"the love that dare not speak its name""

(a different and modern take on a well-known event)

*****

My phone has begun to ring. It's 2.30 a.m and it has to be my brother Ernest. Following several rings, I answered:

"Yes, my brother. What's going on?"

Jody, my partner who can sleep through anything, continued snoozing.

"It's resolved," Ernest declared.

What was resolved I asked myself in my head?....I was just waking up, I needed to organize my thoughts.

"Please wait a moment." Still buying time to gather myself, I then remembered and stated:

"Do you mean your so-called time machine?"

He spoke:

"Yes, Andrew, you are correct; please come over right away." Ernest then severed the line.

He never makes small talk.

I hurriedly dressed, left a note for Jody, and walked the 5 minutes to my brother's house. We are cousins who work as scientists in the field of cutting-edge Astro dynamics. But my brother is secretly working on a time machine that uses light to move cells, including people.

He has a subterranean chamber beneath his house for this purpose.

Ernest is a gifted scientist, but he is serious and devoid of humour. He's a scrawny, bespeckled mess in his early thirties, but I've always thought he'd make a great inventor.

With the exception of his religion, which his parents had instilled in him, he has dedicated his life to research. Despite our similar appearances, I am a few years younger and in a committed relationship.

I arrived at his house and used a key to open the back door. I entered and walked to a shed at the rear and I unlocked the door to that with another key, and then I went down a staircase to a secure entrance.

I entered the lab, which is dominated in the middle of the room by a six-foot-wide and six-foot-tall multi-coloured circular light display.

While standing nearby, Ernest explained:

"Andrew, the teleporter was the problem. Extra lighting now fixes it and allows people to move back and forth in time with ease."

-I guess my first impression was that it was similar to the Star Tek transporter, but much more advanced and capable of time travel.

I noticed him demonstrating the different levels of illumination while holding the teleporter's remote control.

"But," I said:

"Don't you really need more testing?"

Ernest paused after taking a deep breath before continuing:

"I put it through its paces several times.

"First, I returned to November 22, 1963, when Oswald shot Kennedy. He acted alone. I've been to the Grassy Knoll more than once. Shots were heard coming from that direction. However, these were echoes of Oswald's gunshots.

"Secondly I discovered that Jack the Ripper was a Polish immigrant. Although DNA evidence supports this, I was present to witness his murders.

"Thirdly," he took a quick breath before adding:

"We are not related as cousins."

My mouth dropped open.

I became agitated and yelled:

"What exactly are you saying?"

Ernest paused. He took another deep breath before telling me:

"We're brothers."

This revelation stunned me, but before I could react, Ernest said:

"Andrew, my brother, please...

I"'ve been working on finishing this project for weeks and haven't gotten much sleep. I want you to witness this incredible development first-hand, share it with me, and have an encounter with our Lord."

Then he told me to put on a one-piece robe. My brother, as I now know him, also dressed himself in a robe.

As we stood in the center of the transporter area, Ernest used the remote control to make lights whirl around us and explained:

"I made sure to input the exact location and time, as well as being able to communicate in that era's language, because the module includes a function for it if we need to."

"What era?" I enquired.

Ernest's voice grew irritated as he became more frustrated :

"Look, Andy, you know I grew up as a devout Christian. I must pay Him a visit. Only once. Just a single moment in his company... I've chosen the Last Supper."

Despite the fact that I was not religious, I was aware that Ernest was.

I noticed the screen on the remote he was holding, which showed the time rapidly regressing from 2022 all the way back to zero.

We came to a halt, and the lights that had been whirling and swirling around us suddenly halted and went out.

We found ourselves in a historic room with a table and food on it at one end. However, no one sat at the table; instead, people lay sprawled on the ground.

The majority of those lying down were men who were eating and laughing together. Nobody was dressed, and Ernest observed:

"Don't worry, we can see them; however, they can't see or hear us."

The focus of attention was on one Man, and the others on the ground surrounded him. He was thin, feminine, and sparsely attired if at all.

He has a gentle voice, yet very commanding. The other males kissed and cuddled Him while they gave him loving looks. Women also participated in the activities.

An orgy of love in which the leader and maybe some others appeared transgendered.

The passion and magnificence in the room were overwhelming for me. This gave the impression of tremendous physical, emotional, and spiritual fortitude.

I'd never been through anything like this before.

As if I had attained Nirvana.

I then turned to look at Ernest. He had never appeared so enraged to me before. He was trembling and his face was flushed. He couldn't speak, but his silence spoke volumes.

My brother motioned me to the outside of the room where one of the participants was now standing. When Ernest touched the remote control, we became visible to this individual.

"Is your name Judas?" Ernest demanded of the man, who nodded in awe:

"You must warn the Romans about this abomination, or you will be condemned to eternal damnation."

Ernest seemed to be possessed by his anger.

He then placed a bag of silver in the robe of Judas who was so terrified by the threats, he would do the betrayal as ordered.

As we returned to the chamber but before vanishing home Ernest vowed to me he would destroy his invention as soon as we arrived back.

Just before we left the Man looked in our direction and said with great compassion:

"Forgive them father for they know not what they do".