The Bar Code Prophecy by Suzanne Weyn

that already without this device?” Grace questioned.
    “I’m able to travel,” Eutonah agreed, “but neither of you can. At least not yet.”
    So many questions played on the tip of Grace’s tongue, but before she could voice any of them, a tingling sensation overtook every inch of her skin. It went deeper into her body until she felt that her bones were vibrating and her skull itself quivered with an unsettling buzz.
    Grace was about to cry out, to demand that Eutonah shut the helmet down, when all the shaking abruptly stopped.
    She was no longer in the dingy subway closet but stood on an immense flat rock. A vivid sky pressed down on a vast expanse of orange-brown desert with areas of green shrubbery. Jagged mountains towered in the distance. It surprised her that although she was alone, she felt no fear. There was something strangely soothing in the utter silence of this majestic place.
    “We are a thousand feet above sea level,” Eutonah said.
    Grace turned to find Eutonah and Eric behind her. “We are on sacred Hopi land,” Eutonah continued. “The Hopi believe that this is the center of the universe.”
    This wasn’t hard for Grace to accept. She could feel the power of the place coursing into her, energizing her spine, her limbs, even her mind. Never before had she experienced such a calm and centered sensation of complete well-being.
    “This is Spider Rock, the great place of vision for the many. We’re in Navajo territory, which rings the Hopi lands,” Eutonah told them.
    Grace felt as if she could touch the turquoise sky. Below her was an expanse of red rock desert ringed with boulders and mesas.
    “Five years ago the leaders of many Native American nations met here for a secret tribunal,” Eutonah went on. “I was among the delegation representing the Cherokee Nation. We came to discuss nothing less important than the future of this planet. The delegates from each tribe gathered their end-of-days prophecies to see what we could learn about what is to come.”
    “What did you conclude?” Eric asked.
    “We found a lot of overlap in the different myths and predictions, and the Hopi seemed to have the most well-developed prophecies. Many of the events predicted — the coming of the white man, the loss of our lands, and the oil spill devastation back in 2010 — have come to pass already.”
    “Does that mean the end of the world is near?” Grace asked.
    “It might be; we’re not sure. So many of the prophecies have come to pass. The Hopi believe there will be great destruction on Earth, but that they will be carried from the destroyed Earth on wingless flying ships.”
    “What will happen to everyone else?” Grace asked.
    “The Hopi have nine prophecies, all of which have been fulfilled. A tenth prophecy has been discovered. Very few have ever seen it.”
    “What does it say?” Eric asked.
    “We call it The Bar Code Prophecy.”
    Grace viewed the bar code tattoo on her wrist. “This bar code?”
    “Yes,” Eutonah confirmed with a nod. “We call it that because we believe that the lines of destruction that the tenth Hopi prophecy refers to are the lines of the bar code tattoo.”
    “Why would you think that?” Eric inquired, his brows knit in concerned concentration.
    Eutonah headed to the edge of the rock mesa on which they stood and laid on her stomach, beckoning for Grace and Eric to do the same. “See that opening cut in the mountain?” Eutonah said, pointing straight down. “Can you get down to it, Eric?”
    “Sure I can,” Eric answered confidently.
    If anyone could, it was Eric — but a slip would be certain death. They should return with climbing line. Before Grace was able to express her concern, Eric was flat against the side of the mesa. She held her breath, not wanting to disturb his concentration in any way.
    With cautious but deliberate movements, Eric made his way toward the opening in the mesa wall, sometimes clinging by his fingertips. Grace was torn between