by Jim Reilly
Matt informed Marcus, “I’ve been speaking to one of the Ancient Visitors. His language seems very complicated, and I would say that I might understand no better than 30%, but two of the Ancient Visitors have been making an effort to communicate with me. They seem to take an interest in teaching me their language. I get the feeling they see it as training a pet to do tricks. But I will try to find out more…”
Matt told the assembly, “A few weeks later, I understood them well enough to have a conversation with them. The two Ancient Visitors were called Lango and Sintdon. They were medical scientists who examined the alien races they captured. They were especially surprised at how intelligent we were…”
With a deep raspy voice, Lango said to Matt, “I am so impressed at how well you are picking up our way of speaking. Many of the other races sometimes pick up a few words here and there, but your people are more intelligent than we were expecting. As a matter of fact, it was totally unexpected and has made us curious as to how it happened. Sintdon believes the lack of oversight must have been the reason.”
Matt said, “What do you mean ‘oversight’?”
Sintdon explained, “We send out scouts looking for life throughout this existence, and they manipulate that life to grow to our specifications. Occasionally, we don’t hear from some of these scout ships for a long time. One that was visiting your world never came back, and we did not know that you were falling out of line with the specifications we wanted. In later visits, it was determined that more handling was needed.”
Matt questioned, “What do you mean ‘specifications’?”
Lango quickly responded, “We need you for a task.”
“What task?”
“We have a problem we need you to help us with,” said Lango.
Sintdon cut him off. “That is all for now. We must get Matt back to the others…”
“Over time, they trusted me to the point that they took me out of the confinement room, and I toured the ship. It wasn’t like a museum tour on a school trip, though. Lango and Sintdon had me collared like a pet dog and yanked on my electronic chain to make sure I walked where they wanted me to walk and touched what they allowed me to touch. What I saw was amazing by our standards. Their living and social areas dwarfed every science fiction movie ever made. I saw things like a transportation system where tubes filled with a liquid substance would send a passenger anywhere on the ship they wanted to go in seconds and then release them, without a trace of moisture.
“Their libraries are filled with knowledge acquired from races throughout the universe, some long dead. They told me that with the science and math knowledge they have, there are equations that explain everything in the universe. Stephen Hawking would be in Heaven. Due to technology embedded in their bodies, they can communicate telepathically, store memories, manage their metabolism, and interface with the living ship. Their every need is taken care of by it. There were parts of the ship that had unbelievable technology, but it was starting to move from my focus. I couldn’t help but notice the alien races that weren’t Ancient Visitors. They seemed to be subservient , so I questioned Lango and Sintdon...”
Matt asked, “I noticed that your race dominates the other races. Why is that?”
Sintdon looked and answered Matt like a parent answering the silly question of a child, “Isn’t it obvious? We are perfect beings, while all the other races are inferior to us. We are their creators and gods. Everything they have, we let them have. They were bred to serve us.”
A confused Matt asked, “You are their creators?
Lango replied, “We did not create the matter they are made of. We direct life forms into what we want them to be. None of these races would be anywhere near as developed if it were not for us.”
A startled Matt looked around at the many subservient races and asked, “So you are telling me that you have made all these races by using the life forms on a world and engineering them to your specifications?”
Sintdon looked over at him and said, “Yes, it is all part of the plan.”
Matt had one more question for him, and he was afraid of what the answer was going to be, but he asked anyway. “Did you do any engineering on my world?”
Sintdon responded, “Yes,” to Matt and then spoke to Lango. “You see, Lango, we did not engineer them enough, and they came out too intelligent. It alters the plan, but we can find other ways to utilize their people. It is getting late, and he has to get back for the training to begin.”
Then Matt was brought back to the others…
Jennifer then asked the obvious, “So Matt, you believe that they engineered us to be what they designed? This just clarifies what we have assumed since there was evidence that they visited us in our past at times when we made leaps in our development. The fact that you and the others abducted were transformed only validates those conclusions.”
Matt answered, “Yes, they did, but there were problems with our development. It seems that the aliens in the craft found here on Earth did not finish their work, and I believe that we developed not quite as designed. There was also an outside influence, but I will get to that later. But it was clear that we were far more intelligent than all the other races, and the Ancient Visitors took notice of it and tried to subdue us with force. So the training began…”
“Marcus, the pain subsides after a few minutes,” Matt told him as Marcus lay on the floor in a fetal position screaming in pain.
Then as the pain dissipated, Marcus looked up to see Steven, D’Shawn, Cynthia Moss, and Janet Livingston standing with others and wearing the same collar harnesses that the wall guards wore.
Steven helped Marcus up. “Getting it on is very painful, and I bet it is even more painful if we don’t perform like they want us to.”
At that moment, the guards herded them into another part of the ship with a large room that resembled a laser tag or paintball competition facility. Each wore a harness, but they had differently colored lights on them. The guards gathered people into those groups that shared colors. Then they were brought to different sections of the facility where odd-looking weapons were stacked. The guards indicated that they should pick up the weapons and then point them toward the other groups.
D’Shawn looked over at Marcus to say, “What the hell do they want us to do?”
“It looks like war games to me,” said Marcus.
D’Shawn put up his arms and said, “This is stupid. Why do they want us to do this?”
At that moment the guard again pointed to the other groups, but nobody moved. In a quick motion, the guard picked up a familiar glowing energy ball and threw it directly into D’Shawn’s chest. He was thrown backwards, his body shaking as if he were having a seizure. A few seconds later, the pain went away, and D’Shawn let out a loud moan of relief. The guard then pointed to the other groups.
Marcus picked up D’Shawn. “It looks like they want us to fight the others, and thanks to you we know the weapons are not lethal.”
D’Shawn, still shaking and with sweat dripping down his face, said, “Yeah, anything I can do to help.” Some of the other groups did not fare as well. The group Steven was in had their harnesses activated, and they fell to the floor in pain as energy was transferred from the collar down a strip along their spine. When it was over, they all got up and started to attack the other groups.
Jennifer asked, “Were they training you for some kind of battle? How grueling was it?”
Matt then took a deep breath and said, “Yes, and they trained us constantly. We were taught to use a large cache of weapons, and as time went on the non-lethal weapons became dangerous. Janet got hurt as she jumped from one level to a lower level during one particular fight. Another American, Tim Parks, came out from behind cover to assist her, and because he was out in the open, he was hit many times by the non-lethal weapons and was doubled over in so much pain that the guards pulled him out of play. Then the guards took them both away, and we never saw them again.”
Jennifer interrupt
ed him, “So did you find out where our people went after they were separated from the rest of you? So far they have not returned to Earth, and their families would like to know if they are still on the ship.”
Matt then looked down at his feet, his eyes starting to water as he tried to explain what happened to those people who had friends and relatives watching right now…
After the training, they were all brought back to the giant holding room.
“This war games shit is making me very hungry,” D’Shawn said to Steven as they came up to the trough in the corner of the room.
Steven asked, “Is it me, or is this stuff starting to taste not so bad? It’s not Mom’s supper, but at least we are not starving to death, and I think it is making me feel stronger. Each day I seem to throw faster, run faster, and jump higher. They must put vitamins or steroids in it.”
Now up at the trough, D’Shawn and Steven began to grab their share of the food provided by the Ancient Visitors and then walked over to where Matt, Marcus, and Cynthia were sitting. As they ate, Marcus noticed Uloog standing guard nearby. Steven and Cynthia asked Marcus to inquire about Tim and Janet to see if they were OK and ask where they had been taken. Marcus then called Uloog over, but he was hesitant to give them an answer.
Lango came over to answer for Uloog, “Nothing is wasted.”
Matt, with his eyes now very wide open, asked Lango, “What do you mean ‘wasted’?”
Lango then said, “This is a ship with limited resources for the alien population living on this ship. We waste nothing.”
D’Shawn then looked down at his food.
Steven and Cynthia both said Tim's and Janet’s names at the same time as Marcus and Matt put their head in their hands.
Lango continued, “Even your waste you deposit in the drain in the center of this area is not wasted,” and then walked away.
D’Shawn again looked at his meal. “Oh…shit…”
“So the people that did not make it back are not coming back?” asked Jennifer, looking for closure for the families still waiting for loved ones that had been taken during the two abductions.
Matt, obviously shaken and not wanting to say it out loud, pushed out his answer, “No, they are not.”
Jennifer then blurted out, “To the families of Janet Livingston and Tim Parks, as well as all the others not returning, you have our sympathies.”
After a few deep breaths, Matt explained, “I was told that every resource on that ship was utilized to the max. Everything had a value and could be used somewhere else. In this case, many of our people did not meet the expectations for being reengineered. While most of us transformed from the human we were to what the Ancient Visitors believe is an improvement in our evolutionary stage, the ones not meeting the improvement goals or those who got injured were made into nourishment. They took their remains, bodily waste, and any other organic material and added a type of bacteria found on one of their worlds they rule. These bacteria eat the waste and secrete a protein that they engineer into a food gel.”
Jennifer injected, “Our scientists have worked on ways to recycle our bodily waste, but nowhere near the extent the aliens have done to our people. Matt, why do you think they have such little respect for our lives to be able to do this?”
“Well,” he said. “I think they believe they are intellectually light years ahead of us, and that our lives are not as valuable as theirs.”
Jennifer shook her head and deducted, “To think about it, we are no better than they are. In our past we have enslaved people we thought were inferior. Life forms that gather socially and take care of their young we have barbequed or covered with gravy.”
Moving away from that subject, Jennifer asked, “So, Matt, who are they, and where did they come from?”
“Over time,” Matt explained, “Lango took an interest in me. He thought that I might have developed into one of the leaders of the humans, and he wanted to study me. Being that we were more intelligent than their usual species, Lango was intrigued by us as a people. So he asked me questions about our existence, and I asked him about theirs…”
“Lango, can you tell me where you came from?” Matt asked him.
“I’m not sure if you will understand” he said, “but I’ll try to say it as simply as possible. We have been here since long before this existence began.”
Matt asked, “What do you mean ‘existence’? I heard you mention it before.”
“Well...everything. Like planets, stars, and galaxies,” he said to Matt. “We were here at the beginning of matter and time. You are a species who measure things by time. By your perspective of time, we have been around long before this universe existed.”
Matt tried to understand. “Our scientists theorize that that the universe came into existence and expanded from a primordial super spot in the center of the universe. They call it the Big Bang and speculate that all matter originated from that one spot. Before that there was no matter or time.”
Longo said, “Very good. I am surprised by your people’s knowledge, but you only know part of it. To explain I will have to tell you about us. We are from another existence, and there we were not in this physical form. We only came to be like this when we came through the portal that started this all.”
Matt asked, “What was before the universe was created? What was it like?”
Thinking back, Lango described, “It was an amazing place. It was a non-physical reality of ultimate wonder and joy. A place you feel ultimate happiness and never hunger. It was the center of all universes and a place where you feel whole.”
“Other universes?” asked Matt. “Some of our scientists believe there are alternate universes and other dimensions.”
“You are a logical race that is full of surprises. I am impressed. But to answer your question, there is a universe of universes. Some are large and some could fit on your finger. There are more than even we can count because all of existence is immense.”
“So,” Matt inquired. “Why did you leave such a wonderful place to come here?”
For the first time, Lango showed some emotion as he looked strained to explain, “We were created to serve all of creation and did so for all of existence, but one of us rebelled. Many took sides, and we went with the one that rebelled. Due to our rebellion, we were cast from the center into this universe at the moment of the beginning of this reality. And here we stay...”
An astounded Jennifer asked Matt to verify what she just heard. “So they claim to be here at the beginning of time and are the cause of the Big Bang? Is that what you are saying?”
Without doubt, Matt looked at her and answered, “Yes. They have extremely long life spans compared to us, and they are not as limited by time. The exceptions are a few that were lost, like the ones that came and perished here on Earth, but for the most part, they live forever. One of the reasons that they need us is because they are asexual, and they don’t reproduce. Since they don’t multiply, they need other life forms to do their tasks.”
“Do you have additional information on the one who rebelled and the others who followed?” questioned Jennifer.
Matt answered, “It is hard to say because of my limited understanding of his language. I think the closest translation is ‘Prince.’ Supposedly, some entity created them. I don’t know. I think it translated to ‘Ruler of the Realm.’ This ruler of some kind ruled the center of creation. The Prince had some kind of disagreement with the Ruler, and the Prince and his followers were banished to this universe. Here they plan on their return.”
Jennifer asked, “A plan?”
“Yes,” he said. “They plan on some sort of battle to get them back there...”
Lango was still trying to educate Matt when he explained their purpose for being there. “For us to return, we need to force our way through our original entry point into this universe at its weakest point. It is the place of your so-called Big Bang. It will be a collision that will end time and bring us back to fight for our dominance over
all of the Ruler’s existence. Throughout our time in this universe we have been assembling an army to combat him in a final battle. The Prince and his generals, led by Belial, will conquer the Ruler and place the Prince as the all-powerful leader of all that is. That battle will be the battle to end all battles, and your people will help in our victory. Our Prince will reward you with more riches and power than you can imagine...”
Matt said, “We found out later, from some of the other races, that the Ancient Visitors will soon have the army they need for battle and the fuel they need to generate the energy to penetrate through to the other existence. Apparently, there are four of these large ships scattered throughout the universe looking for life forms and fuel. Once they are satisfied with our training and reengineering, they will return us to populate the Earth with this new DNA strain to spread our seed. We will be tested one more time and get additional training in about five and a half years. The time between intervals of abductions is smaller because their main ship is getting closer to Earth. Then when we get back to Earth, we are to train the generations after us to be ready for the fight when the battle is brought here, about a thousand years from now.”
“But,” asked Jennifer, “what if we don’t want to go fight? What will happen then?”
Matt now took a deep breath and sipped a little water before saying, “For those whose DNA was accepted as in line with their specification, they will be taken to serve in their army. About 60% of the population should have the right genetic makeup.”
“OK, then what happens to the people not taken?” asked Jennifer.
Matt replied with a somber look on his face, “As you heard, nothing will be wasted.”
This made the people in both the audience and those watching the live broadcast gasp at the thought of their descendants being taken for food.
