EARTH PLAN

by David Sloma

  “Oh, yes! I've always been the type that had a bit of a spiritual outlook, having been raised to believe such things,” the professor said. “I had wavered from those early beliefs as an adult, thinking my interest in them might just be a lingering effect of my childhood “brainwashing” as it were—and I do know it was brainwashing. What else would you call installing a whole system of religious beliefs and dogmas into a child? Anyway, it wasn't until I had some genuine spiritual experiences of my own that I could reconcile what I had been taught as a child as having some basis in fact, at least at the most basic level.”

  Charles got up and paced in front of the fire, standing on the carpet there, warmed by the heat, looking into the fire's depths. “That's all interesting. And, I do mean that. But, how does that help my situation? I'm in a real bind here.”

  “Yes, I know you are. I was hoping you'd see that I do believe you. Beyond that, you are treading on some dangerous ground. You know what sorts you are working for. I'm sure they wouldn't take lightly to you breaching their security and telling people what they are up to—not to mention absconding with some of their material.”

  “Yeah, I know. What do you think I should do?”

  “If it was me? I'm not sure. Maybe just leave and don't say anything more to anyone else? Keep it quiet.”

  “You really think I'm in that much danger?”

  “I know it.”

  “Great.” Charles sighed. “It's not like I can put the material back. I've got it now.”

  “So, get rid of it. Or hide it, as insurance.”

  “Yeah.” Charles swallowed hard. “Good idea.”

  “Can I see it, first?”

  “You think I've got it on me?”

  “I'd expect so,” the professor said and smiled.

  Charles patted his shirt pocket and a smile crept over his lips.

  “Come on, then. Let's have a look. I've been wanting to show you something and this is a great opportunity!” The professor rose up, and glass in hand, led Charles downstairs.

  “You've got an electron microscope here? At your house?”

  “That and a lot more. A home lab! Come on!” They went downstairs until they came to a thick, steel door. It looked like the entrance to a bunker.

  The professor entered a pass code on the keypad, and the locks clicked open. He was then easily able to swing the door wide.

  “What happens if you lose power? Can you still get the door open?” Charles sipped his drink and followed the professor inside.

  “Yep. It's got mechanical locks, too. With metal keys.”

  “Good deal.”

  The professor flipped the light switch, and the overhead lights came to life with a slight hum. The home lab was like nothing Charles had ever seen before. Sure, he imagined that some people had some primitive setups in their homes, he had one himself as a younger, eager scientist. But the professor's lab was professional all the way and then some.

  “Wow, this is...”

  “Like it, huh?”

  “Yeah!” It amazed Charles; the lab was almost as big as the one he worked in, taking up nearly the whole basement of the professor's house. It was dry and comfortable, with a good ventilation system, good lighting, and all of the modern lab equipment that money could buy. Some gear was even more advanced than Charles had ever seen.

  “How can you afford all this on a retired professor's pension?” Charles sat on a stool and eyed the professor.

  The professor smiled. “You've got me there. Let's just say that I've had some clients with deep pockets who needed some work done, so much so that I was able to afford to build what you see here.”

  “Who? For what?”

  “Uh, I don't think I should say. In fact, I've given them my word that I would not. For now. But perhaps, when the time is right…” The professor's eyes sparkled. “It was not for anything bad, I can assure you.”

  “That's a relief. I'd hate to think you were wrestling with your conscience, too.”

  “Ah! No, but you'll be out of there, soon. So, try not to worry about it.” The professor went over to a table with an electron microscope on it hooked up to a large screen. He flipped on the screen and then held his hand out to Charles.

  Charles dug in his pocket and took out a small box with a clear, glass slide in it. He carefully placed it in the professor's palm. The professor quickly and expertly put it under the electron microscope and took a look at the screen. He adjusted the controls ever so slightly.

  “There!” Charles blurted out, when a section of the symbol came on the screen.

  “I see it. Just a little to the left. And, there!” The professor's expert touch maneuvered the slide just enough so that the symbol of the three green circles intertwined filled the screen.

  “What do you make of that?”

  The professor peered more closely, with his hand on his chin, scratching the white stubble there. “Most strange. And you say you first saw this during your LSD trip? With the cave people?”

  “That's right. So, tell me you see it, too. And that I'm not going crazy.” He slumped down.

  “Far from it, actually. You have found something significant. Others have found it before, of course, but they have not talked about it.” He reached over to shut off the screen, then pulled the slide out and handed it back.

  Charles looked at him with eyes wide. “What? Who found it?”

  The professor sat down on a stool and faced Charles. “You have found a truth that science has been hiding for hundreds of years.”

  “But, how is that possible? There's so much cross-referencing going on. If someone had found it before then there would have been an outcry. It would have been publicized.”

  The professor crossed his arms, looked at him and smiled. “You'd think so. I can tell you are still of the opinion that science is free and open, and is really a search for the truth.”

  “If it's not that, then what's the point? What is it, then?”

  The professor fixed him with a long, silent stare. He wondered how much he should tell Charles. Telling him too much might be dangerous, but then Charles was already asking some dangerous questions; what he knew had gotten people killed.

  The professor smiled, having decided that he might as well tell him what he knew, as Charles was not going to stop his inquiry. “Alright, you've reached the point that many of us have gotten to in the past. I was at the point you are at now, once, many years ago.”

  “And what point is that?” Charles asked, blinking.

  “Where you find your world view is unraveling. The point at which the lies we've been told start to come apart. You're not the first one to have visions under LSD about DNA that turned out to be true. Dr. Timothy Leary reported in the 1960's that some of his trips involved him spiraling down the historic pathway of his own DNA and gaining insight from his ancestors. Many of these experiences have been reported and much of the information has been verified. We know that LSD can do this, so I'm not surprised you've had this sort of experience. I've had similar myself.”

  “It's hard to believe...until it happens to you.”

  “It's not something that is widely spoken about, nor taught in regular schools. And you won't hear it on the six o' clock news!” The professor laughed. Charles had to laugh a little too, to let off some steam.

  “Alright. OK, so this is real, this ability to use our own consciousness as a microscope, to look into our own DNA,” Charles stated.

  “Yes.” The professor nodded. “And it has been going on for a long time, and also the genetic manipulation, from ancient times. There are cave paintings with this symbol in them. Apparently, our cave-dwelling ancestors had some of the same experiences you’ve had, albeit with naturally occurring psychoactive plants. Or maybe with aliens, I'm not ruling that out.”

  “Amazing. But what about this symbol, then? Someone placed it in our DNA thousands of years ago? Unless it's a natural formation?”

  “It's not natural in the sense that it just
happened, no. It was placed there.”

  “So, you're saying that someone messed with our DNA a long time ago?”

  “That is precisely what has happened, yes.”

  Charles looked from the professor and glanced around the lab, but he wasn't really seeing much, as his mind was reeling. “So, this means...”

  “The best educated guess, with plenty of evidence, is that we were visited in our ancient past by beings not from this Earth. Call them what you like, but they were not from here. They altered our DNA, but more precisely, they were working to change it back to what it had been before they found it. We believe the symbol is the mark they left on the DNA they had repaired.”

  “Wait a minute! You're telling me that some aliens came to Earth a long time ago and messed with our DNA in an attempt to change it back to what it had been before someone else changed it in the first place? Who? Other aliens?”

  “Yes, Charles. Two separate alien races, with different agendas. I know it's a lot to take in, but there are ancient stories that talk about this very thing. And there are people who know all this, have known it since antiquity.”

  “Then why don't we all know it, then?”

  “Ah!” The professor wagged his finger. “Why not, indeed! Let's just say for now that knowledge is power, hmm? So, for those wanting power over the majority of humanity, what better way to secure that power than to withhold knowledge from them?”

  “It's that simple? But wouldn't the truth get out?”

  “It always does; it's getting out, now, here with us.” The professor smiled. He watched Charles and knew he was having a hard time digesting this all. He'd had a hard time himself.

  Charles got up from the stool and ran his hand through his hair. He paced the floor, his eyes darting around, wild. “So...so...our DNA was changed a long time ago. For what? Why?”

  “The story is that an evil force came to Earth when humanity were still living in caves and barely had any language skills. This force originated from one being who had gone insane and was out for whatever power and control he could take over the beings of whatever planet he came across. Sound familiar?” The professor smiled. “Might explain a lot about what's going on in the world today, if some of his descendants are still around, eh?”

  “Maybe. So, this being was an alien?”

  “Alien to the Earth. More like a powerful being who had turned to darkness. A sort of fallen angel, you could say.”

  “Like in the Bible.”

  “Pretty close. Not all that's in there is bunk, you know? There's actually a good deal of truth, if you know where to look and how to look.”

  “So, this fallen angel...”

  “The Dark One.”

  “The Dark One. He came to Earth and changed our DNA?”

  “He was not able to come to Earth himself, but he directed the changes that were made by his agents, his servants, in order that we would be better slaves for him. You see, he had, and still has, a mission for us. We're to be his workers to carry out his plan to open up this prison we’re in, then he’ll really be able to get us!”

  “A prison. You mean the Earth?”

  “Yes, that's exactly what I mean.” The professor filled Charles in on the story about how the angels construed the energy barrier around the Earth to keep the Dark One out, how the Greys were trapped inside it, and how the Watchers were working to help restore the life forms on Earth to their past untainted state of freedom.

  “This is too wild, you know that?” Charles said, after the professor had related the story.

  “I realize how it sounds. I was once in your position, just coming into the truth.” The professor moved around the lab, tidying up papers and things. “It’s not like we’re primed to hear such things by society, or the media, or our schools, or our parents. It’s quite the opposite. Unless we’re fortunate enough to go to a good school where they teach how to think, we are simply told what to think.”

  “Big difference.”

  “Yeah! If you know how to think, you can begin to work out some of these things for yourself.”

  “So, how did this knowledge, these stories, survive all this time if hardly anyone’s heard of them?”

  “Oh, plenty of people have heard of them throughout time. Maybe not as much as the masses, no, but enough that there are a good number of people on Earth who know the truth. I’d say most all of the rich, so-called elite know the real story and are keeping it from the rest of us.”

  “Hell of a thing to do.” Charles shook his head. He’d found out so many strange things lately, his head felt like it was full—but there was more to come.

  “You’re probably wondering how I know about all this?”

  “The thought had crossed my mind,” Charles admitted. “It’s not the kind of knowledge a college professor usually comes across.”

  “No, it’s not. But, I’ve always had an interest in things off the beaten path. That's part of the reason why I hired myself out as a private contractor after I retired; I had more things to find out. The money that came in allowed me to continue my own lines of research. Then one day I had a client that gave me some work that lead to me finding the very same symbol that you've found.”

  “Come on! You’re kidding?”

  “No. It happened.”

  “And you didn’t let on…until now?” Charles stammered.

  “No, I really couldn't at the time, but I was given the go-ahead for now.”

  “Go-ahead. What are you talking about?”

  “The people I’ve been working for the last few years are an exclusive bunch. They are a secret society, keepers of ancient knowledge, like the story I’ve told you about our origins.”

  “They hired you? To look for the DNA symbol?”

  “Yes. They knew the symbol was there, of course. But they wanted to check the advancement of some recent DNA experiments and wanted to hire an independent lab for the job. I was picked and had to sign a confidentially agreement, of course. But once I found out about the symbol, I was as surprised as you were and outraged, even!”

  “Why were you upset?”

  “Well, weren’t you, at having been lied to all your life?” The professor coughed and took a drink of water. The memory of that day still got to him.

  “I was, yes…but I thought it was a mistake.”

  “Oh, this group assured me that it was no mistake! They knew it was there and had been following my exploits for some time, gauging how I’d react. They became aware of me during my time on campus in the Sixties; seems the psychedelic underground is vast and has many eyes.”

  “So, then what happened? After you found the symbol for them?”

  “Well, they told me who they were and that they were in need of a sympathetic scientist, one they could bring work to, someone who would understand what they were doing. And who would not keep asking questions and maybe turn them in to the authorities.”

  “What they were…are doing…is illegal?”

  The professor shrugged. “Some of it, I’m sure. Depends what country you are in and when!” He winked. “In any case, I liked what they were about and said I would help them. In return, they have been paying me well, and I’ve not needed another client. I told them what you had found, and they said it was alright to let you into the “club” as well.”

  “They must have been watching me, too?”

  “Naturally! It’s not just Big Brother who keeps tabs on people, you know? Sometimes the good side does it as well, to further its aims.”

  “I guess...Now, what do we do?”

  “I’m going to continue on like I have been doing. The question is what are you going to do?”

  “I have been thinking of quitting my job. I just can’t stand to be around there anymore, working on their military contracts. There’s no way they are going to let me direct any of my own research, which I had been promised. Now, with what I’ve found out…”

  “So, come join me and my employers.”

  “Do t
hey have a name?”

  “They call themselves the Guild of the Watchers.”

  “Good name for a secret group.”

  “They go by many names and have done so throughout the centuries. There have been many splinters of their group spread over the world. It was the way they survived the persecution and genocide that has been directed at them throughout history; they knew too many secrets and had too much knowledge for the powers-that-be to let them alone.”

  “I see…”

  “Technology is forcing them to come out of hiding and to take action to stem the current tide of genetic manipulation. They fear that the good work that has been going on through the ages to turn back the DNA of the life forms on Earth to its original state is in jeopardy. And with good reason! The things that are possible now put all life on Earth at risk. Those in control of such technologies are not the most sane ones, I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  “I have. So, what’s the plan?”

  “Get yourself out of your job, and we’ll take it from there. I think you’re in a dangerous situation now, knowing what you know. The sooner you get out of there, the better.”

  “I think you’re right. Couldn’t agree more.”

  “And, I think the group could help you, and you them. What do you think?”

  “Sure, sounds good to me.”

  “It's not without its risks, though, I warn you. This group is very secretive and gaining power all the time—but I do believe it's power for the good side.”

  “They sound like the good guys to me.”

  “I know they are. Very well, I will let them know what you've found and that you are in need of a job, or will be very soon. Who knows, we might end up working together on this.”

  The professor got up and went to the door. “Come on, let’s close this place up and go back upstairs for a drink. I think we both could use one.”

  “You got that right.” Charles followed him out of the lab. He took a lingering glance back as the door closed over, thinking that he was entering another world that had been in front of him the whole time, but he hadn’t known it.

  “And, Charles,” the professor said, turning back to him, standing there in the shadows. “I'm going to need you to keep what I've told you to yourself for now. That's for your protection and for mine. And for the group’s. I hope one day soon we can tell the world what's going on, but it's a war we're in.”