Counting Up To Infinity

by Allen Fleishman

  ‘This David kid didn’t sound retarded. Robert Dixon was right, it was an act.’

  ***

  David, Joshua and Dee were sitting in the Ford Alpha Centuri. The only light came from the car's overhead dome light. David could see the reflection of the car’s dome light from the mirror smooth inner wall of the force shield bubble. His only means of communication with the outside world was a 0.001 millisecond shutdown of the bubble which was linked to a quasi-random Cauchy distribution time interval generator. However, he knew how fast the car was traveling and from the microsecond shut-down of the force-shield, he got enough telemetry to know his location + 12 inches. Good enough for locating the Camp David's parking lot.

  Neither Joshua nor Dee said much. Like most post-Panacea individuals, they both looked like they were in their late teens/early twenties. Although he didn't need to turn his head, he saw that both had deep frowns of their faces. They had learnt a great deal about human mortality in the last half year and were dreading meeting this President. The lessons that their parents had etched deep into their psyche, starting after Dee’s elimination of Special Agent Gomez, scarred their young minds. Lessons that they were unlikely to forget, as if they could.

  David looked at the telemetry again. He was hovering 30 feet above the parking lot. He held that position for a half minute and turned the force field off. David was told that no one would fire on him, but it didn't make any sense to increase the odds of an overly zealous trigger-finger. The car then slowly descended to a parking space.

  After descending, David waited a half-minute before exiting the vehicle, another thirty seconds passed before Joshua and Dee exited. David grabbed a small white paper bag. Dee held a large plant.

  Two marines, in full dress uniform and with loaded guns, approached them. David smiled as he heard the car's doors chirp and lock. The car ascended thirty feet and reactivated its force shield. David had reset the random number generator with a new seed, so he could still communicate with it.

  Dee was dressed in an orange gown with her long hair flowing down to the small of her back in a wavy cascade. Her dress was a perfect match to her mulatto skin color. She was carrying a large blue-green plant that gave off a scent of coriander and cinnamon. Joshua, with the beginnings of a mustache, wore khakis and a tie. David wore running shoes, jeans and a sweatshirt that had a picture of two super-villains smacking around Spiderman with words that said ‘With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility’. Phyllis was only able to make him wear a clear pair of jeans.

  Another two marines shortly joined the trio, they flanked them at the rear. They shortly arrived at a metal detector and x-ray machine that passed them through. The bag and plant were also searched.

  Leon Russell, the President's Chief of Staff met them as they entered the main building. The guard whispered something to him. He looked at the mismatched trio and noticeably rolled his eyes, “Pastries? Could you follow me, please.” He didn’t wait for a reply. The guards herded them forward, but remained outside the office.

  Leon Russell led them to an office with a window which overlooked a stand of trees. The four sat.

  “I was expecting Charlie Haines. The president specifically requested him.”

  David just said, “We know.” David sat back. He had a grim, half-smile.

  Expecting further information, the Chief of Staff waited for a further elaboration. An uncomfortable silence followed. Hearing nothing he finally said, “We know that David Klein works for C H Electricity, I'm sorry but we can't allow visitors to see the President. Perhaps we could have a photo-op after the meeting, but you two will have to wait here.”

  Although David heard Dee's and Joshua's reply, David just said, “I guarantee that the President will want to speak to Dee and Joshua. In fact, let me guarantee it. I hear you enjoy a good bet, how about the President personally consider them on a level ABOVE the Pope, if he feels them below that, I will give all U.S. Government sites and vehicles free power for the next year.”

  Leon Russell raised one eyebrow, “You’re empowered to make such an offer?”

  David smirked and took out a card. It had his name and office address, but listed his title as ‘Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and Hand of Charlie Haines’. It also gave a web address that ended in '/CHaines' and a phone extension 001.

  Leon's eyes looked twice at the card, he said, “Strange title.”

  “But accurate. Give me a sheet of paper and I'll sign our deal.”

  David quickly wrote out what he had said and signed it Charlie Haines. “You can confirm what I said directly with Charlie with the phone number I gave you, if you want to videoconference with him, go to the website. You can see and speak to him. You will also be able to confirm that my signature is identical to Charlie's. Your FDA handwriting expert will also unequivocally state that David Klein's signature is not the same as Charlie's.”

  “How can you do that?”

  “When I write as Charlie, I write using Charlie's hand.” David again smirked.

  David continued, “As for a photo-op, none of us have any desire for a photograph with the President. On the other hand, as a personal bet from me to you, I'd be willing to bet that the President will request a photograph with us for his personal use.”

  Leon laughed, “I don't think so.”

  “Personal bet as gentlemen, the President will request a photograph, after we tell him that we don't recommend it, he will insist. We will then extract a promise that the picture be kept to a modest four by ten inch size and he will initiate the photograph. If that does not happen exactly like that, I promise your family five years of free power for your home and cars. If it does happen, every two weeks you ship two dozen bagels from Bethesda Bagels using a personal courier: a dozen sesame, six poppy, and an assortment for the remainder. I should warn you this is a sucker's bet on our part. Charlie never loses.”

  Joshua spoke, “Don’t forget the cream cheese. Scallion and herb.”

  Dee said, “Smoked salmon for me and plain for dad.”

  Leon looked at the trio who looked arrogantly smug. “Uh, it's a bet.”

  A light on Leon’s phone turned yellow. “The President will see you now.”

  They exited the room thorough a second door to the inner sanctum of the President. Standing, President Mark Ogden approached David. Leon Russell interceded and whispered something to Ogden. The President looked inside the bag.

  “Pastries?”

  David smirked, “Prune Danish.”

  The President broke into a large smile then laughed, “The Woody Allen film? Where Woody visits a Latin American dictator with some Danish?”

  “Bananas, I thought you were a Woody Allen fan,” said David.

  “Actually I am, but how did you know? That isn’t common knowledge.”

  “At one of your pre-election rallies, you spent a long time talking to Woody, two minutes.” David paused, “It was well photographed.”

  “You have a remarkable intelligence apparatus.” The President looked at Leon, “you can go Leon. I think I’ll be safe with them.” The President looked at the young woman in the orange gown.

  The secret service and chief of staff exited.

  “This is my sister, Dionne Klein, we call her Dee.”

  The President put on his best diplomatic smile, “and what grade are you in?”

  “I never needed to go to a school. I know everything.”

  The President noticeably recoiled, his practiced smile returned, “So, do you know who the sixteenth President was?”

  “Mark, I know that! Lincoln. When I said I know everything, I actually meant that. Like all of his children’s children, how many votes he got in each Vermont district. I know the name of your third grade girlfriend – Stephanie Gaminsky. I know …”

  David interrupted, “I’m sorry Mr. President.”

  The president put his forced smile back on, “How old are you, Dee?”

&n
bsp; “31”

  The President studied the young girl. She looked like a late teenager. He was again interrupted by David, “That is somewhat open to debate. Her body is actually 24, but it’s months, not years. However, by another definition you could say 31 months.”

  The President blinked and stammered, “S-she two years old?”

  Dee quickly interrupted, “Two and a half.”

  “B-but …”

  “Panacea. Everything you ever heard about it is probably true. It regresses the age to about 20 years, rapidly. A fountain of youth”

  The President tried to shift the conversation, “I was hoping to speak to Charlie Haines.”

  David had a half grin, “Mr. President, can you turn on your computer and go to C-O-M-H-E-A-D dot C-O-M slash J-O-S-H-U-A?” The President sighed and turned on his computer. He saw a live TV picture of his office. He saw himself, the girl Dee, and, and, Charlie Haines. Charlie Haines was seated at the location where David sat from Joshua’s prospective. Haines was also wearing that silly Spiderman sweatshirt. He looked at David and saw a half-grin. The same half grin was on Charlie’s face. Very slowly the face of Charlie Haines morphed back into David.

  “I’m also known as Charlie Haines.”

  The President again started to stammer, “B-but.”

  “Perhaps fuller introductions are called for.” David continued, “I’m the actual Charlie Haines, the inventor of the gravity reflector, which spun off to a number of things, like almost free, non-polluting power, land-sea-air-interplanetary transportation, flying suits. I’m also the actual head of C H Enterprises. Oh, I have puppet CEOs and CFOs, but I run everything. Everything. I invented the CompuHead hard drive and a large number of computer things that are not released. I also supply Schwartzman and Fledger with their InLife computers. I gave them the idea and training so they could market it. It should be obvious, that Joshua, Dee and I use them. The innuendoes that the former Vice President heard about my other inventions are also true. My car outside is living proof of that. You know invisibility and force field.”

  David paused, “The seven year old boy next to me is my adopted brother Joshua. Joshua Ryan.”

  The president did not react.

  “Joshua was last seen on the news a few years ago attached to a computer in an autistic state. I created Organic Biotechnology and our parents still work there, to help Joshua. Of course, like all of our ideas, the original idea got somewhat expanded, from helping this one boy have reduced symptoms to doing away with all human death and suffering.”

  The president blanched. David continued, “Joshua is the actual head of research at Organic Biotechnology. He developed Panacea.”

  “This, this seven-year old led the team?”

  “No, he IS the team.”

  The President paused thinking over what was just said, “I heard rumors about Panacea and you just mentioned it. Just what is it, besides a marvelous brand name?”

  David shrugged, “It re-writes human DNA so we can live longer, from a human prospective – forever, ailment-free. Ailment actually could be an overwhelming understatement from colds to living naked in deep space. It repairs and improves on EVERYTHING. We configured Panacea so that it must be administered in a very special environment. But just as easily it could be given to all humans in …”

  Joshua spoke, “Six days.”

  David resumed. “It can be administered to all of humanity in six days. However, with the consultation of the head of your FDA and a committee of Nobel prize winners in biology and peace, we decided to very slowly administer it to select individuals following a strict protocol, for scientific purposes.”

  The President blinked. “You’re saying that this young man was able to decode the human DNA and he was able to re-write it.”

  “To somewhat simplify things, yes. I’ve written a list of the Nobel Biology prizewinners, who are involved with Panacea. You could also speak to your head of the FDA, Dr. Ritchie. You can ask any of them about J C Harding, that’s Joshie’s pseudonym. All I request is that you don’t tell them you met Mr. Harding or Haines. You are actually the second individual to have met me in person, outside of our immediate family and the first to meet Dee and Joshua unmasked. Not to misrepresent Joshua’s achievement, he will write all the DNA changes in the future with the assistance of a Blue Ribbon Committees guiding what should be changed. Dee has full knowledge of the past, present and the future. Joshua is being trained too.”

  The President’s eyes had a glaze to them, like a doe caught by oncoming headlights. “And what breakthrough has Dee made?”

  “Dee, is the mate of Joshie, or will be.” David paused then added, “She actually”, David then rushed through the rest of the sentence, “is the human representative of the Galactic Intelligence and is their human spokeswoman.”

  “W-W-What?”

  “The little green plant on her lap is called Chee’our’i. It is thirty eight billion years old. It is primarily located on a black hole over 3,700 light years away. You should consider him a beyond human comprehension, super-intelligent and old alien species, further evolved from us then we are from the original proto-animals.”

  “I-I’m having a hard time accepting all of this. This isn’t some game of yours?”

  “No, Mister President. I never lie.”

  The president needed a few minutes to absorb this new information. “Perhaps you’d like something to drink?”

  Joshua replied, “David would like a coffee with two sugars, black. Dee and I will drink water, ice in hers.”

  The president placed the order. He straightened some papers, took a pen and started writing, then returned to the trio. “A super-race of ancient aliens? Thirty-eight billion years old. Isn’t the universe younger than that?”

  Dee smiled, “Very, very good Mr. President. Yes, he actually saw two big bangs. It created the universe and all the physics constants which enable life.”

  “But he can’t even talk, he, it’s only a plant.”

  “Oh he talks, but not to you or me.” David continued, “He’s kinda a snob. He only talks to people who he regards as Sentient.”

  “B-B-But…”

  “Not by our standards, but by his. Right now it talks to Dee and Joshua only, with a few rare exceptions.”

  “But, if he talks to them, why not us?”

  “Well … The way Dee says it, imagine you having a dog, you would pet it and talk to it. But you wouldn’t talk to your dog’s fleas.”

  “You mean he’s likening me to a flea?”

  David turned red and looked down. “Actually, Dee says that the analogy would be more like you talking to the dog’s flea but ignoring the bacteria in the gut of the flea.”

  “How many of these ancient aliens are there?”

  Dee interjected, “Here? Just one. Actually there are many more, but they are all so similar that you can say just one. But what you’re actually asking is if you can protect yourself from them. Simply put, no. It is omniscient, omnipotent, all-knowing, invulnerable. It can create a universe or cause a voice to be whispered in the wind. It can do anything you can imagine, and much more you couldn’t ever imagine, in the past or future.”

  The President stood and paced a bit, then said, “Let me check on the drinks.” Dee and Joshua looked at David after he left. They were frowning again.

  The President shortly returned with the drinks.

  David brightly asked, “Prune Danish?” David took one from the bag and passed it around. They ate in silence.

  After they finished, David said, “Mister President there is something I need to show you. It is very important.”

  The President nodded. Joshua took out a dark wooden cylinder, which looked like a wooden ruler. He stretched it and pulled it apart until it appeared like an empty window frame. Dee took the other end.

  The frame showed the President reaching for the phone, the same phone that was within in
ches to right of the President. The scene stopped. David said, “If you notice the clock in the frame, the time is roughly 4 minutes from now. This is one version of the future. By introducing it, we just changed the future. We are free to behave differently, and so are you. That is the paradox of time travel: Knowing the future enables one to change it. And yes, you can kill your own grandfather.”

  The scene resumed. The President within the frame said, ‘Please send someone to escort our guests out.’ A dozen guards with automatic rifles appeared at the door, two men wearing suits carrying a large heavy metal barrel appeared. The image of the President said, ‘Take them into a holding cell on my personal order. They are not to speak to anyone. Make sure the cell is far below ground and electromagnetically cut off. I want that green plant utterly destroyed.’ The image of Dee stood and angrily said, ‘How dare you. You little man.’ The President and the troupe in his office disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as did the wall behind the President. A bubble appeared around her and Joshua. The two floated out the wall. David just sat there. He looked lost in thought. The image in the frame stopped.

  The President asked, “Wha- What just happened?”

  David said, “This was one future which had/will occur. Dee just smoked you. You ceased to exist. Her parents and I cut Dee and Joshua off from their knowledge of the future. In that past-future, I’m talking to our parents and we came to a very unpleasant conclusion. We knew what was about to happen. Next scene Josh, please.”

  The image changed to a living room, Martin’s living room. Out the window, they saw the reflecting bubble of the force field.

  David and Phyllis seated within the frame were holding hands. Dee was angrily saying, ‘And why can’t we know the future?’

  Martin said, ‘You need to face the results of your own actions. And live with them, as the rest of us humans. You aren’t gods yet, you need to learn human lessons.’

  Dee’s fists clenched within the frame, ‘We don’t even know for sure where we are?’

  Janet, whose eyes were filled with tears, said ‘You don’t. That’s what it’s like for us humans.’

  David said, “Imperceptive to human senses, the field blanked off for a microsecond.” At that instant, a bright light flashed filling the entire room.