by Paul Harm
When the elevator door opened a laboratory like room appeared. On a desk sat a skeleton with trousers still intact and a lab coat. Under it was a small pile of dust. “Oh my.” Gizmo was almost too human for a robot. “Who do you think that is.” Mathilda walked up to the skeleton and read the ID still attached to the lab coat. “Dr. Ali van Ost. You know that guy?” “Yes, we heard of him.” Claire and Joseph declared almost simultaneously. “There’s a note.”
__________
Sunday March 17, 2458
I’ve been here for the last couple of centuries and I thought I could get used to it, but I cannot. The data I get from Earth shows we’re almost wiped out and by now the spaceships that could get me of this God forsaken rock are 300 years old. I’m sick of living and this glorified process this machine and treatment I created it’s almost ironic that I choose to die. I stood on the mountain and a thunderstorm raged all around me while I clenched my fists against God, cursing me, us, everything alive with death. Death sentence from birth. What creator would do that to his creation? I found a way! I found the genetic secret to immortality and now I have been sitting in this rock for 300 years and even God has left me by now.
I lost my wife in the catastrophe, I lost my son the catastrophe, I just want to be with them again. I might have cheated death, but I haven’t cheated God. I cannot run for whatever time it takes to get another human being up here, for all I can tell from here they claim territories with sticks down there. The irony of my discovery in the great scheme of things. It does make me believe in God because when I first cheated this inhuman rule of dying all the world dies too. Only God has this strange sense of humor. For whoever this might find some day. Here lays the archive of a lost civilization within this facility right in this floor in this room lies the understanding and technical and medicinal equipment for immortality. Here in Finsterahorn, Shiretoko or Sitnalta maybe one of the girls made it there and might still be alive. There’s a computer on the seventh floor with their files on it. just enter their codenames. Who am I kidding; no one is ever going to find me here.
__________
“Holy shit!” As strange as it might sound things returned to normal as Mathilda cursed, as everyone was used to it. “If only he’d come down to me I would’ve kept him company.” Gizmo declared. They turned around and got into the elevator again. Seven was clickable up as the key stick entered the slot and when they reached the floor Claire typed in their first name into the terminal on the computer in the back of the room.
EVA
A very young version of Dr. Ali van Ost appeared in front of them. “We found ourselves with a very strange opportunity as we discovered a genetic mutation which is rather rare in two human beings. Fortunately, one of them is Mr. Grey’s daughter. She’s what can I say I think this video makes it very clear.”
There was a room full of crying babies, all recently born and they cried their hearts out loudly. The nurse comes in from behind the camera and brought in another baby in an empty cradle in the middle of the room. Within the next five seconds the other babies calmed down. The video stops and now there was an aggressive dog in a kennel. “I don’t want to go there daddy.” A little girl stated in a white dress with her hand in the hand of her father. “You can do this.” A calm and strong voice said it carried authority and love at the same time. “I don’t want to. I’m scared daddy.” The girl was three the kennels door sprang open and the dog ran towards the little girl she wanted to run but her father stood like a rock, not letting go of her hand. The giant dog snarled towards them and all of the sudden the little girl stopped crying with a wild expression in her eyes violence flickered up in her. The dog jumped into a breaking pose stopped the snarling and fled in the other direction with his tail behind his leg. The little girl started to cry again and was just a little scared girl again.
Dr. Ali van Ost appeared again. “She beat Lilith in cards as well. While we found Lilith in Las Vegas tricking her way through life she seems to see what other people see. But Mr. Grey’s daughter is on another level, she seems to make them see what she wants, makes them feel what she decided and it does connect to everything conscious being. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I think she will truly become the first queen of mankind. She has a gentle heart and a sharp mind.” A picture of her appeared as she was three years old and it was one of those time frame pictures with the age underneath and when it hit 25 Joseph looked at Claire with a mixture of fear and astonishment.
“That’s Melinda, Claire. That’s Melinda. This can’t be true. It’s a joke, a mirage, a test, a trick...” Joseph staggered a few steps back from the monitor and almost fell over a couple of boxes. “Let’s just see what the other file says first, maybe I don’t know I mean telepathy is kind of possible in principle it’s just weird.” “Yeah but that isn’t mind reading, that’s mind writing.” Lucia was alarmed by what she just saw not only the strange little girl but as well the fact that someone on Earth knows this and sure as fuck isn’t going to see this become public knowledge. As the terminal line reappeared on the screen Mathilda felt like she had to say something to. “This shit gets stranger and stranger but it doesn’t answer any questions.”
Claire leaned forward and typed
Yuki-Onna
“We’re glad we found another one but after what we did we’re sure not in the ethics committee range any longer. Her name is Yuki-onna and she’s living in an orphanage near Tokyo. She has exactly the same skill set as Melinda.” Dr. Ali van Ost typed something in the computer. A video started where the small Yuki-onna was given into a room full of crying babies. After a couple of seconds, the other babies calmed down. The next video showed again the kennel and the aggressive dog in it. Yuki-onna stood there, and she was about Melinda’s age three maybe four. A man held her hand, but she did not want to hold his and released her hand. The kennel sprang open and before the dog made a second move towards Yuki-onna he stopped, her eyes wide open. Yuki-onna started to run towards him the dog started to whimper she stopped right before him. The dog’s tail was beneath his belly, but Yuki-onna was not satisfied yet, he tried to escape but something seemed to be in his way slowly he walked into the only direction he seemed to be allowed to go when he started to bite his own foot until blood ran from it. “That’s enough Yuki-onna.” Alastair Grey’s familiar voice spoke. She stopped the dog stopped and for now it seemed like this man was in control of the one in control. Ali van Ost sprang back onto the screen. “Well she has a different approach on problems by now, but she shares the same gift with Melinda, so we’re going to take care of her.” Another time frame picture of the young girl appeared, and it slowly became an incredibly beautiful young Asian woman. White skin, dark hair and beautiful black eyes.
The terminal line appeared in the upper left corner of the monitor. “What now?” Lucia asked lost. “Now we know what we’re up against.” Joseph stated calm, he seemed to have settled down. “We need to get out of here.” Mathilda proposed. “I agree. Gizmo can you download all related files to the two codenames and come along?” Claire commanded decisively. “Yes, I’ll comply.” “Well then I guess we should head back towards Lunar Station and I say we take what we’ve got and hide on the Cetacea while we figure out what to do.” “Sounds like a plan.” As they headed back towards the elevator a red flashlight went on. EVA’s voice was all over the place. “Proximity alert unidentified object approaching.” “Gizmo give us something more specific than that.” “One moment please.” Gizmo shook his head a little and then started to specify as they were already in the elevator. “Two vessels are approaching from Lunar Station, they will reach the far side and will be in radar range in about 16 minutes.” “How can you see them if they can’t see you?” “Satellites, camouflaged satellites.” “Alright guys we have to make haste, this might as well be a coincidence and we’re just in bad luck. Sixteen minutes till radar contact gives us all the time we need if we act now. So, move it people, suit up and let’s go.” Nodding an
d suiting up followed Lucia’s words. When they reached the scouts, Lucia gave her last instructions. “You’re following my lead Claire, stay close and stay low three meters this time, they should never see us.” “Let’s just cover up the entrance or it won’t matter if they see us.” “Alright but we’ve to make a nine G burn for this one just stay out of range. We’ll take the robot with us.” Lucia said as they moved the rocks and moon dust back over the traitorous steel airlock. “Done, let’s move it.” They jumped into the cockpits and strapped in a couple of seconds later the nine G pressed them into the seats so hard the elephant changed place with a blue whale and after ten seconds Joseph and Claire passed out.
Acknowledgments
This first book of mine was not the work of a single person. I decided to create this first book without a publisher therefore I had to go through a lot of unexpected trouble. I managed to overcome all obstacles and setbacks, but I would have had no chance without the help of a dedicated team of proofreaders: my friends.
First of all I want to thank my wife and soulmate Lisa for she said I could do it, and even though I did not believe her, I proved myself wrong. This book would not have the depth and congruency without Julia Mair, who tirelessly pointed out incongruences and mistakes to the point where it became annoying. Another special thanks to Meredith Hanson who didn’t just correct it but pointed out some great ideas and additional improvement. A special thanks goes as well to the cover designer Dietmar Peinsipp who created the most awesome cover an upcoming author can hope for.
I want to thank all my friends and family who repeatedly asked me about the book and claimed they were looking forward to reading it, you guys don’t know how much I needed this to get the job done.