Against All Odds

by Richard Bard

Dad and I spun around.

  Chapter 12

  JAKE STEPPED FORWARD to shield his son. The old man from his vision had crept up behind them without making a sound. He was seven feet tall, with long white hair, sunken cheeks, and a worried expression. His body was bent, and the floor-length green robe he wore hung loosely. He clasped his arms as if hugging himself, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves. The man was frail, but his wizened eyes hinted of an inner strength.

  Before Jake could react, Alex stepped forward and extended a hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”

  The man’s smile was genuine, and everything about his countenance told Jake he was a friend. He allowed himself to uncoil his muscles.

  “The boy who saved the world,” the man said. He crouched and held out his arms. Alex didn’t hesitate. He stepped into the man’s embrace and hugged him as if he were Santa Claus. The man let out a long sigh. “Ahhh, that does feel good.” His eyes closed, and he held Alex for a long moment. When they finally parted, the man rose. “I am Gualu the Overseer, and it is with the deepest pleasure that I finally meet both of you face to face.” He held out his hand and Jake shook it. Once again Gualu held on a moment, bringing his other hand around to clasp Jake’s with both of his own. Gualu’s eyes danced, as if such contact was a new experience. He bowed his head. “Respect.”

  Jake returned the courtesy with a nod. “I’m Jake, and I don’t mind telling you I’m pretty anxious to find out why you called us here.”

  “Ah, yes. Straight to business. That is smart. We must—”

  “Wait,” Alex said. “I’m as eager as anyone to find out what’s going on. But come on, I have a zillion questions. Like where are you from? How did you get here? And…” He pointed at the dome and the pillars beyond. “How on Earth does that thing work?”

  “How on Earth, indeed,” Gualu mused. “Years of tutelage to your brightest scientists would still be insufficient to fully answer that question. Suffice it to say it simply does what you want it to do.”

  Alex frowned, biting the corner of his lip. He turned around and once again placed his hand on the dome. The response was instantaneous. The pillars brought to life a holographic view of Ellie and Jazz seated in an airport lounge. Simon and Strawberry were there, too. They looked tired but okay. The image vanished, and Alex turned back around. “You’ve been watching us?” he asked.

  “Ever since the two of you sent your appeal to the shroud.”

  “You mean the grid?”

  Gualu nodded. “As to how we got here, you saw the peak of the mountain when you flew overhead, did you not?” He gestured at the cavern they were in. “This is but a small portion of that space.”

  Jake unslung the shotgun and leaned it against the console. “Are you saying your home, or spacecraft, or whatever, takes up a large part of this mountain?”

  “I’m saying it’s not a mountain at all. It is the craft that brought us here. Twenty-five thousand years ago.”

  “No way,” Alex said. “And what about—”

  Gualu raised a hand. “Right now time is our enemy, and speaking aloud is its ally. But that doesn’t mean I can’t answer all your questions in vivid detail.” Gualu pointed to Jake’s pocket, the one with the mini. “Hold it in your palm and gather close.”

  As strange as it was, Jake trusted the man. After the three of them faced one another, he withdrew the artifact and held it in his open palm. Gualu closed his eyes, and the mini’s energy enveloped the three of them. Their minds connected, and questions and answers flowed between them like rushing rivers into a common lake.

  Jake’s mind reeled at the rush of information. Gualu’s species was from a planet so far away that it bent his mind as he tried to envision it. He was reminded of the reports he’d devoured on Wikipedia that were generated by the Kepler space mission in 2013: There could be as many as forty billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of stars and red dwarfs in the Milky Way, eleven billion of which may be orbiting sun-like stars.

  If even one-thousandth of one percent of them held life, that would be eleven million planets with life at various stages of evolution.

  Gualu’s people resided on one such planet. The images and scenes of their futuristic cities and landscape were mind-boggling. Their society was half a million years more advanced than Earth’s, with technology beyond Jake’s imagination. They weren’t alone in the galaxy, and there had been great upheavals in their history when they conquered space travel and encountered others who had as well. Intragalactic wars had ensued, and hundreds of billions died in the planetary invasions that followed. It wasn’t until an alliance of peacekeeping planets was formed that the aggression was finally brought under control. The wars ended and societies flourished. But the peace was often challenged, as across the ages aggressive newcomers uncovered the technology necessary to delve beyond the confines of their own solar system and attempted to control others. Many more died.

  Luckily the combined resources of the alliance were immeasurable, and they used their technologies to solve the problem for future generations, embarking on a neverending mission to root out potential transgressors with societies and technology still in their infancy. Interstellar probes like the one Jake was in now were replicated on a massive scale, launched to investigate planets within the habitable zones of their mother stars.

  Newly discovered advanced societies were approached with an olive branch. Those with peaceful intentions were brought into the fold. Aggressors, however, were dealt with summarily.

  The death of a few, for the sake of many.

  Most of the new species discovered by the probes were still in their infancy. Those planets were implanted with monitoring devices to measure progress. In cases where species development indicated a strong tendency toward violence and aggression, more stringent fail-safe measures were put into place. In those circumstances, the probe embedded itself on the subject planet.

  “That’s what occurred twenty-five thousand years ago here on Earth,” Gualu said, interrupting the stream of information.

  “When all the pyramids were scattered across the globe?” Alex asked.

  “Yes. The smaller devices were all launched from this probe before it landed here.”

  “So we’re standing in one of the probes? This mountain?” Alex asked. “It’s immense.”

  “Where I come from, it’s quite small. But its size is quite suitable for its purpose. Among other things, it housed the thousand-plus pyramids that were buried under your planet’s surface in places where they’d eventually be discovered by mankind.”

  Jake added, “Waiting for someone to unlock the riddle, which could only be done by a person with telekinetic abilities.”

  “Exactly. In our experience, it is only after a species evolves to the level of thought transference that its minds achieve the capacity to truly understand the quantum laws that must be levered for interstellar travel.”

  “But humans aren’t anywhere close to developing telekinetic—” Alex stopped himself and looked up at Jake.

  Jake sighed. “Except for this knucklehead who stumbled onto it.”

  Gualu nodded. “Your encounter with the pyramid in Afghanistan was noted by us. But a single launch wasn’t enough to cause concern. It was when you initiated the second launch from Venezuela that the protocol was triggered and I was sent here. As an overseer, it was my responsibility to cast final judgment.”

  The ultimate supreme court judge, Jake thought.

  “But your planet is light years away from here,” Alex said. He blinked twice, as if realizing something. “It should’ve taken hundreds of lifetimes to travel from one to the other. But you’ve found a way around that!”

  “It’s all about folding space.” He closed his eyes, and the information flashed once again across Jake’s consciousness—the formulas, energy sources, and mechanical constructs necessary to create a temporary wormhole between planets, regardless of their distance from one another.

  “Whoa,”
Alex said as the stream cut off. “It seems so easy when you look at it that way.” He pointed at the platform. “You opened a gateway up there, right?”

  Gualu winced. “I went too far. I shouldn’t have revealed so much.” He frowned, and his voice softened. “I would never have slipped like that before…” His shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry to say that is not information you will be permitted to retain. But, yes, it’s quite simple when one is willing to think beyond established physical boundaries.”

  “Information we won’t be permitted to retain?” Jake asked. He didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Don’t be alarmed. Yes, it’s our dictum’s mandate that we not leave any of our advanced technological knowledge or devices behind, but trust that I mean you no harm. If not for me, every living soul on your planet would already be dead.”

  That sobered Jake up. Alex edged closer.

  “Allow me to explain,” Gualu said. “As I said, we are a peaceful society. We would never take the lives of billions of humans, or any other species, without being certain it was justified for the greater good. And that justification could not be made solely by a machine. However, after witnessing the visions of violence your governments transmitted during its attempt to communicate with the first two pyramids, I had little choice but to conclude that mankind indeed posed a most serious threat.” He pointed an accusing finger at Jake. “Then you personally became a party to that communication and murdered five people while linked in. At that point the die was cast.”

  Jake had been in a basement beneath the Palace of Nations in Geneva, strapped to a chair with an electronic skullcap, forced by Victor Brun and his men to connect with the pyramids. Brun and his secret organization, known as The Order, had tried to trigger Armageddon by streaming damning evidence depicting man’s continuing violence across the globe. They’d forced Jake’s cooperation by threatening Francesca. But when he’d thought they’d killed her, he’d spiraled into a primordial rage. He had slaughtered Brun’s scientist, two guards, and two technicians.

  All while Gualu had watched.

  “So I dispatched my findings through the gate,” Gualu said, pointing at the platform. “And the council ordered the decimation of Earth. The grid was launched and the countdown began. Man’s fate was sealed.”

  “But then it wasn’t,” Jake said. “Why?”

  “Because of the plea made by your son. It forced me to rethink the decision. So I prevented the shroud from completing its function. But I did so on my own, without approval from the council.”

  “And the council’s reaction?” Jake asked.

  “They still don’t know. As far as they’re concerned, the order stands. My authority is limited to postponing the execution of the order, not canceling it.” He swallowed before adding, “The postponement is limited to the equivalent of eighteen of your months.”

  Jake and Alex performed the calculation instantaneously. They looked at each other. “Eighteen months ends today,” Jake said.

  “Yes. Less than twenty minutes from now.”

  “But the grid is gone,” Jake said. “The danger has passed.”

  “The pyramids that formed what you call the grid are not gone. They’re parked in a cluster behind the ringed planet you call Saturn, awaiting the automated countdown to complete their mission.”

  Jake pushed back a swell of panic. There must be a way to stop them. Something he and Alex could do. Otherwise, why had Gualu brought them here?

  Alex asked, “Why can’t you just speak to the council and let them know you changed your mind?”

  “Because no one has ever done so before. The council would immediately send two more overseers through the gate to investigate any challenge to the order. Once a shroud is initially activated, it requires the combined efforts of three overseers to reverse it. However, all three must be of the same mind to make it happen. In this situation I would never be able to sway them to my point of view, because it would only take them a few moments to realize I’d suffered a regression, and after that they wouldn’t even listen to my arguments. They’d simply allow the shroud to eliminate mankind and escort me through the gate for treatment.”

  “You’re ill?” Jake asked, still unsure where this discussion was headed.

  “Not by your standards. In fact, I’ve never felt better in all my life. And that’s saying something when you consider I’m over three hundred of your Earth years old.”

  Three hundred! Jake thought, shaking his head as he tried to digest yet another mind-taxing bit of information.

  “I’m sick, too,” Alex said. “Eight years old, going on eighty.”

  Gualu placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I’m aware. But your ailment is merely a sickness of the body and therefore easily dealt with. The changes within me are like smoke over a campfire—easy to see but impossible to grasp.” He closed his eyes as if calling up a distant memory.

  “Hold on,” Jake said, wanting to go back to Gualu’s suggestion that his son’s malady could be cured. “What—?”

  “Emotion is the root of all evil,” Gualu said, as if reciting scripture. He opened his eyes but they remained unfocused. “It is our mantra, passed from one generation to the next over hundreds of thousands of years, and it led to having emotions bred out of our race by proclamation and science, if not by the natural order of things. We are taught emotion breeds contempt, malice, desire, fear, rage—all of which fertilize the seeds of violence and aggression. So emotion is not permitted in our society, and except in rare cases, our efforts over the centuries have successfully eradicated it. But nature often finds a way, and every now and then one of us is afflicted. It cannot be hidden, of course, not in a race that communicates telepathically. But it is quickly forgiven, because it can be eliminated by a simple, albeit required, medical procedure.”

  “You’re not allowed to feel?” Jake asked.

  “That’s correct. Feelings threaten peace.”

  “What about love?” Alex asked.

  Gualu blinked and looked down at him. “Indeed, what about love? The binding emotion that is so prevalent among humankind. The breeding ground of feuds and wars throughout Earth’s history. If not for love, what would humanity look like today? Would violence still permeate your planet?”

  Alex seemed about to argue the point, but Gualu palmed the air to stop him. “Please don’t misunderstand me. As I said, I have regressed. In the eyes of my own kind, I am quite ill. Normally, in those rare circumstances when they occur, the first insidious sparks of emotion are easily dealt with on my home planet. They are addressed quickly before things get out of hand. However, I’ve been here for eighteen months, and my first emotion broke through on the day I arrived.” He gestured toward Alex. “That’s when I met you.”

  “When we were on the island, connected to the grid, right?” Jake said. He remembered the fear he’d felt when he realized his six-year-old son had snuck back into the facility, risking his life in order to send his personal plea to the grid of pyramids encircling the planet, imploring the aliens to stay mankind’s execution. Jake had run back into the underground complex to find Alex standing on the chair so his head could reach into the skullcap to allow his thoughts to be heard. His son had been near death, the onslaught of data from the grid’s probe overwhelming his young brain. Jake had reached out to Alex’s consciousness, bonding their minds, and done all he could to bolster his son’s strength.

  Gualu nodded. “I remember your plea, Alex. Every detail has remained with me. You’d transmitted a full spectrum of images and emotions, drawn from all you had witnessed in your short life. The underlying message spoke of family and loyalty, and accepting the differences in one another. It spoke of the true character of mankind, capable of untold violence, but possessing the strength of will to control it. And, yes, your message spoke of embracing love. And beneath it all was your willingness to sacrifice your life to dispatch your hopeful appeal.

  “After searching your memories and witnessing your life exper
iences, I became enthralled by your innocent view of the world. Your resolve, your strength, and the deep love you felt for others impacted me deeply. It unlocked something within me that I have since come to believe is the natural order of existence. Yes, my race is devoid of emotion, and perhaps as a result we have achieved a long and lasting peace. But at what cost? Indeed, what good is peace without love?”

  Alex’s eyes were moist. He reached up and took Gualu’s hand. “You saved an entire world of people even though you weren’t supposed to. What greater expression of love can there be than that?”

  It was so like Alex to offer comfort, Jake thought, even to someone he’d just met. His son shared Francesca’s caring nature.

  Gualu’s face clouded over. “I’m afraid mankind isn’t safe yet. Not unless the three of us can find the strength to join our minds to terminate the shroud’s order and close the gate forever. I’m doubtful it will work. And to fail will cost us our lives. As I said, it requires the strength of three overseers to unlock the power necessary to assert the signal. We are but one broken overseer and two humans who bring little more than a boundless spirit and a resolve to do the right thing.”

  “We can do it,” Alex said, with a confidence Jake didn’t share. “Right, Dad?”

  How the hell should I know?

  He was having trouble tamping down his frustration at the absurdity of the situation. “So let me get this straight. The grid is hovering in a standoff position on the other side of Saturn, ready to unleash hell on Earth in less than an hour. The only thing that can stop it is an order from a tribunal of highly advanced beings who don’t give a crap about feelings, and who are willing to murder seven and a half billion people without batting an eyelash. But we can’t really appeal to them for mercy, because like I said, they simply don’t care. So you figured you’d give us a shout-out and invite us into your man cave here—strike that, alien cave—in the hopes that you and me, and my eight-year-old son here, could put our heads together, and find a way to call off the grid on our own and quite literally save the world. Is that pretty much it, or did I miss something?”