Song of Ariel: A Blue Light Thriller (Book 2) (Blue Light Series)

by Mark Edward Hall

  De Roché said he was coming for her; that he missed his little plaything, and that the only way for her to survive was to turn Ariel over to him unharmed. She knew he was lying. Even if she did as he asked—which was out of the question—she would be dead within seconds of delivering Ariel. De Roché was a man without a soul. No! He was a monster without a soul. She’d seen his work. She understood his deepest perversions, and he would never again wield power over her. Her response to his demands was to tell him to fuck off. Shaken to the core of her being she turned the phone over to Doug. Later, she stood crying at Ariel’s bedroom door and heard everything.

  Now she was here in this amazing place, still unsure why she had chosen to run rather than stay and fight. Was it her fear of De Roché, or the terror she felt at the prospect of Doug and Annie finding out what she’d done? She supposed it didn’t matter now. As Nadia approached the far side of the canyon the light above her brightened. Again, she gazed skyward, shielding her eyes from the glare. As she watched, three separate globes of intense light, clustered close together, burst into view far above the canyon walls and began gliding from east to west across a beautiful pale blue sky. She could not look directly at them. Nevertheless, she knew what they were. One appeared to be a bright yellow sun—similar to Earth’s, only smaller—or perhaps farther away—the second was a bloated giant with a distinctive blue tint. The third was a tiny red dwarf.

  Nadia gasped, for now she knew beyond doubt that this place did not exist on planet Earth. She stood and waited for the three suns to finish their arc across the exposed area of sky and set behind the western ramparts before she resumed her journey across the floor.

  Sometime later, as the shadows lengthened and the canyon began to darken, a flash of brilliant quicksilver over toward the far wall caught Nadia’s attention. She moved toward where she’d seen the flash, her weapon raised to the ready position. She watched intently, hoping to identify the anomaly. But she did not see it again. Now close to the wall she stopped and surveyed her surroundings. This wall was different than the far wall, in that, for as far and as high as the eye could see, it was pockmarked with what could only be described as deep dimples, all uniform, all seemingly identical, as if the wall was a honeycomb for some strange species of bee. Nadia could not, for the life of her, imagine what tool might have been used to create such a pristine and consistent appearance. Just looking at it gave her a sense of well-being like none she’d ever experienced.

  She moved on down the row of ground-level dimples peering into them as she went. Each terminated at a small, round opening at the back—a tunnel of sorts—which appeared too small for an adult human to stand upright in. But as she stared into one of the tunnels she saw movement. And then, something that might have been a giant insect, came drifting out of the hole. And as she stared, other similar creatures emerged, floating, as if on gossamer wings—though no wings were visible—from dozens of the holes high and low, to settle on the floor in front of her. But these creatures were not insects; they were humanoid, yet much smaller than the average human. Each looked to be approximately four feet tall and stood on two reed-thin legs that did not seem muscular enough to hold their owners’ meager weight. Each had long, thin arms terminating in slender hands with five straw-like fingers so transparent Nadia could see blue fluid pumping through veins beneath the surface. The bodies were thin and appeared unclothed. There were no visible sex organs. All heads were hairless, but not as large as artist depictions of alien encounters. Each mouth was a thin line beneath two small nostril holes where a nose might have once been. And each being had two large, oval eyes that were the most beautiful things Nadia had ever seen. They all seemed to be the same color, a stunningly deep azure.

  As they stood silently watching her, Nadia’s mind went back to what Dr. Shutzenberger had said about the surviving Roswell alien when he’d been telling his story to Johnny Cobain. Cobain had asked Shutzenberger what the alien had looked like, and Shutzenberger had replied with, “The form was humanoid, but it was not human. It could become diaphanous, ghostly, and hover like an angel, as though gravity had little effect over it.”

  These were almost certainly the same beings Shutzenberger had described? They were nearly ghostly in their appearance, wraithlike, delicate, and unquestionably fragile. Several dozen of them had settled gently on the floor like wingless butterflies, and as Nadia watched them they each held out a delicate hand, palm up. In the center of each palm rested a small golden object in the shape of a triangle. Nadia instinctively knew that these were identical to the three objects now in the possession of Jason, Danielle and Johnny.

  You are correct, a voice inside her head said. They are identical.

  “You understood my thoughts,” Nadia replied.

  We do not have vocal cords or eardrums. Long ago we evolved beyond their necessity.

  “So you’re using some sort of telepathy?”

  You could call it that.

  “How do you know my language?”

  We communicate through the universal language of science; ones and zeroes. Binary code. The code enters your brain and is immediately translated to whatever language you speak. Your responses are returned to our brains in primarily the same fashion. It saves time and effort. We have been traveling to your planet for thousands of years. Our brains are equipped through science and evolution to translate, understand and communicate through all languages.

  “How do you travel here?”

  Through the Web.

  Nadia nodded. “You mean the Blue Light?”

  If that is your preferred name for it, then yes.

  “Those objects you’re holding; what are they for?”

  They do a number of things; open portals, protect the holder from harm; heal injuries, allow the holder to see future or past events. We use them in our everyday lives.

  The being closest to Nadia pointed at her rifle which was still muzzle up in the ready position. Do you intend to destroy us with that weapon? It said.

  Nadia had been so overwhelmed at the sight of these beings she’d completely forgotten she was still holding the rifle. She carefully placed it on the floor and backed up several steps. “Who are you?”

  You may call us the Children of Indigo, said the alien. Although it is not the true name of our species it is the human name your own Ariel has given us.

  “Ariel?” Nadia said confused. But . . . how do you know about her? How could she have possibly given you a name?”

  We have known about Ariel for many thousands of years.

  “How?”

  She was spoken of in prophesies.

  Nadia stared. “I see,” she said, although it was a lie. She didn’t see at all. “What is the name of your planet?”

  The English translation would be Indigo. Our star system is known as Cerulean.

  “Cerulean? Like the color.”

  Precisely.

  “Was your planet named for the blue tint of your largest star?”

  Because of its spectral characteristics it would be classified as a B star or blue white. It burns quite hot, at just under twenty thousand kelvins, which is a measure on the thermodynamic temperature scale.

  “Yes, I know.”

  Of course you do. Sorry.

  “No, that’s okay.”

  Cerulean is the center of the system. Its immense gravity well keeps its two smaller stars, as well as its many satellites comfortably in its orbit. Our planet is much farther away from the cluster than planet Earth is from its single star. By a factor of five to one.

  “That would make your planet nearly half a billion miles from your star system.”

  Yes. If not for that, Indigo would be far too hot to sustain life. Together all three stars keep our planet’s climate in perfect balance. I believe you on Earth would call it a Goldilocks zone.

  “Not too hot not too cold. Of course. How many more planets are there in your system?”

  57. Plus many hundreds of moons and thousands of asteroids.<
br />
  “Is Indigo the only planet with life?”

  Life evolved on many worlds in our system, just as it has throughout the universe. However, intelligent life is rare. Thousands of years ago we learned to adapt to a multitude of diverse environments. We found unity in diversity. We have spread our seed to many worlds, while treating as sacred the diversity of life we find elsewhere. In our own system we have terraformed 9 worlds and adapted to countless others. We now have a thriving community.

  “And you have done so without harming each world’s native species?”

  The terraformed worlds did not contain life above the single cell variety. Some did not have atmospheres or oceans. Terraforming gave them new life, room to breathe and to evolve. On the other hand, our species adapted to those worlds which already contained oceans, atmospheres and complex life, which is to say, life above the single cell variety. We are comfortable in that our efforts have preserved and nurtured that which is sacred rather than destroying it. Sadly Cerulean will go super nova far too soon. It is the nature of blue stars.

  For a moment Nadia was at a loss for words. Finally she said, “How long do you have?”

  Several million more years. We are prepared. We are already in the process of locating, adapting to and colonizing other worlds in a variety of diverse star systems.

  “Is Earth one of them?”

  No. Earth contains an intelligent and dominant species, of which you are a member. Earth belongs to humankind. We have no claim on it.

  “So why your interest in it? Better still, why your interest in Ariel?”

  She is important to humanity. However, she is also important to our species. Perhaps to life everywhere.

  “A human child? How could that be?”

  She is much more than human.

  “How so?”

  It is complicated.

  “Why do you even care about Earth? Why do you care about humans?”

  Intelligent life is rare. Most do not evolve even to the point of self-awareness. Those that do, develop technology then promptly destroy themselves. Your race is no exception. Look at what you are doing to your rain forests, your oceans and atmosphere. You are destroying the ecological foundations of the planet that gave rise to your species as well as to countless others. You have not yet learned the true value of life. Your need to conquer usurps your intellect. Humans are a confusing mix of contradictions; you love and hate with equal vengeance. You feel so lost and alone, yet instead of working together to find answers to your plight you spurn science and allow superstition to dictate policy. Your beautiful planet, which is teaming with marvelous life is in distress and still you deny its death throes. It is as though you are blind and deaf to the reality that surrounds you. Stay this course and you will soon go the way of so many burgeoning civilizations; you will destroy what is so rare and precious.

  In her heart Nadia knew this to be true. She herself worked for an organization that since its inception had walked a thin line between science and superstition. There were factions within the Brotherhood that believed, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, that science should take a back seat to faith. “Is that why you’re here?” she asked. “To keep us from destroying ourselves?

  In your haste to build a civilization you ignore one of the fundamental rules of a civilized society, which is cooperation. We could not take the chance that some rogue element within your species would do something . . . irreversible.

  “You mean there’s hope?”

  There is always hope.

  The canyon was darkening as the triple cluster set further in the west. Nadia gazed skyward still unable to believe that she was here in this amazing place conversing with such marvelous and intelligent beings. She resisted the urge to pinch herself, afraid that she would awake from a dream.

  “How do you use the web for travel?” she asked. “I mean, do you just step in and set your destination or do you use some sort of craft?”

  If one knows and trusts an exact destination then one can use the web to travel without the encumbrances of machines. If one wishes to explore new and unknown worlds then it is best to travel through the Web in machines that can protect fragile life from harsh elements such as radiation, low oxygen, and crushing atmospheres.

  “Do you come to Earth often?

  We arrived here three days ago.

  “A moment ago you said you’d been coming here for thousands of years?”

  This is true, but only infrequently. We do not have a constant presence on your planet.

  “Do you come here in machines?”

  We do on occasion, but not always.

  Nadia made a sweeping gesture with her arm. “This isn’t Earth, is it?”

  Yes and no.

  “What does that mean?”

  It is a waystation of sorts.

  “I see,” said Nadia, but it was another lie. She didn’t see at all. “A moment ago you said that you arrived here three days ago. That would have been July 3th according to our calendar. The day the pathogen struck. Did you bring the virus to our planet?”

  The alien closest to Nadia blinked three times in quick succession. We did not.

  “Did you bring it here in one of your machines? Say, the one that was shot down near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947?”

  One of our machines was indeed destroyed by your very capable military in your year 1947. However, our species did not bring the virus here.

  “No?”

  Correct. The Virus was developed on your planet by those who wish to reduce the human population. We hide here in this waystation because the people of your planet would exterminate us if they knew we were here.

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  Is it?

  “But why …”

  Fear of the unknown, a human trait born out of the need for survival. Kill what you do not understand. Man has always killed what it fears.

  Nadia said nothing for a long moment, but again her thoughts turned to Annie’s father. Finally she said, “How did you do it? I mean, how did you evolve to where you are? How did you manage it without destroying yourselves?”

  I have already told you. We adapted. Something you must do if you expect to survive.

  “Did you never fight amongst yourselves?”

  Of course, but in the end logic prevailed.

  “But you’re here, meddling in other people’s affairs.”

  Only out of necessity.

  “Surely you’ve clashed with other civilizations.”

  Though it is against our nature, we have always had to fight to survive. It is the nature of life. Even now we are at war with a civilization that wishes to conquer and destroy us. Long ago another civilization evolved and clawed its way to the stars. But unlike our species, they never lost their blood lust. They made the leap centuries before they should have by stealing technology from another greater civilization.

  Again Nadia fell silent. She felt there was something these beings were holding back, something that made her feel sick and a little panicky.

  We know you, Nadia.

  “What did you say?”

  You have always been conflicted about your purpose in life. You have always been conflicted about your survival following the World Trade Center collapse.

  Nadia was stunned that these beings knew about her. “The Brotherhood of the Order had good doctors,” she said. “They brought me back. They rebuilt me, reprogrammed me . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  And you never questioned.

  “Of course I questioned, but in the end I trusted what they said. I trusted what they did.” Again Nadia stopped talking. She moved her glance from one being to the next on down the line, trying to read something in the expressionless faces. “What’s going on here?”

  Long ago we planted the seeds for the Brotherhood’s existence. In a sense we created them. We engineered a human/Indigo hybrid, someone that would teach love and compassion, someone who might bring the human race together as one. Alas, we did n
ot succeed. You humans are such a stubborn and proud race. We have learned much from you. Though our experiment failed, Christianity was born and evolved into one of Earth’s great religions. However, what began as a search for truth has now been hijacked by radical factions who only wish to control, manipulate and destroy humanity. Instead of putting your faith in one another you worship false idols. In our humble opinion Zen Buddhism is the one exception, because in its truest form it is a guileless faith that teaches logic and believes in unconditional love.

  “That’s why Eli is here, isn’t it?”

  The aliens did not reply.

  “All well and good,” Nadia said finally. “But what does this have to do with me?”

  You were chosen. You were saved for this very moment.

  “I don’t understand.” Again that distracting flash over near the wall. Nadia’s head snapped around. A figure materialized. At least three meters in height, black cloak coated in quicksilver that seemed more flesh than garment, the single ruby laser eye.

  The Collector—or Soul Thief, as the Brotherhood knew him—was a legendary figure inside the Brotherhood, and though she had never seen him, she had heard enough stories to know what she was looking at. “What’s he doing here?”

  Keeping an eye on things.

  “Is he yours?”

  Ours?

  “Did you build him?”

  He was here long before our species evolved.

  “Is he flesh or machine?”

  He is both.