Raising the Dead …Part 6 …Making Sense of the Unreasonable

Alex was still trying to process what Len had told him—the girl they both saw in a vision was not dead as they supposed but very much alive and a student enrolled in the graduate program.

He asked Len to go to Simcoe Hall and retrieve her student record although he wasn't exactly sure what pertinent information he might be able to glean from examining the file.

An hour later Len returned and dropped the file on his desk.

"Here's Elizabeth Miller's file," he told Alex, "she's in the graduate program as her friend told me, but she was not enrolled in your group as I was led to believe. Apparently, there was a scheduling problem and she ended up in another seminar."

Alex scanned the document and spotted the instructor's name.

"Hey! She's in Winnifred Flowers' group and she owes me a favour."

"What's your plan?" Len asked.

"I think I'll pay Winnie a visit and ask her about likely candidates for a research student job. Judging by Elizabeth's marks, she's probably her top student."

"You want to co-opt the girl to help out on our project?" Len asked, surprised.

"What better way to get to know her and enlist her help?"

"I have no objection to that," he smiled.

The meeting with Winnifred Flowers went so well it almost seemed to Alex to be the work of Fate. The minute he broached the subject about needing an outstanding student aide Elizabeth's name came up as one of three possible candidates.

Alex dutifully copied down all three names, resolving to contact only Elizabeth at the earliest opportunity.

"The girl is special, Alex, amazingly gifted." Winnifred confided. "You can't go wrong with her."

Exactly what I hoped for, he mused inwardly, giving no signal to his colleague about his secret intentions.

The very next day Alex and Elizabeth were seated in the Hart House cafe discussing the position.

"I'm so excited, Professor Hemmer," Elizabeth gushed. I'm fascinated by the prospect of being able to decode the memories of the dead—I can't even imagine what an. imapct this research might contribute not only to archeology and anthropology, but to humanity in general."

Alex smiled at Elizabeth's enthusiasm, but it was an unnerving experience for him because despite his resolve to maintain a professional demeanour he was disarmed by her personality and exceptional beauty.

As Alex sat back and conversed with Elizabeth he noticed the males around him seeminged fascinated by her and envious of him.

He also realized what made Elizabeth so attractive was her total disregard for her appearance. It was as if she were totally oblivious of the effect of her beauty on everyone around her.

Alex had to suppress a pang of guilt as if he were deceiving the girl, but he rationalized it was not deception but more a case of necessity and the pursuit of science because he he had no other choice.

Elizabeth's image was somehow imprinted into the sample of brain tissue he had been analyzing.By passing a current through the treated specimen he had revived and stimulated the nerve synapses to fire and amazingly project her face onto his consciousness.

How it happened he had no idea, but the fact it happened to Len as well confirmed it wasn't some subjective, mystical experience but a real communication from beyond.

The only question that remained was what did it mean? Was this an anomalous event, never to be repeated again, or was it a message from the grave intended for him and Elizabeth?

There had to be a deeper reason for Fate or the powers of the universe to bring him and Elizabeth together and this synchronicity was of an order that even the great Carl Jung could not comprehend...

So again, he was forced back to the same ontological question, who was he to deny the universe?