Only Good Men Deserve Yesterday

by Arno Le Roux

  As the one uncomfortable surprise followed the next in a repetitive cycle, representatives were facing, neither NASA, nor the Pentagon, nor some undercover black ops, covertly over funded, “we don’t really exist” group; but a 90 year old barefoot Buddhist monk in a bright orange robe and next to him an 85 year old European monk dressed in a faded brown robe balancing as he heaved forward and back on worn cracked leather sandals. The crowd that were selected, mostly had no idea what they could possibly offer, and were in awe that they were flown to gather with what was possibly the last fuel at the airports they left from, under armed guard, to be welcomed by aged, wrinkled monks from two totally different parts of the planet.

  The hustle and graphic stories that were exchanged of life at home of a 100 different experts disappeared and their voices lowered to whispers before it disappeared to a point where a pin could be dropped and it would have echoed. A dead silence followed when each of the monks produced an ancient worn wooden case with rope handles on either side. The learned crowd sat for six hours straight and didn't move a muscle as they were captivated by the most eloquent of men they had ever met. The large volumes of knowledge the monks recalled from memory on the beginning of alchemy to the many branches of modern medical and other sciences, was astonishing. The monks were knowledgeable on the latest discoveries that haven't even made headlines yet and they continued to explain in full detail both in Latin and layman's terms the effect of the nuclear fallout and what could still be expected. Scientists found themselves on the edges of their uncomfortable wooden hotel chairs when the monks "went round the bend" as some would have thought. A factual discussion on scientific proof at that moment turned to alternative universes, and simulations that had apparently been successfully completed, using nuclear power to travel back in time but limited to a mere few days only. The audience were like little children in front of master magicians and suddenly nothing seemed impossible. Ancient knowledge had been kept from both society and modern scientist alike for fear that the wisdom to deal with other realities would have been replaced by the hunger for fame, greed and yes, unlimited money. It was clear that progress was systematically hampered at well-chosen intervals for other antidote-like discoveries to be made prior to the main ones that sling-shotted mankind from the 1800's to 2018. The feeling that renowned and revered scientists felt cheated was dampened by the reality they faced. It was a reality that the lowest of what society had ever produced, agreed to save, not the day but their lives of yesterday.

  China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Russia and America each had a multitude of nuclear reactors that were about to go live, when the result of the sabotage changed the face of what was real. The handful of citizens of the planet who had the good fortune of witnessing the awesome and widely publicised 1969 moon landing, were overcome by a shared sense of de-ja-vu. Concern more than excitement had been painting the picture for over a dreaded few weeks as the stock markets, energy grids, food and water supplies, law and order and anything civil rocketed down a bottomless black pit. With hail and rain in the Sahara desert and severe and extreme heat in normally snowy areas, it seemed as if even ancient and resilient Mother Nature was on pause too. Menopause, as one meteorologist referred to it. The unreal impact on the cyber life that the earth dwellers grew so accustomed to, had already sunk in in the days before the meeting and leaving the conference before all were in agreement, was not an option.

  In an adjacent room the two men who were to change history, were listening in as active discussions about ethics and law continued. The two men just stared at each other shaking their heads.

  The Tibetan monk who was referred to as a leader of a cult, even where he came from, as well as the mysterious looking European monk who didn't bother removing his hood eventually posed the only solution to the group who faced them. Either society carries on the dead end road to nowhere, or using evil in the hope of salvation.

  “What was the biggest secret kept?”, the monks asked their anxious audience. The colourful collection of brilliant minds were up to that enquiry, what proved to be masters in their own fields. The gathering was an ocean of faces between the ages of twenty three, a baby faced smiling polite genius in quantum physics and the oldest, a very upright postured and a slight bit bossy long bearded and grey suited man of of sixty seven. Apparently there was little he could be told on both aerospace or astronomy. Needless to say, between the most senior, the junior and all in between had very confident not to mention loud arguments about their particular fields that would harbour the correct answer to the old monks' enquiry. The bickering continued for about five minutes and the monks made no effort to intervene. When the dinner hall quieted down to a level he thought reasonable, the Buddhist monk asked who could help him with the correct time. Again the audience displayed varied degrees of rudeness as no one agreed with anyone else. Even men and woman from the same fields dumped their esteemed colleagues just to stand out in the hope that they were right and everyone else be proven wrong. Again the monks didn't interfere. However this time when there was less noise about the discussion about Swiss precision and the cost of their wrist watches, a hand went up in the back. “Yes?” And the monk pointed to a man in the back. He had two drawbacks of which that he was deaf was one. The large audience went quiet until every single head was turned to the man in the back holding a tray of warm snacks as he briefly stopped serving the brilliant guests. His clothes and in particular his waist coat had seen better days and what was even more interesting that many had realised, was that both his sleeves’ cuffs were rolled back once, exposing his bare wrists. He did not have a watch in sight. The monk smiled at the deaf man when he answered back with a barely audible question and called him to the front. After congratulating the man on his eyesight and lip reading the monks faced the surprised crowd. “Tonight, the one who spoke the least, actually said the most”. That was the last time anyone wagered an answer. From that moment they swopped mere listening for absolute awe as the audience was captivated by the monks. The answer of the mute waiter was the beginning of a strange journey for most and for a few it was science fiction that belonged in too many movies. The reality that confronted them during the days that followed turned their confident views upside down and shook out everything that they had been glued to for years. “It could be anytime, you didn't specify where…”, was the humble waiter’s take on things while the planets’ highest IQ’s argued. The fact that anything was possible, or at least many or most things and the resistance it was met with by scientists was, as the monk said, interesting. There was no easy way to present to the audience how little they actually knew about science.

  The old monk managed to tie alchemy, and obscure old ways with modern science while keeping their interest as he led them down the one way road to the realisation that going back in time had been accomplished before. A small group very darkly dressed people from an agency no one ever heard of, escorted the monks off stage for a rest before they continued again. Two six hour lectures each day for three days, consisted of fresh never heard of approaches on religious texts, mathematics, astronomy and nuclear reactors and included the dangers and realities of things never thought possible... the far-fetched fringe of science named time travel.

  Two wealthy sponsors of international terrorism had to be assassinated at least two days before the nuclear plants were sabotaged. The two individuals, chosen from C-Max prison in South Africa were masters of their craft, and agreed to be shot back two days prior the sabotage, accomplish their assignment, and then catapulted one day forward again. The two wrongly accused and visibly bruised men, for the matter they were jailed at least; would be the only ones afterwards who would be aware of both realities, should they manage to survive the physical stress of going toe to toe with the widely held laws of time. "Gifts from Hell", a small group of Priests uttered under their breath. Both blushed and lowered their stairs to the black velvety carpet as the old Buddhist monk looked at them, took their hands in his and responded in a quiet sof
t tone, "But then brethren, we are those same other people on a different day, are we not?", and smiled.

  Chapter 6

  "It didn't seem complicated to avert the impossible. All we can do is wait and see what will happen yesterday. The grammar police would most certainly take issue with that statement..." the audience chuckled in relief during what had been the first smiles in weeks. But mostly they were grateful that it had been someone other than them that had to mission into the unknown. Several simillations were exhibited with pigs to indicate the consequences of miscalculations on the part of the scientists. At least six of the group had to be revived after collapsing, so the fact that they were not the ones who agreed or forced to do so was a blessing on every possible level.

  Humour was also more a replacement for the helpless feeling that had been squeezing the life out of a few brilliant minds. "If all goes well, we will probably never know..." the old monk continued. A mere handful of people knew that ancient mother earth was not caught in the grip of the consequences of a solar flare but rather radiation from several power stations that were sabotaged by a determined group of religious fanatics.

  With all the right and much needed equipment, weighed, measured, machined and polished to the last micron, one hundred normally totally opposing people for once worked together.

  Eventually both the four inch thick doors of the two narrow seven foot high stainless steel cylindrical rooms sucked closed and the occupants disappeared behind the stainless steel doors. As the sucking sound of the closing doors still hung over the crowd, the power to the Alchemist Hotel was unexpectedly interrupted... The ancient old city of Prague had been as dark and cold as its neighbours. What was the only exception with all the money and resources on that side of the sun, also joined the sub-zero temperatures that its neighbours were suffering. To the shock of the body guards and gasping scientists, four men were nowhere to be found when candles were lit. A deal that four unusual men had made, was silenced by the rain that splashed up against the smart suit pants of two of them. "Life looked less scary through someone else’s sunglasses", the one commented as the other read the time from his newly acquired Rolex. "What is the time?", the man with the sunglasses enquired. "Where?", came the reply...

  The good hidden and locked deep inside men cannot be weighed. And as a good man once we said, we judge others by their actions, but ourselves by our intentions.

  The End.