The Good Reaper (23 page)

The other FBI people followed
Assistant Director Abbott and smiled politely as they shook each of our hands
and said goodbye. I knew at that point that we had reached a milestone. The FBI
was beginning to believe us. We were making progress toward our goal.
Eventually it would be an accepted fact that we were indeed aliens from a
faraway world.

I was a little nervous on the
evening of our trip out to Jollett. I considered it the last step in convincing
the FBI that it was really happening. Close encounters of the fifth kind would
be confirmed and documented. What had become commonplace back home would be the
most significant event in human history. I was excited and proud to be a part
of it.

Assistant Director Abbott had not
really responded to Atik when he asked that only civilians should take part in
the historic event but he must have been listening. When we arrived at the
special entry point to his office, a small bus was parked and running just
outside the doorway. Along with Assistant Director Abbott, the woman with the
laptop from the previous meeting was there along with a 3-person technical team
with what I assumed was recording equipment. Assistant Director Abbott finally
introduced the woman with the laptop as Christine. The technical team consisted
of Willie, Scott and Janus.

There is one way in and one way
out of Jollett. It’s a good choice as far as secrecy goes but not so good for
getting there. We had to drive over the mountains of Shenandoah National Park
to the far side of Skyline Drive and enter Jollett valley from the west. But it
was a crystal clear and star filled night. The technical team was commenting on
how perfect the weather would be for night photos.

The moment of truth had come for
the human race. Although technically we were living in the “close encounters of
the fifth kind” moment, there was still that sliver of doubt. The problem was
that we looked too much like humans. The single lane road ebbed and swelled
through the low rolling hills of Shenandoah for the last few miles. The story
of planet Earth changed forever as we approached the top of the last rise.
Aside from the narrow gravel road we were traveling on, the life-changing view
was surrounded on all sides by small mountains that appeared black in the dark
mountain night.

At the far end of the valley there
was just enough bluish light coming from the port windows to make out the size
and shape of our ship. It looked peaceful and majestic sitting there quietly.

Watching the five humans try to
mentally process what they were seeing with their own eyes reminded me of the
time I confessed my secret to LeAnne. Convincing LeAnne was a slower, gentler
process. She was able to consider all the possible explanations for what I was
telling her. It was a natural human reaction. But this was different. It was
extreme. It was shocking. There could not be any other explanations. For
Assistant Director Abbott, Christine and the three technicians there was only
one explanation. The human race was not the lone intelligent life form in the
universe. In fact they were not even close to being the most advanced life form
in the universe. A few days earlier, four people had walked into the FBI
headquarters and abruptly changed the course of human history. They were
aliens. They were us.

The little bit of light coming
from the ship’s port windows didn’t light up the valley and we had to step
carefully as we approached the ship. When we got to within about twenty feet
from it, the entry hatch began to open and white light from the ship lit up the
valley. The ship was our most common design consisting of a saucer shaped hull.
The underside of the hull was about twenty feet from the ground.

The hatch walkway consisted of steps
on each side and a smooth ramp in the middle. The FBI team looked like they
were sleepwalking as they walked up the ramp. At the top of the ramp, the
captain and small crew greeted the visitors. “So, all those reports of flying
saucers the last sixty years were true,” Willie the cameraman said. “But you
guys don’t look like the aliens with the creepy large heads and eyes. I guess
that’s all bullshit.”

“Well it’s not exactly bullshit
Willie. In fact they are real. They just aren’t us,” I said.

“So you’re telling us that you are
not the only aliens visiting Earth?” Scott interrupted.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Atik said.
“We will tell you more about the other aliens in due time. For now, we would
like to show you the rest of the ship.”

We took the FBI team through the
ship, beginning in the rounded control bridge. Aside from some of the air
shuttles, all of our ships were round. Round is the logical shape for any
moving thing that needs to change directions quickly.

“Based on UFO footage you’ve all
seen you may assume the ship can travel in any direction,” Captain
Elgenubi
said. “Most of our ships actually travel in one
direction; forward. But “forward” changes as the outer ring of the ship adjusts
according to the pilot’s instructions.”

The FBI team stood there wide-eyed and speechless so the
captain continued, “You see pilot
Terebellum
there at
the controls? His view of the port windows is shielded and he only sees what is
on the monitors. No matter which direction the ship moves, the pilot doesn’t
need to shift around in the seat. The inner ring of the ship is stationary,
although it is not relative to anything. The pilot sits comfortably without any
sensation of motion. So if we want to make a sudden 90% turn to the left, it
takes about two seconds.”

“The job of the co-pilot is to move around the bridge and
watch the real universe through the port windows, checking that the physical
reality always matches what is input into the pilot’s controls.”

“Amazing!”
 
Assistant Director Abbott said.

“And yet these ships are
considered almost obsolete,” the captain said.

“Why is that?” Assistant Director
Abbott asked.

“Our propulsion systems still use
electromagnetics. We will be studying symbiotic propulsion with the
Aegialia
over the coming years. The Aegialia are
a highly intelligent
and peaceful race that are
part of our alliance. That is the point of
all this. We wish to exchange knowledge and ideas with other races,” the
captain said and added, “We are getting the best of that deal since the
Aegialia can teach us many amazing things.” I wondered where the captain got
his sense of humor from. It seemed human-like, even though he had not spent any
time among humans.

“There are so many questions,”
Assistant
Director Abbott
said. “I guess Director Felder should have come, or
maybe even the president himself. I just needed to make sure this was all
real.”

“Can we bring another group here?”
Assistant
Director Abbott asked.

“It will be much more complicated
bringing President Hawkins here. He’ll need all the security so it will turn
into a crowd. But I do suppose it will speed things along,” Atik said. “We may
as well call it a night. We can look at the sleeping and living quarters when
the president comes.”

***

Atik was right. Three days later
the secluded valley in Shenandoah Park looked like a crime scene. I was
thankful they had at least not arrived in helicopters or even limousines. All
the big SUVs were conspicuous enough. I went with Atik to bring the security
people into the ship first. Atik and I followed Captain
Elgenubi
and the three security agents through the ship.
When they were finished, we waited at the entry ramp for
the president.

President Elvin Hawkins seemed
less overwhelmed by the whole thing than the agents were a few days earlier.
FBI Director Felder was the same. He almost looked like he had seen UFOs
before. I assumed they already knew of the existence of alien visitors and they
probably had access to top-secret, privileged information.

After the introduction, Captain
Elgenubi
took the new group through the ship, explaining
the navigation briefly. Again I got the impression that the president had seen
it all before, especially when he asked the simple question,
“Electromagnetics?”

“Yes Mr. President. We will eventually move to a combination
of electromagnetics and symbiosis. We understand and use advanced robotics but
to move to the next level, we need to go beyond hard-programmed robotics and on
to conscious robotics.”

“Are you close to achieving this?” President Hawkins asked.

“Fortunately we have help,” Atik said. “You’ve probably been
briefed on our mission here and the other three races included in our alliance.
The Aegialia from the Ophiuchi Star System are teaching us about symbiotic
propulsion. As you already know, this is the reason for all of this; to share
knowledge and ideas with other races.”

President Hawkins seemed content and relaxed, following
Captain
Elgenubi
through
the ship. He seemed to be admiring the design and aesthetics of the ship. Due
to the ship’s “spin” navigation, the sleeping quarters were part of the inner
ring of the ship. The inner ring never turned so the crew would never have the
disorienting sensation of spinning. The downside was that the apartments had no
outer port windows. To see the view of the outside of the ship, the crew had to
walk the outer wheel which frequently changed direction. For those who didn’t
mind the constant motion, there were chairs set along the outer ring where you
could take in the beauty of deep space while monitoring which way the ship was
traveling.

The lighting on Ranjisan ships uses “glow” lighting. There
is no direct lighting. The walls, floors and ceilings emanate enough light to
see comfortably. Along the hallways and in most of the rooms there are dimmer
switches to adjust the glow lighting. President Hawkins seemed to love the glow
lighting, stating that it made him feel relaxed.

“Will you share your lighting technology with us, if we join
your alliance,” President Hawkins asked.

“It would be our pleasure. It’s relatively simple. I only
know enough about it to make minor repairs on the ship,”
Captain
Elgenubi
said.
“The building material has a circulatory system consisting of thousands of
veins of light. The lighted veins produce the soft glow which can be dimmed or
brightened as needed.”

The dining area and kitchen are housed in the third and
inner most ring of the ship. There is sometimes some noise from the propulsion
room below but the ship design ensures that the living quarters on the second
ring can’t hear any noise from the propulsion room. Adjoining the kitchen there
is an exercise room and a room that doubles as a pharmacy and clinic.

The entire event only took a little over an hour from start
to finish. After thanking the captain and crew for the tour, the human observers
said goodbye and waited near the top of the hill where the van was parked.

The technical team continued photographing while the ship
quietly ascended. The conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for the
technical team. It was a clear, dry night and the nearly full moon helped to
brighten up the sky. At the point the ship lifted up higher than the
surrounding hills, the reflection of the moonlight on the ship made the entire
scene look like an alien landscape. It was impressive and I felt some pride
that we had come that far with our space travel technology. FBI Director Felder
told us he would be in touch to arrange the next meeting. The purpose of the
meeting would involve communication with Moscow.

The next few meetings were held at the White House.
President Hawkins wanted and needed to be there. The fourth meeting included a
video conference with Moscow. The Ranjisi team in Moscow was a mirror of our
own group, consisting of Ranjisan government officials and medical specialists.
Russian President
Yevgeni
Pasternak spoke English and
didn’t need a translator which made things infinitely easier. The main focus of
the conferences was to decide how we would bring the other nations into the
discussions. It seemed it was a natural reaction for both the US and Russia to
want to proceed without the other nations but we were gently calling the shots.
It was a part of the learning curve and the evolution of thought. Both world
powers needed to think beyond their natural rivalry. They needed to view the
human race as one race and the Earth as one community. This was part of our
agenda. If the human race wanted to cure disease and end tribal wars, they
needed to evolve and the time had come.

As far as the details of how, when and
where, it was up to the US and Russia.
They knew best how to move
forward with these life changing discussions while still managing to keep it
all a secret. The UN in New York wouldn’t work. It would create too much
publicity. The Hague in South Holland was considered next. The natural choice
would be the
Lex
building in Brussels but that would
also arouse too much attention. As I listened to the discussions, I wondered
about the CIPE secret facility on Easter Island. So far, we had not told the
humans about it and it hadn’t occurred to me to ask Atik about it. I decided to
keep quiet.

Finally everyone agreed on a meeting site. The meeting would
be held at a resort outside the town of Ponta Delgada on the island of São
Miguel in the Azores. It was the perfect location. The Azores are secluded and
yet they are centrally located for most of the delegations that would be asked
to attend. The next step would be the communication between the US, Russia and
the rest of the nations. We left the guest list up to the humans but they
assured us they would contact every member of the United Nations. It would be
difficult. The communication would be short and simple:

On behalf of the US and Russian
governments, we request a
representative  of
your
nation at a special conference to be held in the Azores. The importance of this
conference cannot be described in any human language. An announcement will be
made which will be the most significant announcement in the history of the
human race. RSVP. We will forward additional attendance information within the
coming weeks.

Signed,
US/Russian organizing committee.

Being Ranjisi, our expectations about how long it would take
to organize the conference were unrealistic. At the end of the second week
since the invitations were sent, we decided there was no need to remain at the
hotel in DC. We could either go straight to the Azores or we could spend the
remaining time at the CIPE facility on Easter Island.

We decided we would spend a couple of weeks at CIPE and then
arrive early for the conference in the Azores. This time there would be eight
Ranjisi traveling to the same location. Atik contacted CIPE and we divided up
the flights into four separate itineraries. I wondered if it would be better or
worse after our existence and presence was made public. On the one hand, we
wouldn’t have to keep it a secret anymore. People would be more likely to pick
us out in a crowd, looking like a family of Swedish cousins, all with shortness
of breath as we traversed the airport terminals. We would become novelties.
People would probably overwhelm us with gawking and questions.

Although the Russian group would be leaving from Moscow, all
eight of us would be changing at
Benítez
Airport in
Santiago and traveling on to Mataveri International Airport on the Island. The
first Ranjisi team coming from Moscow consisted o
f
Turais
Oriel-
Torcularis
of the
Council of Provinces and cell disease specialist
Azha
Oriel-Canopus. Following close behind on a separate flight was
Enif
Arial-
Zavijah
of the Council
of Provinces and infectious disease specialist Mesarthim Oriel-
Matar
.