Wooden Ships (9 page)

Chapter – Eleven

A
fter the agent dragged Adam to a holding cell, he revived him with an injection of M-19b and then left. Adam immediately woke up with a splitting headache and as he slowly sat up and looked around, he realized he was in some sort of a cell. “What the hell happened?” thought Adam. He put his hand on his forehead and rubbed, hoping it would relieve some of his pain. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. The last thing he remembered was talking to... he paused for a moment trying to remember his name, “...that guy, what’s his name?” For a moment he almost forgot, “his name was
Reynolds,”
the injection they gave him made him forget things. However, little by little he began to recall his ordeal. He realized the aliens would be approaching the Solar system very soon and then the effects from the Supernova would become visible, at least according to what the Entities had told him.

The idea of his energy along with several million others, passing through the space-time bridge to the parallel universe, plus a new Earth to begin a new existence, seemed farfetched. The idea seemed like a dream, and scary all at the same time, to think all this would happen as soon as the Entities provoked the Sun to Supernova and ultimately destroy the solar system and every living being, including the aliens.

What Adam wanted most was to be with Jen when the end came. “I hope she’s alright and not suffering,” thought Adam. “She must be scared to death and confused about this whole ordeal.” If Adam could hold her and tell her how much he loved her, he was sure the both of them would be fine with whatever happened.

“Why the hell is Reynolds keeping us apart?”

“Reynolds is such a sadistic bastard,” Adam thought, and he really began to hate him. “Maybe it’s time to show Reynolds how the device worked and hopefully Jen and he could get out of this nightmare.”

Adam banged on the steel door of his cell and yelled, “HEY REYNOLDS! Let’s talk – I’ll show you how the DAMN device works!”

He kept banging and yelling for Reynolds for almost an hour, until he was completely exhausted. “I hate this guy,” he thought. What Reynolds put both Jen and himself through, all because he wanted the damn device? It was obvious that Reynolds was letting Adam suffer by not responding. Feeling very despondent and exhausted, Adam wondered how Jen was doing. He decided to rest his head and lay down on the cot. After a couple of minutes, he started to doze off.

In the corner of Adam’s cell, there appeared the familiar shimmer of light - the outline of E-1 and E-2 hidden in their invisible bubble. Their presence was virtually undetectable.

The Entities began their communication process with Adam. He immediately rolled over on his back and his eyes darted back and forth beneath his eyelids.

“Adam can you hear us?” thought E-1.

“Adam we need to communicate with you,” thought E-2.

In his dream he thought he heard someone calling his name; “Yes, I can hear you.” Adam opened his eyes and was shocked, “It’s you. I am so glad both of you are here.” Adam looked worried as he impatiently asked the Entities, “You need to help me, this agent Reynolds has taken the device from me and wants it for himself plus he won’t let me see Jen. I don’t know what to do, please help me.”

“Adam we cannot help you; it is forbidden for us to interfere with your species during your difficulties, this trouble that you’re involved in has to play out on its own,” thought E-1.

“But you’re helping humans against the Aliens? How much different is that from this? I have to get out of this place. I want to spend my last days with Jen,” pleaded Adam.

The Entities did not respond immediately to Adam, but he could tell they were communicating between each other; he saw strange characters and images scrolling across each face.

Then their faces went blank for a few seconds, he thought they must have shut down when all at once they responded; “Adam you can use the device to escape.”

“Really, please tell me how!”

“Adam, when you activate the device it creates a transparent dome that surrounds you, when that happens, you just need to think that you are
invisible
. The device will read your mind and render you invisible within the dome; no one will be able to see you, then you and Jen can escape from this place and find your way home.”

“But the doors will be locked,” Adam said urgently “and I am sure they won’t open them for us.”

“Adam, the device will enable your bodies to travel through solid matter; the locked doors will not stop you.”

He didn’t know what to say about that, “Wow, this device is so powerful. But what about Jen, how will she be able to escape?”

“Adam, she will need to be next to you, the dome will cover both of you making her invisible as well. Remember, you must think,
I am invisible
and you will disappear. You will remain invisible until you think,
I am visible
, and then you will reappear.”

“It’s going to be very difficult for Jen and me to try and escape from this place, we’re going to be faced with many obstacles; plus there are a lot of armed agents that will make it that much more dangerous. How will we deal with that? Is there anything else this device can do to help us get the hell out of this place?”

Again the Entities didn’t respond right away and Adam could tell they were communicating between each other, he watched as strange characters and images scrolled across their faces.

Then their faces went blank and a few seconds passed when they responded; “Adam, we are reluctant for you to use the device as a weapon; it was not created to be one. However, we cannot guarantee that Reynolds and his agents will not try to use deadly force against you to take control of the device. With our powers, we are able to see into the future and have calculated the chances of you and Jen leaving this place alive are zero percent, these humans have no desire to let either you or Jen go. In fact, the human they call Reynolds has plans to surgically remove your left hand and keep it alive so they can make the device work without you. Eventually they will clone your DNA and grow a pad that the device could be activated from; your outcome in this plan is dismal as well as Jen’s.” thought E-1.

“Therefore, we will reveal how to use the device, not as a weapon, but as a tool to help in your escape and to prevent Reynolds and his agents from obtaining the device and above all, minimize human harm from this event by use of deadly force,” thought E-2

“Adam, when you activate the device and before you think,
invisible,
raise your left hand straight up with the device. Make a fist and think,
STOP!
There will be an incredibly bright purple flash and everyone within sight of this flash will be incapacitated. Paralyzed and frozen where they stand no one will be able to move or say a word. The effects of this paralysis will last approximately thirty Earth minutes. Therefore, you will have to move swiftly to escape before they start to regain consciousness.”

“What can I say, but ‘thank you!’”

“Adam, we also need to report to you that the aliens are three days away. At one day away, the energy from the shock wave caused by Betelgeuse’s Supernova will cause a Sunspot. This Sunspot will continue to grow until it completely covers the surface of your Sun. This will appear as a solar eclipse and diminish daylight by 92%. We have calculated that this Sunspot will last three years before the Sun returns to normal. We don’t need to tell you the effect this will have on Earth’s weather and ecosystem. We have calculated over 95% of humans will perish from the direct result of this total Sunspot. However, during this catastrophic event the aliens will be harvesting the resources they want, with no concern for human suffering.”

Adam gasp and said; “Oh my God that will be horrible!”

“Our plan is to make the Sun Supernova while the aliens are harvesting resources. They will be caught off-guard and not be able to escape this cataclysmic Supernova and for the last time, destroy them all. Simultaneously, transferring all human energies across the space-time bridge to a parallel universe where we have created a new Earth and host bodies. There are two additional pieces of information we still need to convey to you.”

As if what had happened to him so far was not enough, he asked, “What’s that?”

“Adam, our species have existed for over 1.6 million years, during this time our species have forgotten the joys of life – we no longer know what laughter is, or sorrow. We have forgotten what it is like to love, or cry, or what food tastes like. We have forgotten what it is like to discover something new for the first time – like a child. Our species has evolved to the point where all those senses have vanished over the millennia. Human species is still like children to us; this is what we most admire.

For our species to experience those simple senses would be seductive, a thrill that we have forgotten. When inserting your energies into the brain of your host body, we would like to connect our brains to yours as well. The energy of our species will be a part of your new brain. It will be the beginning of a new species, it will be the merging of technology and humanity, and the possibilities will be endless. Our species will experience all the newness and excitement of life that we have long forgotten in exchange for your new life and a new Earth.”

Adam didn’t know what to say about their proposal; he always thought the Entities had already occupied his mind when they implanted the crystal in his brain. However, he was confident they were a kind and honorable species and would never occupy their minds without permission. Besides, without their help, the alien creatures would destroy Humans and the solar system. Adam knew this would be the beginning of a new species, where the children of Earth’s solar system and the wisdom of the universe would merge. “I would be honored to share my life experiences with your species. There was something else you needed to tell to me.”

“Adam, these Evil beings are also going to harvest humans as a food source, they are carnivores.”

When Adam heard the word – carnivores – he was stunned and all he heard was a sharp ringing in his ear, if the Entities were saying anything else, he did not hear it. Goose bumps appeared down both his arms and a
puckering-cringe
tingled through his spinal cord as if he just sucked on a fresh lemon.

After the shock of what he heard faded, Adam was finally able to find his voice: “Oh my God. Now I understand why you want to rid the universe of those alien creatures, they don’t deserve to exist.”

Adam and the Entities stood quietly looking at each other for a moment, “Adam, we are going now, you will not hear from us until you have arrived at the new Earth. The process to transfer everyone over to the new Earth will be instantaneous, remember, no one will suffer. It’s been a long journey to get to this point.”

Adam looked at both Entities as he heard them say, “Goodbye for now!” As soon as the Entities said those last words, Adam opened his eyes and found Reynolds standing over him trying to wake him up, while another agent was
putting restraints on his wrists.

Chapter – Twelve

A
dam tried quickly to regain his composure, and remember what the Entities had told him.

“Are you ready to show me what I want?” said Reynolds.

Adam slowly said, “Yes! But I also want to see Jen.”

Reynolds looked at the agent who was applying the restraints. “Take Adam to the observation room, go get his wife and take her there too.” He quickly looked at Adam and warned him, “No funny business Adam, the minute I think you are stalling, I’ll throw you back in here and let you rot for a week, do you understand?”

Adam acknowledged, “Yes! I understand, just make sure I get to see Jen.”

Adam knew that if he were going to escape from this place, he would need to know which way to go, maybe if he asked leading questions, the agent would reveal where they were located within this facility. However, he decided against that, thinking it would be a bad idea; after-all, he didn’t want the agent to think he wanted the information so he could try to escape. In addition, he didn’t want Reynolds, that bastard, to know what he was up to, so while he was being escorted to the observation room by the agent, he made mental notes along the way.

The escort walked Adam down a long hallway with doors on either side. The hallway ended and then they made a right turn, there in front of them were elevator doors where they paused; the agent pushed the down arrow. Hum, we’re going down thought Adam, so we must be on the upper floors of this place, he made a mental note of this. While they waited for the elevator doors to open Adam asked the agent; “Are you excited to see how the device works?” The agent said nothing and looked straight ahead; suddenly the elevator doors opened and the agent pushed Adam in. The agent pushed the button labeled Level-4 and the doors closed, the elevator started to descend. Trying to talk with the agent again, Adam asked, “How tall is this building?” The agent finally said, “Most of this building is underground.” Concerned he might have said too much the agent was silent and didn’t speak again.

The elevator door opened and both Adam and the agent walked down a short hallway about ten feet to a vault door that was made of steel, and standing on either side were armed guards. The armed guards checked the agent’s credentials, when confirmed he punch the secret code into the cipher key pad and with a
whoosh,
the steel door opened. As they walked into the observation room, the door quickly closed behind them. Immediately Adam noticed it was a large circular room, the center portion was lower by about five feet, the upper portion was separated by windows where an army of scientists in white lab coats were all sitting in front of consoles monitoring electronic equipment, they were all there to see the big show, thought Adam. In the center of the observation room were other scientists milling around, there were chairs and an examination table, similar to the ones found in the operating room of a hospital. He kept thinking about what the Entities told him, about surgically removing his left hand, this spectacle made him nervous. It must have shown on his face because the agent told him to relax. As he continued to look around, he saw additional personnel, busy connecting wires and adjusting electronic equipment. One scientist approached him and asked if Adam would follow him to a chair, he then told him to sit down. Frightening Adam even more, were agents, tucked away in the back of this laboratory with bullet proof vests carrying M16-a1 assault rifle with thirty-round magazines and bayonets.

Adam was looking around for Jen when Reynolds walked up to him and asked, “Are you ready?”

Still looking around Adam said, “Where’s Jen?”

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Reynolds turn and nod to someone near the back of the observation room. When he turned and looked, he saw a guard bring Jen into the room. When she saw him, she started to cry and reached out to him, her hand shook uncontrollably. They brought her over to him and he said, “I’m so sorry I got you involved in all this.” She looked very tired and scared, but she said; “It’s alright, I am so glad to see you; I love you very much.”

Adam looked her straight in the eyes and said; “I love you too.” Then he gave her a quick wink. Adam repeated with another wink, and said, “It’s going to be alright.” He was certain she understood he had a plan of getting out of this place, but she seemed terrified about it, he hoped she would be ready for what his plan was.

Reynolds asked one of the scientists close by to begin attaching the sensors; the sensors looked like the ones they used for electrocardiograms. Not asking why they were doing this, he told Reynolds, “I want Jen close by.”

Thinking nothing of it, Reynolds sat Jen in a chair next to him.

Wanting Adam to think he was a good guy, he said, “Ok, I have kept my end of the bargain, now show us how the device works.”

An agent standing close-by removed the restraints from his arms as the scientist pulled open his shirt then continued to attach additional sensors to his chest with tape. They pulled a skullcap over his head that looked as if there were a thousand wires coming off it; Adam guessed they wanted to see what his brain activity showed during the demonstration. They plugged all the wires into electronic equipment that scientists were getting ready to monitor from the other side of the window.

Adam looked at Jen, “Did they harm you in any way?”

“No,” she said, “I didn’t know what had happened to you, and when I asked, no one would tell me anything. I’m just happy to see you.”

With a reassuring smile Adam said; “Everything is going to be Okay, I promise.”

Reynolds asked the scientist, “Are we ready to proceed?”

“I just need to attach a couple more to his left hand then make some adjustments to the instruments and then we’re done.” They plugged all the sensors into a rack of equipment; next, the scientist flipped a switch and touched a couple of display screens to make some adjustments. Adam could see display lights start to flash. The scientist then looked up at someone behind the window and signaled; Adam looked up and saw a scientist give a thumbs-up, “Okay Reynolds we’re ready.”

Reynolds turned and looked at Adam and said, “Are you ready?”

Looking around Adam noticed all the scientists began to get excited; then he asked Reynolds, “Okay, so what exactly are you expecting the device to show you?”

“I want to see anything, just activate the device and think of anything so we can see it in action – Okay?”

Not seeing the device anywhere, Adam asked; “Okay, where is my device?”

Reynolds leaned over and picked up a metal box that was sitting on the floor then carried it over to a table next to his chair and set it down. On a chain around his neck was a key he used to unlock the box. Reynolds looked up and signaled for everyone in the room to get out, Adam guessed this was for precautionary safety reasons; quickly everyone went to the other side of the windows to watch, except the armed guards, they stayed.

With a sharp voice, Reynolds said; “Adam, I am going to step behind that metal wall over there with a small window where I will observe and when I do, I want you to open this box and take the device out. Over on the wall is a timer,” Reynolds pointed, “it is set for twenty minutes. I want you to active the device, and when the timer goes off, I want you to stop and put the device back into the box and close it. Do you understand?”

Adam looked at the timer on the wall and then at Reynolds, “Yes, I understand.”

With a concerned look on his face Reynolds warned, “Adam, there are agents with automatic rifles surrounding the area, and on my command they will use them if you try anything, do you understand?”

“Is that really necessary? I’m not going to try anything, I want to show everyone how the device works and then I want to take Jen home and forget about you and this place, do you understand me?”

Reynolds looked at him for a few seconds trying to detect any trickery and then said, “Yes, I understand.”

Adam glanced at Jen and she looked as if she was going to faint at the idea of deadly force.

Reynolds said, “Ok, let’s do this;” Reynolds announced to everyone in the laboratory, “places everybody, we’re ready.” Then he walked around the steel wall and watched through the small window.

Adam took a deep breath and smiled at a worried looking Jen. Looking around he could see everyone had their eyes glued on him waiting for the fantastic event to occur.

He opened the lid of the metal box and looked in, laying in a crevice he saw the device surrounded by black velvet, it was glowing a pale blue. Adam did one last quick look around and saw everyone wide-eyed and watching him. He slowly reached in the box with his right hand and grabbed the device. He forgot how light it was as he picked it up. As soon as the device was visible, Adam saw the excitement in the faces of all the scientists behind the glass window. There was a beehive of activity as they quickly began to monitor the electronic equipment. There was a host of other scientists taking pictures and videos using the cameras mounted on the walls in the observation room. As Adam looked at Reynolds, he saw excitement in his eyes too. Everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting in anticipation for the activation of the device. Adam looked at Jen and smiled, but he could tell she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

He looked down at the device and transferred it from his right hand to his left and it immediately formed into the shape of his hand like a glove and activated, in the center of the device a small half dome of energy grew that covered Jen and himself like an igloo.

Adam began to think of simple things so the device would begin to project holographic images for the observers, this would distract everyone for a while until he chose the right moment to put his escape plan into action. He thought of historical places on Earth such as the Pyramids and the Grand Canyon, the device then started to project images of those places.

You could hear gasps of excitement coming through the windows from everyone watching from the control room, obviously in awe at what they were seeing. People in the observation room jumped off their chairs and were standing, pressed up against the window, what they were watching was almost magical. All the scientists were stunned and Adam could tell they were trying to understand the advanced technology they were observing.

From behind the wall, watching the event was Reynolds, who was thinking, this device was miraculous and this was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. He began to think of different uses for this device, the possibilities would be endless.

Seeing this as a good opportunity to set his escape plan in motion, Adam slowly raised his left hand straight up, made a fist and changed his thought processes from historical scenes, closed his eyes and clearly and distinctly thought,
STOP!
Instantly there was a blinding purple flash. “I hope this works!” If it doesn’t, he thought, the guards would be shooting at us any minute. With his eyes still closed and shaking with fear, Adam thought nothing had happened. He carefully listened and heard only the hum of the electronic equipment. No one was talking. He opened his eyes and looked around, that’s when he noticed everyone was paralyzed where they stood. It was the oddest thing thought Adam, everyone standing still, they weren’t blinking their eyes; they weren’t doing anything; they were just paralyzed. He quickly looked at Reynolds and saw he still had the stupid grin on his face from watching the device, but he wasn’t moving either. Now, concerned about the armed guards, Adam quickly scanned the area for them, when he located them, they too were just standing there at attention not moving.

All of a sudden, he heard Jen call out, “Adam! What just happened?” Taking a deep breath Adam said, “I’ll tell you later but right now we need to get the hell out of here before they all snap out of it!”

“What was that purple flash?” asked Jen.

“That purple flash came from the device, that’s what put them all in a trance.”

With a bewildered look on her face, Jen said, “Everyone seems to be just standing there staring, it’s sort of creepy.”

Adam kept looking around the area to make sure no one was coherent; he expected to see someone moving, however, everyone were still in a trance.

Then Adam confirmed, “The device paralyzed everyone.”

With a puzzled look on her face, Jen asked, “What else can this device do?”

Adam chuckled, “You haven’t seen anything yet! I want you to stay close to me; we are going to walk out of here before they come out of it, but first there’s something I want to do.”