by Ezra E Manes
He had given a lot of thought to what the prayer should include, considering it would be serving multiple purposes.
“God, I offer thanks for the opportunity to know the great people of Zilia. They are a wonderful and gifted people. Please forgive my team and me for any transgressions that have strained or fractured relationships with the Zilans. I humbly ask for continued protection of the Zilans from the disease I carry. They are completely innocent of its manifestation.”
His earlier deliberations and preparation for the prayer session had been very clinical, very objectively worked out. Now, beyond the initial hesitant beginning, he became very sincere and emotional, and projected the prayer with more oratorical prowess the longer he spoke. He had never been an exceptional speaker, but he was pleading for help in correcting very grievous issues, including healing his people.
His emotional appeal was moving on to the point of asking for help in healing his team when he felt a hand on his left shoulder; then someone knelt beside him at the altar. It was Ceripe, with the most solemn expression on her face he had ever seen. They were not alone long, for others moved silently from their place in the vestibule to join them. Soon people lined the bench on both sides in front of the altar, with the High Priest of Zilerip to his right and the Supreme Leader to Ceripe’s left.
Carlos turned his attention back to completing the prayer. He pleaded humbly for intervention in healing his team; they were only following his orders and the orders of the leaders of Earth. He prayed for the opportunity to work with the people of Zilia to correct any harm the team’s arrival had caused or would cause in the future. Lastly, he prayed for the opportunity to help the Zilans solidify their knowledge base to better face a future that would at some point surely include contacts with other races in the galaxy. In concluding the prayer, he respectfully asked forgiveness for himself, if it were God’s will.
He was utterly exhausted and rested his head on his hands as he listened to the continued murmuring of prayers by the other people at the altar.
Then a hush fell over the temple chamber, a silence broken only by individual thoughts. Once again he felt Ceripe’s hand on his shoulder, and he took it to be a signal he should stand and depart. Carlos gathered his strength and slowly stood. The others rose as well.
Before he could move away, Ceripe leaned close and whispered low for his ears only, “About halfway through your prayer, the Third Moon suddenly appeared brightly in the night sky and is still there. At that time, a glow appeared around you as you prayed.”
A feeling of awe ran to his very core. He turned and walked slowly from the chamber, head bowed reverently until he crossed the threshold into the room to face Starke and Caron. Once out of sight of those in the chamber, he could retain his composure no longer and collapsed into the arms of the two men.
The last thought in his mind before passing out was wonder about the appearance of the Third Moon, which surely had caused Ceripe and the high priest to lead their people to join him in prayer at the altar.
TWENTY-SIX
MIRACLES
Carlos woke back in his hospital bed to the soothing touch of a cool, moist sponge on his feverish face. He looked up with thankful eyes and was startled to see Ceripe’s concerned face hovering close as she bathed his face.
She smiled warmly upon seeing he was awake. “Yes, I am really here. I could stay away no longer. Gloria and I have had a very good discussion while you rested.”
He looked at Gloria in the next bed to his left, and she smiled mischievously, but with love in her eyes. He smiled as well and was still smiling when he turned back to look up at Ceripe. He couldn’t find words to express his emotions and drifted off to sleep with her holding his hand.
The next time he woke, it was to a musical voice in his mind.
Carlos, I admire what you have done to save the team. I can relate to your feelings as you prayed, for I, too, feel the presence of a very powerful entity, more so now than before. It helps guide my actions for the betterment of the team and the Zilans. I feel a close kinship to you and your mission here on Zilia.
Carlos looked around to see who was addressing him. It must be Eve using the same voice as when waking him from hibernation sleep aboard the New Horizon three years before. Seeing no one close by, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep. He did not say anything to the others or to Eve when he woke again, for he wasn’t sure it hadn’t been a dream.
The Zilan medical staff monitored and recorded the team’s remarkable, swift recovery. Even though the third moon glowed throughout the night of Carlos’s prayer, it was not visible the following nights. All team members were up and around in five days after the prayer, and their hearty appetites returned. They were still weak, but thorough examinations showed all were indeed healthy, and everyone wanted to return to the embassy compound as soon as practical.
Carlos’s examination, which included a brain scan, turned up quite a surprise, as Laura and Eve conveyed to him privately.
“The two thalamic probes extending from your neural implant are gone,” Laura said, meeting with Carlos well away from the other team members in the hospital ward.
Confusing thoughts and questions came to mind, holding Carlos speechless. Then relief washed all tension away. He was no longer under the constant threat of those on Earth incapacitating him at will.
“We don’t know how this could be,” Eve added. “It may be that the probes disappeared as part of the same process invoked by your prayer in the Temple of Zilerip.”
This suggestion sounded irrational coming from Eve, but then, what else could be at work?
“I doubt if we will ever know how or why they disappeared, but I am thankful nonetheless.”
Laura insisted the team stay in the hospital a few more days to make sure a relapse did not occur, then make the move back to the embassy with help from Ceripe’s staff. Carlos agreed this was best, but the delay was chafing to many of the team and especially to George.
Starke Pelanah had engaged in extended technical discussions with George every day to keep his spirits up, and he and George had become even closer friends. Their talks focused mostly on advanced computing systems, heuristic mathematical models, and the challenges they would face in translating software programs into Zilan operating systems. George soon learned he should stop talking about the advanced computing systems brought to the surface in the shuttle and listen to Starke describe the Zilan photonics-based computer systems.
George became more impressed as discussions with Starke continued. The photonics technology was not new to him, but the extent to which the Zilans had carried the technology was phenomenal. They had developed advanced systems based on the generation, control and storage of photons, and propagation of interference effects to represent state changes, arithmetic operations, and data transfers. Entangled interference effects propagated much faster than the speed of light. This provided a phenomenal boost to the total asynchronous operating system speed. In addition, they applied innovative stochastic processing techniques. Earth had looked at a basic photonics approach long ago, which they set aside in favor of advanced quantum computing techniques.
Being a physicist, George could see dramatic advances possible using the Zilan computing systems and theoretical mathematics. For one thing, he felt Earth would have solved the mystery of faster-than-light space travel long ago if scientists had applied such machines and the Zilans’ multidimensional math to research universal gravity field physics. It was not beyond imagining that they could eventually develop solutions for this and other major physics problems on Zilia. His elation was contagious and spread to the others as he described the Zilan advances.
On the fifth day after the temple prayer, Carlos and the team received a surprise visit from Pteleg Bnethem. The leader was very respectful, inquiring about the health of the team and Carlos in particular. He did not come across as someone addressing a person of lesser stature; in fact, his attitude was the opposite.
“Carlos, the sentiment of every Zilan is for the quick recovery of your team,” the leader said in a reverent tone of voice.
“Thank you, Your Eminence.”
“Please, at least address me as your equal, although I feel more humble than even that.” A short, awkward silence followed, and then Pteleg added, “We will do everything possible to make your team comfortable and welcome here. We have the fervent hope that you and your teammates will become integral members of our society.” He diplomatically avoided saying anything about Earth destroying the New Horizon and stranding the team.
“Thank you…Pteleg. We have a lot of adjusting to go through and look forward to our future here.”
The leader nodded, then turned to greet the others of the team individually. Carlos appreciated the visit, which made the team look forward even more to fully regaining their strength and moving back to the embassy compound. The dramatic turn of events required a major change in future plans, and they could hardly wait to begin addressing this.
Six days after the prayer, Carlos felt a strong compulsion to go to the shuttlecraft, and insisted on doing so, with George in tow. Ceripe insisted just as strongly that she and Starke go along to provide support for the two. She was concerned about what might be going through Carlos’s mind. He was suddenly acting irrational and was unable to explain why he must go to the shuttlecraft. However, her instinct told her to go along—this man from Earth was full of surprises, and she did not dare refuse to act on his premonition.
Eve greeted them as they entered the shuttlecraft control center. “Carlos, I was just now starting to contact you. Beacon signals are being received from what appears to be two individual escape pods from the New Horizon.”
“Are you sure the signals are coming from escape pods?” Carlos asked matter-of-factly.
“I am sure,” replied Eve, as if surprised he would question her assessment.
“How could this be?” Carlos mused to himself more than to anyone else.
“How could Alex and Samuel have managed to escape in pods?” George added. “We had only fifty seconds to react ourselves. It was impossible for them to get into the pods in the few seconds remaining before the explosion, much less for the pods to get far enough away from the spaceship to survive when it exploded!”
“But then, where are the signals coming from?” Eve said evenly.
“We have to investigate, and quickly!” Carlos sat down in the pilot’s seat. “Eve, initialize all systems in preparation for liftoff.”
Ceripe gasped and stepped back next to Starke as Eve activated the virtual cockpit. She recovered quickly and stepped forward to pull Carlos around to face her.
“You cannot do this! You and George are still weak, and going into space will be trying for you, will it not?”
“Yes, but Eve will be able to help,” Carlos replied, noticing Ceripe’s raised eyebrows at mention of Eve helping. He didn’t have time to explain that now.
Eve did not need the virtual cockpit to fly the shuttlecraft, but he wanted to be in control of this flight. “We cannot sit here and do nothing knowing that Alex and Samuel may be floating up there in pods. The pods do not have extended life-support capabilities. It would be tragic if somehow they managed to escape from the New Horizon, only to perish in the pods!”
“Perhaps we should all go,” George said in a conciliatory tone. “Considering all that has happened, I see no problem with Zilans going into space with us.”
Carlos smiled at the suggestion. “Nor do I. Ceripe, will you and Starke go along for support in this rescue attempt?”
Ceripe and Starke looked at one another, and she must have to read his expression. “I reluctantly agree, but my reluctance is more from concern for the two of you than any concern we have about leaving the surface.”
Carlos contacted Gloria to let her know what was going on and asked that she not tell anyone. He didn’t want to raise false hopes. Ceripe contacted Pteleg Bnethem to advise him that she and Starke would accompany them, and he readily agreed. The leader was coming to believe that Carlos was receiving divine guidance.
Weak as he was physically, Carlos’s mind was acutely alert as he maneuvered the shuttlecraft into space. Ceripe and Starke watched with wonder and amazement from seats in the back of the small control center. However, Carlos and George were too focused on the beacon signals to notice much else for a while.
As they maneuvered closer to the origin of the signals, the shuttlecraft sensors revealed two small objects floating in space within two hundred meters of one another. They drew closer and could make out visually the two small escape pods, which appeared to be unscathed.
For the first time since detecting the beacons, Carlos felt a real ray of hope that Alex and Samuel had somehow made it to safety. He had suppressed those feelings because the likelihood that the two pods would end up in space this close together, and with live occupants, was very small.
He maneuvered the shuttle into position next to the first pod, and George operated the grappling system to pull the pod into an airlock compartment. Carlos then maneuvered close to the second pod, and George carefully retrieved it as well and initiated pressurization of the recovery compartment. Once it was pressurized, they opened the recovery compartment and pulled the pods into the shuttlecraft cargo bay.
To their amazement, they found Alex and Samuel asleep as if drugged in their respective pods. The two woke readily when shaken and were as surprised as the rest at where they were. They were also free of the disease that had plagued the team. Both appeared disoriented, so Carlos left them in the care of the others and went back to the control center to contact Gloria.
“Gloria, you are not going to believe this—Alex and Samuel are alive and well. I am astonished, considering where they were when the New Horizon exploded. Somehow they made it into escape pods in the remaining few seconds, and the pods came through the explosion unscathed. It is the closest thing to a miracle I have ever seen. Please let Laura and Karen know the great news. We will be there soon.”
Gloria could hardly say anything in reply. She went immediately to inform the two women that their beloved partners had survived. The entire team would certainly be at the landing pad waiting for the return of the shuttlecraft.
George came into the control center as Carlos completed talking to Gloria. “The guys want to speak to you privately. We have them strapped in and comfortable in the main passenger area.”
Ceripe and Starke were with George and made their way awkwardly over to the seats they had occupied on the trip into space. They had hardly said a word throughout the launch or during the recovery operation.
Carlos turned to leave, then had a worrisome thought. Could the Messier Colony space probes have detected the escape pods?
“George, try to locate the space probes we placed around Zilia before we enter the atmosphere. Eve can calculate where they should be in orbit to help you conduct a focused search. After that, go ahead and take us down, but give me time to get strapped in along with the others in back before you enter the atmosphere.”
Carlos joined Alex and Samuel in the passenger compartment, interrupting a conversation they were having in subdued voices. “Guys, it’s wonderful to see you safe and sound. I have to admit, we had scratched you off when the New Horizon exploded. You’re in for the welcome of your life on the surface!”
Samuel addressed him in a voice searching for reason. “We wanted to talk to you before we said anything to anyone else. Frankly, we have no idea how we made it into the escape pods and then survived the explosion.”
“What do you mean you don’t know how you got there? Do you remember anything?”
“Not really,” Alex replied with a funny expression on his face. “In fact, our being here defies reason. I distinctly remember being deep within the ship stores compartment when the explosion started. That’s right, when it started! I saw the walls start to implode; then the next thing I knew you were waking me in the pod.”
Sam
uel related a similar experience. The containment vessel for the propulsion fuel had literally come apart. The effects of the explosion had initially happened quickly, then slowed to a crawl, like time was coming to a halt. Samuel was moving in slow motion before he blacked out.
“Carlos, we cannot locate any of the deep-space probes” came the call from George over the intercom. “I am ready to start the descent to the surface.”
“Good,” Carlos said. “Hopefully the probes were gone before they could detect the pods.”
Then on impulse, Carlos said, “Before starting descent, check to see if our friend the darkened third moon is still in position as before.”
After several minutes, Carlos received the answer, but this time from a very excited Ceripe. “It is there! How wonderful to see it floating above our world, looking out for us. Oh, I wish every Zilan could share this moment with us!”
Carlos hesitated, then said in a quiet voice, “Take us home, George.”
The three in the back talked through the escape events repeatedly as the shuttle made its way to the surface. But no reason could be sorted out to explain how the two had made it to the escape pods. Even if they had, how could they have gotten far enough away to survive the explosion of the spaceship?
As the shuttle landed in the embassy compound, Carlos asked Alex and Samuel to keep information about the circumstances of their escape within the team. Given time, maybe they could get their minds straight about what had happened.
Carlos repeated under his breath what he had said to Gloria in wonder. “If I’ve ever seen a miracle, this was one.”
Carlos and Gloria stood side by side with an arm around each other as they watched the joyful reunion between Alex and Samuel and those waiting at the landing pad. Ceripe came over to stand on the other side of Carlos and put her arm around him, a comforting gesture that he returned. Gloria did not seem to mind. It was wonderful to have the team safely back together.
