Genesis

by Filip Forsberg

  Another forest of hands flew up. Arik pointed to one of them and a thin, Asian woman set herself up.

  "Macy Ming, China Daily", she talked like a machine gun," in recent days there have been rumors of a lack of cooperation between the space authorities. The Chinese space agency CNSA has accused the Americans of intrusion attempts and hacker attacks. Is there a grain of truth in that rumor? " Macy sat down with a satisfied smile on her face.

  Arik did not respond immediately. When he did, he leaned forward and saw berating on the group of reporters.

  "It is important that we in a crisis such as this, as humanity finds itself currently, that we stand together. That we stand united and strong in this unique situation that we ended up in. None of us had imagined six months ago that we would have contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, but we have. No one could have imagined that we would establish contact with this intelligence, not only in one place on the surface of the Earth but on seven. None of us could have imagined that we would be able to continually communicate with this intelligence. This time we find ourselves in now unprecedented in human history. Of course, there are bumps on the road, of course, we will sometimes get lost. But it is our responsibility, both for us and for the successive generations is that we manage to see beyond our borders and limitations, that we manage to see past the horizon and understand that if we are to succeed in stretching humanity out of the shackles of this planet, we must work together. "

  The silence among the sixty-seven reporters was complete when they devoured every word Arik pronounced.

  ESA, Paris, France

  March 18, 2049

  He was there, on the moon. Louis Timmo moved down into the great abyss. He hung inside the large metal cube that was in the control room. His entire body was covered by sensors and on his head, he had an advanced sensory helmet. His hands were surrounded by a pair of large silver-colored gloves. The virtual coupling with the probe on the moon was almost like magic. For Louis, it was like he found himself on the moon and floated down through the abyss-like hole.

  The probe on the moon was not very large, barely four meters long and almost a meter in diameter. It looked like a cigar with soft ends. But it was also a technical marvel. It had two retractable arms that could be controlled via the communication link that is maintained via the rocket in orbit. The signal was sent to Earth via it. Louis stretched out his right arm and touched the mountain wall when the probe descended deeper and deeper.

  He heard a voice in his headphones.

  “Louis? What does it look like? "

  The question was unnecessary. Magdalena could follow everything on the screen in front of her. The small control room Louis was in was adjacent with the room that Magdalena, Robert, and the others were in. All that Louis saw, the others also saw.

  Louis turned and looked around. He found himself in something resembling a large circular hole through the rock that stretched deep beneath him. The mountain wall was still surprisingly smooth. He had imagined that the surface would be rough, but it was not. He maneuvered closer to the wall and stretched his arm.

  "The hole extends deep down, I can't see the bottom yet. The diameter of the hole is appreciated to about twenty meters. "He paused while his hand slid over the surface," the wall feels stiff but not rough. It seems to have been worked on or something, it’s completely smooth. "

  Magdalena leaned forward towards the screen and squinted to see better.

  "Can you pan around?"

  Louis confirmed and directed his main camera past his feet. A dark abysmal blackness appeared on the screen in front of Magdalena. Louis glanced at his altimeter. Eighteen meters. Nineteen.

  "Almost at twenty meters. "

  A cold shiver rippled through Louis as he continued his journey through the hole. Although he was not on the moon for real, the virtual connection was so good that it was as if he was there. The latest generations of equipment had taken leaps and bounds, and he had undergone the necessary training to be certified to use such equipment. He continued down for a few more minutes while everything he saw and registered was sent back to Earth.

  "Fifty-seven meters."

  He panned around underneath and saw to his surprise a faint shimmering light just to the right of his foot. He hesitated.

  "Wait."

  Magdalena saw how Robert stared at the big screen. She leaned forward to the microphone.

  "Louis, can you pan back to the right? On the inside of your foot? "

  Louis twisted the camera and saw to his surprise how the shimmer intensified.

  "Do you see this?"

  All twenty-two people in the control room held their breath as they saw how the shimmering light grew in strength. It seemed to be a mixture of blue and red at first but then slowly but surely changed color towards green. Robert frowned.

  "What is it? Is it the spheres? "

  Magdalena grimaced and hesitated.

  "It doesn't look like an object. It seems to be something else. "

  Louis continued the decent and was startled when he so what resembled a black, sharp edge that began to draw around the shimmering light. He squinted and saw how a tunnel opening took shape in the middle of the wall. The shimmering light now radiated from the tunnel opening.

  "It looks like another tunnel is starting here. I’ll head into it. "

  The robot's detour slowed and swung into the tunnel opening.

  "I see something here in front. It looks like... "

  His voice trailed off.

  Magdalena froze.

  "Louis?"

  No answer.

  “Louis? Came in. You’re breaking up. "

  Still nothing.

  Magdalena stared mesmerized at the screen. Robert turned to the operator.

  "Do we have sound?"

  The operator checked his screen and nodded.

  "Yes, all systems work optimally."

  Louis' voice crackled from the speakers.

  "Do you hear me? Have I lost audio? "

  Robert breathed out fiercely.

  "We hear you. What do you see? "

  Louis’s voice was excited now.

  "I don't know how to describe it properly. It's amazing. "

  "Can you survey the area?"

  Louis moved the camera from side to side to show the entire amazing scene in front of him. Magdalena held her breath when she stared at the screen. Louis found himself in what resembled a huge cave. About twenty meters below him, an artificial surface stretched as far as they could see. She gasped. It looked like a landscape of metal that shaped into various peculiar shapes and guises. Spires that Magdalena appreciated at least a dozen meters stretched up from the surface.

  Irregular shapes, cubes, and pyramids seemed to be randomly deployed. Light radiated from unseen light sources and made it as bright as day. He looked up and gasped when he began to realize himself the size of the machine. It was amazing, he had never seen anything similar. The big cave was far greater than he could have imagined.

  "Do you see all this?"

  Magdalena could hardly speak.

  "Good lord, it’s big."

  Louis moved across the surface and panned continuously from side to side. The metallic landscape continued to unfold beneath him without any indication of stopping. He glided over it, like an eagle that flew over unknown land.

  "It's absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t look like anything I have ever seen before. "

  Robert pointed toward a collection of spires a bit away.

  "Louis, can you get over to those five, six pillars?"

  Louis adjusted the course towards them while he continued.

  "I can see a blinking light on the surface. Hundreds, thousands. It looks like there is activity on the surface. Clearly. I can see a light that is regularly turned on and off."

  Magdalena looked over towards Robert.

  "We've probably found the explanation for the seismic activities I would think."

  Robert nodded while he scratched
his cheek.

  "Yes, you're probably right. The question is just what it is for something. Is it a city? "

  Magdalena studied the screen in front of them.

  "I'm not sure. If it were a city, you should have seen a craft or something by now? "

  Robert hesitated.

  “Maybe, I don't know. "

  Magdalena pondered the situation. The spheres that contacted mankind three months ago had established contact in several different sites around the world. On these sites, selected representatives from mankind had begun communication with the spheres.

  The contact at first has been tentative but soon it had established a basic alphabet for their communication. The spheres had established contact in the past with others, now extinct civilizations, and knew how to initiate such communication. She pointed to the screen.

  "Do you know if the spheres have communicated anything about this?"

  Robert could not tear his eyes off the screen when Louis approached the collection of spires that stretched up from the surface.

  "No, I haven't heard anything at all. But it does not necessarily mean that they have not said anything. It may be classified. "

  Magdalena shrugged.

  “May. It just seemed odd that we would not have heard anything. Arik Zimki sits in on the working committee investigating the seismic activity on the moon and I know that he is working closely with the United Nations to oversee contact with the spheres. If the spheres said something about this, Arik should have informed about it."

  Robert nodded but did not reply. He saw how Louis approached the spires.

  Louis' voice was strained.

  "It looks like", he hesitated, "I'm not entirely sure. As if there is something going on there. One, no, two of the spires seem to move. "

  The big screen in front of Robert and Magdalena showed how a pair of spires almost imperceptibly rose and then sank back again. They stared at how they rhythmically moved up and down. Robert leaned forward.

  "Those spires look almost like some kind of machines."

  A muffled, deep sound interrupted Robert from his thoughts. Louis panned surprisingly from side to side to see where the sound came from. The sound grew in strength when Louis noticed how it started creeping into his body. Magdalena rushed into the control room adjacent to them and stared at what she saw. Louis' body seemed to vibrate where he hung in the large metal cube. Magdalena roared to the operator at the control computer.

  "Turn it off."

  A male voice was heard behind her.

  “No. Cancel the order. "

  The operator lowered his hand. Magdalena spun around and saw Robert's face as cut from stone. She pointed at Louis.

  "We have to stop. He’ll be hurt. "

  "I'm sorry but we have to continue. If we cancel now it is very difficult for another operator to establish contact in the middle of a mission, you know. All calibration must be repeated before a second operator can take over. The mission is too important for it. "

  Magdalena was about to answer when the muffled sound fell silent. Louis vibrating body relaxed, and they heard how his voice sounded exhausted.

  "I see it, you see? There. Do you see? "

  Magdalena and Robert rushed back to the control room and stared up at the screen. Five of the spires had now sunk down into the surface and disappeared and from the holes large clouds of some sort of gas ascended. Magdalena stared at the huge cloud that slowly rose towards the roof far above the surface. Louis gasped.

  "It really is a machine. Good lord, all this is a machine. "

  Flor Fria, Macau

  March 18, 2049

  She stared at the battered group in front of her. They were all soaking wet and Noshimi's hair was glued to her forehead. Annie Chen quickly rose and stormed furiously up to her.

  "What are you doing here?"

  Noshimi glared at her.

  "Who do you think you are? Only because Samantha is dead, and you have, for the time being, assumed the leadership, you should not use that tone against me. "

  Annie let her anger show when she stared at Noshimi.

  "Don't you understand that you risk this whole operation? What if someone followed you here? "

  Noshimi shrugged.

  "There's no one to know I'm here. The Chinese don’t even know me. "

  Annie took a deep breath before she continued.

  "Why have you come here?" she nodded toward the two men who stood silently behind Noshimi, "and who is that you have dragged here?"

  Noshimi continued to glare at Annie a couple of seconds before she spun around.

  "This is my brother, Weng-Li, and his friend, Ln'Geem."

  Annie studied them. They seemed to be tired and confused, and one of them kept one arm close to the body. She nodded towards Ln'Geem.

  "He is injured."

  Noshimi nodded.

  "Yes, that's why I had to bring them to you."

  Annie snorted.

  "And you thought that now was a good time to do it? To bring them here? "

  Noshimi shrugged.

  "What's the problem?"

  Annie was close to punching Noshimi but was able to contain it.

  "We're just going to attack. The others are ready. "

  Noshimi walked up to the balcony edge and peered down. The long caravan of Chinese military vehicles continued to roll past.

  "Yes, I can imagine." She paused, "what now? Can you help my brother's friend or not? "

  Annie did not have time to respond when Edward came up to her.

  "Annie, it's time. If we don't hit them now, they'll get away. "

  Annie turned to Noshimi and hissed.

  "Get them away from here. I’ll see if I can help him later. "

  Noshimi looked defiantly at her, then shrugged and walked over to her brother.

  "They are apparently in full preparation of an attack. We’ll need to wait until they are ready. "

  Ln'Geem that stood a bit behind Weng-Li heard what Noshimi said and exclaimed.

  "Are they going to attack the Chinese? We must get away from here immediately! "

  Weng-Li looked around and saw how a dozen camouflage-clad people ran squatting to their positions.

  "Why are we here Noshimi? Why do you take us to an ongoing attack? "

  Noshimi smiled at her brother.

  "Do you remember all the time when you stood next to when dad beat me or mom? Do you remember what you did? "

  Weng-Li felt growing panic inside.

  "It wasn't me, it wasn't my fault. I did nothing! "

  Noshimi's smile became wider.

  "Exactly, you did nothing."

  * * *

  Thirty seconds later, a powerful detonation literally jolted him out of the panic and the powerlessness that had kept him paralyzed. Weng-Li heard the huge crash when a burning truck hurled forward, barely two hundred meters away. He saw in slow-motion how the driverless truck slipped out from a narrow alley towards the main road. It continued relentlessly towards its goal. It slipped past the last armored car and barely reached the center of the roadway when it was annihilated in a violent detonation.

  An enormous, golden fireball rose, and Weng-Li felt the pressure wave from detonation hitting him like a hammer. He stared bewitched at it and could not move. He stood frozen and the fireball continued up into the air when a second truck came from the other direction. This truck was slightly smaller than the first, but nevertheless equally as purposeful. It rolled up and had barely reached the first truck when also it disappeared in a fireball. The second detonation was even more powerful than the first and Weng-Li felt the powerful shockwave. He ran to Ln'Geem who sat curled in fetal position on the floor with horror shining out of his eyes. He screamed.

  "What's going on?"

  Weng-Li looked for their sister, but she had vanished. The woman called Annie roared commands into her walkie-talkie. Her white hair stood straight up, and Weng-Li got the impression of ice-queen that commanded her troops on the battle
field. He turned against Ln’Geem who kept his injured arm close to his body.

  "We have to away from here. Get up on your feet, come on!"

  He grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him onto his legs. Ln'Geem groaned with pain. Weng-Li supported him while they began to get back the path they came from. Ln'Geem stumbled over something and nearly fell but Weng-Li managed to keep him upright. The alarm and the screams from behind them quickly disappeared until it sounded like a distant thunderstorm. Weng-Li looked up at the electronic signs showing street names but did not recognize any of them.

  His mind raced, and he tried desperately to come up with any name or detail that could help them get our off there. People shouted all around them and for that he was grateful. That would make their escape more likely to succeed. But where would they go? Noshimi had led them here and now that he thought about it, the whole situation with his sister had been irrational. It was a trap, she had planned it, and she wanted revenge on him and therefore he brought him to an ongoing rebel attack. Weng-Li trembled with anger when he thought about it. Had he not done everything for her? Had he not always protected her? As he remembered it, he had gone on countless occasions between their father and her to protect her. Both her and their mother. He did not understand. Did she really think he had abandoned her? His thoughts churned in a furious momentum when Ln'Geem stumbled again. But this time, Weng-Li did not manage to hold him, and he fell hard onto the ground. Ln'Geem roared with pain when he hit the hard asphalt.

  "Get up!”

  Weng-Li tried to pull him up but Ln'Geem was so desperately heavy. A man who held something in his hands ran by but did not see Ln'Geem lying on the ground. The man stumbled, and he fell. He moaned when he landed heavily on Ln’Geem.

  Weng-Li tried to push the man off, but he was too heavy. In the end, Weng-Li managed to get rid of the man who stumbled on his feet and disappeared. Ln'Geem lay motionless on the ground and Weng-Li shook him for him to rise. Ln'Geem did not move, instead, he just rolled back and forth when Weng-Li shook him. Weng-Li noticed his fingers had become sticky and looked at them, they were red of blood. He gasped. There. Along, small knife protruded obliquely from the Ln’Geem’s thorax. The knife had penetrated his friend on his left side and gone in deep. Weng-Li screamed.