Project Earth I: Origin

by Lidier Fernandez

“Wow, there is a lot we have to talk about,” I say to them.

  “Yes, but we can speak your language when we get out of this lake,” says Jon.

  “What? You also speak English?”

  “Yes!” he answers, “We have been here long enough to pick up your language. There is a lot of technology that still works in this ship. Like I said before, we are able to do many things from in here.”

  “That’s incredible!” I tell him.

  “It is not complicated, but we can ‘talk’ more on your next visit. You should go home. It is getting dark, and Gina and Sarah are expecting you for dinner. We will be here the next time you come—we are not going anywhere,” he says in an effort to be funny.

  “Well, see you guys next time,” I respond as I give them the thumbs-up and start ascending to the surface.

  I run back to the house.

  Chapter 7

  The Wonders of a Discovery

  “A close encounter of the fifth kind, involving direct communication between an extraterrestrial intelligence and a human being,” I think to myself. “No one would believe this—I hope Gina does.”

  I am panting as I get to the house. “Gina, you are not going to believe this!”

  “What? Is everything okay honey?” she asks with concern.

  “Yes! No! I mean...I guess yes and no…the ship in the lake…” I have to pause to catch my breath, “there is life in it—two aliens—friendly ones.” She starts to look at me rather confused, and after another break I continue, “They are alive and… and…we talked!”

  She gets a glass of water, hands it to me in a hurry and tells me, “Okay, I think you are very tired and hungry, Lee. The food is getting cold, by the way.”

  “They even know about you and Sarah!” I get closer to her, grab her head and make her look into my eyes, “Look at me! I am not joking!”

  “Boy, it looks like you are not!” she says, “Okay, but how could there be life in there? How long—”

  “Remember about the spaceships that were destroyed, but one of them was never found, about three months ago—that’s the one!”

  “Okay, but how…how could they still be alive? And how did you talk to them? Did they come out?”

  Gina is intrigued and interested now. I know she believes me and wants me to download all the data to her. After another deep breath I tell her, “Well, I don’t know all the details of how they are still alive after having been shot down and stuck in the lake for three months, but we will find out. I was able to communicate with them by…you are not going to believe this one, but I have to say it—by thought! That’s how we communicated.”

  Gina is even more intrigued now, but wanting to hear more. “Go on,” she says.

  “It was weird…well, it was weird at the beginning, but soon it became second nature to me. Like when you perceive what somebody is going to say, or when you can tell what somebody is thinking. You know what I mean?”

  “Telepathy?” she asks.

  “I guess! We must have been ‘talking’ for half an hour.”

  “Yeah! I was going to grab Sarah to go out and look for you.”

  “I have many questions, Gina, just like you, but the main thing I know about these guys is that they are very able beings. They are not bad, as they were described in the news, and all the crap the media said about them isn’t true. They were on a mission to establish peace and a strong relationship among planets in this part of the galaxy.”

  “Wow! But how come they don’t just get out of the lake if they are so able?” she asks.

  I start roaming around the kitchen looking for some food. “Well, their ship is badly damaged. I am afraid there isn’t much they can do, even if they get out. Maybe they won’t survive outside of the ship—I don’t really know.”

  She hands me the pot containing a soup she had just made. “There is also fresh rice in the rice cooker,” she says.

  “Believe me, I have as many or more questions as you Gina. The thing is…let me show you something…” I sit down next to her at the table, grab the laptop, and pull up an article I remember reading before:

  “Alien Invasion – Could this be our end?”

  “These ships were very technologically advanced and well equipped with weapons and navigation systems.

  We were able to destroy them before they started their attack. Originally, five spaceships were located in the sky. Only four were found and destroyed—the fifth was never found. Drawings describing the spaceships were made based on witnesses descriptions.

  This information was never confirmed, as no one was able to get close enough to record details of any of these vessels. They were destroyed before they hit the ground. The U.S. Air Force collected any remaining debris for safekeeping and further study, and to improve their existing technology. No information with regard to pilots or passengers has been disclosed to the public. This information is strictly classified”.

  “We must help them, Gina. Maybe they can still make it back to where they came from. Their mission was shut down, but at least they can go back home, if we help them. They’ve already lost a member of their team.”

  “What?” she asks in awe. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know honey. I didn’t ask and they didn’t seem rushed, or concerned. They want help with getting out of the lake—of that I am sure.”

  “Well, they probably don’t want to impose by asking you to do more work for them, but I’m sure they can use all the help that they can get!” Gina adds.

  “You’re right, that’s kind of what I thought. Especially when they told me they were so happy to see me, and so thankful for what we are doing. They called me ‘Markus’, by the way. They must have been guessing my name. Tell you what, I am going to take this week off. I will call my boss and tell him that I want to spend more time with you and Sarah. Where is she, by the way?” I get up to look around for the little one.

  “She is in her crib sleeping, so please be quiet,” Gina says.

  “I want to see her—let’s check on her!” I approach the crib and find her fully awake, “Hi Princess! I see you are taking a nap with your eyes wide open. Come with me little one!” I gently pull her up in my arms. “I missed you. I have not seen you for hours.” She smiles.

  We finally go to bed, but hours go by and I can’t fall asleep; countless amounts of thoughts go through my mind. Gina is restless too.

  Chapter 8

  New Plans

  I call my boss the next day and ask him about spending a week with the girls. “It is all good,” he says, “take your time.”

  I get the idea that maybe I can build a rig at the edge of the lake, and then drag the ship out of the water with the tractor. I pull out a sheet of paper and list out all the things that I think I will need to do in order to accomplish my project.

  “I don’t know how much I can get done in a week, but I will do my best,” I say to Gina.

  It’s Sunday. I get up early and start working on the backhoe.

  I found out the carburetor is really messed up. I will need a new one. The hydraulic system is also not working due to a broken valve and some blown seals. I have Gina looking for those parts on eBay while I search the property for some logs. Hopefully I will find enough to build a rig.

  I head to the woods looking for the logs, and by stepping on some I find out that they are old, rotten, and full of termites.

  “There are some more over there, let’s see…” I poke at another two with the machete.

  “Bad, those are bad, too. I am afraid I am going to have to cut down some trees—the last thing I wanted to do, but I have no choice, not when my necessity level is so high.” I kick the old logs with disappointment. Then I sit on one of them and take a sip from my water bottle.

  “I have got to get those guys out of there. I know they don’t seem to be in a hurry, but I have a big responsibility on my shoulders now. I wonder how they live in there? What do they eat? Do they sle
ep? I know one is already dead! Do they still have him there? They obviously do, where else could he be? Anyway, I better go get the chain saw and cut down some trees.”

  I go home to pick up the chain saw and a few other tools, and find Gina doing the laundry while Sarah watches from her bassinet close by.

  “I have to go to the woods and cut down some trees Gina. I need them to build the rig.”

  “What happened to the ones you were planning to use?”

  They are no good, rotten, have termites, just no bueno!”

  “Sorry to hear that,” she says. “I have good news though; I found and ordered the parts you need for the tractor. The only thing is that it will take three days for us to get them. They don’t have overnight service for this area, and even if they did, it’s too expensive.”

  “That’s fine honey. Thanks for doing that. So we will get them on Wednesday?” I ask.

  “Yes. Maybe Tuesday, but don’t count on it.”

  “Well, I guess I will do everything else meanwhile. I can cut down the trees, dig up the holes, and dig around the ship as much as possible. It seems like I keep finding more and more things to do. I think I should go talk to those guys again. Maybe they can come up with something.”

  “That’s a very good idea, Lee. I know you are very persistent and you can carry on with the plan you have, but it doesn’t hurt to ask them, especially if they are as smart and able as you say.”

  “Yes. I think it is a good idea to check with them and to find out how they are doing.”

  “Say hi to them from Sarah and me!”

  “Cool. I will be back in a while. Bye Sarah.” I head back to the lake to talk to Jon and Leo.

  Chapter 9

  My Second Encounter

  I make it to the lake, get my gear on, and prepare to jump in the water. “I don’t feel like vacuuming today. I just want to chat with those guys—exchange some thoughts, that is.”

  I jump in and start to dive towards the ship. I get close to the window, wipe the dirt off with my hand and start to peek inside. “Their lights are not on; maybe they are sleeping…oh good! Now they turned them on!”

  “Hi guys!”

  I greet them and chat with them for 5 minutes. Through the window, they show me a piece of paper with an email address written on it. Jon tells me that they set up an email account so we can chat over the internet. He wants me to go home and log in so we can communicate through an online chat.

  I make it back home in a hurry, take off my dirty shoes, and walk straight to the computer. “Hi girls,” I say to Gina and Sarah who are playing in the living room.

  “That was fast! What happened?” Gina asks.

  “Well, they gave me an email address.”

  “They gave you a what?” she asks surprised.

  “I know, I know what you think, but these guys have no limits when it comes to technology. Let me see if it works.” I type the email address they provided. “It works! That’s them, right there.”

  I start chatting with them:

  Me: Hi Jon!

  “Unreal!” says Gina, as she pulls up a chair and sits next to me in front of the computer.

  “I am glad you are here, Gina, so we can both chat with them.”

  Back at the keyboard I write: Okay Jon, Gina is here, too.

  Jon: Hi Gina. Nice to meet you.

  Me: She says nice to meet you, as well. Can you tell us where you come from?

  Jon: A small planet called Kartagus, located in the outskirts of this galaxy—the Milky Way. Not far from your solar system. Ten thousand light-years, maybe.

  Leo: Let me send you a drawing.

  “Ten thousand light-years?” says Gina, trying to imagine how they could have traveled so far.

  Leo sends us a small map of this galaxy, showing the location of their planet compared to our solar system.

  Jon: Distances are relative to us. Our ships, though small, can travel very fast and far.

  Gina grabs the keyboard and types: And you came all the way from there to establish peace on this side of the galaxy, right?

  Leo: Yes. There have been too many wars and conflicts in this sector of the galaxy, so we were sent on a mission to find out what’s going on.

  Gina: And you were shot down by our weapons? How come you were not able to avoid being hit or fight back?

  Jon: There are two reasons for that. One, our radar was turned off. Reason number two is we only use our weapons when they are really needed.

  Gina: Don’t you think it was much needed this time?

  Jon: Yes, but we have been to this planet many times before, mainly south, near the equator, without any need to have our shields up and radar active. We got too comfortable and did not expect an attack up here in the north. We were actually enjoying the view of the surface of your earth when we were hit.

  I grab the keyboard back and start typing: I guess you did not have time for anything?

  Jon: Not really. As soon as I saw that the other four ships were under attack, I tried to activate our shield and go back south to a safe area but did not get very far.

  Me: Were you hit?

  Jon: Yes! Some sort of laser went through the fuselage before I could activate the shielding system. It damaged part of the navigation system and part of the ship’s main engines. I am sure some other parts were damaged during the crash, too. We only have a generator running. That’s what has kept Leo and me alive. We have disconnected all computers and electronic parts that are malfunctioning, as they take power from the main system.

  Me: Very smart! Can those parts be replaced?

  Jon: We need to check the ship thoroughly when we get it out, and then we’ll see what can be done. I just don’t think we can get the needed parts here on Earth.

  Me: We will help you get the ship out. Leave that up to me and my girls. I don’t know what it will take, but we will get it out! And then we’ll see.

  Jon: Thank you. We like you. You are very positive minded beings.

  Gina: So you have more than one engine, per what you are saying. What kind of fuel or energy do you use to run them?

  Jon: One hydrogen engine, literally, powered by water. And the two plasma engines, which pick up energy from matter. All matter is composed of condensed energy as you may have heard.

  I start typing as soon as I hear the words “energy” and “matter”

  Me: I have heard of plasma engines—the principle behind them is that they utilize ionized particles, accelerated by electric and magnetic fields. Energy is produced that way. Electrons around an atom produce and release energy, which can be picked up by sophisticated equipment. Am I right?

  Jon: That’s right Lee! That’s the principle behind it. We have a problem though; the energy converting unit is not working properly. That’s one of the things that went awry when the ship was attacked. Right now we mainly rely on the energy from our generator, which runs on hydrogen. There is a special unit, dedicated to separate the hydrogen and oxygen from the water and thus we are able to run the generator to produce electricity and oxygen for us to breathe. There is a small opening at the bottom of the ship. We get enough water for the system and for us to drink too.

  Gina types while making faces: So you drink that water too?

  Jon: Yes Gina. It has kept us alive. It’s really good water.

  Gina keeps making faces and then she says to me, “Lake water, that’s gross!”

  Me: It is amazing how your ship works Jon. It can pick up energy from many sources.

  Jon: Well it used to. We only hope it doesn’t stop running all together. We will be in trouble if it does.

  Gina: How much longer can you survive this way? Don’t you need food?

  Jon: We can survive as long as the generator is still working, as it provides us with energy for the system and oxygen to breathe. We had food up until a week ago when we ran out, but it is not a big concern yet. We have very low energy consumptive bodies. We can probably survive anot
her month under these conditions.

  Me: We will get you out of there much earlier than that! What kind of weapons did they use to shoot your ship down?

  Jon: Some type of laser beam. Believe it or not, this planet has very advanced technology when it comes to weapons, which also took us by surprise!

  Me: Probably technology they have been able to copy from spaceships they have captured.

  Jon: Could be. After being here and having done some research, we have been able to find out about many other weapons that have been made, similar to those out there in space. Very impressive!

  Gina gets a hold of the keyboard again: I wish we could impress you with some more creative things than just weapons.

  Jon: I know what you mean Gina. My computer is warning me about someone trying to track our chat, I think is has to do with us talking about weapons, spaceships, and such. It is not safe anymore. Not safe for you.

  Me: Okay but we have so much more to ask you Jon.

  Jon: I understand. I will find another way of doing it some other time. I will send you an email telling you how we can communicate again. So long!

  Me: Bye.

  “Well that was the end of that nice chat,” I say showing much disappointment.

  “That really sucks!” Gina says.

  “We could also ‘Skype’ through the internet, but…no, nothing is safe through the internet these days,” I tell her.

  “I’m sure Jon knows all about the internet. He does so much research. I mean, it seems like he and Leo have a lot of time on their hands,” she says.

  I leave the computer on and check it every ten minutes to see if there is anything from Jon and Leo. We finally receive an email from Jon an hour later:

  Jon: Hi again. We would like you to get a UHF radio. The model is PRO126, made by Motorola. You should be able to get it at Radio Shack. This is an Ultra High Frequency device, a two-way radio. Please set it up to its highest frequency channel and push the talk button a few times. Our receiver is programmed to pick up your signal and will synchronize with it so we can talk.

  Me: Thanks Jon. Well done on finding this solution. I will go out and get it tomorrow morning. Expect us to be transmitting any time after noon.