The Phugwak planet: A Journey To Another Possibility

by Ayman Ghalit

  Mendoza saluted him again, and left the room as the Colonel returned writing for about 5 minutes or so. Carl repeated his question, “Why are we here?”

  The Colonel stopped writing, gently placed his golden pen on the table, adjusted his seat, and said, “Don’t you know that its highly prohibited to make eye contact or speak to a higher rank without his permission? And this is the second time you speak to me without my permission. But, worry not, I do forgive you, and I shall answer your question: We caught this Thing stealing farmer’s chickens.

  “And this is how you punish chicken thieves?”

  “Nay, but like this and more is how I do punish those who act without permission. DO NOT interrupt me again.”

  “Sorry, sir.” Carl replied, after lowering his head.

  “It wasn’t a chicken, two, three or even four! It was 14 chickens, and I care not about their number, but what he was doing with it caught my attention. He was snapping out its head and suckling down its water! ‘Is he an aquatic?’ the farmer asked. Then, as a normal and predictable reaction from the farmer, especially in this kind of economic situation we are in, he beat him. And surprisingly! this Thing started to bleed! ...Most of the time in cases like this, the observer will reach a point where he will not know what to do, and who to call. So, he called the police, who also didn’t know what to do! And due to the current imperial statues, they brought him to me. I didn’t believe what they said till I beheld it myself… Admirably, this Thing was completely collaborative and easy to work with, but he mumbled in words I didn’t understand ‘spaceship, Earth, Milky-Way, water drinking, and aliens?’ I don’t believe nor do I care about this science-fiction nonsense. You, to me, are nothing but work that I must do, and that work is to turn distorted subjects whom are under my supervision to useful being, or simply …discard them.”

  Noticing how worried they are, Alfred went on, “You will not be my business after a while. I had called someone who is completely interesting in your matter.”

  After brief moment of dreadful silence, the Colonel stared at Bob for a bit, then stood, picked up a small silver envelop-knife, and approached him. He gently touched his right cheek by the back of his fingers making him feel really uncomfortable. The Colonel smiled and said, “Truly, you are one good looking man. It would be a shame if we placed you in the wrong cell.” Then, he slightly scratched Bob’s forehead, and it started to bleed. He wiped out one droplet, tasted it, hummed for a bit, and said, “Bizarre, indeed! All of you like this?” he asked Mort.

  “Yes... yes we are all like this.”

  “I will be damned!” The colonel mumbled when returned to his chair. And after silently thinking for a moment, he cleared his throat, and calmly said, “Well... I want to tell you something that I shall not repeat. So, listen, and listen carefully: I had signed a paper that will grant death to more than two hundred men, and they will die today. From some, we will take their useful and replaceable body parts and give to the empire-obedient needy as a token of our gratitude, of course. But for many, due to the current circumstances, they will not be hanged nor shot, rather we will lead them in masses to the gas chambers. We don’t have the time, the men, or the resources to distinguish those who deserve death or not, or to provide a politically-correct death-method to each one of them. You might ask, what if innocents were amongst them? I shall answer that by saying to you that we do not care. No grave shall contain or hold the dead. We have our own method to recycle them… After cleansing them from every harmful substance, we will turn them to food, and we shall feed them to the prisoners in here, and the ones yet to come from Darg. Putting them in a hole in the ground just for the sake of some inherited superstition is not acceptable in the empire. You shall behold the prisoners by your own eyes crawling on their knees while thanking us for our handsome generosity. They will complement the food saying how delicious it was, and they will wonder …what was it? ... Don’t judge us! This is nothing but an extreme Phugwak behavior. A physical outcome which is highly possible to occur, and it happened to be extremely affective...

  Now, if you want us to consider mercy as one of the options that’s await you, then listen carefully and do exactly what I say: The former Health Minister will arrive shortly, I want you to be plain and simple with him. Any question that he asks must be answered quickly and honestly. You have no choice in here but to be collaborative. Anyone who thinks he can match our might, or thinks that he will be special, will be introduced to a whole new realm of pain. You must realize that free-will actions are no more for you. Don’t think that you will escape this place without our decree. It is done for you... Be useful, obedient, or die.”

  Subduing despair crawled up to their worrisome chests making them acknowledge the fact that this is the inevitable end, as nothing can be done. And when a horrifying silence muted the office as the Colonel returned to sign his papers, Carl, who was staring at the ground with concerning wide eyes, visualized his dreadful future. He saw himself naked while strapped on a white medical bed as a test subject that being observed by a group of straight-faced scientists who care not about his agony. Kaiser was seeing himself in a hanged cage being spectated by those who pay. Gael saw the newspaper headlines ‘Aliens Proven True.’ Underneath that, his sad face on the cover to be seen by those who will never care about his feelings. Jack saw his detached body-parts submerged and magnified by preserving green fluid in glass jars. Mort was biting on his lips, regretting this jinxed fate as all the gold they were upon will never be useful for him. Bob had some shred of hopes that his beauty might ignite their empathy and they might let him live!

  Revelation

  After muted several minutes, a hair-raising knock brought them back to reality as the long-awaited Minster has finally arrived. Mendoza went first, followed by the two men; The first was Colonel, Schneider Van der Ron. A 52-year-old man. Tall in height, huge in form, and with buff muscular body. Infamously known as ‘The Red Fiend’ due to his red military uniform that he always wares. He was responsible for the death of most prisoners in the dreadful early days of the empire. No prisoner had ever escaped his grip. On the right side of his face, a long visible scar marked by a captive lieutenant who challenged him into a fistfight to death. He bit on the challenging lieutenant’s throat, after knocking him off to suffocate him to death.

  The second on was a 67-year-old man, short, bald, and slightly hunched-back. With a scrapbook in hand, and no facial expression, he was Ludwig Wilmington, the Health Minister. A pathologist and a sharp-witted man who almost knows everything. He treated the former prisoner in the early days of the Empire as nothing but test subjects. He did lots of illicit physical and mental experiments on them, from trying to discover a new disease and treatments, to detach and rearrange body parts to see if it will function. Some of his experiments required that the prisoner must be alive and fully aware, which was frighteningly horrific for the test subject. He did his unusual experiments on more than 100 thousand prisoners, whom all died under his instructions.}

  Schneider greeted the Colonel, as Mendoza saluted them and left. “Still a live, Ludwig?” The Colonel joked.

  Ludwig didn’t respond, rather, he kept curiously staring at Bob’s blood. Schneider, with an arrogant tone, replied, “We didn’t abandon our tasks and come here to listen to your abhorrent jokes. Show us what do you have, it ought to be good.”

  “Alright, here are the creatures I had told you about. You are free to check them.”

  The Minister noticed the scratch on the forehead of Bob, who was in fear and helplessness. He approached him and squeezed the scratch till it started to bleed again. His eyes widened in disbelieve when he tasted the blood. And with an astonished voice, he said, “This is a miracle, indeed!”

  Schneider chucklingly responded, “What is a miracle for me is seeing you this exited, Ludwig… Do tell, what is it?”

  The Minister’s spirit turned enthusiastic, saying, “This Phugwak bleeds! What did they tell you, Alfred?”

  �
��Feel free to ask them.”

  “Hmm? Alright, let’s start with this question; where are you from?”

  No one answered his question, instead they stared at each other while in fear and doubt. Alfred cleared his throat reminding them about what he said. But no one dared to say anything as they hopelessly kept silent. Schneider, with serious voice, threatened them, “I did notice that your handsome friend responded to pain, and that is enough information for me, regardless of what kind of creatures you are. We had extracted fatal intel from Phugwaks who thought that their will is solid. But when introduced to our methods, they realized how awfully wrong they were. My advice to you is to collaborate and ease this matter, because its outcome is already preordained.”

  After looking at Kais who despairingly nodded in agreement, Carl answered, “We are not Phugwaks, we are Humans.”

  “Interesting! ...but, what is that?” asked Ludwig.

  “We are humans, and we live in planet called Earth which is in solar system just like this, in a faraway galaxy.”

  “So, you are telling us that you are aliens?”

  “Precisely.”

  The Minister hummed in thoughts, and said, “Can you use telekinetic power to move objects?”

  “No, we can’t.”

  “Can you teleport, read minds, see through our clothes, or shoot laser from your eyes?”

  “No, we can’t.”

  “Can you raise your fists up in the sky and fly?”

  “Logically, that is physically impossible. You need a boosting force to levitate and defy gravity.”

  “hmm? Are physics in your world different than ours?”

  “No. It is almost the same.”

  “If so, then you are nothing but boring aliens, and am starting to find it hard to believe that you are!”

  “What do you mean, Doc?” Alfred asked.

  “I thought that if there will be any form of life in the outer space, the creatures must be utterly different from us. Am not talking about three-eyed lizard-like creatures, or greenish slimy ones, no, I am talking about creatures from beyond our shallow imagination. But those who claims to be one from the outer space looks like us!”

  “What about the blood?”

  “It might be nothing but a genetic mutation that requires a serious medical attention.”

  “Now what?” Schneider asked.

  “Hmm? I Am searching for a logical question to ask... Oh, Yes, you, *pointing to Kaiser* If you truly came from the outer space! Then, how did you land on this planet?”

  “By a spaceship, of course.”

  “Don’t tell them about it, foolish kid.” Mort urged.

  “SILANCE!” Alfred roared.

  The minister smilingly asked, “So, where is that ship?”

  Kaiser looked at Mort, who said “No, don’t tell them.” He sighed, and replied “It’s already done... It is in the desert, and the only who can lead us to it is Morton.”

  “Alright, let us go and see it by our own eyes, Alfred.”

  “Negative. I refuse to believe this nonsense, and even if it true, we must send a troop to check their matter first.”

  “What! I didn’t come from the capital just to wait. We have to go now. Take with us one or two armed soldiers, and we will be fine.”

  “They are lying, Doc.” Schneider responded. “Can’t you see it plain and simple? They are not aliens.”

  “Can’t you see them bleed?” Ludwig replied. “Let’s haste and check it out. I can’t wait... Don’t you feel the rapid flow of curiosity inside you giving you this irresistible urge to know? It will lend you the power to left a heavy object just to know what lies underneath. It will lend you the solid will that will make you delve into a bottomless ocean just to know what kind of a creature lurk in there?”

  “Emotions are highly prohibited, Doc.”

  Schneider, who hummed in admiration, said, “Well! it is the first time I see Ludwig this enthusiastic. And frankly, I would disbelieve anyone who tell me so, had I not see it by my own eyes.”

  “It is the first time in a long time that I feel this way. I thought that I will die before feeling it again.”

  “Am sorry, Doc, but I have to decline this request. Be patient. It is will only be a day or two, then we will check their matter.”

  “A day or two, do you wa—!”

  A door knock interrupted the Minister, then Mendoza came after given permission, holding a sealed transparent plastic bags which contained their belongings; the water bottles, Earth’s currency, IDs, their strange-looking phones, and Gael’s peculiar hand gun. He placed them on the table saying that they found it in the car and thought you might want to check this out. He then saluted him, and left.

  The Minister checked the bottles and their advanced IDs which was a thin bendable flat screen that shows their private information; name, date of birth, location of their birth, and their ID number *Earth Solar System- Planet Earth- 0225l - E0124* Schneider checked the money and the phones as Alfred was carefully checking the unusual hand gun. And with more exited voice tone, Ludwig urged, “Alright, this stuff charged me up and will keep me awake for a long time. Let us go, Colonel.”

  “Negative!”

  “WHAT! Are you out of your mind?”

  “It is too risky. We now know for sure that they are much more advanced than us, and might be much more cunning. They drink water, Doctor. Those are monsters that you mustn’t trust.”

  “And that’s what make life worth living. I want to see their spaceship now, take the risk, and be a man, Colonel.”

  “Patience... they are under our absolute control. We will deal with them later.”

  Schneider hummed, and said, “Indeed, I am really getting all pumped up right now. We have to go and check their ship. Something new, don’t you agree?”

  “Yes! this is the spirit... And we must not tell anyone about them. Their matter must be secret, till further notice.”

  “Nay... we must use caution. Later, Minister.”

  Ludwig angrily pursed his lips, and said “Hell! you are too stubborn for your own good, Colonel.”

  Despite the fact that Ludwig is extremely tutored and well-informed man who did lots of illicit experiments that none did before, but he provided nothing new to science, and his name is not and will never reach the Phugwak’s hall of fame. The only thing that he rightfully achieved was the name ‘Doctor.’ And there are lots of doctors out there. Gael noticed that Ludwig’s enthusiasm is gushing out from his selfish desires, as Ludwig is planning that if he introduced these creatures to the Phugwaks as prove to the outer intelligent lifeform, then his name will rear up and brightly shine in the Phugwak’s books till the end of time. The One-Time-Only achievement that none will ever gain its credit again is in-between his hand. Thus, Ludwig persistently kept trying to convince the hardheaded Alfred to go and see their claim. And while doing so, Gael was counting their chances of survival, and realized that as long as they are in prison, it will be below zero, but if they exit this place even for a short period of time! Then those number will rise. Suddenly, he recalled the thing he hated the most, which was greed. And those Phugwaks are no different than the humans. So, he calmly interrupted their argument, saying, “There is a stone as big as this table in the ship.”

  “Who gave you perm—”

  “A huge stone like no other.” Gael went on. “And I swear by god, you had never seen anything like it. Just like you have never seen a bleeding creature before.”

  “Are you trying to fool us?” Schneider responded.

  “A stone that will make you filthy rich. It will make you and your bloodline rich for a thousand year. Take it, and let us go. A smart decision is to divide the stone on three before the empire’s willful Law-Makers snatch it from you. They will easily do it. And when they consider it as a national treasure, then you will have no right to even glance it. My advice to you is to take it all, while you still can!”

  Alfred groaningly responded, “If you talk without my
permission again, I will crucify you upside down.”

  They returned to try convincing Alfred to go and see what they claim. Schneider whisperingly said, “The kid is absolutely right. If what they claimed happened to be true, and there is a big stone in the ship, then, they will never allow us to even take a whiff out of it. Remember what had happened to the stolen meteors we brought back to the so-called authorities.”

  Ludwig added, “True... and don’t forget that the empire is facing a devastating crisis which will never be stop. Things will worsen by time as disbelieve and distrust will spread like fire on hay amongst the Phugwaks. And slowly, they will disbelieve in the paper money, and will except only what is valuable and true. All that sweet amassed paper money will turn to nothing but regret and vengeance. Let us go, and see for our self. Then, we will confidently measure everything and wisely decide what we do with them.”

  Alfred kept silent for a moment, then he agreed, saying “Alright, Doc... we will only take this and that.” *pointing at Kaiser and Carl*

  This brought frustration to Gael who never thought that they might part them away, but luckily for him, Ludwig swiftly disagreed, “No! we have to take them all. They might speak and the word might spread! We have to take them all and keep their matter a secret, just for us. I mean, just for now.”

  Feeling bothered, Alfred exhaled, and replied, “Whatever pleases you, Doc.” Then, he called Mendoza and commanded him to arm himself up, take lots of ammunition with him, ready two plated and armed off-road cars, and to call Sergeant Vincent to accompany them. Mendoza saluted the Colonel and left, leaving behind him an awkward and unbearable silence. All of the guys were in deep thinking about this dire situation. ‘How and who is going save them?’ Despairing feelings were irritatingly storming their heads. And while waiting for Mendoza, Ludwig broke the silence by asking, “Who is the most literate one amongst you?”