The Gods and the Builders

by Brandon Hale

  “I’m glad,” Jerry said as he watched her disappear into the vessel.

  People continued to enter the ship until the platform stopped lowering itself. Apparently at its full capacity, the ship rose into the air and floated to the heavens like a hot air balloon.

  Lauren turned to Jerry. “Have you really kept every promise you ever made to her?”

  “Yeah,” Jerry said. “I was shitty to her in a million different ways, but I never lied to her.”

  “Until today,” Lauren said.

  “Yeah,” Jerry said. “Until today.”

  Chapter 5

  Journeys

  The platform’s edges disappeared when it reached the ship’s floor. Alice was no longer standing on a platform. She was simply standing in a large, white room that seemed to have no doors or windows.

  Including her and Arthur, there were six people in the room. A woman was against one wall, holding a little girl’s hand. The woman looked terrified. The little girl was grinning. “It’s okay, Mommy,” the little girl said excitedly. “It can fly without a steering wheel.”

  “I’m sure it can, Ivey,” the woman said.

  “They don’t fly it with steering wheels and stuff,” the little girl continued. “The angels fly it for them.”

  Alice shook her head, not sure if she had heard the child correctly. She decided she would have a conversation with that kid later, then continued to look around the room.

  An older couple stood on the other side of the room. From the way they interacted with each other, Alice had the impression they were married. The man was inspecting the wall. “It’s the damnedest thing,” he said. “No seams or cracks in the entire room. No trimming, no screws, no bolts.”

  “It’s alien technology, Roger,” the woman said. “You can’t expect to figure it all out in five minutes. It took you four months to get the garage door working.”

  Yeah, Alice thought. Definitely married.

  “I don’t care how alien it is,” Roger said. “There should be a damn seam in the corners. And that platform on the floor. Where’d it go? It just joined the damn floor.”

  “There’s a child in the room,” the woman said. “Watch the language.”

  The man touched the wall and laughed. “Touch the wall, honey,” he said. “It’s the damnedest thing.”

  “He’s right,” Arthur said.

  Alice looked at him and smiled. “About what?”

  “It is the damnedest thing.”

  “This is too much,” Alice said. “Too many emotions. I’m sad. And excited. And afraid. And grateful. And curious. And afraid. I said that twice, didn‘t I.”

  Arthur smiled. “Welcome to the other side of the looking glass,” he said.

  “I’m surprised she believed you,” Lauren said as they walked back into the house.

  “She didn’t believe me any more than you or Arthur did,” Jerry said. “She couldn’t face the reality, so I helped her create a fake reality that allowed her to go with them.”

  “I choose to believe you,” Lauren said. “I noticed she said that twice. About choosing it.”

  “Deep down, she knows I’m not going,” Jerry said. “That goodbye wasn‘t the kind of goodbye you give to someone you know you‘ll be seeing again. That was a forever goodbye. And one day, years from now, she‘ll be glad I gave her a way out with my lie.”

  “It’s weird,” Lauren said. “You make it sound like you believe the aliens.”

  “I guess I do,” Jerry said.

  “Then why didn’t you go?” Lauren asked.

  Jerry shrugged. “I think I’d rather die here than live with them. I guess I’m just crazy, but something inside me knows I’m not supposed to go with them. It feels wrong.”

  “And yet you let Alice go,” Lauren said.

  “I don’t think it’s the aliens,” Jerry said. “I think maybe they are here to help us. And I think maybe the experiments they did on me probably helped them to find a suitable planet. Truth is, Arthur was probably right.”

  “Then you should go,” Lauren said. “There are plenty of ships out there still. Just go.”

  “When I got near that ship,” Jerry said, “I almost passed out. I think if I stepped inside, I would honestly have cardiac arrest. I think they knowingly sacrificed me to save the others. They fucked me up so badly that I could never recover. But they did it to save the rest of the world. I’d be willing to bet a large portion of the abductees will stay. We were the lab monkeys.”

  “So you’re willing to die, just to spite them,” Lauren said.

  “You weren’t there,” Jerry said. “Unless you were, I could never explain it. Maybe I’d have a different view if I could remember everything about my abduction, but I can’t. I only know that my heart and soul tells me I can’t go with them. I don’t know why, exactly. I just know I cannot go with them.”

  Lauren looked out the window. “The street’s almost empty. I think the entire neighborhood went with them.” She looked at the house across the street. “I wonder if they took the comatose people with them.”

  “They did,” Jerry said. “Arthur said he saw a bunch of your neighbors carry that one kid on board.” He sat down on the couch and picked up Arthur’s remote. He smiled. “She smacked the piss out of this thing.”

  “Yeah,” Lauren laughed. “She did. During the course of my marriage, I wanted to do that at least a thousand times.”

  Jerry smiled. “He was understandably anxious to get information.”

  “I know,” Lauren said. “I was only half serious. So when you talked to your sister, what did you tell her? Really, I mean.”

  Jerry shrugged. “I told her I was going with Alice, and promised to see her on the other side of the galaxy.”

  “That’s a lot of broken promises,” Lauren said.

  “Eh, they’ll thank me for it one day,“ Jerry said as turned on the television and began flipping through the channels. “No stations are on the air,” he said. “Not one.”

  “It’s really quite scary,” Lauren said. “How long until we lose power? How long until we lose water?”

  Jerry looked at Lauren. “Something very disturbing just entered my brain.”

  “I know there’s an inappropriate joke here somewhere,” Lauren said, “but I’m just not in a good state to find it.”

  “Why are you talking about when we lose power?” Jerry said. “When we lose water.”

  “It’s a reasonable concern,” Lauren said.

  “I’m not referring to the concern,” Jerry said. “I’m referring to your word usage. What‘s this we shit?”

  Lauren looked confused. “I really thought you understood what I was saying when I told them I was going with you. I think they understood it too.”

  “No,” Jerry said. “I thought you were just supporting my decision to stay. Lauren, they both believed you were getting on a ship. So did I.”

  “Really?”

  “You’re a minister, for crying out loud,” Jerry said. “You aren’t staying here. You’re getting on a damn ship.”

  “No, Jerry,” Lauren said. “I’m not.”

  “You are,” Jerry said. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you stay here because of me.”

  “You’re kind of self centered sometimes,” Lauren said. “I’m not staying because of you. But I am staying. And nothing you can say will change that.”

  Jerry stared at her for a moment, then said, “That’s bullshit.”

  “Where are the other people?” Alice asked. “I know I saw more than six people get on this thing.”

  “Don’t know,” the older man said.

  “Maybe the platform took them to another room,” his wife added.

  Arthur shook his head. “No, the platform came up in exactly the same place every time.”

  “The rooms move,” the little girl said. “It’s the damnedest thing.”

  Arthur laughed.

  The older woman slapped her husband’s shoulder. “I told you,
Roger. Language.”

  “I didn’t feel the room moving,” Roger said. “Not even a vibration.”

  “It’s the only logical explanation,” Arthur said. “Vibration or not. For all we know, we’re on our way to space right now.”

  “Then I guess we’re traveling buddies,” the man said. “I’m Roger. This is my wife, Linda.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Arthur said. “I’m Arthur.”

  “I’m Alice,” Alice said. She turned to the little girl. “Did I hear that your name is Ivey?”

  “Yeah,” the little girl said. “This is my mommy.”

  “I’m Hope,” the girl’s mother said.

  “So, Ivey,” Alice said, “the rooms move?”

  “Yeah,” Ivey answered. “We’re up high now.”

  “How do you know this?” Arthur asked.

  “The angels told me,” Ivey answered.

  “You mean the aliens?” Arthur asked.

  “No,” Ivey said. “They’re God. The angels fly us.”

  Alice looked at Hope. “Do you know what she means?”

  Hope shook her head. “No,” she said. “She’s been going on about angels since we stepped on the platform. I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff.”

  “It’s amazing to me,” Arthur said, “that these children keep using religious concepts to explain the aliens and their technology.”

  “I just want a window,” Roger said. “I wouldn’t mind knowing if we’re in space.”

  “Just ask them,” Ivey said.

  Roger looked up. “Can I have a window, please?”

  “No,” Ivey said. “Ask them in your head.”

  “Ask who?” Arthur said. “The gods or the angels?”

  “The angels,” Ivey said. “They’re in the ship.”

  “The gods aren’t in the ship?” Alice asked.

  “Yeah,” Ivey said with a sigh. “God’s in the rooms. The angels are in the ship.”

  “You mean they’re in the walls?” Linda asked.

  “Yeah,” Ivey said. “Sorta.”

  Linda placed her palm the wall. “Oh wow,” she said with a giggle.

  Alice noticed that the hairs on Linda’s arm were standing on end.

  “I told you earlier,” Roger said. “It’s crazy.”

  Alice turned around and touched the wall.

  “They like you,” Ivey said.

  “Arthur,” Alice said, “the ship is humming.”

  The sensation was overwhelming. The surface of the wall was vaguely metallic but unlike any metal she’d ever felt. There was a vibration that went beyond anything physical. Alice didn’t feel the vibrations in her hands. She felt them in her mind. It was like a thousand voices, whispering in the distance.

  “What the hell is that?” Arthur said as he pulled his hand from the wall.

  “Angels,” Ivey said. “You didn’t hear them like she did, though.” She was pointing at Alice.

  “Those were angels?” Alice asked.

  “Yup,” Ivey said. “They can open a window if you want them to.”

  Alice looked at the blank, white wall. A window would be nice, she thought.

  “I’ll be damned,” Roger said as a large portion of the wall began to fade, eventually becoming invisible.

  “Holy shit,” Arthur said. “How long have we been on this thing?”

  They all stared, barely able to comprehend the sight before them.

  Earth.

  They weren’t far enough away to see the entirety of the planet, but they were far enough to see that they had left the atmosphere.

  “Art,” Alice whispered, “we’re in space.”

  Arthur held her hand. “I can see America.”

  “It looks like a map,” Alice said.

  Arthur looked at her and smiled. “Yes, it does.”

  “Shut up,” Alice said. “I just mean it’s neat looking.”

  “Look at all the others,” Roger said.

  They saw thousands of other ships, all leaving the planet.

  “It’s beautiful,” Arthur said. “And absolutely horrifying.”

  Linda looked toward the room’s ceiling and said, “Thank you for the window.”

  “They don’t know what that means,” Ivey said. “Fuck, lady.”

  Arthur snorted.

  “Ivey!” Hope whisper-yelled.

  “Well,” Ivey whispered to her mother, “they said that a hundred times already.”

  “You win,” Jerry said. “Let’s go find a ship. I’ll just deal with my shit. If this is some mind game to get me to leave, it worked. Let’s find a ship before they’re all gone.”

  “I would be overjoyed to see you go,” Lauren said, “but I’m staying.”

  “Why?” Jerry asked.

  Lauren smiled. “Why, Gerald, if I didn’t know better, I would think you care about me.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Jerry said.

  “I’m staying,” Lauren said, “because I would rather die with faith than live without it.”

  “That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” Jerry said.

  “And I’m staying,” Lauren continued, “because this is my home.”

  “And that,” Jerry said, “is the second stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “And,” Lauren said, “I’m staying because I don’t believe them.”

  “The aliens?” Jerry asked.

  “No,” Lauren said sardonically. “The Amish. Of course I mean the aliens.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jerry said. “They cured you.”

  “Yes,” Lauren said. “They did. That’s the main reason I can’t go.”

  “Are you about to get religious?” Jerry asked. “Please don’t get religious. Now’s not the time.”

  “These aliens,” Lauren said, “have managed to disprove everything I’ve ever believed in.”

  “So you’re staying to spite them,” Jerry said. “Nice.”

  “No,” Lauren said, “I’m not staying to spite them. I’m staying because my entire life would be meaningless if I went. It would be a joyless existence. Inside, I would be dead anyway.”

  “No,” Jerry said. “You think so now, but that would change over time.”

  “Time heals all wounds, huh,” Lauren said. “I guess that’s why you’re fine now. I guess that’s why you love these aliens so much now that you understand they were just trying to help. I’ll let you in on a little secret, Jerry. There are some things that time can’t heal.”

  “Don’t stay because of some outdated belief in magical beings,” Jerry said. “If you’re going to stay, have a reason.”

  “Like yours?” Lauren asked.

  “Shut up,” Jerry said.

  Lauren smiled. “Faith isn’t faith if you throw it away whenever it’s tested.”

  “Faith isn’t faith,” Jerry countered, “if you hold onto it when you know it’s wrong. That’s not faith. That’s being delusional.”

  “Maybe,” Lauren said. “Actually, I had decided I was staying from the very beginning. But when they cured me, everything changed. After that, I had decided to go.”

  “So what changed?” Jerry asked.

  “This morning, when I got up,” Lauren said, “I was planning on going. Then I realized why I was going.”

  “Because they cured you,” Jerry said.

  “Yeah,” Lauren said. “I realized that I was going because they cured me. I realized that I was willing to sell my soul to them, and the price was a cure for diabetes. As soon as that realization hit me, I had no choice. I knew that I had to stay.”

  “You’re dying because they did something nice?” Jerry said. “Come on.”

  “First,” Lauren said, “I’m not so sure I’m going to die. There has been no proof here. None at all. Going with them is as much an act of faith as staying. We know nothing of these aliens, and we didn’t have any time to get to know them.”

  Jerry walked to the window and looked outside. “Ther
e are no more ships out there. The entire town seems empty. Looks like everyone went with them.”

  “I expect most people went with them,” Lauren said. “Because they were motivated by the two most powerful forces on Earth. Fear and Hope.”

  Jerry turned around and looked at Lauren. “Damn,” he said. “I can’t think of an argument against that.”

  “Because there isn’t one,” Lauren said. “These aliens arrived, and they brought terror with them. They brought the one fear that is universal. The apocalypse. Then, after everyone was thoroughly terrified, they gave us a way out. Then they added a sense of urgency, and the deal was done.”

  “Sounds pretty manipulative when you put it that way,” Jerry said.

  Lauren smiled. “Maybe it’s not like that at all,” she said. “I hope not. But I can’t shake the feeling that they were buying me off. Diabetes is the only thing that has ever made me question my faith. And they stroll in here and cure me. They found the one weakness in my relationship with God, and they exploited it.”

  “No disrespect,” Jerry said, “but that’s retarded. They cured you of a terrible disease. They didn’t give you twenty pieces of silver. Now I’m not one to defend these bastards, but I find it incredibly unlikely that they cured you to create problems between you and God. I hate to break this to you, Lauren, but they probably are God.”

  “Okay,” Lauren said. “Leave religion out of it. They still did everything exactly right to get us to go with them. You said that yourself.”

  “I was being an antagonistic prick,” Jerry said.

  “Yes, you were,” Lauren said. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you made a good point. It all boils down to what you believe. Do you believe they are good or do you believe they are bad? Alice and Arthur knew exactly what they believed. That’s why we both lied to them. We knew they wouldn’t go if we stayed. And we both knew that we don’t have the right to take that choice away from them.”

  “So you think they’re evil?” Jerry asked.

  “No,” Lauren said. “I don’t know what they are. That’s the point. Alice and Arthur made their decision based on the faith that these aliens are saviors. I’m making my decision based on my faith in God.”