by Kurt Winans
Kristyn reported the sad news to Janet that those who were infected now included several teenagers globally, and in some population centers they were as young as fifteen. Within Dripping Springs there were a handful of such cases, and two of them were people that Kristyn and Hank had come to know as friends. With the exception of the mysteriously blessed twenty-one Mayans, no one over twenty was clean of the virus any longer.
The news of the latest case being a young man of fifteen from Rio Paulo instantly made Janet nervous, as Hank was now sixteen. She also noticed the obvious look of concern on the face of Kristyn, now fifteen, and there was good reason. The young girl had vowed to Natiya during her final hours that she would do her absolute best to keep her younger siblings safe, and for two years she had done a splendid job of doing that. The harsh realization was that when Kristyn inevitably became infected, her promise would be more difficult to fulfill.
Janet sighed deeply when she realized the logic behind Kristyn’s non-verbal belief. It was correct for Kristyn to assume that she, and Hank, would eventually test positive for the virus. Anyone would be rightfully scared to learn of that, and it made Janet realize that she hadn’t been tested for quite some time. Although the progression of the virus had slowed within her system several years prior, it would still be prudent for her to receive an updated status of her infection level. With that she returned to the medical labs, and had one of the technicians draw a sample of her blood.
While waiting the ten minutes needed for her blood to be scanned and compared to previous results, Janet sat in quiet contemplation. What came from that was her feeling that if there were any comfort that could be derived from the newly reported information; it was that certain aspects of the virus had remained unchanged. Of specific note was the gestation period. From the earliest signs of infection on through to the subsequent throws of death, the duration was still determined in large part by the age of the victim. In simple terms, the younger the infected, the longer it took for the virus to completely overtake their system.
The loud voice of the lab technician then startled Janet back into the reality of the present moment, as he shouted, “I can’t believe it, but I ran the test twice to be sure!”
Looking up Janet replied, “Why? What did you find?”
“The progression of the virus within your system has somehow completely halted. There is no measurable difference between your test results of today, and those that you took six months ago.”
Janet stared at the young technician for a moment, and then replied, “If this is a joke, I’m not laughing!”
“I have known you for a couple of years Janet, and I wouldn’t joke about such a thing. I’m telling you there has been no advancement during the past six months.”
Realizing the sincerity of the man, she replied, “Well then, that’s great news. Now what do we do about it?”
“Well, we know that the Mayan blood samples which have been tested repeatedly for possible prevention or a cure have yielded no results, but yours might.”
A new revelation struck Janet, as it dawned on her that she would become a giant pin cushion as each of the Mayans had been if the news got out. She remembered that a few years back Tikal showed noticeable irritation throughout that entire process, and Janet felt confident that she would exhibit similar feelings under those conditions. With that thought she said, “Would you mind if we kept the results of my tests quiet for a couple of hours? I need to take care of a few things before becoming the next circus attraction.”
“I don’t know what a circus attraction is, but as a favor to the lady who taught me most of what I know about the medical labs, I’ll keep quiet about this for a little while.”
“Thanks, I’ll be back later.”
With that Janet retreated and then focused hard on projecting to her alien friend and the three pilots. Her thoughts revealed a concise message of, “I have just received the results from my recent blood test, and there has been an alarming discovery. Please find someone in your respective medical labs that you trust to keep quiet about the results, and get a fresh blood test. If my theory is correct, then your results will be alarming as well. Thanks for doing this and contact me when you can.”
A few hours later the first of the telepathy came to her, and it didn’t take long for the others to follow. Joseph, and one other pilot, had received results to coincide with Janet’s. Each of the three had just become, for the second time, dramatic exceptions to the well-established rules of the global virus. Sadly the last, and youngest, of the pilots, had not received the same news with his test results. The virus had slowed further toward stagnation, but it was still advancing within him.
Meanwhile the alien listened with great interest to their collective telepathy, and fielded questions or commented upon the theories that they each presented. He also pondered over the implication of how some had become virally stagnant, and how long, without providing the answers they sought, that it would take them to put more of the pieces together.
Standing on the beach beside her alien friend during another beautiful sunset, Janet projected, “You and your crew have been with us for an entire Earth year now, and I’m so grateful for everything that each of you has taught us.”
“Thank you Janet. I wish that it was possible for us to stay longer, as your species continues to astonish those of mine with your inquisitive nature and steadfast determination.”
“Wish you could stay? You’re not leaving are you?”
“Yes we are Janet. When your host star that is now fading from view returns in several of your Earth hours to rise over this community, then we will depart for our home world.”
“But when you first arrived, you claimed that you not only could, but that you would, help our species.”
“That’s true, and I have.”
“But you haven’t helped us defeat the virus!”
“I’m aware of that Janet, but I never claimed that I could, or would, help you defeat the virus. I informed you that my help would come, but not in a form exactly the way it had been asked of me.”
“But I don’t understand!”
“Yes you do Janet. You understand much more than you think you do. The assistance of my species toward yours has come in many ways, and you are aware of that. Soon you will discover additional wisdom. All you need is a little time to think about the situation from a non-emotional perspective, and that contemplation will lead you in the right direction.”
“Lead me in the right direction to what?”
“Well, to the answers that you currently seek from me of course. You are a perceptive member of your species who was chosen by our species many of your Earth centuries ago. It was speculated then that you were a prodigy, and one of only a few hundred of your species who could perhaps be capable of shaping the next evolutionary shift.”
“Shape an evolutionary shift in my species? I think that you must have the wrong girl. I would have no idea how I’m supposed to accomplish something of that magnitude!”
“Stay focused Janet. Our assessment has already been proven to be correct, as one aspect of that shift is based on what you’re doing with me at this very moment.”
“You mean two-way telepathic communication?”
“Yes, but it goes beyond that. You, and a few others, have initiated the process without realizing it. Now continue by asking the right questions within yourself, and if you do, the answers will come your way eventually. When that happens, and it will happen, you will briefly think of yourself as a fool for not seeing it more clearly from the start.”
“So I, or the others like me, need to dig deeper for the truly important questions and answers to our future.”
“Not necessarily Janet. Sometimes digging deeper can only get you stuck in the hole. When you ask the questions, think of the reasons or answers that might be more obvious.”
“That sounds like the type of philosophical conversation that Ross would have enjoyed.”
“He did Janet
. Ross and I discussed it several times.”
With a smile on her face, Janet then asked, “Is there any more information that you could give me right now?”
Ross once told me of a human phrase that might be applicable in this instance. He had said to me, “I can’t spell out everything for you, as that would limit your development.”
“Yes, Ross would have said something like that. But don’t you think that something as important as a shift in human evolution would create an exception to that belief?”
“I see your point Janet, so I will provide you with one more clue. Your species advancement, along with your own, hinges upon the combined efforts aimed at the greater good. As very few of you are currently capable of projection, your species can’t afford to selectively silence a single voice. You must include Brittany when you and the others participate in either individual or group telepathy. Her powers are ready to blossom, and it’s insignificant how you feel towards her personally, she will require your guidance to properly unleash her new found ability.”
With that the alien moved away to begin preparations for his departure from Earth, while Janet was left to ponder all that had been projected between them. She remained on the beach for another hour, and gazed upon the heavens as the countless stars continued to appear in the increasing darkness. Glancing at the faint star that held their former home moon captive within its gravitational grip, Janet whispered aloud, “I hope that Jessica, the colony, and our Mayan friends, are all doing better than we are.”
The following morning, not long after the first hint of daylight, Janet received a telepathic projection from Hank. The message jolted her into action, as she heard, “Hey mom, the sun will be up soon. You need to wake up and get ready right now if you want to see our old friend before he leaves.”
Springing to her feet with fear that she may already be too late, Janet projected, “Don’t wait for me Hank. You go ahead, and make sure they don’t leave before I get there!”
“Alright mom, but how long will you be?”
“Just a couple of minutes, I promise.”
Then jogging up toward the alien vessel, Janet noticed that there were far less people to bid them farewell than there had been to welcome them the previous year. Spotting Hank and Kristyn bracketing her three siblings, she projected, “Have you two seen or heard anything from the aliens?”
Without turning Hank projected, “Not yet, but they have initiated their propulsion system. You better hurry up and get here mom, they could leave any minute.”
Then all five of them heard a verbal reply from not far behind them, “I’m here. Thanks for saving me a place.”
Surveying their immediate surroundings and locating plentiful open ground, Hank playfully replied, “Your welcome. As you can plainly see, we had to hold off several people in order to secure a place for you.”
Janet moved the final few feet to stand next to Hank, and then after lightly punching his arm sarcastically replied, “Every day you remind me more and more of your father and Ross with that dry wit of yours, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.”
Before Hank could reply, the hatch of the alien scout ship hissed open. Standing in the doorway were the three alien visitors, and they each offered up a gesture of farewell with a slight wave of a four long fingered hand. Then Janet realized that she would not be afforded the opportunity for a face to face goodbye, as the hatch began to close again. She quickly projected, “It has been wonderful having you here for the past year while teaching us so much. I hope to see you again soon.”
Each returned a short telepathic reply of thanks and goodwill, but the pilot added more. He projected, “You must remain focused Janet. Think about why certain things are the way they are, while others are not. If and when you develop an answer to that all-encompassing question, then you can think about the impact that certain offspring might provide for the future. At that moment of answering that second question, you will know what needs to be done. You must trust in all those around you who can help bring your species destiny to fruition, and communicate with me again should you require additional assistance.”
As the hatch hissed to a close, and the outline shape disappeared from view to signify a complete seal, Janet said aloud, “Well that’s a big help!”
Seconds later those few that were assembled could feel the rush of air around them, but there was barely an audible sound to the liftoff. Moving with tremendous speed, the alien vessel shrank from their view and within the briefest of moments had escaped the confines of Earth’s atmosphere.
As they approached the midway point of their return from system ₹-829 to the home world, the alien pilot received what he considered to be the inevitable telepathic projection from Janet. He calculated that during the brief amount of time that their fast scout ship had been traveling on its current trajectory, Earth, or ₹-829-Ԅπ-3, had completed one and a half cycles around its host star. Based on the content of Janet’s telepathy toward him, it was obvious that there had been several developments throughout that time which had enabled her to finally fit several pieces of the puzzle together.
Janet’s message began with news that within a few weeks of the alien departure, she began to communicate with Brittany telepathically. Not long after the initial shock within Brittany had worn off, the three pilots helped smooth her transition and education by participating in individual or group thought exchanges. Since that time Brittany had exhibited a surprising amount of progress with regard to her skill, and the restraint that was necessary in order to maintain a level of secrecy about her telepathic ability.
Throughout that process she and Joseph had spent an inordinate amount of time with each other as she learned to refine her skills, and that was logical as they both lived in the same community. Unfortunately, the innocent mentoring relationship with Brittany that Joseph had developed was not viewed by Adelaide with similar enthusiasm. She was nearing her final days of life when her husband and Brittany began spending so much extra time together, and in her hallucination phase, Adelaide had become consumed with jealous rage over her interpretation of Brittany’s long term intentions. Janet would have actually found mild amusement in the situation if the entire episode hadn’t been so tragic. Brittany had somehow managed to lure yet another woman, on her deathbed no less, into forfeiting what remained of her self-control, and she had done so while being completely innocent.
In the wake of all that was transpiring in Katoomba, Janet had also been hearing several fragmented thoughts for several weeks in a language that was foreign to her. Aided by the translation skills that Kristyn had developed while working in the communication center, they soon realized that the language was Mayan. What Janet heard must have been the thoughts of Tikal, and any of the other twenty Mayan recruits scattered about the planet. Even though Tikal had become well versed in the language of his deceased wife Aurora, his unintended telepathic thoughts had projected in his native tongue. It was therefore a reasonable assumption that the same could be said for the other Mayans, so Kristyn began formalizing a plan. When the time was right, she, with Tikal’s help, would inform them of their ability.
A few months later the last of the three pilots had joined Janet and his flying brethren with test results that revealed a complete stagnation of the virus within his system. The same could not yet be said of Brittany, but she was the youngest of the five long term abductees. Janet and the others were confident that Brittany would eventually receive the same test results, but would there be anyone other than the five of them and the Mayans still alive to embrace the news?
That question had been broached only because the age of those infected continued to drop slightly. The youngest case now stood at eleven, and the girl in what had been Japan had tested negative only three months prior. With that news the local administrator in that population center, only twenty-five herself, initiated a plan to increase the frequency of testing. Her counterparts in each community quickly followed suit, and Janet crossed her fing
ers that both Hank and Kristyn would remain negative. A week later when each of their respective results eased her worried mind, she experienced the mixed feelings of joy and confusion.
While at a temporary loss of understanding, Janet sat and pondered why some boys around the planet aged twelve, thirteen, and even a couple that were fourteen, had tested negative. Conversely, there were just as many younger than Hank’s current age of nearly eighteen that had also tested positive, but Hank had not. Kristyn had also been spared up to that point, and she recently turned seventeen, but there were many older than the eleven year old that were in the positive category. It just didn’t make any sense as to why the bulk of the girls were testing positive at a younger age. Although it was true that in most cases girls began to behave like adults sooner than boys, they shouldn’t be penalized by a horrific virus as a consequence of earlier maturity. Then the reason suddenly occurred to Janet why each sex had tested differently, and the reality of her discovery created momentary shame for not having realized it before.
She had informed the alien that her projection at that time to Kristyn had been, “I know that this may sound silly, but have you physically become a woman yet?”
Kristyn had then responded, “Well, good morning to you too Janet. I must admit, that’s a strange question to begin a conversation with. But if you are referring to intimacy, then no, I have not yet become a woman.”
Although Janet was the mother of three, and had been formally trained as a nurse before experiencing many years of service in the medical field, she was still embarrassed at needing to broach the subject. Kristyn showed all the physical characteristics of an adult woman, so the answer to her next question seemed to be rather obvious. Still, she needed to ask it, so Janet projected, “Kristyn, what about the physiological changes in your body?”
After a moment of silence that was probably due to utter shock, Janet heard, “I know that you have offered your help in whatever area that I might need Janet, but my mother and I had those discussions that involved my transition into womanhood many years ago.”
