Kitabı oku: «The Writer», sayfa 3
Pasadena, California â The nerd
"Is that all?" exclaimed the big, decidedly overweight guy, as he observed the strange device that the young nerd was holding in his hand. "Youâre not going to tell me that youâve made us wait more than a month just to show us this thing flashing."
"I can assure you itâs working" replied the terrified boy. "Indeed, I think itâs already done what it was designed to do."
"Yes, but are you going to tell us what?â yelled the tall thin guy as he jumped to his feet. "Now I really am losing my patience."
In the basement bulging with equipment, monitors and computers of all kinds, lit by a dim led light which was reflected off the worn walls, the boyâs emaciated face looked even paler than it really was.
"Listen here, if you donât tell us what this thingâs really for, I swear Iâll make you swallow it whole" exclaimed the fat guy grabbing the nerd by the scruff of the neck.
"But I told you" answered the ever more frightened boy. "Itâs a system to activate a procedure remotely."
"But what procedure? What is it?" continued the big guy, as he shook the boy as if he were mixing Margaritas.
"I'm not sureâ the young man tried to answer. "But I think weâve activated something very particular and dangerous, given the protection systems I had to bypass."
"Explain yourself," said the fat guy still continuing to shake him.
"If you let me go, I'll show you.â
"Okay. But I hope itâs convincing, or else the biggest bit of you thatâll be found will only be visible under a microscope."
The boy straightened his shirt, readjusted his long hair that hadnât seen any shampoo for quite a while and headed towards a workstation with two keyboards and a series of half-dismantled computers. He quickly typed several incomprehensible commands and, after a few seconds, a three-dimensional image of the strange object that slowly revolved upon itself, appeared on a giant screen that hung from the ceiling.
"This is our mysterious remote control.â
"Ah, now it's become a remote control?â
âWell, considering its function I think we can safely call it that."
âGo ahead,â said the thin guy as he settled himself on a shabby chair in order to better observe the large monitor.
âWell, the main problem was how to reactivate it. I struggled quite a lot because, most likely, not only had it been turned off but the owner did not want anybody to ever turn it back on again.â
"See it wasnât the batteries that had gone flat, you silly old fool," exclaimed the fat guy, turning towards his crony.
"No, thereâs no batteries inside,â continued the nerd. "I think it works with an external power source, a sort of electromagnetic flow that it manages to capture and transform into pure power.â
"Interesting" commented the skinny guy. "But whatâs its scope?"
"In theory, perhaps even several hundred thousand kilometres."
"Blimey" exclaimed the fat guy as he held the strange object in his hand. "Are you telling me that this little thing might be capable of transmitting a signal from here to the moon?"
"I think so and it probably already has done."
"And whatâs it supposed to have transmitted?"
"Well thatâs the interesting bit" continued the boy as he brought up a new picture on the big screen. "These are the symbols that appeared on the front of it after it had been reactivated."
"It looks like some sort of ancient language" commented the thin guy. âI'm sure I've seen it somewhere before.â
"In fact, itâs cuneiform. The Sumerians used it several thousand years before Christ."
"And whatâs it doing on such a technologically advanced instrument?"
"Itâs the language of our alien visitors."
"Are you telling me that those brutes who captured us speak cuneiform?" asked the big guy somewhat surprised.
"Well," the boy tried to explain, "itâs not exactly that you speak cuneiform. Itâs a form of writing. But I think this is their language."
"And have you managed to translate it?"
"Actually, for the command to be sent, I had to insert a kind of password. In practice, by touching the symbols in the right order, I entered operational mode."
"Basically, like the system you use to unlock your phone?"
"More or less, yes" said the nerd smiling, happy that the two guys had finally understood what he was talking about.
"Youâve done a really good job," said the fat guy looking pleased.
"Yes, but we still havenât understood its true function yet," replied the thin guy rather disappointed.
"I could hazard a guess which I think might be quite realistic," said the boy, softly.
âWell, what are you waiting for? Talk," replied the fat guy, moving within just a few centimetres of his nose.
"I think itâs a system to activate the self-destruct procedure of a spacecraft, as well as who knows how many other functions."
The two buddies looked at one another in amazement for an instant then, as if someone had just given him the most wonderful gift in the world, the larger of the two exclaimed "Please, tell me weâve blown them up."
"Very probably the aliens will have had ample time to get to safety, but their vehicle might have come to a really bad end."
"Son, youâre a genius," exclaimed the big guy. Then he pulled a USB memory stick out of his pocket and added, "Put all the data youâve got on this thing and then cancel everything. If we discover youâve kept even a single byte..."
âI know, I know. Youâll make mincemeat out of me."
âWell done. I knew you were a smart guy."
The copy process only lasted a few seconds. Then, after removing the USB stick from his computer, the nerd held it out to the big guy who quickly snatched it out of his hands. Then, after also grabbing the strange object and putting them both in his right trouser pocket, he said to his partner in crime, "Letâs go old chap, perhaps our dreams are about to come true."
They had almost reached the threshold when the young man exclaimed, "Hey, arenât you forgetting something?"
"What are you on about?â asked the tall skinny guy.
"Err⦠the rest of my money."
âMoney?â replied the fat guy. "Thank the Lord we havenât broken your neck" and he banged the door behind him.
Taurus constellation - Planet Kerion
At almost sixty-five light years from earth, the red giant named Aldebaran dimly illuminates a barren planet known by the name of Kerion. Its surface, which nowadays features only arid deserts, parched rocky landscapes, deep dry gorges and smooth plateaus, was not always like this. The planet began its slow decline about ten thousand years ago when, for reasons as yet unknown, the metallic fluid which constituted its core began slowly but inexorably to reduce its speed of rotation, causing a relative progressive reduction of its magnetic field.
Nowadays, Kerionâs atmosphere, once composed mainly of nitrogen and about twenty percent methane, is virtually inexistent. In fact, the harmful rays from its star, no longer shielded by the powerful planetary magnetic field, have gradually dissolved it and reduced it to about 0.1 percent of what it once was. Seas of liquid hydrocarbons used to occupy almost half the planet. Lakes of methane and countless expanses of iced water were dotted around the land above sea level and life flourished luxuriantly. But the catastrophic event apparently marked the destiny of Kerion. For millennia, its inhabitants tried to find a solution to restart its core but without success. Since the start of the slowing down process, they have also tried venturing into risky and extremely long interstellar voyages in search of a planet, similar to their own, to which they could move, but none of these missions has ever been successful.
When their vital resources were almost at an end, they became more or less resigned to their inevitable extinction when, one of the brightest minds on the planet proposed what for most of the population appeared to be an absolute folly: get rid of everything that could "die". The Kerian in question began a series of experiments which, within a few decades, led him to extract what we might call their "soulâ from the material bodies of his fellow beings, thus releasing it from its bond, until then believed to be indissoluble, with the physical body. The very essence of some volunteers was separated from the living matter and implanted in new, fully mechanical structures. This gave birth to a new species, based entirely on cybernetic bodies but equipped with their own intelligence and that cosmic essence called soul or, more simply, life.
The separation of the souls of all the inhabitants was completed in just a few years but, given the scarcity of suitable materials for making the new cybernetic bodies, the transfer went ahead far too slowly. So, it was decided to organise the conservation of the "essences" in special dedicated egg-shaped casings, so as to be able to preserve them from destruction until their new exoskeletons had been made.
The first new beings created, now virtually immortal, therefore began a new saga of exploration of the cosmos searching, this time, for planets that could provide them with the necessary raw materials for the completion of the project. Ten were identified, even at distances of several hundred light years from their home planet, on which actual real laboratories were built where the resources of the planets were extracted and used on-site for the creation of new bodies. The presence of helium-3 which, through a complex system of nuclear fusion, would guarantee each individual new Kerianâs structure a virtually inexhaustible source of energy, was paramount. To reach all those so very distant planets, veritable interstellar portals were created through which the containers with the souls of the inhabitants and the necessary equipment were transferred to the assembly workshops. The creation of each individual body, the implanting of its soul and its complete activation required a very long procedure each time but, for them, time was no longer a problem.
"Weâve received a strange message from plant /\â announced the Kerian in charge of transmissions.
âWhatâs the message?â replied his commanding officer, who answered to the name of Supervisor RTY and whose body shape greatly resembled a kind of very long-legged arachnid with a massive body.
âStrangely it was interrupted before completion. This is what reached us,â and he transmitted the communication fragment in sub-light.
Laboratory attacked. Weâre sending back ...
âWeâre sending what? Attacked by who?"
âThere wasnât anything else. Since then communications with /\ have been interrupted."
âLetâs try to re-establish them as soon as possible and find out whatâs happenedâ ordered RTY. "There are more than ten million souls in that laboratory waiting to be transferred.â
"Iâm well aware of that," said the transmissions officer. "But, for the moment, the only thing Iâm receiving is the signal from container (|) which is going through the intercommunication tunnel.â
"Perhaps that's what theyâre sending back to us.â
âWeâll soon find out. Itâll be here in three hundred and twenty cens."
Tell-el-Mukayyar â The pyramidsâ energy
âThere they are, theyâre coming,â said Petri indicating the three shuttles that were rapidly approaching the excavation site.
"Standard positioning,â Azakis ordered the pilots of the vehicles through his hand-held communicator.
The two aliens, together with Jack and Elisa, remained silent as they observed the shuttles as they completed the fast and precise landing manoeuvres.
"We should activate a dome-shaped forcefield to create an atmosphere more suited to our respiratory systems,â suggested Petri.
"I agree," replied Azakis. "Iâm already fed up of wearing these damned things," and he pointed to the two little breathing tubes inserted in his nostrils.
"Thereâs too much oxygen here, for us. Perhaps it would have been better to organise our emergency base high up in the mountains."
"No. At least not for the time being. The forcefield will be more than sufficient until we get ourselves organised a little better."
"Ok, you're the boss," said Petri, emphasising the phrase with a kind of military salute like he had seen the terrestrial soldiers do.
âShuttle two. Activate the containment dome,â said Azakis into his communicator.
Starting from the top of the central shuttle and betrayed only by a slight vibration in the air, a sort of almost invisible veil spread rapidly with a radius of about a hundred metres, forming a hemisphere-shaped hood which extended from the apex of shuttle twoâs virtual pyramid straight down to sink into the desertâs sandy soil.
"That looks like a good job to me," said Petri satisfied.
"Why have they positioned themselves like that?" asked Elisa intrigued.
"Like what?" replied Azakis. âWhat do you mean?â
âThe shuttles. The pyramids theyâve formed are almost in a straight line and positioned with one side facing south. The two most external ones are apparently aligned while the central one looks slightly more off-axis."
"You have an excellent spirit of observation" commented Azakis.
"The fact is they remind me greatly of something else."
âWhat exactly?â asked the Colonel who had suddenly shown great interest in the discussion.
"Have you ever been to Egypt?"
âA long time ago.â
"And have you visited the Giza plateau?"
"Obviously yes," answered Jack. Then, slapping himself on the forehead he exclaimed "but of course! Theyâre positioned just like the three largest pyramids."
"Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus," pointed out the doctor.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Azakis perplexed.
"Wait a minute,â Elisa answered. "I'll show you,â and she walked quickly towards the laboratory tent. She emerged less than a minute later carrying a large, well-thumbed book. As she drew near the other three, she quickly leafed through the pages. âHere we are. Lookâ and she held it out to the alien.
âInteresting⦠What are they?â
âLet me see,â said Petri, sliding the thick book from his companionâs hands. âAh yes. Iâve seen this sort of construction. Theyâre like that one,â and he pointed to the Ziggurat behind the field. "But they must have been built by another people and in a different era.â
âWell done Petri. Youâre right, of course. Since the day they were discovered, our scholars have been racking their brains to understand the reason why they were built and why they were arranged that way."
"But itâs very simple," said Petri flashing a beautiful smile. "Can you see those stars up there?" and he pointed to a constellation in the middle of all the others, in the space left by the setting sun.
âYes, certainly. We call it the Orion constellation. It takes its name from the Greek demigod Orion" said Elisa. Then, as she traced its profile with her index finger in the clear desert air, she added, "If you join up its stars with a virtual line, the head, shoulders, belt and feet of a man appear. According to Greek mythology, Orion was a giant born with superhuman abilities, a mighty hunter who killed his prey with an unbreakable bronze sledgehammer. When the Greek hero died, he was placed among the stars for eternity."
"Your stories are always very evocative," said Petri enraptured. "However, from what the Elders have taught us, all the constructions of this type, and there are many scattered all over the earth, are linked to us.â
"You, aliens?"
"We âGodsâ, who came down from heaven to start the human raceâ specified Petri.
âAnd wouldnât you just have guessed that you had a hand in that tooâ blurted out Jack. "It seems as if everything we have done up to now is solely and exclusively down to you."
"Well, coming to think of it," commented Elisa, "I must say he does have a point.â
"I just wanted to say," added Petri quietly "that our shuttles are simply positioned like the three stars in your Orion "belt"."
"And so, the same would apply to the pyramids in Egypt?" asked Jack shocked.
âIâd say so.â
âSo, the assumptions of our scientists were true,â said the doctor almost in a whisper. Then she held her chin between her thumb and forefinger and added, "However, Iâve still not understood the real reason for that arrangement."
âSimple my dear,â exclaimed Petri. âEnergy.â
"Youâll have to explain this to me properly," replied the doctor, straightening her back and crossing her arms.
"Even we donât know very much about it,â Petri hastened to clarify. "But it seems that, a pyramid-shaped object is able to generate a kind of positive energy that is beneficial to all living things that are close to it. Obviously, the larger the object, the more energy it generates. Then, if itâs also in connection with a heavenly body or better still, with a series of them, everything is amplified in an exponential way."
"But what kind of energy are we talking about?" asked the archaeologist.
"Like I said, itâs not clear even to us. Many of our Experts have studied it but we still don't have reliable data.â
"Finally, something that even you don't know," said Jack satisfied. âThatâs almost a miracle."
"There are lots of things we don't know, my friend. On a global scale, we are only slightly more evolved than you. There are so many mysteries in the universe. You didn't think we knew them all did you?"
"I confess, for a moment, I really thought you did."
âThere are concepts that we will never understand. We must resign ourselves to that."
"But weâre intelligent beings, imaginative, curious. What can prevent us from understanding?â
Then Azakis entered the debate saying, "It's just a question of levels of perception.â
"This I really havenât understood," exclaimed Elisa puzzled.
"Although you may think that our brains are who knows how "evolved", there are some dimensions so far away from our structures of thought that we cannot even begin to make suppositions, at least with our current knowledge."
"I'm sorry but I'm not following you."
"Take a cell of your liver as an example,â continued Azakis patiently. âImagine it intent on reasoning about its status, about its work, about the cells close to it. Who knows how many times it will have tried to understand what's beyond that reality it experiences. Will there be other groups of cells? Will they be like me? Perhaps it will also have tried to postulate the presence of a God. It will also have tried to get in touch with him following goodness knows what complex rites, praying for his intercession in solving its daily problems. But who is its God? Your gallbladder? Your heart? You? What perception can a cell ever have of your liver, of you, its God? How could it ever come into direct contact with you? And if it does not perceive you, could it ever perceive me? And the sea, the sky, the sun, the galaxy... This is what I mean by different levels of perception.â
"Blimey,â exclaimed Elisa, as if she had just come out of a trance. "I really hadn't ever thought of this... So, we might never be able to contact beings of higher levels or imagine what could be outside the dimension in which we live."
âThatâs not necessarily true. It would seem, including thanks to the peculiar energy we were talking about earlier released by pyramids, that some people may already be able to jump one or more levels. Unfortunately, even our knowledge in this very particular matter, is still very limited."
"Fascinating," whispered the doctor completely enraptured. "So, you too are in search of your God."
"Actually, itâs a topic weâve been studying for a long time."
"And, if even you havenât worked this whole thing out, just imagine how much hope we have.â
"Often the most important intuitions appear randomly" sentenced Azakis. "Our races are very similar and Iâm sure that both ourselves and you, have the same chances of discovering how this mysterious mechanism works, through which we could get in touch with higher beings.â
Petri clasped his hands behind his back and began to slowly walk around in circles. He thought for a few seconds then added, "But, actually, if the cell mentioned before doesnât do its work well, there would be problems for me and I would realise. Basically, this is also a form of contact, isn't it?"
"You're right. All of us are here for a very specific purpose and we should simply try to do our work as well as we can. This is precisely why on Nibiru, from the moment of our birth, our Educators strive to identify what our main peculiarity is. Each of us has one, as I think you terrestrials also do. The biggest problem is to discover it and then make the very most of it. As well as giving us all the basic knowledge, the Educators, do precisely this. It is they who, after carefully analysing our strengths and weaknesses, direct us towards the group which comes closest to our personal aptitudes such as the Artists, or the Artisans, or the Experts and so on. We donât have to do anything other than always give the maximum in the activity in which we excel and complete the path that was thought out for us."
"Okay guys," intervened the Colonel. "How about we just forget about all this philosophical talk and seriously get down to trying to solve the small problem we have right now?"
"True" added Petri. "In fact, while you âbrainiacsâ were discussing the mysteries of the universe, I downloaded the data from your personal recorder.â
"What are you talking about?" asked Azakis perplexed.
"To tell the truth Iâd forgotten it as well,â continued the Expert. "But, before leaving, I activated a personal recording system which would have stored all the actions of every member of the crew.â
âYes... yes I remember now. Youâre talking about this little thing that you fixed here behind me, aren't you?â replied the captain, as, twisting his torso, he tried to point to a little black rectangle fixed to his light grey belt.
âPrecisely old chap.â And you can't imagine how well it worked. I managed to find out what happened to your remote-control system."
"Oh, really? And what did happen to it?â
"Youâll never guess!"
