EARTH PLAN (13 page)

CHAPTER 23

Charles was sure glad to get out of work that day, and he knew who he wanted to talk to, his old professor, Stan. He cleared the security checkpoint on the way out of the inner parking lot, swiping his ID badge against the card reader that opened the gate.

The security guards looked on and also watched their monitors, making sure the cameras were capturing everything. Charles had never seen security like in that place, and he wasn't sure he liked it much. It seemed they were increasing security measures on a constant basis, so there were always new rules to learn about what the employees could and could not do.

He smiled as he drove down the freeway, happy that he’d gotten out with the samples without being caught. He could be in some hot water right now if he had. I’ve got to stash them someplace and not at my house, he thought.

Charles stopped his car outside the professor's house. It was a new car, one of the electric ones, and he was proud about that. He had wondered for years why everyone was not driving electric cars when the technology had been available for decades. Well, at least I'm part of the solution now, he figured—even if I might have to sell it, soon.

Not needing to have a car at all would be even better, he knew, but he lived in a climate with very cold winters and hot summers, so a car was a big help. Then there was the essential fact of commuting to work; without a car he'd spend way too much time on transit. But with the traffic jams lately, he was starting to wonder. He planned to look for his next job with as little commute as possible.

The last time he had been at Stan's it was still warm enough to sit outside in the back yard, but not today; he could see his breath and there was snow on the ground. He thought, Has it really been over a year since I've been here? Since I had that incredible acid trip? It must be. He didn't know where the time had gone, probably consumed with his demanding new job.

He couldn't believe he'd not yet talked to the professor about the acid experience. He figured he'd needed some time to process it and try and come to terms with it. For the longest time he didn't think it was real and was just a kind of vivid, waking dream brought on by the strong psychedelic. But now he had proof it was not just a hallucination.

He rang the bell and waited, listening to the pleasant chiming. I should have called, he thought. But, it was alright, as he saw the professor’s shadow shuffling around on the other side of the glass, making him relax some.

The door opened the professor looked out, his breath rising in the air, “Charles! How are you? It’s been a while!”

“Hello, professor. I hope you don’t mind me just dropping over like this? But I have some important things to discuss with you, and…they really can’t wait.”

The professor looked him over, saw the frustration and fear on his face. “Of course, it’s fine. Come on in!”

“Thank you.” Charles crossed the threshold, and the professor closed the door over, looking out to the street, making sure no one was there. He wasn’t sure why, but something in Charles’s manner made him feel a bit paranoid and with good reason; he knew what sort of business Charles was into. But Stan was into some interesting new business of his own.

“We’re just about to have dinner. I’ll ask the missus if there’s enough for three. Should be. Just a moment. Help yourself at the bar,” the professor said, waving at the side room as he walked off to the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Charles smiled as he took off his coat and rubbed his cold hands. He stepped into the welcoming den with its bookshelves, thick carpets, dark wood paneling, a fireplace with a small fire going, comfortable seats, and well-stocked bar. He stood at the bar, looking over the bottles. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he looked into his own wild-looking eyes. He asked himself, What am I doing?

Then the professor was in the room. “Looks like my wife made enough for three. Staying for dinner, I hope?”

“Sure, that would be great. I don't have any plans, except going home to an empty house,” Charles said.

“Oh, well, join us then! We'll have to find you a good woman too, eh?”

“Yeah, well, if you see any of those around who are single and into me, let me know.”

“Will do! Gin and tonic for you, too?”

“Sure.” Charles was not in the mood to be picky about his drink.

Stan mixed up three gin and tonics, smiling, humming a little tune. Charles wished he were in such a jovial mood.

After dinner, Charles and the professor retired to his study for an after-dinner drink from the bar and some chatting, just the two of them in front of the fireplace. “No more hanging out on the patio at this time of year, huh?” Charles joked, sipping his brandy.

“Nope, just a quick nip out for a smoke, if you like?” The professor finished putting another log on the fire, closed up the fireplace screen, then pulled out a joint. Charles waved his hand, dismissing the idea, “I don't think I can handle that right now.”

“Why?”

“There's just...a lot of things going on.”

“Try me. You must have come here for a reason. To talk, maybe? Get something off your chest? Come out to the patio with me.” They got on their coats and went outside.

The professor lit up the joint and took a puff, then passed it over.

Charles watched him, sighed, then relented and took a small hit, then passed it back. Exhaling, he was glad he'd had some, as he started to feel a bit more relaxed. He breathed out heavily.

“Come on, tell me what's on your mind. We've been friends for a long time, now.”

“Yes, we have,” Charles nodded. “Well, it's like this...” He related his acid trip and what he'd seen there, and the recent discoveries in the lab at work—both things he'd not spoken to anyone else about. The story was long, and they went back inside.

“Wow,” the professor said, having heard the tale. He got up and poured himself some more brandy. “That's quite a revelation, all of it. But, I'm actually not that surprised. Many people have had insights like that on LSD that proved to be valid with scientific inquiry. It's one of the theories behind why some ancient tribes like the Dogan had accurate data about distant stars that scientists have just recently validated—use of psychedelic substances that allowed them to know things beyond their usual five sense perceptions; things they had no other way to know. Some people have also been known to have these insights without drugs. But, in any case, these tribes were either getting psychic messages, maybe astral projecting and reporting the things they were seeing, or aliens were telling them. Any way you look at it, it's compelling.”

“I don't know about aliens, but at this point you could say that I'm open to the idea. I mean, things have happened to me that I had no idea could happen. Amazing things. Mind-blowing, you could say! It certainly gives a lot more credence to things like the soul and life outside the body, the whole realm of spirituality.”

“Oh, yes! I've always been the type that had a bit of a spiritual outlook, having been raised to believe such things,” the professor said. “I had wavered from those early beliefs as an adult, thinking my interest in them might just be a lingering effect of my childhood “brainwashing” as it were—and I do know it was brainwashing. What else would you call installing a whole system of religious beliefs and dogmas into a child? Anyway, it wasn't until I had some genuine spiritual experiences of my own that I could reconcile what I had been taught as a child as having some basis in fact, at least at the most basic level.”

Charles got up and paced in front of the fire, standing on the carpet there, warmed by the heat, looking into the fire's depths. “That's all interesting. And, I do mean that. But, how does that help my situation? I'm in a real bind here.”

“Yes, I know you are. I was hoping you'd see that I do believe you. Beyond that, you are treading on some dangerous ground. You know what sorts you are working for. I'm sure they wouldn't take lightly to you breaching their security and telling people what they are up to—not to mention absconding with some of their material.”

“Yeah, I know. What do you think I should do?”

“If it was me? I'm not sure. Maybe just leave and don't say anything more to anyone else? Keep it quiet.”

“You really think I'm in that much danger?”

“I know it.”

“Great.” Charles sighed. “It's not like I can put the material back. I've got it now.”

“So, get rid of it. Or hide it, as insurance.”

“Yeah.” Charles swallowed hard. “Good idea.”

“Can I see it, first?”

“You think I've got it on me?”

“I'd expect so,” the professor said and smiled.

Charles patted his shirt pocket and a smile crept over his lips.

“Come on, then. Let's have a look. I've been wanting to show you something and this is a great opportunity!” The professor rose up, and glass in hand, led Charles downstairs.

“You've got an electron microscope here? At your house?”

“That and a lot more. A home lab! Come on!” They went downstairs until they came to a thick, steel door. It looked like the entrance to a bunker.

The professor entered a pass code on the keypad, and the locks clicked open. He was then easily able to swing the door wide.

“What happens if you lose power? Can you still get the door open?” Charles sipped his drink and followed the professor inside.

“Yep. It's got mechanical locks, too. With metal keys.”

“Good deal.”

The professor flipped the light switch, and the overhead lights came to life with a slight hum. The home lab was like nothing Charles had ever seen before. Sure, he imagined that some people had some primitive setups in their homes, he had one himself as a younger, eager scientist. But the professor's lab was professional all the way and then some.

“Wow, this is...”

“Like it, huh?”

“Yeah!” It amazed Charles; the lab was almost as big as the one he worked in, taking up nearly the whole basement of the professor's house. It was dry and comfortable, with a good ventilation system, good lighting, and all of the modern lab equipment that money could buy. Some gear was even more advanced than Charles had ever seen.

“How can you afford all this on a retired professor's pension?” Charles sat on a stool and eyed the professor.

The professor smiled. “You've got me there. Let's just say that I've had some clients with deep pockets who needed some work done, so much so that I was able to afford to build what you see here.”

“Who? For what?”

“Uh, I don't think I should say. In fact, I've given them my word that I would not. For now. But perhaps, when the time is right…” The professor's eyes sparkled. “It was not for anything bad, I can assure you.”

“That's a relief. I'd hate to think you were wrestling with your conscience, too.”

“Ah! No, but you'll be out of there, soon. So, try not to worry about it.” The professor went over to a table with an electron microscope on it hooked up to a large screen. He flipped on the screen and then held his hand out to Charles.

Charles dug in his pocket and took out a small box with a clear, glass slide in it. He carefully placed it in the professor's palm. The professor quickly and expertly put it under the electron microscope and took a look at the screen. He adjusted the controls ever so slightly.

“There!” Charles blurted out, when a section of the symbol came on the screen.

“I see it. Just a little to the left. And, there!” The professor's expert touch maneuvered the slide just enough so that the symbol of the three green circles intertwined filled the screen.

“What do you make of that?”

The professor peered more closely, with his hand on his chin, scratching the white stubble there. “Most strange. And you say you first saw this during your LSD trip? With the cave people?”

“That's right. So, tell me you see it, too. And that I'm not going crazy.” He slumped down.

“Far from it, actually. You have found something significant. Others have found it before, of course, but they have not talked about it.” He reached over to shut off the screen, then pulled the slide out and handed it back.

Charles looked at him with eyes wide. “What? Who found it?”

The professor sat down on a stool and faced Charles. “You have found a truth that science has been hiding for hundreds of years.”

“But, how is that possible? There's so much cross-referencing going on. If someone had found it before then there would have been an outcry. It would have been publicized.”

The professor crossed his arms, looked at him and smiled. “You'd think so. I can tell you are still of the opinion that science is free and open, and is really a search for the truth.”

“If it's not that, then what's the point? What is it, then?”

The professor fixed him with a long, silent stare. He wondered how much he should tell Charles. Telling him too much might be dangerous, but then Charles was already asking some dangerous questions; what he knew had gotten people killed.

The professor smiled, having decided that he might as well tell him what he knew, as Charles was not going to stop his inquiry. “Alright, you've reached the point that many of us have gotten to in the past. I was at the point you are at now, once, many years ago.”