The Alien Whisperer: Book 1, 1947 to 1959 (The Alien Whisherer)

by Ira Tabankin

  “And so it shall be as you have requested.”

  Kalteck was brought to tears, and he smiled when he smelled and felt the crash of the salty ocean on the shores of his people’s beaches. He watched early vegetation grow in front of him. He watched the earliest of his people build a small village, hunt, and begin tasting various plants and animals. He laughed when they bit into a very sour plant, spitting it out then rinsing their mouths from a fresh spring.

  He longed to taste the freshwater. So, he tried it. He was surprised when he learned he could place himself into the images that flowed around him just by walking into the scenes in front of him. His mind knew he was in a simulation but his body felt he was really in the past.

  He walked into the cold stream, he cupped his hands together and sipped the clear fresh water. He felt something hit his legs. He looked down and saw bright green and red fish bouncing off his legs. He smiled at the sight. He reached into the stream trying to catch the fish, slipped, and fell completely into the cold water, but he came up with two fish which he carried over to the small village. He shared the fish with his ancestors. In the evening, he sat with the others around a dancing fire while he and the others watched as a bolt of storm-generated lightning struck a tree, setting it on fire.

  He stood fixated as he watched thousands of years of his history roll by in weeks. He saw his great scientists invent engines, moving vehicles, ones that flew, and ones that entered the darkness of space. He watched as his beloved world split into two political camps. He watched the worldwide election which was supposed to decide if the world should be ruled by an elected council or a powerful central chief who would be called a Prime Minister and later who took the title Emperor. Many said the people needed a strong hand to keep them focused on the future since so many had begun to sit on the sidelines and live their lives in a virtual reality world generated by their enormous technology.

  The shrine’s AI and networked computers and replicators could create nourishment from almost any matter inserted into them. The same machines could be programmed to create devices, clothing, and even new machines. Artificial Intelligence, thinking machines created smarter and more intelligent machines until one day, a thousand rotations after the first early villages, the machines decided the organic race was corrupting their homes and the planet would be better without them.

  A fierce war was fought between the organic people and their thinking machines. It took the lives of ten thousand very brave warriors who had each become part of a massive weapon to defeat the core AI machine. The warriors fought the fighting robots created by the AI machines. The warriors knew they’d succeed if at least ten survived long enough to meet at the AI’s core. Then all they had to do was push their bodies together, thus bringing the unstable material inside each of them to critical mass, which is what happened. All were wounded. They took turns carrying the dying tenth to the core where they fell on top of each other after praying to the creator of all to accept their sacrifice for their people.

  The massive explosion not only destroyed the machines’ base, but it also created a massive crater. Kalteck smiled to himself. The crater is so large it could be seen from Earth. They call it Hellas Basin, a crater that is over 4,400 of their miles across. It became a holy site to us, one that reminded us not to enable our machines to have totally free reign. I always wondered if the creator of all felt the same about his creations. We learned, but not enough, from that event. We fought a war that lasted over one hundred rotations against our own creations. I wonder if other species also made the same mistakes. I wonder if the humans would do the same if I or someone like me doesn’t warn them. Is it a right of passage, a kind of test by the creator, to see if his children are intelligent enough to survive that we fight our own creations? I wonder if anyone will ever know.

  Kalteck stood speechless as he watched the golden age of Mars unfold around him. He felt he was a part of it. He felt his people’s happiness rush by him on the wide streets. He was swept along with the crowds. He watched the first demonstration of gravity manipulation and how it led to silent vehicles that moved at unbelievable speeds. Ships that could escape into space, ships that could orbit and reenter using only a fraction of the energy previously required. He watched the building of the first floating cities, massive cities that floated over the ground and reached above the clouds.

  He sat in the auditorium along with eight hundred others when the six scientists announced they’d sent a probe faster than light. He laughed, listening to the naysayers scream that it was impossible. It was a law written by the creator’s own hand, “thou shall not exceed the speed of a photon of light.” He smiled to himself as the six displayed their formulas and ran the recordings of their test craft. How it disappeared in a circle of bright white, and then a flash of rainbow lights only to reappear in the same lights.

  Many of the assembled scientists yelled it was a trick. They demanded a live test where the assembled could watch two different craft breach the universal speed limit. The first ship exploded, the second was sent to replace the first, it failed to breach the speed of light. After nineteen long hours, the central science committee voted to deny the six additional funding. They claimed the six had misused funding which had been earmarked for a large colony ship and that they’d falsified progress reports all the time working on an impossible design. The six were arrested and sentenced to fifty rotations in the mines for theft of the people’s funds.

  It took a scientist who had discovered the creator’s universal speed limit law to stand up and announce he’d run the formulas and simulations the six had provided. He stunned the world when he announced he believed them. He asked the ruling council to allow them to again demonstrate how their formula worked and if they could, they should be released. Every child knows the rest. The six proved they were correct and the exploration of other solar systems began.

  They called it the golden age of Mars. Ships flew across the stars. They discovered many of the stars had planets and those planets had life. Life took many forms. There was an abundance of life in the stars, much more than their best scientific minds had projected.

  While the ships flew to the stars and made their discoveries, they expanded the knowledge of the people. They opened trade routes and brought a massive increase in wealth to the people. The Emperor of the Southern Region used the wealth to create a massive war fleet and weapons based on the best weapons his ships discovered across the stars.

  The Emperor’s forces struck on the holiday of the people’s victory over the thinking machines. His sneak attack killed over fifty million in the first minutes and almost killed every member of the council. The North’s military struck back. The people in the North were furious he’d attacked on a holiday. They promised to never stop fighting until they’d succeeded in overthrowing the Emperor and the war to end all wars began and ended in blood.

  The Emperor destroyed the planetoid, which was the planet’s source of most of their heavy metals. The destroyed mining planetoid broke apart into tens of thousands of rocks, which orbited between the gas giant and Mars.

  Antimatter bombs destroyed cities in a flash. Both sides attached engines onto thousands of rocks that smashed into the planet. The rocks ripped open the crust and the antimatter explosions ripped holes in the atmosphere. Without the mining planetoid, scientists began drilling through the crust to tap the core, which damaged the rotation of Mars. It also allowed the magnetic bubble surrounding the planet to fade. The atmosphere began to fade away, turning the lush planet into a dead world.

  Kalteck stood with tears rolling down his face. He’d watched his world give birth and die. He had no idea how long he’d stood in the shrine, watching his people fight to survive through a cold night to survive the aftereffects of the war to end all wars. He listened to the AI, which operated the shrine. “Have you seen what you came to see? Would you like to see any era in more detail?”

  “No, thank you. Can the planet be saved?”

  �
��Saved? It is already dead.”

  “Can it be given a new life? Can we bring life back to our home?”

  “It is possible, but it will require a massive investment. The core must be restarted spinning and the atmosphere must be replenished with oxygen. The good news is much of the water is still here, it’s underground and at the poles. Once the core is restarted and the atmosphere stabilized, comets can be redirected to bring additional water. The process was laid out centuries ago.”

  “Then why wasn’t it ever done?”

  “Because the people of the fourth planet would rather fight among themselves then rebuild their destroyed world. When your people are serious and finished killing each other, they will return home and rebuild the glory which was their home. When that day comes, I will be ready to teach them what they need to know.”

  “Thank you. If it is permitted, I would like to spend some time meditating here.”

  “Of course, it is permitted. If you require anything, just call out. Do not forget to sample the foods of your past.”

  Kalteck remained in the shrine for a very long time. He went from room to room. He immersed himself in his history. He spent days sampling the old foods of his lost home. After many rotations, he spoke out loud, “Thank you. I will now return to my ship.”

  “I have had your ship provisioned with some of your core food stocks so you wouldn’t have to eat the processed food from your machines. I wish you well and hope to see you again.”

  “Thank you. I promise I will return.”

  “Kalteck, you know you are going to have to kill most of the Emperor’s people before there is peace, don’t you? There won’t be peace until the blood runs deep. Are your people prepared to continue a fight that is already centuries old?”

  “I am trying to try to train those on the third planet to fight back when the emperor’s people come.”

  “Ah, the ones the Emperor’s people bred to be their slaves will now turn on their masters?”

  “The Emperor’s people never came back to enslave them. They are similar to the way we once were, full of fire in their bellies. They will make good soldiers if they can advance quickly enough.”

  “Do you believe you can bring them up to the required level in the time they have left?”

  “I hope so. I have faith in them. They have already come a long way in a short time since I’ve been there.”

  “I know I have been keeping track of your progress.”

  “How are you managing that? You’re a shrine on another planet…”

  “I have been watching them for centuries though a series of small stealth satellites. It’s good practice to keep an eye on one’s neighbors. Do they have any idea what your real plans for them are?”

  “Thank you for showing me life as it once was. I have received a message from my ship I have to take care of. I will return in a few days. Of course, they have no idea what the real plans are. I have hope they will rise to the task and play their role in the creator’s master plan. I have to leave.”

  Kalteck flew over Moscow. He ordered his ship to drop a small canister over the Kremlin which spread nanites over the buildings. The nanites were programmed to instruct the nanites he’d previously placed in Stalin to terminate him. A few moments later, Chairman Stalin died from a massive heart attack. Kalteck then turned back to the shrine.

  Everett heard that Stalin had died in his office. He wondered if Kalteck had anything to do with his sudden passing. He wished he had a way to contact his alien friend who had not contacted him in over three years. Everett prayed every night Kalteck was safe because he knew without the alien, the Earth was doomed. Everett also wondered how he was going to get the message to Kalteck. Their base was moving to Nevada. He’d just returned from a house-hunting trip with Liane who was very pleased with the cost of a brand-new home. The commute to Area 51 was much longer for Everett, but he didn’t mind. He had access to a helicopter and a small plane to carry him between Las Vegas and Area 51.

  @@@@@

  Everett was woken by his Chief of Staff, Major Greenwald, “Sir, there has been a unique situation, a class two sighting.”

  “I’ll meet you in the office SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) in twenty.”

  After downing a large mug of fresh coffee, Everett looked over at his CoS. “Tell me what happened.”

  “Sir, at 23:15 hours last night, there was a sighting outside of Spokane, Washington. An object was reported to have landed in a farmer’s field. When it left, ten head of cows had been slaughtered. They had been slit open and their organs removed.”

  “That’s a new one. Are we sure it’s not a local teen prank?”

  “Sir, a plane just landed with images of the field. You can clearly see the large circle where everything inside of it is dead. The crops outside of the circle are all thriving. Only those inside the circle are dead. Look at the images of the dead cows. What could have cut through the flesh and muscle like that, so straight? The police said the cuts weren’t caused by a knife or saw. A local officer who used to work part-time as a vet said it looks like something just sliced into the flesh.”

  “Holy crap.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What have we done since the reporting?”

  “We spread the story that it was a group of drunk teens. We had one of our people call the local newspaper and apologize. We’ve sworn the police to secrecy. The remains of the cows are in transit to the lab. Sir, this sounds like a real event.”

  “Calm down, let’s review everything we know about it and see where the evidence leads us.”

  Everett issued orders while wishing Kalteck was here so he could advise him on who or what caused this. Everett knew a ship of some sort had landed and something inside the ship had done this. While Everett and the Major were reviewing the details of the cow slaughter, another report was radioed in. Two people, a man and a woman, had disappeared in the night twenty miles from where the cows were slaughtered.

  Everett wondered why people would be slaughtered.

  @@@@@

  A man and woman woke in pure terror. They were naked and tied to a cold metal table. They couldn’t speak or move. What they could see scared them. They were in a bright yellow room filled with strange-looking machines and displays showing their bodies. Four large four-armed aliens straight out of a nightmare entered. They were covered in pale blue robes. One held a strange instrument in its small right hand.

  The two humans couldn’t speak. They couldn’t understand the strange sounds the brings made. Small probes were inserted into the couple’s sexual organs and their anuses. The two scared humans wanted to scream. They wanted to pull away from the robotic arms approaching them, but neither could move. A strange force was holding them down against the table.

  A moment later, their mouths were held open and a small probe pushed down their throats. Various experiments were run on the two of them for hours before they woke naked on a small farm. They felt like they’d been violated in a way unknown to anyone. Both screamed until the police took them to the local hospital where they had to be injected with a strong tranquilizer.

  It took a week for them to calm down enough to attempt to speak of the events of their nightmare night. They quickly learned no one believed them. Every time they attempted to tell anyone they were drugged. They finally agreed not to talk about it anymore when a young Air Force captain entered their hospital room. “Hello, I’m Air Force Captain Sanders. I believe your story and would like to ask you to take a little trip with me.”

  @@@@@

  Everett listened to each of them tell their story individually and then together. He asked the base doctors to do whatever he could to help them. Everett wrote a summary of their story and sent an urgent message to Kalteck that he needed him for an urgent issue. A possible hostile alien race may have landed on Earth.

  Chapter 15

  The ship’s AI woke Kalteck, “Kalteck, there have been a couple serious situations on Earth
.” Kalteck opened his eyes from his studying the old texts. “What has happened?”

  “Let me show you one of them.”

  On the main display, Kalteck saw a bright object launch from the Soviet Union. “How high?”

  “93 of their miles.”

  “Almost into space. What else happened?”

  “General Yahnig sent an urgent message. Should I read it to you or send it to your implant?”

  “To my implant.” Kalteck shook his large head. “This isn’t good news. It’s time for me to return.”

  The shrine’s AI responded, “Good, I was getting concerned you would forget your mission and not return to Earth, they are our last chance. You have forgotten the shrine isn’t real. It’s a shrine to your past. Everything inside of it is a simulation, a 3-D immersion. It’s not reality.”

  “I know that, yet it seems so real, so peaceful.”

  “It feels real because it is programmed to provide your nervous system with the expected feedback. If you don’t return to your mission, you will fall into the trap some of your young fall into. They forget their virtual reality games and lives aren’t reality. They fall into their virtual lives by uploading their minds into the massive servers where they exist as part of the game's code. Once they upload themselves, they can’t ever return to reality. Don’t fall for the lure of what was.”