news?

Did you see it this mornin’?

No. The kids were binge-watching something on NETFLIX.

Oh. Well, they were saying somethin’ about how you’ll be able to see the aurora borealis!

Wow! Here in Pennsylvania?

Here in Kentucky, and even much farther south. They said it would be similar to what was viewed in 1938. Ya know 1938 was a very good year, she said with a giggle.

Yeah? 1938? 1938? Nope, I can’t think of anything that happened that year

Ha. Ha. Very funny.

Just kidding, I know it was the year you were born Momma.

Anyway, according to the news, the aurora borealis in 1938 made a lot of people nervous. I didn’t really understand exactly what they were talking about. Something about the colors of the sky was a sign that God was angry. And of course, World War II happened right after that.

Did they mention Our Lady of Fatima?

Yeah, I believe they did but I didn’t know what they were talking about. How did you know? What were they talking about?

I learned about Fatima recently. Three Portuguese children claimed to see the Virgin Mary and the oldest, Lucia, spoke to Our Lady. Mother Mary told them she would visit on the thirteenth of the month for the next few months. On one of the last visits, there was a huge crowd there waiting to see Mary and many of the people gathered there reportedly saw what they described as the sun darting about.

The sun?

Yes, like a disc zigzagging back and forth.

Suuure they did.

Anyway, it’s kind of a long story but Lucia became a nun living in Spain when she saw the aurora borealis. It was also reported that the lights even appeared red and were accompanied by a ‘crackling’ sound, possibly due to the discharges of atmospheric energy. So, Sister Lucia wrote to the bishop telling him it was a warning given to her by Our Lady saying, ‘When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is a great sign that God gives you. The light which the Lady told us about would come before the war. And of course, as you mentioned, World War II started soon after.

Did you learn about this from your Catholic friends?

Yeah Momma, my Catholic friends.

Even though she tried not to show disappointment, Suzy’s mother didn’t understand why her daughter converted to Catholicism. Nor did she know much about the faith because almost everyone she knew was Protestant. So, when did they say the aurora will be seen?

--MOM! yelled Suzy’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Lucy, from the living room. The Wi-Fi is out again!

Hey, Momma. Can I call you back?

Sure darlin’. Love you.

Love you too. Bye

What’s up Lucy, girl?

The Wi-Fi is out again!

Well, you’ll just have to watch regular TV or do somethin’ else.

Lucy closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temple shaking her head, Nooowah! I need it for the class I am taking.

Oh. Well, what are you working on? Maybe you could research it another way?

Ugh! No. You don’t understand.

Well, ‘splain it to me Luuucccy, her mother said, trying to lighten the mood, by doing her best to sound like Ricky Ricardo.

Lucy’s glaring look over her glasses let Suzy know that her poor imitation of Ricky Ricardo sounded like fingernails sliding down a chalkboard.

You see, in science class, there is a program that simulates a new planet that is exactly like Earth, but it has no life on it yet. So we have to try terraforming it by adding new species to seed the Earth. And the program does a time-lapse sequence to see if the species we choose can help produce the right amount of oxygen and everything to create a stable ecosystem.

Time-lapse thing?

Yeah, so, I select a bunch of plant, tree, bug, and fish species, and choose a time-lapse of say 100 years and see if the species are compatible and if they are I can set it up to 500 years and see if they are still thriving.

And if there is a problem can you reverse the time and remove whatever species was the problem?

No. The time lapse only goes forward. If there is a problem, I integrate a new species or try to eliminate the problem. Or I can program a natural disaster, like a drought or something that may rid the planet of the nuisance.

Oh, I see. What do you think your planet needs first?

Lucy again glared at her mother over her glasses, raised her eyebrows and said, Wi-Fi.

As Crawford and her boyfriend were finding seats in the theater she whispered, Oh my God! It’s FREEZING in here!

Antarctica

It’s FREEZING! Ava exclaims as she stepped off the cargo plane onto the base.

Noah looked at Ava sideways with a half-grin and said, Ava? Really? It’s Antarctica in July. What did you expect?

I just didn’t think there would be such a dramatic difference from when I was here last December.

You spent most of your time in the warmth of the greenhouses. Noah paused and took a long look at his new bride, God, I can still picture you popping out from behind the plants. You are by far the most beautiful farmer I have ever seen.

Ava, an accomplished scientist who received her PhD. in botany, would usually tell people she was a farmer. Ava thought it sounded less pretentious, more down to Earth. An ironic phrase given that she was awarded a grant to study the most successful way to grow food in greenhouses for The Mars project.

Noah quickly escorted Ava into the facility and took her into his arms, kissed her cheek and told her, It won’t be long for the crew to unload the plane, but I need to tell them where everything goes. I’m so happy you are here with me, Ava. I’ll be back as soon as I can.

As he turned to leave, she grabbed his arm, spun him around and tried to hug him as tightly as she could through their thick parkas and said, I mean who else gets to say they had their honeymoon in Antarctica.

Yeah, I was kind of surprised the powers-that-be are allowing us to collaborate.

Looking around trying to assess her situation Ava responded with a sheepish, Yay me.

Smiling as he wagged his finger he said, Don’t touch anything.

This would have been Noah’s third rotation on the base. However, he had only spent two weeks of the coldest months there. When Noah learned that he would be spending July, August and September on the continent he struck a deal with his employer to allow Ava to accompany him.

Ava saw what appeared to be a refrigerator and curiously pulled the heavy door open which triggered a beep sound. Noah rushed back in with a rather disappointed look on his face. Ava immediately shut the door, pushed her shoulders up toward her ears and said, I thought it was the refrigerator.

Noah explained, It is a freezer, one of many, but not the one that holds food.

He turned to leave, and Ava asked, Oh? What does it hold?

His voice was a little louder as he walked away, Ice!

Ice? Really? Kinda redundant don’t you think?

From farther down the hall he yelled, It’s very important ice!

Chapter 2

The Distant Past

As the small tribe of nomadic stiff-necked (Neanderthals) people fished with their primitive spears along the shallow meandering creek, they were completely oblivious to the mammoth compound nestled high above them under the cliffs. The only unauthorized creatures that could see both the nomads down in the ravine, wearing animal pelts, and the technologically advanced mortals hiding deep within the granite of the mountain, usually donning stark white lab coats, were the birds. If by chance, someone was able to scale the rock face to find him or herself at the entrance, it would appear to be nothing more than a honeycomb of caves. Like the unauthorized bird, mountain goat, or snake that may slither into the catacombs, the intruder would be unaware that the stalactite was more than just some conical pillar hanging in a cave. Only sanctioned personnel would know to stand directly under the stalactite and look up to have their retina scanned. Once approved, the locking mechanism would roll back to release the stone wall and with a hardy push, the two-ton wall would pivot open revealing a jaw-dropping contrast from the outside.

Everything about Surface Earth was jaw-dropping to me, having only been there a few times with Grandfather. Inner Earth was very beautiful, as well, and quite comfortable. Deep inside the Earth, there are lush green fields, meandering freshwater rivers and an abundance of wildlife. The most notable difference is the Earth’s core which gives the appearance of a hazy, sun-like orb floating in our starless sky. Imagine having a terrarium-like garden in your basement. A grow light and the Earth’s core both give heat and create photosynthesis. Every few days the moisture wicks up the walls and rains down in oversized droplets.

I always dreamed of living on Surface Earth. Now, even though a great deal of time will be spent studying and working inside the mountain, I need only take a few steps to see the Moon and all the stars… so many stars! Neither of my parents ever appreciated Surface Earth or had any interest in what Grandfather was trying to accomplish there. They were content with owning a restaurant. I hated working in that restaurant. I especially hated the butchering process. My parents were well-respected chefs. Known for being very particular about the way food is prepared and have strict rules concerning which types of animals are allowed to be consumed. My goal is to never have to cook again.

As I walked through that massive stone door my eyes widened and I could feel my heart quicken. Looking like tourists on holiday with our heads pivoting in all directions, I and a half dozen other recruits gathered in a lobby the size of a great cathedral.

Carved into the limestone walls were very detailed sculptures of many species of plants, insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Absent from the chiseled stone were likenesses of any humans. Even though their images were not made to be a permanent part of the backdrop, they were there.

Along the left-hand wall, staring right at me were people encased in glass. More detailed than any wax figure I’ve ever seen. These people stood there in various dress as if they were frozen in their respective time periods. Our guide, whose gold name tag read Shirley, could see that we were all fixated on the haunting figures, so she began walking towards the two in the far-left corner. A man and a woman were positioned holding each other’s hands. They were the only ones who shared one cubicle.

These two were introduced post ice age, but before the Great Flood, announced Shirley as she gestured toward them as if they were prizes on a game show.

We don’t have any of the stiff-necked creatures on a pedestal. As you know, some of them still live alongside our most current population. What the stiff-necks lack in brain capacity, they make up for in heartiness. Yet, resourceful enough to go underground when their climate became too cold. Like weeds, they are, Shirley arched her eyebrow.

Anyway, this man, Adam, was designed to be one of the first Surface Earth dwellers to look more like us. And poor Eve, like so many of the women from Inner Earth, was desperate to have a child so she agreed to be a mate to Adam.

The next specimen is one of my favorites. Shirley looked like the cat who swallowed a canary. Noah was the first child born with blue eyes. Really freaked his ‘parents’ out, Shirley giggled when she used her fingers to make the air quote sign.

In an attempt to stifle her enthusiasm Shirley gave a quick tug on the bottom of her suit jacket and once she regained her composure continued her speech. "Noah was also one of the last to possess such a long strand of DNA. He lived to be 950 years of age. Time goes by at such a different rate from Inner Earth our scientists found that adjusting the DNA strand length variable was a challenge. Human DNA strand length now allows for about 120 years of age.

Next, continued Shirley as she moved ahead a few steps, "we have the oldest woman to successfully carry an implanted embryo to full term. Sarah was 90 years old when she gave birth and she lived to what is now considered an

Reviews for Generations of Divine Design

[Lucy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book so much. Clever storyline, great pace, twisty plot. Takes the reader on an exciting journey through layers of time and space. Big thumbs up!

[Aimee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put the book down! Love the perspective of the characters and the unique perspective of the creation of life!