Wet Lumbox
"Jason, get in the back with Vickie please. My colleague, Dr. Rizk, will be riding up front with me. We have some things to talk about."
Just then an older, very distinguished-looking gentleman walked up and took Jason's hand.
"Hello, I am Simon Rizk. I am so very glad to finally meet you. I have been following your career for a long time. It is great to meet you in person."
Jason was taken a little aback by this greeting. "How many people know about me and my career? I feel like I'm on camera somewhere."
Simon said, "Oh no. We have a more professional interest in you. Maybe we can sit and talk about that a little some time."
"Sure, I guess. This is all so new to me."
"Simon, let the young people talk in the back. I want to discuss a few things with you before we meet with the Council Tomorrow."
They both got in the front seat, and Vickie and Jason sat in the back.
"Tell me about this car. You do call it a car, don't you?"
Vickie replied, "Well, yes. But generally we just call it a ride. It drives itself with voice commands. We rarely have crashes anymore, and when we do it’s usually because someone wants to take over the controls manually and they make a mistake. But it actually doesn't happen very often. In the early days of self-driving rides, er, cars, there were a lot of tragic accidents. It was just too hard of a programing challenge. We eventually had to wait until artificial intelligence caught up to our ambitions. It took nearly forty years before that happened."
“That does sound like a real nightmare! I don’t know if we are ready for that,” Jason said.
“Well, there were some people on the project who were, well, not working in our best interests. Some Thaddies thought they could cause some discord amongst our citizens by having all those accidents and creating doubt as to our government’s competency. So they imposed this technology on us way too early. Human error was bad enough, but this was by design,” Vickie explained.
"That is amazing! But where are we going now in this death trap?" Jason mumbled.
"Well, we will drop Daddy and Dr. Rizk off at our house, then you and I are going exploring."
"Exploring? And how far is your house?"
"Oh, it should take about ten minutes. Daddy likes to live close to the Council building, as he has his office there."
"What is your dad's position? Is Bishop an honorary title?"
"Oh, no. It is referred to as a calling. He will have this position for about five years, then he will be called to something else. His professional job is to command a ship in space. His calling has to do with the Church."
"Oh. And what church do you belong to? I was a Presbyterian on Earth."
"Well, Daddy wants to talk to you about religion, himself, so do you mind if we wait until then? He is really looking forward to it."
"Sure. Then tell me where we are going after we get to your house."
"Well, first, I want to take you to the singing gardens."
"Singing gardens? That certainly sounds interesting."
They dropped off the Bishop and Dr. Rizk at Vickie's house and then they swapped places and moved to the front seat.
"Which one is the driver's seat?" Jason asked, obviously confused.
"It doesn't matter. Everything is either verbal or typed on the screen. What makes you more comfortable?"
"Well, I guess the left side. You will have to show me how to operate this thing. Er, does it fly?"
"Well, yes. Why wouldn't it?" she asked, bewildered.
Jason shook his head. "There’s a lot for me to learn. Will you be my teacher?"
"For a price," she joked. And she kissed him to make her point.
They spent the day driving and flying around and about the city. Jason could not get enough of the view outside and inside the car. He chose to call it a car.
The day passed quickly.
–––––––
Late afternoon, they went back to Vickie's house and picked up the Bishop. Evidently Dr. Rizk had already left.
They drove Jason back to his hotel and the Bishop let Vickie and Jason out.
"I will be working at the office for a few hours. Why don't you take Jason out to eat, and I'll pick you up at about 9:00? Jason will need a good night's sleep before he meets with the Council tomorrow."
"OK, Daddy. I'll meet you here at 9:00."
"Thank you, sir," said Jason.
And the Bishop drove off.
"Let's walk. I know a good place." Vickie took his hand and pulled him to her.
They walked down the sidewalk to a large building not far from the hotel. They went inside and he could see that it was like a huge shopping center. There were hundreds of stores on all levels. He looked up, but he could not see the end of it.
"The food is on the top level. So is the view," Vickie said. “That’s why I chose this restaurant.”
She guided him toward the elevators, and they went in the first one that opened.
"How did the elevator know we were here?" Jason asked.
"Oh, the cameras showed us standing here, and the computer knew to lower a car to us. I think you refer to it as 'artificial intelligence' or A.I. in your science fiction books. Only it is a reality here. Haven’t you heard of the H.A.L. 9000 computer? It runs our whole planet!"
“Really, like in “2001, A Space Odyssey?” Jason looked concerned.
“Why, yes,” Vickie said. “Kubrick got the idea from us. He borrowed it from a problem we had early on with Artificial Intelligence. But we assume the problems have been resolved. However, we don’t allow locks on our doors, though. Just in case.”
Now Jason knew she was teasing. But he wasn’t about to let on. He just ignored it.
"Wow. There's never a dull moment with you,” Jason said.
"I hope not," she said with a pout.
They went up to the 160th floor and when the door opened Jason could see restaurants everywhere. He would not be able to make a choice. There were people everywhere. Initially Jason had been too busy looking around to notice the people, but this place was evidently very popular."
"Wow. Will we be able to get a seat in any of these places?" he asked with a worried tone.
"Don’t worry. As soon as they see I'm with you, we will get right in."
"Really? Me?" Jason asked warily.
"No. Don't be silly. No one knows who you are but me. Boy are you full of yourself."
Jason grinned. "I am incognito. I am wearing my Enochian mask tonight."
"Oh, I thought you just forgot to comb your hair."
Jason quickly waved his hand over his hair. Vickie laughed.
"My silly love. I made reservations at the City Lights. It is the restaurant over there," she said pointing.
They were given a table at the window's edge. Jason could see the whole downtown area from their view. He was at a loss for words.
They finished their meal of something he could never describe, but he would always want it again. The salad was from vegetables that he had never before seen. Many of them looked like flowers! The soup was divine. But the main course was the tastiest steak he could ever imagine. He was afraid to ask how much dinner cost.
They walked back to his hotel, getting there at about a quarter to nine. They found a seat in a secluded part of the hotel lobby. He was still amazed at its beauty.
"The day has gone too fast," he said.
"I know. And tomorrow is such an important day for you. And for us."
He pulled her close to him on the couch and gave her a long kiss. The timing was perfect and so was the kiss.
"Thank you for being who you are," she said. "I feel so safe around you."
"Well I don't feel safe around you." he said as he grabbed his ribs.
She laughed. "I hope you always make me laugh."
Jason said, "You always give me such good material to work with."
"You should shut up and kiss me before Daddy gets here."
&nb
sp; Jason complied.
Chapter 20–Preparing to go Home
The next morning Jason was dressed in his nice suit and tie and was taken to the Council building which was not far from his hotel. He was nervously waiting outside the Council chamber, as Vickie came up to him.
"Nervous?" she asked intuitively.
"Not as much as I thought I would be,” he answered.
"Just remember. You have been chosen. There is a reason for your being here. Just listen to what they have to say," she said confidently.
Jason thought to himself that she knew more than she was letting on.
A large door opened and a distinguished man came out and took Jason’s hand.
"Captain Hotson? The Council will see you now."
"Uh, thank you, sir."
Jason was led into a large chamber where fifteen men sat in nice chairs. Each was in a dress suit with a white shirt and tie. They stood when he entered the room, and each of them shook his hand.
One of them spoke to Jason and said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Captain Hotson. You look like what I would expect from an American astronaut. You’re quite dashing, I think the expression is."
"Thank you, sir. We are all dashing. I believe it is part of the job description." Jason said it with a deadpan look on his face.
This resulted in a laugh from all of the Council.
"And a sense of humor! You would fit nicely into Enochian society,” one of them said.
"Thank you, sir. I am honored," Jason responded.
"Well, maybe we should get down to business. I am President Mackee. President of the Council of Enoch." President Mackee said, “Before we get started, I think you have something for us?”
Jason had forgotten about the box he held under his arm.
“Oh yes. The candy bars.” Jason fumbled with the box, almost dropping it, and then handed it to the president.
Jason was surprised as the men around the table stood up and looked at the box.
One of them said, “Ooo! I really like those Skittles. We don’t get to Earth enough to get these. My kids go crazy over them.”
For the next few minutes fifteen grown men passed out candy bars and all had smiles on their faces.
Another member of the Council looked at Jason and said, “I know it was a silly thing to ask for, but since you were going to come from a kajillion miles away, we figured we might as well ask!”
Now it was Jason’s turn to laugh.
Finally, they got down to business. They lowered a screen behind the Council seats. President Mackee pointed to the screen and an image appeared:
"This is the planet Gehor."
The image was changed.
"These are the people of Gehor."
There were several 3-D images of people walking around a city square. He was amazed at the technology.
"As you can see, they look quite like us."
"O…Kay…" Jason said slowly.
"The point is, we are alike in every way, but one."
"What is that?"
President Mackee said crossly, "They are bent on the takeover of Earth."
"Why?"
"Because they could not prevail here."
"Prevail?" Jason asked.
President Mackee said, "Yes. They tried to take over politically and failed. Then they tried treasonous acts of sabotage and terror, and that didn't work. We believe our people will always stand up to tyranny. So, they decided to leave. And I have to say…we didn't discourage them."
Jason asked, "How did they know where to go?"
"We have explored much of the space around us, to within about 100 light years. We quickly found the planet Gehor, as it was the closest inhabitable planet. We agreed that they could settle there without our interference."
Jason said, "So, how many left Enoch?"
"About a third of our people. It was a sad day for us. They are our brothers and sisters."
"So how did they come to find Earth?" Jason asked.
President Mackee explained, "Our scriptures talk about Earth. We were unaware of Noah and the Flood until we actually visited the Earth, starting in the early 1700s. It greatly affected us. The whole world destroyed, except for Noah and his family. How sad."
Jason replied, "Well, it's just ancient history to us."
"Well, we take it seriously. We came from those people. We can actually trace our genealogy back to Enoch and Adam. That is pretty amazing considering how long ago it was."
"Yes, it is. But how does that affect Earth?"
President Mackee said sadly, "The Thadiantons are determined to conquer the Earth by any means possible."
"By any means?" Jason was shocked.
"Yes, and they are determined. Remember, we both have space travel. They have also spent a great deal of their time and resources on weapons. What’s even worse is that they are practiced in the art of deceit and intrigue."
"So how do you know all this?" Jason wondered out loud.
"Well, naturally, we have our spies among them as they do among us. And, we have been following their progress on Earth. All of the Council members have been to your planet."
Then the slide changed, and pictures of Earth appeared. Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, and a few more cities besides, were displayed in beautiful 3-D. Jason still couldn’t get over the technology. It was just like being there.
"Wow. You have been to Earth! I never would have expected it. The Bishop and Vickie filled me in already on some things."
President Mackee said, "We have been among you almost solidly for over 250 years. We have not interfered, but the time for non-interference is over. Earth is about to be attacked by a very powerful force."
"Attacked?"
"Yes. That is why we asked for you to come here."
"Wasn't that a bit risky? I nearly died. If I am so important to your plan, then why didn't you just come get me?"
"We could only do so much without the cooperation of Earth. You have your agency. You must ask for our help."
"A man died trying to answer your call. It was almost all three of us," Jason said seriously.
"Well. We watched you from the time you lifted off on the news media until we had to step in when you approached Mars. We had planned to be close for your takeoff and while you assembled what you call Modules B and C, but a conflict arose that drew us away. We couldn’t interfere with your space program. You needed experience in space on your own. You accomplished much more than we could have imagined with your crude equipment. I'm sorry you nearly starved, but what you don't know is that we were busy saving your life. We also could not get to Colonel Dyer in time. We are so sorry for that. We did try, but it happened too fast."
"I am aware that you saved my, er, our lives," Jason said.
"There was another threat you didn't know about. The Thadiantons–I believe Bishop Rhodes told you about them–were determined to kill you before you reached us. We found out about the plot and had to stop following you and deal with that threat. That particular group will not bother you again, bless their souls."
Another Council member spoke up, "Yes, and we are really sorry you had to suffer so long. I hope you have recovered well? Dr. Vickie says there are no long lasting ill effects to you nearly starving to death. Your shipmate recovered totally, thank goodness."
Jason tried to stay focused, but his mind wandered to Cris. He had totally forgotten about his friend and fellow astronaut since landing on Enoch.
“Actually,” said President Mackee hesitantly. “You need to know that Cris and John were not critical to our mission. They are great men, and we are grateful that they made such sacrifices to get you here, but getting them here was not the main focus. You, on the other hand, are another matter. Colonel Kelly has elected to live his life here, as an immigrant. We are happy with that. But he won’t be involved in any of our plans. I’m sorry. Moreover, we beg of you to hold on to this information. Earth thinks all of you died on the mission. We have considered thi
s very carefully. We fear that we will need the sympathy of Earth to work in our favor. You will be known as heroes. And we will need heroes for this to be successful. The people of Earth will not be easily convinced. Even the sightings of our aircraft are dismissed as UFOs. They will soon have to be made aware of our existence."
Enoch's Challenge Page 23
