The Elicon

by Rob Roth

  “Good morning everyone. How have you liked the conference so far? Hasn’t it been wonderful? I was able to attend a few of the sessions a couple days ago and found the quality of both the speakers and the information to be excellent. I just hope my presentation this morning is up to the quality and level you’ve come to expect.

  "Let me start off by showing you something that will help set the stage for my presentation today. I like to carry this with me because it also reminds me of where we as a country, and indeed, as a world, are headed.”

  Jace held up a clear plastic rectangular box about four inches long, with three chambers inside.

  “Now, if the video camera will zoom in so you can all see it on the monitor, you will notice I have three marbles here. The first one is larger and is blue. As you can see, the label on the box says Earth. The next smaller marble is white, and is labeled Moon, and the slightly larger marble that is reddish orange is labelled Mars.

  “So, why do I carry these? As you know, we humans inhabit planet Earth. We’ve been to the Moon already and intend to establish a permanent base there. It will be our first extraterrestrial location, although it’s not a new planet. However, it will be the staging area for our goal of reaching Mars, when we will begin our true destiny of moving outward toward the stars.

  "But, regarding today’s presentation, I have another reason for holding these three in particular. Does anyone care to take a guess as to why? As a planetary geologist I study the formation and composition of planets and other space bodies. Most of my research is analyzing photos or spectrographic images with a computer in the lab. However, as someone who loves field geology, I want to get my hands on the real thing,” Jace punctuated his humorous emphasis by shaking his fists, amidst their laughter.

  “Well, of course I can explore to my heart’s content the rocks of Earth. As a geologist, I like exploring new areas on our planet and analyzing the types of rocks I find to determine how they were formed and of what minerals are they composed. But other space objects are generally out of reach for me. However, some meteorites that land on Earth have been clearly determined to have come from the Moon, chunks of which were dislodged from it through its own collisions with space objects and caught in Earth’s gravity.

  "Of course, missions to the Moon last century brought back moon rocks as well. But even more amazing, a few meteorites found on Earth have been identified as having come from Mars through a similar process. So, these three marbles represent the planets and our moon, which provide me true specimens I can touch. They also give me the inspiration to keep focused on our outward direction for humanity.

  "Now, regarding these three space objects, all of them have impact craters on them. In fact, both the Moon and Mars each have over one thousand larger than a kilometer in diameter. Astronomers have even named these craters. When you look at the Moon and Mars through a telescope, you see lots of craters. Craters are everywhere. But looking at the Earth from space, we hardly see any. Why is that? Does anyone care to take a guess?

  "Yes, that’s true. The Earth’s surface is three quarters water so if a meteorite hits there you might not see it. But what about the other quarter consisting of land?

  "Right. We have an atmosphere. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere from friction and the pressure of resistance. Few make it to the ground.

  "That’s true as well. We have an active climate. Wind erosion, floods and tectonic activities shape our planet.

  "All these factors conspire to erase the evidence of impact craters on Earth. So why, just a few miles from us, can we visit the Barringer crater, one of the best examples of an impact crater on Earth? How come that one survives? It is because it is so very, very recent. Almost like yesterday,” Jace emphasized again with the audience joining in with some chuckling.

  “The Barringer crater was created when a nickel-iron meteorite about one hundred fifty feet in width slammed into what at the time was a Pleistocene grassland somewhere between thirty-five and fifty thousand years ago. Mammoth and large ground sloth no doubt saw and experienced the resulting ten megaton explosion.

  “Later, the region turned into a dry desert. And all this was so very recent in geological time that erosion has not had much time to erase the evidence of this impact. Think about it. The Chicxulub impact, the second largest impact crater on Earth with a diameter of ninety-three miles, wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. It is roughly two thousand times older than Berringer. Even larger and older is the Vredefort impact crater in South Africa with a diameter of a whopping two hundred and twenty-eight miles. It was created two billion years ago, or roughly fifty-seven thousand times older than Barringer. Both were created when asteroids more in the range of ten miles in diameter hit the earth.

  “We also have a few other really nice impact craters visible on earth. The Kaali crater in Estonia, where our conference will be held next year, is one of them. It is very small and very recent — only about three hundred and sixty feet in diameter and three thousand years old. It’s now filled with water, and the impact was likely seen by humans, spawning legends still remembered in that area.

  "Now, what I’m going to bring up are some slides I have, showing you a number of impact craters on Earth. Yes, some are small and can be seen by visiting the site. Many others can actually be seen directly from space, although most pictures I show are color enhanced through spectrographic analysis, like the Chicxulub crater, which is mostly underwater in the Caribbean Sea.”

  Jace continued with his presentation, eventually getting back to the Barringer crater and talking about interesting facts such as the layers of rock at the rim of the crater being inverted — the oldest layers being at the top, due to the force of the impact. The first half of his presentation was over in what seemed like a very short time to Jace, and when the coordinator announced the break, Jace stepped down off the stage and went to join Dooley and Allison for twenty minutes.

  “Jace, Dooley, do you mind if I have a word with you?” Allison asked once Jace arrived. “There’s something I wanted to discuss with you. It should only take a few minutes. There’s a quieter spot down this hall at the back,” she said as she led the way, thinking about the plan she had formulated and hoping she could convince them one way or the other to depart with her.

  FRIDAY BREAK TIME - OUTSIDE

  “Master Chief, this is Gromit. The break should be starting now so we will secure the back door. We still have not heard any chatter, but we will continue monitoring for the next hour.”

  “Copy that, Gromit. Everyone else maintains their positions and keeps alert.”

  Severs turned to Davis and said, “Ok, we are up. Are you ready?"

  “As ready as I’ll ever be, Captain.”

  “Ok, I’ll go get them, and let’s hope Larkin is what I think he is — a patriot who will want to do the right thing.”

  Dressed in his officer’s uniform, Captain Severs went to the back entrance and pulled his gun out but made sure to keep it pointed downward. He entered through the door to the back hallway just as Jace, Dooley, and Allison were coming from the other direction into the same hallway. They spotted each other at about the same time.

  “Dr. Larkin! I’m glad you are back here. Listen, we don’t have much time. I am Captain Severs, and this is Specialist Davis. I came to warn you a military contingent is out front, and they plan to take you and Mr. Marz into custody after your presentation. You have something they want, and they will take it by force and use it for very bad purposes. I fear humanity itself is at risk. I know this may be hard to believe, but I’m asking you to trust me and come with me now. We have a plan of escape in the back alley.”

  “Just a minute, Jace,” Dooley said. “Let me do a quick look out front and see if I can confirm what the Captain is saying.”

  It didn’t take Dooley more than a minute to return.

  “The Captain is right. I spotted a small team out there acting nonchalant, but I could see the earpieces and the plac
es they are concealing weapons.”

  Then, surprising everyone, Dooley whipped his gun out and pointed it at Allison. “We also know Miss Trask is with the military, Captain, so I think we better take her with us.”

  “Wait a minute, Dooley, I can explain…”

  “Shut up!” he said as he checked to make sure she didn’t have her hidden gun on her back. “Lead the way, Captain,” Dooley said brusquely, while at the same time masking the hurt he was feeling at being right about Trask.

  Severs led them out the door to the back alley, where Gromit was parked.

  “This is your getaway vehicle?” Allison asked. “That’s certainly inconspicuous.”

  Ignoring her, Severs had them wait while Davis brought a chain to the back door and secured it with a lock. Then, seeming very peculiar to Jace, Dooley, and Allison, Davis took bolt cutters and cut the chain he had just secured.

  “Here are the keys to the black van behind Gromit,” Captain Severs said, handing them to Jace.

  “Dr. Larkin, now please before you leave, tell me where the egg is. It is imperative we return it to the aliens, or we risk starting an intergalactic war.”

  At that, everyone except Severs and Davis almost burst out laughing, but quickly stopped when they saw the seriousness in Severs’ eyes.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you Captain?” Jace stated it as a fact. “And actually, some of what you are saying could make sense,” he said in a way that Allison could tell, unbelievably, Jace considered as possibly being true!

  “Of course, I am serious! The aliens communicated with me!”

  “And I saw their spaceship made of mercury with my own eyes,” confirmed Davis.

  Jace knew the blue stone he had was anything but an egg. Someone, or something, had built it, so Severs was wrong at least on that part. But Jace had no idea why Severs was under the impression that what he had was an egg. And the bit about talking to aliens and mercury ships didn’t make sense.

  Regardless, he knew the meteorite’s construction and behavior indicated it might not be of this world. So, as a fallback, he decided to give Severs the answer he was looking for.

  “The egg is in our room safe.”

  Jace then gave Severs the hotel name, room, and safe combination.

  The outer shell did look sort of like an egg, and split apart like one, Jace thought, so maybe that was truly what Severs was looking for.

  “Thank you, Dr. Larkin, Mr. Marz. You won’t regret this,” Captain Severs said as he shook both their hands. Dooley noticed a funny electric feeling running down his arm and up to his head when they shook but dismissed it as nervous tension on his part.

  “Now, Davis and I need your help before you go. So that we aren’t exposed as being complicit, I brought a canister of gas that will quickly knock Davis and me out. With the chain cut, the military will think someone overwhelmed and neutralized us.”

  Severs holstered his gun and he and Davis climbed into the back of Gromit, handing the canister to Jace.

  Dooley later swore he only took his eyes off Allison for a second, when Jace took the canister and handed the keys to the black van to Dooley. But it was just the distraction Allison had been waiting for and hoping would somehow materialize. She immediately snap-kicked the gun out of Dooley’s hand at the same moment she tugged up her skirt to pull out a small gun she had holstered to her thigh, covering them. Dooley admired the leg but was extremely annoyed she got the jump on them and was now pointing a gun at them.

  “You fools, there are no aliens!” shouted Allison. “Good Heavens, you really have no idea what this is about, do you? This is about new technology, not aliens from outer space. A meteorite falls to earth and suddenly you are seeing and hearing space men. Look, mates, something has merely affected your brains. I suspect you got exposed to the gas earlier. And you ought to be thanking me! I’m trying to save you from the military, not turn you over to them!” she said exasperated.

  “Get in that giant worm thingy now, all of you!” she ordered, while taking the canister from Jace’s hand.

  Allison popped the canister and tossed it into Gromit, shutting the door to ensure it would overcome the four of them. They seemed like decent enough blokes trying to do what they thought was right, she thought, but they were a bit confused about what was happening here. Best she take charge of the situation before they screwed things up.

  FRIDAY AFTER BREAK - OUTSIDE

  Captain Severs realized the Master Chief was shaking him and shouting as he was coming awake, but his brain couldn’t quite make sense of the words yet.

  “Captain, Captain! What happened here? It looks like you and Davis must have been ambushed! Did you see anything? When Dr. Larkin didn’t return after the break, something of a commotion broke out and the conference coordinator came to the front door looking to see if Larkin was just outside. That’s when we figured something was wrong. We knew he hadn’t come out the front, so we checked the back.”

  Captain Severs sat up and looked briefly around, seeing the chain they had cut was hanging from one of the door handles and dragging on the ground. He was outside Gromit, on the ground, as was Davis, who was coming to as well. No sign of Larkin, Marz, the black van, or the woman could be seen. He assumed she dragged those two into the van and took off.

  She must have also dragged him and Davis outside Gromit to stage the appearance of an ambush. Well, she does get some points in his book for that, he thought. And Larkin had told him and Davis where the egg was, so at least his main objective was successful. As far as he was concerned, Larkin could stay missing. He and Davis would retrieve the egg and somehow return it to the aliens as soon as they got free of this mess.

  “No, Master Chief, I didn’t see a thing. I had just stepped out and secured the door, then went back to Gromit. Davis opened the door to let me in, and that’s the last thing I recall. We must have been gassed or something. They apparently used bolt cutters to get the door open and got Larkin out of the building. Somehow, this mission must have been compromised.”

  When Heissman was notified, he was furious. He still didn’t know what organization Larkin was with, or how far they had gotten in pursuing the exotic matter or the gateway. But at least he knew the organization existed. They attacked his men and disappeared with Larkin. He would inform his superiors and recommend acceleration of the project. Also, he would initiate their covert network to see if anything regarding Larkin or Marz showed up exposing their location.

  FRIDAY AFTERNOON - HOTEL

  Captain Severs was pleased to discover later that day the hotel card key was in his pocket. The woman must have put it there after knocking Davis and him out. He had some serious misgivings about her role in all this, and she was dead wrong about there not being aliens. He and Davis know that for a fact, even if the others didn’t have a clue. And thinking about this further, Severs was convinced it was really better that way as it would let Davis and him proceed unhindered. However, there apparently were indeed some other schemes being played out by others, which he knew nothing about, but was now determined to uncover.

  He and Davis did not return Gromit immediately to TUFO after the Master Chief had wrapped up the mission and gave permission for everyone to return to base. Rather, they drove Gromit to the hotel, took the elevator up to the penthouse suite, and used the card key to enter.

  “Captain, please let me open the safe for you, just in case it contains something dangerous,” pleaded Davis.

  Although Severs did not like others taking chances that he was perfectly capable of handling himself, he didn’t anticipate any risk. Larkin seemed perfectly fine, having locked up the egg in the first place. Besides, protocol demanded the lower rank perform those types of activities, and he didn’t want Davis to feel slighted in any way.

  “Certainly Davis, let me read you the combination,” Severs responded, subsequently reading the four digits as Davis typed it in.

  Once the safe door popped open, Davis reached in, and much to Severs’
surprise, brought out two halves of what appeared to be an ordinary rock. However, it didn’t escape his notice that there was a very small indentation in the center, like something had possibly been removed.

  “What in the world is this?” Severs questioned. “It doesn’t look much like an egg to me — more like a chunk of rock split in two. But then again, we don’t know much about alien eggs, I suppose. I guess the only thing we can do is get this back to the aliens and see if this is what they were looking for.”

  “Captain, I hope you’re right... that this is the egg. But it’s that small indentation in the center that worries me. What if something hatched and is now loose? Or what if Larkin has whatever came out of the egg?” asked Davis.

  “I guess we won’t know until we first figure out how to get in touch with the aliens. I’m hoping the artifact is a two-way device but I’m not exactly sure how I’m supposed to transmit, or if our superiors will permit us to even attempt it. And let’s pray these two halves are all we need to keep the aliens happy and avoid what could be a very, very bad situation, since we have no idea in the world where that woman has taken Larkin and Marz.”

  Captain Severs and Davis packed up the two halves of the egg and then closed the safe back up, carefully wiping away any fingerprints, just in case. After re-securing the room they returned to Gromit and headed back toward TUFO.

  SIX

  Jace found himself flying like a bird in a bright blue sky that embraced a few floating white billowy clouds, contrasting the mostly green sunny landscape below with pretty areas of pleasant shadow. The land below began with woodlands hiding little clearings, eventually giving way to lush valleys rich with silver lakes and streams shimmering in the light. Off in the distance to the left was a high mountain with snow covering the higher reaches. As Jace flew over a particularly large lake he saw at the far end the towers of a beautiful city, rising in pinkish-white luminescence against the blue sky. Jace realized he must be dreaming, but it looked so real it was unlike other dreams.