ENCOUNTER

by Hep Aldridge

  I knew what was coming. He had decided, and I smiled.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  We were all excited as we entered the Cathedra room the next morning. This is what we had come for, our reason for being here. The time had finally come. Jeannie was waiting for us when we entered and said, “We must go to the obelisk in the plaza.” She reverently picked the crystal up off the table, where it had been sitting for days, and left the building. We followed her and stopped in front of the obelisk. She held the crystal before her and said something we could not hear.

  Doc said, “The translation we have says the crystal will point the way to the library.”

  “That is inaccurate,” Jeannie replied as she raised it above her head. The crystal was around twenty-plus pounds and at least a foot long, but Jeannie handled it like it weighed nothing. We saw a niche on the side of the obelisk facing us, the same shape as the long crystal, and Jeannie slid it neatly into place. She then took one palm and placed it in a palm print on the obelisk, and a blue glow began emanating from the crystal.

  She turned to us and said, “The translation actually says the crystal will open the way,” and she pointed to the canyon wall behind us.

  As we turned and looked, a section of the natural rock wall disappeared, revealing a large door. Our collective mouths dropped open. Our campsite was no more than twenty-five yards away. We had been that close to it since we arrived and had no idea. We walked to the door and saw the impression of a hand on the wall.

  Jeannie said, “Colt, place your hand here.”

  I looked at her questioningly. “Will I be able to open it?” I asked.

  “The crystal is the key; once it is in place and the doorway is revealed, it may be opened by anyone.”

  I placed my hand in the impression, and the large door slid silently open. It was dark at first, and then a glow started filling the space before us. It was a room cut out of solid rock about twelve feet square. There were two rows of bookshelves in the room, each holding books of a uniform size. The book covers glinted of gold and silver. There were even books that seemed to have glass or crystal covers. While impressive to view, I was a little underwhelmed, expecting something more vast and magnificent. I looked at the others and thought I saw the same reaction on their faces.

  I turned to Jeannie and said, “So, this is the library?”

  “Yes, access to all our knowledge is provided herein, and you will be able to find the answers to all your questions,” she said with a wave of her arm.

  The script on the books was alien to us but looked like what we saw in the Citadel and on the obelisks. I wondered how we would be able to glean anything from them. Of course, Jeannie read my thoughts and replied, “By placing your hand on the covers or pages. As you have seen with many of our devices, the mind is the key. Placing your hand on the pages releases the information stored there into your mind. Placing your hand on the binding of the book tells you what subject or topic is covered within.”

  “That makes sense,” Doc said aloud. “But there are not many books here. I thought there would be more or other devices necessary to hold the tens of thousands of years of knowledge you were referring to.”

  We were standing between the shelves of books as Jeannie glided past.

  “We chose to put our information in this format for ease in the transfer of knowledge since we felt it would look familiar for anyone who might find the library in the future. Books are a common object and something that has been used to house information on your planet for thousands of years.”

  “That’s true,” I said, “we would definitely recognize the format and…”

  Jeannie stopped me with a raised hand, “You would need to become familiar with the information contained in here before,” she had reached the rear wall and placed her hand on it. It dissolved and opened into a cavernous room filled with shelves of books and so much more, “You entered here,” she said with a smile.

  The rows of shelves contained books: large books, small books with covers glinting silver, gold, and glass or crystal. And on other shelves were arranged a variety of strange devices. Further into the room, there were tables filled with artifacts of gold and silver: goblets, headdresses, helmets, some types of golden armor. Helms of gold and silver, adorned with long colored feathers, reminded me of the plumage of the Quetzal bird I had seen in Guatemala. We gazed about in silent awe at statues, effigies of people, birds, cats, and other animals that I did not recognize formed out of gleaming metals, stone, and crystal. I saw shelves with mineral and crystal samples on them. Several green stones caught my eye; the smallest was the size of my fist, the largest the size of a football. Could those be emeralds, I thought.

  Jeannie’s answer came to me, “Yes.”

  The room took our breath away. It was huge and filled with the remnants of past civilizations. As the light got brighter, more details revealed themselves. Like the outer room, it was hewn from the natural stone of the mountain. The ceiling was not visible, but floating overhead throughout the room were several orbs, three or four feet in diameter, providing the light. This room was so large you could have easily parked several commercial jets inside and have room to spare. Remember that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when they are putting the crate with the ark in it in the colossal storage warehouse? Well, imagine that warehouse ten times larger. That would be a close approximation to what we were seeing.

  I heard Doc say, “Oh, my God,” as he turned his head to take in the scene before us.

  Joe said, “This place is a library and a museum.”

  O’Reilly added, “I have never seen anything so beautiful.”

  The artificial light, reflecting off the various surfaces and objects, created a visual experience that would put any rainbow to shame.

  “It would take a lifetime to begin to understand what is here,” Dimitri said.

  “It would take many lifetimes, Dimitri,” Jeannie replied, “to just begin. That is why the outer room houses a sequential record of where information is kept within this room.”

  Reggie blurted out, “It’s a card catalog like the libraries have back home.”

  Jeannie’s brow furrowed for a couple of minutes, and then she smiled, “Yes, Reggie, that is what it is like. When you open a book and place your hand on the page, the transfer begins; you use your mind to control the information transfer speed. This allows you to optimize the flow of information. If you look around the chamber, you will see large vertical crystals. They are also information storage devices and operate in the same way the books do. They became our preferred method of information storage. We explain that concept in the volumes outside. We thought if a civilization from this planet found the library, the visual clues of the books and information contained would allow them to learn and understand the more advanced information storage devices housed in here.”

  “That is a very logical approach. I can easily see how it could work without someone to help guide them, such as yourself,” Doc said.

  Jeannie nodded, “It was planned for just such a situation, as we had no idea how long it would take, or if someone would find the library, and whether or not I would still be here.”

  We roamed the aisles and shelf units for the next two hours, trying to take in the volume of material housed here. As was noted, not only was this place a library, it was a museum, a treasure trove, and information repository of the visual kind. There were stacks of sheets of precious metals with engravings and intaglio drawings and print on them. We were in information overload and hadn’t even opened a book.

  Works or artifacts from every civilization you could think of were on display here as well as some that were completely foreign to us.

  “Jeannie,” I asked, “I don’t recognize these designs or artifacts; are they from Earth?”

  “Yes, Colt, most are, but they pre-date your present civilization by tens of thousands of years. They are remnants of just one of the many advanced civilizations that grew from our colo
nization efforts, flourished, and were destroyed during the life of your planet.”

  “These devices look interesting; what do they do?” I asked.

  Jeannie moved to my side and began pointing to them, “This is a cutting and forming tool, used to cut and shape stone and metal. This is a type of anti-gravity device, and this is a personal temporal portal device used for moving from one place to another.”

  It looked like an ornate piece of jewelry, a bracelet or wrist cuff, with a large blue stone affixed to it.

  “Does it still work?” I asked.

  “Yes, of course, everything you see in here is still in working order.”

  “How does it work?”

  “Place it on your wrist.”

  It looked too small to fit me, but it expanded and fit comfortably when I touched it to my wrist. It startled me, and I flinched.

  Jeannie laughed. “It will be fine, but I must caution you. You can get yourself into serious situations and trouble if this is misused. Touch the blue stone to activate it, and then think of standing outside the doorway of the library.”

  I touched the stone, and a fine mist appeared in front of me. I looked at Jeannie, and she nodded toward the mist, so I stepped in. After a slight feeling of disorientation, the mist cleared, and I was standing outside the library entrance. I had been blown away by the advanced technology we’d been exposed to over these last few days. But more than that, I was amazed at how easy it was to use. This was just another example. My heart was racing as I walked back into the library and to the aisle I had just left. Jeannie was standing there, and I heard, “You could have come back the same way you left,” she said.

  “I thought about it but then decided I didn’t want to take a chance of screwing up. As you said, be careful.”

  “A wise choice, Colt; you have done well,” she replied.

  I took the cuff off and replaced it, “Because these things are all still active, I think we better let everyone know not to mess with the items in here. I wouldn’t want someone to do something they shouldn’t.”

  “I agree and will inform them.”

  I heard the message loud and clear in my head as Jeannie warned the rest of the team. I could hear their voices scattered throughout the huge room, behind shelves and stacks of artifacts. The excitement was electric.

  Jeannie delivered another message. On the counter or shelf where objects were placed was a pyramid-shaped inlay, two inches at its base and three inches high of glossy blue material. She informed us that, when touched, we would get a description of what the object on display was, historical information, and its function or use. Our roaming and discoveries had just become all that more interesting. We spent hours looking and learning—what an amazing place. The more I discovered, the more insignificant I felt in the cosmic scheme of things; it was a humbling experience of monumental proportions.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Jeannie had let us roam the library for the rest of the day, and by its end, we were exhausted. The adrenaline and excitement had us running at one hundred and ten percent all day. As we headed to the “restaurant” for our evening meal, the conversation was chaotic and animated, each trying to fill the others in on what they had seen or found, all speaking simultaneously.

  When we entered the building, Jeannie was not there, but Lithel was sitting at the doorway in her cat form. We walked past, and she seemed to acknowledge each of us. When Eduardo entered, she rose and followed him to his seat as he scratched her head, smiling.

  “Looks like your new friend missed you,” I said.

  “She did,” he replied, “but she said she didn’t want to bother us as we explored the library.”

  That got my attention, “She said that to you? You talk to her?”

  “Yes, we talk all the time; she is very interesting and is looking forward to helping me learn to become a Watcher.”

  Doc had heard the conversation and said, “Remember, Jeannie said that Lithel had telepathic abilities and could converse with us if she chose to.”

  “That’s right; guess we haven’t made the A-team yet,” I replied.

  A warm burst of energy entered my head, and a very powerful and self-assured female voice softly said, “Not yet.”

  I was staring at Lithel, and I swear, the big cat smiled as she nuzzled Eduardo.

  I looked at Doc, who obviously had not heard anything, and he said, “You okay, Colt?”

  “Yeah, fine, just tired and hungry,” I said as I sat down. I looked back at Lithel and smiled as I thought, kid, you are definitely in good company.

  The dinner conversation centered around what we had seen that day. The table buzzed for almost an hour, and then something weird happened. We all stopped talking, finishing our meal in silence. We had finished and were quietly sipping our beverages when Doc said, “Okay, I’ll ask the question that I’m guessing is on everyone’s mind. We’ve found the library; now what?”

  O’Reilly chimed in, “That is the question; now what?” she repeated.

  I replied, “Doc, you hit the nail on the head. We’ve got ourselves a bit of a quandary here. I think we all came down here to learn more about the mystery we had uncovered on the longboat as well as the possibility of finding a great treasure.”

  Dimitri said, “That’s how I started, but not anymore.”

  “We’ve solved the mystery and did find great treasure, but as you guys said, now what?” Joe added.

  “Yeah, it was much simpler a few months back, but now? We knew we had the Brotherhood to contend with, but the Vatican, this city, Jeannie, Eduardo’s future, Lithel, and the library. Our situation has gotten exponentially larger than a mystery and a treasure hunt,” I said.

  “This is mind-blowing, earth-shattering, world-changing, monumental stuff,” Dimitri said. “And the technology… with it we could save planet Earth or destroy it, and I don’t think Jeannie is going to let us walk out of here with any of it.”

  “She said we wouldn’t be able to remember a lot of this, not sure what she meant by that,” Joe said. “There are so many questions that I would like Jeannie to answer for us.”

  “That may be a good starting point. We are already in information overload, so what if we made a list of the main questions we would like her to answer, go about it systematically? Everybody, write down your top five questions, then we can pare it down to three each and see if she will go for that.

  “But will she let us remember the answers?” Doc asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said, “that can be one of the first questions.”

  Reggie had been quiet during most of this discussion. She spoke up and said, “We’ve really helped Jeannie out in a big way since we’ve been here, so you’d think she would want to give us something in return, right?”

  “Maybe she will,” I answered, “but this can’t turn into a quid pro quo. Look what she’s already done for us; hell, she even saved Dimitri’s life.”

  “For which I am quite grateful,” Dimitri replied with his hand over his heart and a mock bow. Now, smiling, he said, “And you all should be too; I mean, you would have missed me if I had passed through the pearly gates.”

  “Not so much,” Joe quipped, “I had first dibs on your stuff.”

  “You dirty dog, you,” Dimitri added with a laugh and a playful punch to Joe’s shoulder as peals of laughter filled the room.

  We sat there for another hour or so before heading back to the campsite. Our discussion continued as we prepared for what I hoped was a good night’s rest, all agreeing we would decide on the list of questions in the morning.

  I lay in my sleeping bag for at least an hour, tossing and turning, trying to clear my mind and relax. After two hours, I realized it wasn’t going to happen and quietly got up, climbed the steps to the top of the platform, and stepped out of the cloak into the cool night air. It was fresh and clean in the way only mountain air can be. I took a deep breath and reveled in its heady sweetness. Nectar of the gods, I thought as I slowly
ascended the steps to the top of the rockpile.

  It was almost a full moon, and its white glow lit up the surrounding area. It gave it a magical feel, I thought, as I slowly reclined against one of the large boulders and stared skyward. My breathing slowed as I began to relax, and my mind cleared. There was Orion’s belt, and over there, the Pleiades, both star groups that I now knew had civilizations much older and advanced than ours traveling interstellar space. Staring into the celestial beauty of the night sky, I began to understand the enormity of our situation more clearly than I had previously. What would happen next and what we did would have profound implications on the future of mankind and the world as we know it. Science, history, and religion could be shaken to their core. But who would believe our story without proof, and with whom should we share it? Proof was literally all around us here in the Citadel but was not simply ours for the taking. And did we even have the right to ask for it? Who were we to be the portents of something of this magnitude to the world?

  We were, after all, just a ragtag group of adventurers who got lucky and made the most astounding discovery in the history of mankind.

  “That is not true.” Jeannie’s soft voice spoke to me. “Your assembling of this group and the discovery of the Citadel was not happenstance. You were the right person at the right time to make this discovery.”

  I didn’t move, and Jeannie’s voice continued, “Because of that, the mysteries that you are entrusted with are safe and will benefit your planet. The knowledge that is withheld or erased will be revealed when the time is right via the scholarly resources you help provide; thus, your role in this discovery will live on.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” I thought, “how will all this come about?”

  “When the circumstances and time are right, you will know what to do.”

  “Are you sure, Jeannie? Because I’ve got some doubts,” I replied.

  Her musical laugh filled the night, and she said, “Dr. Colten Xavier Burnett, you question me, a being that has lived thousands of years and watched civilizations rise and fall many times because of the actions of man. You think I have not learned from this?”