Evolution

by Jim Reilly

  Charles was relieved that his old friend could see right through him. When he was confused, Dan was always someone he could talk to. Charles said, “I don’t know, I was kind of expecting more. God was supposed to come down to earth and defeat the antichrist. Instead, He had a stone drop on his head.”

  Cardinal Polanski put his hand on his shoulder and said, “So you were expecting the heavens to open up and Jesus and his army of angels to come through riding white horses? Then when the antichrist is defeated we hear the trumpets of the angels and doves fly down from heaven?”

  Charles started to laugh as Cardinal Polanski continued, “We believe as Christians that before Jesus walked on this world, people were expecting a savior more like a military general leading an army into battle. Instead he was a poor carpenter, and he spoke of peace and love. What I’m trying to say, Charles, is that God is not tied to our imagination, and we should trust Him.”

  Pastor Charles sighed. “I knew you were going to say that, but maybe I just needed to hear it. Anyway, I also wanted to ask you about the workers from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher who helped the team. We are looking for them so that they can be recognized for their help, but we can’t find them. They never returned to work the next day, and the church said that they just turned up one day a few months ago to volunteer to do maintenance work around the church. They don’t have any record of them because they were not paid. The strange thing is that we did not get a clear view of them on any of the cameras on any of the team’s headgear or even the street security cameras. They were always turned away from the cameras, and everyone we asked to describe them all had a different description. It is as if they just walked away and disappeared. It’s strange.”

  Then Cardinal Polanski said with a smirk, “Gabe, Mike, Ralph, and Uri -- maybe they were the archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel, and they came here to help us defeat the beast? Ah, it couldn’t be! I’m sure they’ll turn up someday. I wanted to ask you how Sha’nay is doing. She is one brave girl.”

  Pastor Charles was happy to say, “Oh, she is doing fine, and she is already looking forward to starting her own ministry. Even though she could use her notoriety with this incident to gain a pastoral position in a well-off diocese or teach at a well-known university, she will hear nothing of it. Instead, she picked some godforsaken place in the middle of nowhere to start from scratch in a small village church in some out-of-the-way African country. Like I told you, she is a special child.”

  Cardinal Polanski agreed, “Not only did she charge into harm’s way at Bishop Terapion down at David Street, she comforted the dying demon in its last moments as if saying good-bye to an old lost friend who had gone down the wrong path. She is very compassionate and giving, even to those you would think don’t deserve it. You are right about her, and I hope she never changes.”

  After approving Cardinal Polanski’s description of Sha’nay, Pastor Charles changed the tone of the conversation. “Do you think there will be more false prophets? Scripture mentions possibly more.”

  “Maybe so, but for now let’s enjoy this victory and help bring peace to the world.”

  The two old friends just sat there reflecting on what had happened and where they would go from there.

  After all the reports and meetings were completed, Jennifer and David finally got time to bring their family for some much-needed rest. They brought their kids out to Montauk, Long Island to the Ocean Beach Hotel. As the kids went back to their rooms, Jennifer and David stayed by the fire pit they had made on the beach. It was not the only fire; there were fire pits up and down the beach as far as they could see, like stars in the sky. Jennifer and David just lay back on their chairs and enjoyed the August night. After sitting quietly for a while, Jennifer asked, “What do you think James will find up there?” as she pointed toward the star-filled night. “I get chills thinking about what is in store for him there and hope he’s up to the challenge.”

  David threw another piece of wood onto the fire and said, “I can’t imagine what he’s going to find there. I only know that he didn’t go there to find any alien technology or discover all the knowledge in the universe. The purpose of going was to save the future of mankind, but that was not why he went. He went there to discover himself. He had wealth and fame, but when it came crashing down, he questioned his existence. So his journey to the stars is essentially a trip into his soul. I personally hope he finds himself and is happy with his personal discovery.”

  Jennifer asked, “What did we discover in all of this?”

  He thought about it for a moment and said, “We learned more about ourselves as a people on this world. We learned about where we came from, and that is important if we are going to learn where we are headed as a species. The journey of our beginning as a speck in the primeval soup millions of years ago to what man will ultimately achieve is a long road. But it is a road filled with wonder and amazing adventures. I think that man has only scratched the surface of what he will become. What do you think, science minister?”

  Jennifer advised the upper echelons of the world government and had to make decisions important to the safety of the planet, but for now, she just held her husband tightly as they sat by the fire. She said, “I think our future is still to be made, and we have to work hard to get there. With that said, I hope that James and the others succeed, or at least show that we want our future and will fight for it. I don’t know, I look up at the stars and wonder where they are.”

  David just looked up and said, “We believe that they are in eastern part of the sky, just above where Jupiter is now. It is believed that they won’t reach it for another year and a half.”

  Chapter 12

  His eyes opened, and the blurriness started to fade. He sat up his stiff body and noticed the artificial light illuminating the familiar and unwanted room he was in again. D’Shawn mumbled to himself, “Oh great. We’re back here, and look; here they already put our chains on.”

  D’Shawn was referring to the shoulder harnesses that the Ancient Visitors used to subdue their minions. People uncomfortably sat up and felt the harnesses around their necks. No one was more uncomfortable than James Connor. He was feeling trapped in the holding area of an alien ship deep in space, and the harness used to control him made him wonder why he volunteered for this. He thought that Jennifer had hoped his DNA could be changed back, or that he could have been hidden in a deep mine where the Ancient Visitor’s scans would not pick him up. If he could have been hidden well enough, maybe he could have been very useful as the people of the Earth planned their defense of the planet. His thoughts of staying behind slowly faded, however, as he realized that he had made his decision, and there was no turning back now. Besides, this was where he wanted to be, even though he was scared out of his mind and feared for his life. It had not been easy for him to decide to go, especially since for most of his life he had thought about his own well-being before the well-being of others. The hard part was letting go of that notion so he could start to believe that he was part of a wonderful universe and not the center of it.

  “Doctor Connor, the dizziness and the blurred vision will go away in a few minutes. It is best if you get up and hold on to the wall until you get your balance. At first you may get a little motion sickness due to the movement of the vessel in space. When we first arrived here, we thought the motion was due to being on water. Fortunately, the motion sickness fades and so will the uneasiness you will feel walking around in the artificial gravity that is keeping us from floating around the room. It is slightly different from Earth’s. Now, let me help you up,” said an experienced Steven.

  James got up with Steven’s help and immediately started to feel dizzy. “I’ve got you, Dr. Connor,” said Steven as he held James’ arm. “The air in here is a little different from the air on Earth. You’ll feel disoriented for a while until your body acclimates to the different composition of nitrogen and oxygen. Don’t worry, it does not take long, and you will be fine in a couple of min
utes.”

  Marcus, after surveying the surroundings, reported back to Matt, “All 283 people are accounted for, but this time we woke up with the harnesses on. It looks like we are all fine, and the new guy is still getting adjusted.”

  Matt looked at him and said, “Thank you.”

  To keep their intentions secret, no one mentioned any part of what they were going to do. Since they could understand the Ancient Visitors’ language, it would make sense that the advanced Ancient Visitors could understand them. Matt knew that if the Ancient Visitors learned what they were doing, they could quickly stamp out their feeble attempt. Surprise was their best weapon if they were to have any luck in disabling this ship and saving the people of Earth.

  The waiting for the right time to make their attack was nerve-wracking. A nervous Steven looked to D’Shawn for comfort and to get his mind off of what they are about to do.

  “So, you miss your family?”

  D’Shawn, looking for his own comfort, said, “I sure do. My wife and I have fourteen children. Each one of them is smart and strong. Of course, they have many of the traits of a Super Homo sapiens. Some of my oldest kids have kids of their own. My wife and I are truly lucky. They are the reason I came back here. What about you Steven? How many kids do you have?”

  He just looked back at D’Shawn and smiled. So D’Shawn asked again, “So tell me, how many kids?”

  Steven deadpanned, “None.”

  D’Shawn said, “I don’t get it. The people back home wanted us to procreate so that the superior species would have a better chance to defend Earth. So you did nothing?”

  Steven was a little uncomfortable and hesitant to tell him, but blurted it out anyway, “Not exactly.”

  D’Shawn looked at him.

  Steven continued, “I left over a thousand samples behind, 1,145 to be exact.”

  D’Shawn asked, “What do you mean ‘samples’?” then suddenly understood as he started to laugh, “You filled up 1,145 cups?”

  Embarrassed, Steven explained, “I figured that the most bang for my buck, so to speak, would be quantity. This way, there is a better chance that the Super Homo sapiens DNA could spread through the population.”

  Still laughing D’Shawn said, “So you are trying to spread the advanced DNA all by yourself? This is a riot. Well, at least you answered one question I always wondered: what do Kansas farm boys do in their off time?”

  This made them both laugh. D’Shawn then asked a still-dizzy James, “What about you? How many did you leave behind?”

  Still wobbly, he looked and said, “I left one sample behind. A friend of mine, Lauren Ritter, and her husband were good enough to volunteer to bring up my child. I didn’t have as much time on my hands as Steven. No pun intended. So I have just one.”

  “So that is how you plan on populating the earth with the superior DNA? One.”

  Their idle chat did not last long because the door along the wall of the large room started to open, and the plan to save the earth was about to begin.

  James was just getting acclimated to the surroundings and getting his balance as the door opened and out walked an Ancient Visitor. He had only seen the remains of the two he found in Kibish in a museum. Now he was before a live Ancient Visitor as it entered the room followed by creatures he couldn’t ever imagine he would see, their shoulder harnesses the same as his.

  Then the Ancient Visitor spoke. James’ language training helped him understand the alien language. James thought that if he weren’t so terrified, he would think this was the coolest thing anyone could ever do. He could communicate with an alien and stand on its ship deep in space. He briefly forgot the task at hand, and remembered all those conventions he went to and the crazy UFO enthusiasts wearing all those costumes, and then thought how they would be crapping in their pants if they were here now. They weren’t here though. He was, and he needed to clear his mind and concentrate on what he was tasked to do. He thought back to the briefing Matt gave the night before they were taken…

  “Listen up, everyone. We have compiled information from the experiences of those of us who walked through the ship. For us to understand how we are able to defeat them, we will need to know where they are vulnerable. So from what we gather, many of the Ancient Visitors have circuitry embedded in their bodies. It was put in them to enhance and stretch their life spans. These are beings that don’t reproduce and must keep their bodies alive until they burst through to the other realm. So the circuitry could be a target for the nanobots.

  “Also, they travel around the ship via a liquid tube transportation system, and if we could get the nanomicrobes in there, we might be able to neutralize their movement as they die in the tubes. The best place we believe to place nanobots will be the core of the ship’s computer system. It is on the level right next to their control center. This technology is very advanced, and it is in liquid form in the center of the room. A drop of the liquid can hold more information than all of the computers on Earth. We believe that if we can get nanobots into that, they can disrupt and destroy vital systems.

  “Now remember, the nanobots are not like a virus that attacks the software. These nanobots are programmed to find systems within the ship and cause havoc. The problem is that the pool is toxic to our bodies, so we will need to cut our arms to let the blood out instead of transferring nanobots through touch.

  “The plan is, when the Ancient Visitors transport us from the holding room and bring us to the training facility, we will act. Prior to getting there we will use the nanobots to disarm the control harnesses on the guards and on us. We will initiate the attack the moment we are brought to the training facility because it is near the center of the ship where we can dispatch the assault teams. Some will attack the control room, the computer system, the power storage system, and the transportation tubes, while others secure transport ships so we can return to Earth. We will need to secure weapons with the help of the guards and hope the explosives we smuggle on the ship are enough to disable parts of the ship. There are a lot of variables we can’t control, but if we work together we can get it done by using our imagination and believing in ourselves.”

  James thought of how that plan had sounded so good millions of miles away back on Earth. Now that it was about to unfold, he wished the plan were more thought out as they were brought out of the holding room. The guards took James and the others to the transports to ferry them to the training facility. As they headed to the facility, James peered out the doors to see the amazing technology and sights inside the enormous ship. James guessed that it was about the size of a small moon, and it was filled with races from all over the universe. Each one of them wore a shoulder harness and walked submissively behind an Ancient Visitor. It looked like a master and his slave. It made him wonder what was in store for mankind.

  Are our descendants to be slaves to this race, and is that all they have to look forward to in their future?

  Then as they were carried through the ship, an astonished James peered out the transport at the interior of this amazingly engineered ship and conferred with Matt, “I can’t believe what I am seeing, and I am trying to comprehend what it is.”

  Still with the mission on his mind, Matt took a second to distance himself from the task they all were about to assume and asked James, “See those tubes filled with a clear liquid over there?”

  James looked over as Matt continued, “When the Ancient Visitors enter the opening, the liquid carries them to anywhere on the ship in seconds by just projecting their destination in their minds.”

  Pointing toward another part of the ship, Matt said, “The guards told me behind those walls are chambers where the Ancient Visitors go to rest, although I haven’t actually seen it myself. I was told they do not regenerate like any being we know of. They take turns sitting in the blue liquid, like what we found in the stasis chambers on Earth, and they encase themselves for what we would consider hundreds of thousands of years. In their time in the stasis chamber, their bodies are reg
enerated and improved with technologies they learn from around the universe. Because they are out here deep in space far from any gravitational pull and traveling at a high rate of speed, their relative time in the chambers is not hundreds of thousands of years, but a few thousand years. It would seem Einstein was right with his Theory of Relativity. Anyway, the reason for this is so they can live long enough to fulfill their plan to reenter the Realm.”

  As the transport moved along its path and passed an area where Ancient Visitors congregated, Matt pointed out, “Then over there the Ancient Visitors can sit in what looks like lounge chairs and interface with their massive computer to communicate with other Ancient Visitors through what was described as a virtual reality social network. It also links them to a database that holds billions of years of knowledge they have accumulated from throughout the universe. It is sort of like a much more advanced Internet.

  “See that? That ring around the entire inner part of the open interior of this ship. It is very long and very thick. It is a giant particle accelerator that makes the one on Earth at CERN look like a nine-volt battery. They are able to simulate the power of ten thousand stars. I am not talking a small one like ours, but stars that can fit thousands of our sun inside. The amount of power that device can make is mind-boggling,” said Matt to James, who was listening to every word with amazement as he gazed out the transport.

  Matt then pulled himself away from looking out the transport as he remembered the mission they must do. But he finished one last thought: “To tell you the truth, the thing that amazes me the most is seeing the art circulated throughout the ship and hearing the music that captivates you like eating the best piece of fine chocolate; it just soothes your soul. I could not believe the dreary-looking Ancient Visitors created such beauty. As it turns out, they don’t have an artistic bone in their bodies and have been taking these artistic treasures from cultures throughout the universe.”