by Phil Wheeler
Only two files had been deleted recently, and he told the program to restore both. It only took a few seconds and Dylan was rewarded with a larger version of both the .mv and data files. They had been modified and the new files had been saved, then the old files had been deleted. He clicked open the first one and was rewarded with the smiling face of his friend, Robert Fuller. Paging forward to the section he had not seen, he watched the video. I can't tell you how important this is, Dylan. You must not help them.... The video was short, but it gave him the answer to his question. This wasn't the mother ship, it was only the control section. He listened to Robert as the video came to an end, “The section of the manuscript about joining will detail what I have summarized. It's up to you, my friend, the fate of the planet is in your hands. I know you will do the right thing.”
He opened the second file. It contained a copy of the manuscript with the missing section intact. He opened it, and found what he was looking for. Reading through it he could see why it had been removed by Mason. He sat there for a long time, stunned by the revelation. The section of the ship that he was on was the control area, with a few berthing compartments and some facilities for food dispersion and waste disposal. It would join with the main ship, and once the two where united it would be the control deck. The mother ship had room for the crew and was capable of supporting the 100,000 crew members without effort, the original passengers had numbered over 2 million. The name Loou-nai Ra now made perfect sense to him. Over the centuries, time had changed it, but he could now see it – LUNA. The mother ship was the moon.
Chapter 49
The galley area where everyone ate had been stocked with all the necessary items needed to feed the small crew presently on board. There was a 3-person staff, and they did an excellent job. The menu was simple, but diverse, containing a mixture of staples purchased locally. Grains headed the list, rice mostly, with plenty of vegetables and a limited variety of meats. The meals were plentiful, and what they had lacked in complexity they made up for in being well made. Dylan was seated off to one side of the main area, drinking his morning tea. A supply of his brand of teabags had been provided as well as a local honey – it was strong and dark, and quite excellent. He looked around the room. It wasn't large, he guessed that it would seat about 50. Even before the revelation in the deleted section of the manuscript he had doubted that this ship would hold 100,000 lives, but he hadn't called Mason on it. Now, he didn't want Mason to suspect he knew the truth. In fact, he had begun to avoid all unnecessary contact, seeking out the relative solitude of the galley area or his cabin in his off times.
Absentmindedly he listened to the conversation at the next table. “It won't be long and we will be off this cursed rock, and then we will have plenty of room to stretch our legs. This place is cramped.” It was a crewman he know only as Tangocca. He was from South America, and had arrived a little over a week ago.
Another crewmen known to Dylan as Jon spoke, “I hear we could be leaving in less than a week. I would love to be a fly on the wall at NASA when this thing lifts off and we head up.”
One of the group at the table glanced his way, bent his head to the rest of the table and spoke quietly. There were furtive looks, and they got up and left the room. It was obvious that they knew the truth but had been told to not talk around him. He thought about their comments, the one about stretching our legs, and smiled a grim smile. Too late, the genie was out of the bottle, and could not be put back. Let them all think that their secret was safe and when the time came he would have the last laugh. He finished his meal, and returned to his cabin for the night.
Chapter 50
The next morning he was busy in the power room when he received an unexpected visit from Mason. “I thought I'd stop by to see how things were going. Can you give me an estimate on how long it will be before we can test the engine?”
Dylan kept his head down, concentrating on the equipment before him. Ever since he'd found out the truth he'd tried to stay away from Mason as much as possible. He filled his mind with thoughts about his work, trying to stay positive and not reflect his true feelings. It seemed to be working, Mason showed no signs of knowing his true state of mind. “I believe that it will be ready for a test the day after tomorrow. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Mason looked at him for a long time before he spoke. “No, no, it's just that – well, you seem distant the last few days. I know that you are not happy. Is there anything that I can do to change your mind about staying with us?”
“No.”, said Dylan, “I can only hope that you keep your promise, and allow me to leave when I am done here.”
Mason contemplated for a while before he spoke. “Dylan, I want you to stay – Tomiko wants you to stay - but I won't hold you here if you want to leave. I will keep my promise. Once you're finished I will provide a boat to take you to shore. You won't be able to tell the authorities before we are gone, and besides, they won't be able to stop us.”
Dylan turned away, afraid that his face would show that he knew the falsehood in Mason's words. “If there is nothing else, I need to get back to work.”
He turned back to watch as Mason left. His mind was clear, his conscience was clean. He was being lied to, but he would finish and they would be able to leave earth. He would keep his word. Bending over the power supply cage, he placed another circuit board into its slot.
Chapter 51
It took three days but the power supply was finished. All that remained was to test it, making sure that it operated correctly. Mason and Tomiko were in the room, as were Dr.'s Yamato and Toshiro. In just minutes, he would throw the switch and it would work, or not. He stood before the panel, looking around the room, and explained what came next. “When I flip the switch all the lights will go out as the smaller power supply disconnects. They should come back on as this power supply takes over. Certain controls and panels that have not been working up till now should power on. At that point, you will be completely operational; there remains to only run it for a 24 hour period to insure functionality. Is everyone ready?” Looking around the room, he saw heads nod so he reached for the switch. The contact was made and the room was plunged into total darkness. In less time than it took to react to the dark the lights came back on and the panel in front of him lit up like a Christmas tree, and new lights were coming on all over. Lights on the walls which had been dark began to glow. His power supply was working.
“Congratulations, you've done it.” It was Tomiko who'd spoken. She came toward him to hug him, but he turned away. Her face was crestfallen, but he had to remain strong. If he weakened, he would not be able to do what needed to be done.
Mason came to his side, and asked, “What's next? In 24 hours we should be ready to leave. Correct?”
“Yes, and I can go home.”
They left it at that, and exited the room. Dylan remained behind, saying that he needed to monitor the power levels. In reality, he just wanted to be alone. The strain of guarding his emotions was getting to him, and he was glad that this was almost over. He slumped in his chair, exhausted, but turned to face the door as he heard the workings of the mechanism opening it. Tomiko entered the room and walked over to where he was sitting. He didn't bother to get up. Looking at her his heart began to ache, but then he hardened his mind. “Dylan, I can tell from your emotions before you caught yourself that you still have some feelings for me. Can't we talk?”
He didn't say anything. He was fighting hard to not let the longing that he still felt show in his mind. He knew that any weakness would be to his ruin. Finally, he simply said, “We have nothing to talk about.”, and turned his chair away. He didn't turn it back around to look at her when she spoke to him.
“I can understand how you feel, but I want you to know something. I asked my father to keep you here against your will, but he refused me. He said that you would never be happy, and that you
would never be able to forgive me. I just want you to know that time I spent with you was the best time of my life. Dylan, I love you.” With that said, she turned and left the room.
He sat in his chair for a long time, then the tears began to flow down his cheeks. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they stopped and he dried his eyes. The words came softly to his lips, and they were barely audible, “I love you, too.”
The next 24 hours dragged by. He avoided everyone, saying that he needed to monitor the readings until finally it was time. Walking to the bridge of the ship, he called Mason to join him. “This switch will begin to power up your engine. After that, it's just a matter of following the instructions that you have to fly it out of here. Shall we begin?”
Mason had waited over 300 years for this day, and the excitement was beyond any that he had ever felt. His engine would work, he knew it, and they would begin the journey home. “Klang die Glocke.”, he said, smiling, “That means Ring the bell in German”, and he bent to flip the switch. Nothing happened for a moment, then a rumbling noise was heard throughout the ship. It was working, and the engine was powering up.
Chapter 52
Mason had been true to his word. Dylan would be released. He was to be taken to the surface, where a boat would be waiting. He would simply have to start it up and head down the coast until he returned to the dock they had left from. As he got ready to leave he looked around the room. Nothing there was going with him. He'd refused money from Mason; leaving with the clothes on his back. That was how he had wanted it and that was how it would be. He exited his cabin and walked down the passage to where they had originally entered the bridge. Mason was waiting for him by the control wall, and he walked over to the exit. “Are you sure that you don't want me to escort you to the surface?”
“No.” He was adamant, he would go it alone. He was no longer afraid of being in water over his head, and he had no desire to say good-by at the surface.
“OK, just remember what I said about surfacing too fast. Watch your air bubbles, and don't go up any faster than they do. Understand?”
“Yes” He was ready to leave this place, wanting it to be over.
Mason looked at him, then turned to the wall and pressed a button. The door to the entrance chamber opened and Dylan entered. He pressed the corresponding button inside, and the door closed behind him. The water immediately started to fill the chamber, and He put the breather in his mouth, then sat down to put on his fins. The chamber filled completely before the outer door opened and he exited to the tunnel that led to the surface. There was a moment of fear, but it passed, and he swim out of the tunnel and started to head up. In the distance, he could see the red bottomed boat that was anchored and waiting. He slowly ascended, watching the bubbles next to him. His head broke the surface of the water at the stern of the boat and he hauled himself up onto the platform, then flopped onto the open area behind the small cabin. He removed his mask, and looked up into the blue sky.
He did not move, simply laying there for the longest time, not even bothering to remove his suit. His thoughts were jumbled and dark, like a thunderstorm inside his head. At the end, he'd almost changed his mind and stayed on board, but he knew that if he did he would not be able to go through with his plan. Being there, having to watch them die would have proven more than he could bear and he would have repaired the sabotage he'd committed, saved the ship. But he couldn't do that because that would mean that the whole world would die, and he could not live with that. It was the horrible truth that he'd kept guarded in his thoughts for the last week. Once this control ship joined with the mother ship then the mother ship would leave the earth's atmosphere. The moon would leave its orbit, and when that happened, earth would die.
The moon. So much had been written about it and so many poets had named it in a lover’s vision, but little was known about it, and its origins had been debated throughout the ages. Some scientists today said that the moon was older than the earth, that it could not have been part of the original creation of the solar system. He had to laugh at that. They had been right. The moon had come to its place in the sky only 35,000 years ago, and it had come from a much older solar system. A planetoid captured by the Draconians, it had arrived with damaged power supply and placed in a high orbit in space. An exploration of the planet had deemed it sufficient for their needs and the control ship was moved to its location on earth and the moon-ship was moved to its final lower orbit. The final positioning of the moon ship had caused a global shift and caused the end of an ice age that raised the water level and changed the world's map. The control ship was safe in its watery hiding place until an answer to the power supply was found and the ship could fly, again. The colony had made their new home among the primitive humanoids that inhabited this world, and had started to breed a race that might someday return them to the stars. Dylan, a product of the breeding program, had done it. They could now return, but at a terrible cost to their adopted planet. When the ship left its orbit wholesale destruction would ensue. The earth would tilt slightly on its axis and more of the polar caps would melt, plunging most of the planet beneath the waves. Earthquakes would occur and storms would ravage the surface. Some might escape the catastrophe, hiding in the high mountains, but the few millions that survived would be sent back to the Stone Age.
He could not let that happen, so he had sabotaged the engine. The control ship would be able to left off, it would be fine on its journey to the moon, but it would never land safely. Dylan had seen to that. A small modification to the exhaust system would cause it to shut down at the critical time. Under the increased demand for power that would be needed to land the craft the engines would over heat, and they would explode. He could have blown the ship up at any time, but he wanted to make sure that he caught all of them, and that meant that it had to be done after reconnection with the mother ship. By then, all of the other landers carrying the self-styled master race would be present, and he could catch them all. In the end, it had come down to choices, for regardless of the situation there was always a choice to be made. Mason had talked about choosing the greater good, and the importance of the race. Dylan agreed, but the greater good to him meant the people of earth. They didn't deserve to die. Dylan had made his choice for the survival of the race, the human race.
He continued to lie there, not bothering to get up. In a short while the control ship would release its hold on this planet and supposedly immoveable stones would be moved out of the way. The ship would rise up from the seabed like some primeval behemoth and begin the trip to the moon. Gathering speed as it rose, the outer surface of the ship would grow hot and eventually burn off any hitchhikers that it had collected as it exited the ocean. He'd given it much thought, and didn't believe he could live his life furtively running from discovery, or locked up in a science lab as a freak of nature. He didn't want to watch those he loved grow old and die before his eyes. How could he live with the fact that he had sent Tomiko and his unborn child to a fiery death? It would be much easier to end it now, to be a hitchhiker on that brief ride into the upper atmosphere.
Chapter 53
Reports of strange objects in the air began to filter in, and by the end of the day it was the dominant news story worldwide. Every newspaper, every channel, and every station carried the same report – unidentified flying objects had been seen all over the globe. The reports came from every continent, and it seemed as if every country reported sightings. The objects were large, and very fast. Various armed forces jets from various countries had tried to track them, but had quickly been left behind. No explanation was given, they had simply appeared, rising into the sky, and disappeared into the upper atmosphere before anything could be done. Lost to radar and too fast to track with telescopes they had gone to who knows where. After the reported UFO sightings came the reports of localized destruction. The First came from Japan, in the archipelago of Okinaw
a large stones had been thrown from the sea bed and the Yonaguni monument had apparently been destroyed. Next, came reports from Mexico that spoke of its ancient temples looking like bomb craters. From Peru came the same reports of temples thousands of years old tossed about like tinker toys. A castle in Scotland was gone, with a large hole the only remaining evidence of its existence.
Those stories, however, were quickly pushed to the second page two days later as the news broke about another most incredible occurrence. Observatories worldwide reported that a large meteor had struck the moon. The collision was big enough to see with the naked eye, and those who had seen it said it looked like an atomic bomb had gone off. At a hastily held press conference NASA declared that no other meteors had been sighted or were predicted, and there was no danger to earth. This was an anomaly, a rare happening. It didn't matter, the conspiracy theorists took it as a sign of the coming Apocalypse, and started hoarding food and water. Fringe religious groups from around the world proclaimed that this was God's punishment, the end of this wicked world, and there was no place to hide. TV and radio preachers of all the various fringe groups trumpeted that the end of the world had arrived.
Chapter 54
Dylan sat in a comfortable chair on his back porch and surveyed the overgrown disaster that was his garden. He would need to attack the weeds, but not right now. For now, he just wanted to sit. In the end, as he lay there on the deck of that boat, he had decided to continue living and gone back to the dock. All his money, credit cards, and his passport were gone, so he made for the American consulate and asked for help. He hadn't told them the actual story of what had occurred, he'd said that he was a victim of a robbery and left it at that. Returning to Cleveland was traumatic, his lab was gone and his friend was dead, but he'd made a decision as he lay there in that boat. He would continue his work by sharing his cold fusion device with the government. It no longer had anything to do with altruism, it was because a new thought had crossed his mind. What if? What if the Draconian's were not the only ones who would visit Earth? What if others came to this rock he called home and what if they weren't benevolent? What if they came as conquerors? The earth would need his power supply to propel ships through the solar system and to provide powerful weapons to protect against invasion.
