The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty (35 page)

“Yes, we understand that,” said Gondal. “But surely you understand we need to be kept informed of your progress. If your attempts are not successful, we must explore other measures.” Senators expressed their approval of Gondal’s words.

Gondal knew there were few ‘other measures’ waiting to be explored, but they were desperate for news. They were all upset and worried. He had to balance the Senate’s need for information against Alcandor’s need to work uninterrupted.

“I apologize for my outburst, Leader. I apologize also to the Senate,” said Alcandor as he bowed his head to both. “I know everyone is concerned. Please, let me start again.”

“Proceed,” Gondal said.

“Let me review what’s happened since the Senate charged me with contacting the Great Protector. The greatest challenge is finding a way to get the attention of such a being. We’re fairly certain He is not all-knowing or all-powerful because, in spite of His apparent desire to keep us from harm, He’s not always able to do so. And yet when He does make an appearance, His powers are immense. From this, I conclude He’s distant from us at least part of the time. This means we can’t just speak with Him because He may not be around to hear us. We have to wait for him to come to us.

“Think of Him as someone who sees an unending forest. If we want to be noticed in that forest, we must draw His attention to a tiny clearing in one small part of that forest. How do we do this? We must do something a forest cannot do. We must make some sort of sign, one that makes Him curious enough to investigate.

“I chose fire for the sign, because fire is not natural to the forest. And we know large bonfires at night can be seen across long distances. Admittedly, our initial attempts were not successful, so we began forming patterns with the fires. We set the fires in locations to form triangles, squares, and pentagons. We also varied these patterns by creating greater distances between each of the fires—” Alcandor said as one of the ministers interrupted.

“But none of this has worked,” exclaimed Minister Terwin. “If it isn’t working, why are you still making fires?”

“I still believe fire is a good signal. As I said, we’ve varied the signal in several ways. Our next effort will be to make the signal stronger and more noticeable.”

“But Lord Alcandor, we’re running out of forests,” said one of the senators, which produced the first laughter heard in the Senate in many days.

Even Alcandor chuckled. “Fear not, Senator. I’m doing something different this time.”

Leader Gondal said, “Please continue.”

“You’ve all seen lanterns with a mirror-side built into them. The mirror is used to reflect and amplify the lantern’s light and send it in a specific direction. I’m currently building fifty large mirrors that will be used to direct the bonfire’s light upward, where I believe the Protector will notice it. This will be brighter and more visible than anything we’ve done before.”

“Where do you plan to do this?” Minister Terwin wanted to know.

“That’s something I need to talk about,” said Alcandor. “I want to do it on top of the highest temple in the highest mountain we can find. The Temple at Fernwod would be perfect, and I was hoping the Senate could prevail on the generosity of Speaker Zardok to make it available.”

Gondal took a quiet breath. This would not be easy. Gondal felt, once again, the enormity of trying to bridge the gap between Speaker Zardok and Lord Alcandor. Those two had been at odds as long as he could remember. They were as different as two people could be. The Speaker’s entire belief system was based on his unswerving faith in the goodness and beneficence of the Sun. Alcandor, on the other hand, didn’t take anything for granted. It angered the Speaker when Alcandor challenged things the Speaker believed should be beyond questioning. Yet, that was the very thing that made Alcandor’s science so valuable. He made them see things they couldn’t see before.

“I’ll make the request, Lord Alcandor,” said Gondal. “You’ll be informed as soon as I have an answer. Before we adjourn, can you tell me if you have other ideas if your mirrors do not work?”

“Yes, I’m working on something with glass. When light passes through glass of varying thickness, it changes the intensity of the light. I think it can be used to force the light of the bonfire into a more intense pattern that can be seen from farther away.”

“Thank you, Lord Alcandor. On behalf of our people, I urge you to make great haste.”

How Can This Be?

It was late, and Bernie needed rest. Just one more look around the planet, and then he would get some sleep. Everything looked fine as he scanned the planet. Then he noticed something that should not have been there. The main continent was on the dark side of the planet, but there, near the center, he saw a flicker of light. Bernie groaned at the thought of more damage from Billy. What was it to be this time?

Bernie zoomed down for a closer look. High on the ridge of the central mountain range, the thick jungle had been cleared away. In the center of the clearing stood a large stone pyramid, rising two hundred feet above the ground. The pyramid did not extend to a point, but rather had a flattened top, fifty feet wide. A large bonfire burned in the center.

A ring of mirrors surrounded the bonfire, each at least ten feet tall. They had been tilted backward to reflect the firelight upward, in effect sending a beacon of light straight up into the sky. This was what Bernie had seen from so far away.

A man stood next to the fire, watching as flames leaped high in the sky. A long line of men and women trudged up and down the steps of the temple, carrying firewood. When they reached the top, they threw their burden onto the flames and turned back for another load.

Bernie was flabbergasted.
Impossible
. There was no life here. Plants, of course, but no animals and certainly no higher life forms. Bernie knew he had to be dreaming.
I’m exhausted
.
This has to be a nightmare, nothing more.

The man standing at the top of the great pyramid looked more concerned with searching the sky than the progress of the flames. He kept calling out as he scanned the sky above him. Bernie opened his mind and listened. Then, through power only a god could wield, the man’s sounds melted into words.

“I call out to the Great Protector. Please listen to me. We desperately need your help. Great Protector, are you there? Please speak with me,” the man called out.

Bernie hovered near the man. He wondered how a dream could be so vivid and contain such detail. Without warning, the man turned from the sky and looked directly at Bernie. His words gushed forth, “Great Protector, you have come at last! Please hear me. We are in great danger, and we desperately need your help!”

This was too much for Bernie. He popped back into his room and spent the night under his covers. Nothing good ever started with seeing things that weren’t there. And when they started talking to you, the last thing you wanted to do was have a conversation with them.

First Contact Protocol

The first thing Bernie did when he arrived at work was go straight to his world, back to the place he had been the night before. In the center of the cleared jungle, he found the stone pyramid with the ashes of the great fire still smoldering. He saw no sign of the man. Near the base of the pyramid, Bernie saw people gathering another large pile of wood. They planned to repeat last night’s event.

As Bernie looked around, he discovered more buildings and more people. Most were dressed in togas and sandals. Some wore jewelry, which seemed to consist of necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. Except for the slight greenish color of their skin, they looked just like the gods at home.

Streets, lined with buildings made of wood and stone, led to other parts of the city. One road led away from the city, and when Bernie followed it, he was shocked to discover it led to other cities.

How had he not noticed this?

And, more importantly, how did they get here? Bernie hadn’t created them. His Pod People were still on the drawing board. There shouldn’t be any animals of any kind on the planet.

Plants? Could they be the result of a wild plant that jumped one evolutionary path in favor of another it liked better? It couldn’t be. Billy had destroyed his plants two million years ago. He’d had to start over. There was no way higher life forms could evolve in just two million years.

Could it be another trick of Billy’s? If so, it was unlike anything he’d tried before. Plus, Bernie saw no evidence the people were causing any harm. But still…

At no time did he hear any suspicious laughter coming from Billy’s cubicle.

* * *

“You’re kidding,” said Lenny. “How could you not know you had people on your planet?”

“Lenny, I didn’t make any people,” Bernie said defensively. “There wasn’t any reason to think they were there. Do you go around looking for things you know aren’t there?”

“But there had to be signs. What about air pollution? That’s a good clue something’s going on,” Lenny persisted.

“They aren’t that advanced—nothing more than bronze era. They aren’t doing much to impact the planet.”

“How could they get there if you didn’t do it?” Suzie wondered aloud.

“It had to have been Billy,” said Lenny. “He’s the only one who’s been messing with you.”

“I thought so, too, at first. But I can’t see they’re doing any harm. The only thing they seem to want is to talk with me.”

“I thought you were supposed to avoid contact with your creations,” Suzie said.

“That’s just when you’re in school,” said Lenny. “Everything’s different now. We can talk to them all we want.”

“Well, maybe I should see what they want. They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to talk to me.”

“Can’t hurt as long as you follow the protocol,” Lenny said.

“Protocol? What protocol?” Bernie asked.

“The First Contact Protocol, of course. You can’t just go down to see them wearing torn jeans and a dirty T-shirt, Bernie. You have to dress for success if you want to impress them.”

“I don’t want to impress them. I just want to find out what they want.”

“Trust me, Bernie. It’s easier if you impress them first. I’ll bring in my notes on how to do it.”

“Okay. Meanwhile, I’ll take a closer look at their world and see if I can figure out what’s going on.”

A Cultural Assessment

Journal Entry

I’ve been studying the planet for two days now. The people there look just like us. I have no idea how they got there. I definitely didn’t make them. They have a greenish hue to their skin, which made me think they might have come from the plant life, but that doesn’t make sense. All my plants are accounted for. There are no missing links anywhere.

At first I thought they were something Billy did, but I don’t think so anymore. The race is peaceful. There’s no sign of weapons or soldiers.

One thing I noticed is they don’t seem to die. The population gradually increases over time, but it’s very slow. I calculated how long they’ve been around by looking at their population growth. When I extrapolate backwards, it suggests they have been here for close to two million years.

The race is definitely intelligent. They have a written language and a system of mathematics, which seems well known throughout the population. They don’t have much technology. I would put them squarely in the bronze era. They use mechanical devices like looms for manufacturing. They work collaboratively on their buildings, which they make out of carved stone they mine from the mountains and transport to their building sites. They don’t have animals, so they do the hauling themselves on long carts made for that purpose. Their favorite buildings appear to be meeting places, temples, market places, and large living areas. Many buildings are made without roofs or doors.

They use a simple bartering system that involves the exchange of personal time for goods or services. I observed one example where the state owns a large textile plant that manufactures clothes. The people acquire their clothes in exchange for promising a certain number of hours of work. This promise is recorded and then cashed in at some later time. The work promises can be bought or sold to others.

I found what appears to be their capital city in the central northern coast, about fifty miles inland. The population is greater than in the other cities, and the buildings are larger too. I spent most of my time there. They have a central government, with representatives from other cities. The capital city has the largest government offices and the largest temples.

Their religion is basically sun worship. It looks universal, and everyone participates in prayer services at dawn and at sunset. There is another service at high noon, which appears to be mostly performed by the priesthood.

Most of the population lives in smaller cities scattered around the main continent. They have a good system of roads between the cities. I still can’t believe I missed seeing them. But they don’t really have a very big footprint. I just never thought to look for advanced life.

I’ve been watching the guy who first caught my attention. His name is Alcandor. He lives in the capital city. He has a large stone building with over twenty rooms. It looks like a cross between a laboratory and a library, filled with equipment and books. They’re doing a lot of work with glass. One room is probably where they made the bonfire mirrors. In another room they’re building glass lenses. I suspect they’re trying to intensify the light of the bonfire. They’re very serious about getting my attention.

I’ve decided to meet with this Alcandor. I looked over Lenny’s first contact protocol notes, and it looks okay. Lenny says it’s no problem to change my appearance on the planet. I can look like whatever I want as long as I keep concentrating on it. The protocol suggests I dress in a flowing white robe, with a long gray beard and hair. Apparently, most life forms associate gray with age and wisdom. And I’m supposed to make myself three times bigger than they are. Oh, and my shimmer should be golden, but I need to turn it down by at least 50% or it can sometimes hurt other life forms.