The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty (40 page)

“Sometimes people come from other worlds, but since there are no other worlds here with any life, that doesn’t explain your situation,” said Bernie, “although sometimes, life can start by itself.”

“Perhaps that’s what happened with us.”

“The problem with that hypothesis is there just wasn’t enough time. To evolve to a higher life form like yours takes millions of years. Billy destroyed all the life on this planet two million years ago. That’s when I reintroduced the plant life. Even if you got started then, it wouldn’t be possible to evolve into people in two million years. Look at the plants. They are still very close to the way I created them.”

“One difference between you and me, Bernie, is my green skin, which is the same color as the plants. Perhaps there’s a connection between us and the plants?”

“That gives me an idea. Can you tell me about your children? Do they look like you when they’re born?”

“Yes, they’re small versions of us. They have green skin. They have fingers and toes like us. There’s a 500-day gestation period.”

“Where can I find women whose gestation period is just starting?”

Alcandor’s green skin showed a hint of red. “That might be a little awkward.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Bernie. “I’ll be right back.”

* * *

Bernie moved 600 days into the future. He scanned the city until he found a newborn baby. The child’s form looked just as Alcandor had described. Bernie was looking for something else.

With unsupervised evolution, life moves from primitive forms to more advanced forms as the life form develops increasingly specialized survival skills. His teachers had said you could figure out how it evolved by doing phylogenetic analysis. You just watch the embryo from its fertilization to the time it’s born. Interestingly, life forms retain their evolutionary history in their cells.

Bernie recalled one creation lab experiment where they observed the gestation process of an organism whose earliest embryo looked like a fish, changed to an amphibian, then to a reptile, and finally to a mammal before it looked like its parents and was born. This was what Bernie wanted to observe now.

The young god moved his time lever backward as he focused on the newborn baby. Just before birth, the fetus looked like every parent wants their child to look: fully formed, with all its fingers and toes and no abnormalities. Bernie pushed back in time, eager to see what it would look like. Would the early embryo resemble one of Bernie’s plants? Maybe its progenitors were plants living deep in the ocean that survived when Billy destroyed the other life on the planet. The child’s form remained stable for quite a while. Finally, he saw it begin to change. Bernie observed all the way back to the point of fertilization. Well, not quite that far. Bernie was a little uncomfortable with that kind of stuff. He’d studied it in school and all, but he didn’t really have any firsthand experience with it.

Now, Bernie moved his time lever forward and watched again as the zygote began its process of mitosis. The new cells divided over and over again until they looked like a large translucent gob. The gob stayed gob-like for days; the only noticeable change was taking on a light green color. Finally, the gob began shaping itself into the form of a child. Yet it was still translucent, and no bones or internal organs could be seen. Slowly, organs formed and bones materialized inside the gob.

Bernie saw no evidence the child’s ancestors had once slithered across the ground, swum in the sea, or walked on all fours. The bones that formed were complete and ready for upright walking. By the end of 100 days, any hint of an evolutionary ancestor was lost.

Bernie ran his time lever forward and back several times, each time observing different aspects. He didn’t have to do that. He did it without thinking as he tried to absorb the inescapable explanation to his mystery. Alcandor’s people had not come from another planet. They had grown up right here. There was only one source they could have come from.

Bernie returned to Alcandor, allowing a five-second interval between his disappearance and his reappearance. Otherwise he would have to explain that he actually left and returned in what Alcandor would experience as no more than the blink of an eye.

“I found the answer,” Bernie said with excitement.

Alcandor’s expression changed to one of surprise and something more. Shaking his head, he said, “We must be fools. We’ve been baffled by this question from the beginning, yet you answer it in seconds.”

“You could never have guessed this answer,” said Bernie as he composed his thoughts. “Something we use to help us in our creation process is called Universe Putty. The gods combine their creative energy to make the putty. It’s very powerful. It can become anything.”

“Are you saying we came from this putty?” From his expression, Bernie suspected Alcandor had hoped for a different answer.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. The putty has a history of making unexpected things happen. This wouldn’t surprise anyone.”

“But, putty?”

“Think about it. Everything ever created in the universe bears the fingerprints of its creator. The gods created this putty. If you evolved out of the putty, it makes perfect sense you would look like us.”

Alcandor considered this.

Bernie added, “It also explains why you live so long.”

“We live so long? What do you mean?”

“Most animals don’t live very long. We’re taught to add a death directive when we create life forms because it helps them evolve and stay adapted to their world. I put directives in the plants. Gods don’t have one. That’s why we live so long. You don’t have one either.”

“But we do die, Bernie. You’ve seen it.”

“So do we, but not because we get old. Neither of us age. If a god dies, it’s from accidents or something that hurts us on our world.”

“Why do we have green skins?”

“I don’t have an answer to that. Maybe it’s because there are no other animals here. You might have some special connection with the plants.”

“We believe our skin is green because the Sun loves green. The green is His promise to us that He will always be here for us.”

Bernie wasn’t paying full attention to Alcandor. He was still thinking about the putty.

“You know what else this means?” Bernie said, grinning.

“No.”

“We’re related!”

Quakes and More

Billy scowled. He didn’t know why Bernie had built the mountain range. It wasn’t part of what they’d learned in school, so he guessed it was intended for whatever higher life forms Bernie was planning. He could see regular breaks in the mountain range to allow north-south movement for them. Bernie was such an optimist. After he was done, there wouldn’t be any life forms who wanted to live on the planet.

The mountains had given him the idea. There was a lot of planetary stress underneath them. Bernie had sealed the tectonic plates earlier, but these mountains were a perfect place to hide new fault lines.

Billy systematically began work on the crust beneath the mountains. He cut lines at different angles and depths. He created fault lines designed to weaken and eventually give way. He used the height and mass of Bernie’s mountains to leverage the pressure. Then he created more fault lines on the ocean floor, to make the slippage easier.

He could have stopped here and let the earthquakes happen at seemingly random points in the future, but Bernie hadn’t been advancing time on his world. And, because of Bernie’s booby trap, he didn’t dare to use his own time lever. Yet he didn’t want to wait forever for his plan to begin. So he deepened the faults and applied more pressure, until he knew the damage was but hours away.

They wouldn’t be big quakes, to be sure—nothing like half the continent falling into the ocean. But quakes would be just the beginning. He had created a little surprise for Bernie—a series of little surprises, actually, that would keep on giving. He grinned, thinking of the effort it would take to undo what he had done.
You get three-for-the-price-of-one today, Bernie
, he thought.

Had he stayed to watch, he would have been pleased. But by the time things started happening, he was home in bed, fast asleep.

Command Performance

As the hour of the meeting drew close, the Senate’s amphitheater was filled beyond capacity. Every seat was occupied, and the aisles were jammed with yet more people. The only place not crowded was the center of the amphitheater, where one man stood alone. Everyone waited anxiously for the meeting to begin.

Gondal understood their anxiety. This would be the most important meeting in the history of their world. They were about to meet the Great Protector. Gondal wiped his sweating palms on the side of his toga and tried to control his breathing.

Everyone was waiting for him. He could delay no longer.

“Senators, Lords and Ladies, and citizens, as Leader of the Senate, I thank you for your attendance. Everyone knows the events that have befallen us. In all the history of our world, there has been more death and destruction in any week of the last five months than all the time before. We have never known such sorrow.

“With respect to those who sought answers, I remind you, just a month ago, we had none. Our only hope lay with Lord Alcandor, who spoke of a Great Protector. He believed such a being existed and urged every effort to contact Him. He believed such a being, if he existed and could be found, would be our salvation.

“The Senate charged Lord Alcandor to use every means possible to find and communicate with the Great Protector. By now, all of you know he succeeded. Lord Alcandor found the Great Protector. Everything Alcandor hypothesized about Him is true. The Great Protector was the one who interceded time and time again to save us from the worst of our disasters.

“On behalf of the Senate and our people, I asked Lord Alcandor to invite the Great Protector to appear before us. It’s fitting He receive our thanks for all He has done to prevent our fate from being worse.

“I turn the floor over to Lord Alcandor, who will tell us more.” Gondal gestured to the man in the center and took his seat.

* * *

Lord Alcandor appeared solemn. He’d kept his head down while Gondal was speaking. Slowly, he looked up at his audience. “Everyone here has lost loved ones in recent months. Each of us has shed tears over this wanton death and destruction.

“Let me remind you how I knew the Great Protector must exist. I knew it when I realized the disasters we’ve suffered could have been much worse. Remember the drought that threatened to destroy the very food we need to survive? It ended when the gentle rains came. Remember the forest fires that ravaged our world, killing thousands of people? Suddenly, they were extinguished. Remember the hurricanes that brought the floods and brutal winds? They suddenly ceased. Remember the recent heat that threatened us? That too suddenly ended. All of these are common knowledge. These are but a few of the things our Protector has done to stop the evil that has come to our world.”

It was the custom of the Senate to give their feedback with cries and foot stomping. Today, with the gravity of what was being discussed, the only responses to Alcandor’s words were scattered cries of “Hear! Hear!” and the sound of a few stomping feet. The rest of the audience devoted their full attention to his words.

“I have the honor of introducing you to the great and benevolent being who has chosen to aid us.” Alcandor selected his words carefully, avoiding any reference to the Sun. They decided it would be best not to suggest any relationship between the two. “Great Protector,” Alcandor called out with his arms raised high. “Please appear before us. We beg the opportunity to speak with you.” As Alcandor spoke, he moved to the side of the center stage.

As the people held their collective breaths, a bright golden shimmer appeared and took the form of a giant who sat cross-legged, hovering six feet above the ground. The being had long gray hair and a full beard. Dressed in a bright white robe, He looked like them, except for the gray color of His hair and the pale color of His skin. There was no sound and little breathing as the Great Protector looked around the room. It was a measure of His godly power that each person thought the Protector looked directly into their eyes.

There was a rush of sound as hundreds of people moved from their seats to their knees before the Great Protector.

“Please,” said the deep reverberating voice of the Protector, “I require no such observances. Rise and be as you were.”

Leader Gondal was slow to rise from his knees, but it was his duty to lead discussions with the Great Protector, and he must perform it.

“Great Protector, I welcome you on behalf of the Senate,” Gondal said with a shaking voice. “Lord Alcandor has told us of the many times you helped us. On behalf of the Senate and all of our people, I thank you. We are forever grateful for everything you have done.”

“Thank you, Leader Gondal. I regret not being able to do more. I know your people have suffered greatly.” Everyone felt the sadness in the words of the Great Protector.

“Great Protector, Lord Alcandor has told us of your great power. I must ask, on behalf of our people, do you have the ability to bring back those who have been lost to us?”

“Alas, Leader Gondal, that is beyond my power. I cannot change what is past.”

“Can you tell us why this is happening to us? Can you tell us what we’ve done to deserve this fate? Or what we can do to make it stop?” Gondal knew these were the questions in everyone’s mind.

The Protector lowered His head, and then raised it again. “I know your people, Leader Gondal. You are good and kind. You have done nothing to deserve this. This is the result of an evil force that has discovered your world. I have done everything in my power to stop this evil, but it is very powerful. And I am not always successful.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“For now, I know of nothing. If you need me, Lord Alcandor can reach me, although it may not be as quickly as you wish.”