Project Earth I: Origin

by Lidier Fernandez

  “We know it will take some time, and we are not in too much of a hurry; not as long as we have oxygen down here. We don’t want to put pressure on you, either. You already have a job and a family to take care, and that comes first.”

  “I wish I could use one of those strong decisions you talk about,” I say to him, “and make lots of money so I don’t have to go to work and I could just stay here to help you guys out full-time.”

  “Well it looks like you just decided. It is like wanting anything else, Lee. You just have to want something really bad and you’ll get it. Anytime you set your mind to something, feel the passion for it, are able to see it as done, and feel like you already have it, then you can achieve it,” says Jon with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.

  “Okay, I am getting the picture,” I respond. “I will work on it. Is there a way you can also help others make their dreams come true? Like…us.”

  “We sure can, but you have your own universe and it is up to you to make things happen in it. You’ve got the most power within you. You are the cause point of what happens around you! Others can affect your space and what happens in it, too. But no one can do it to the degree you can. Like I said, it is your own universe. You cause the things that happen around you.”

  “That’s definitely a new level of thinking,” I think to myself.

  Gina and I look at each other. I can tell she is thinking the same thing.

  “Well, that’s an interesting new concept for us. That in itself gives me more self-confidence. I always felt I could do many things and I have actually achieved a lot of my goals. Now I have a better understanding of how that works,” I say. Gina nods.

  “It is a bit like magic,” Gina says, “That’s the way I look at it. You command things in the physical universe and they just happen. You just have to have enough intention that something will happen and it does.”

  “I think you both got it,” Jon asserts.

  “I’ve definitely got it Jon. So that’s done! Soon I will be working with you guys full-time. I will start building that underground garage, just like you want it. I love garages, by the way. You can ask Gina about it.”

  Gina rolls her eyes, “He would live in a garage if he could. As a matter of fact, he did live in a garage once, next to his car and tool box. That’s when I first met him. I was a bit confused, but I dated him for a while anyway and convinced him to move back to his room.”

  I chuckle while playing with Gina’s hair. “There is so much you can build in a garage, so many things to create with; mechanics, electronic toys, all kinds of gadgets.”

  “I have to admit he is good with mechanics and building electronic gadgets, but you didn’t have to live there!”

  “Sorry about our childish discussion Jon.”

  “No worries,” he replies.

  “I will get all the needed resources to build that garage, but we still have to figure out how to get the ship out of the lake. That concerns us a lot!” I tell him.

  “I understand your concern,” Jon acknowledges, “but moving the ship will be the very last thing we do, because it can’t be exposed for too long, remember? They can track our location in less than a minute. We would be finished, if they find us. We will let you know in due time what our plan is to move it into the garage once everything is ready,” he says.

  “I will keep that in mind. We will just concentrate on building the garage,” I say to him, feeling that everything is going to be just fine.

  I turn to Gina, “It’s kind of crazy how fast we make and change plans around here, isn’t it?”

  “I definitely think it is.” She smiles and nods.

  “It is what it is,” says Jon. “It is also an ability to be able to change ideas, plans, or decisions rapidly. You guys are on it! There might be other times in the future when we need to change plans rapidly, so be prepared.”

  “No worries. We’ll be prepared. Now, what is your plan after we get the ship out? Do you plan to fix it?” Gina asks.

  “Yes,” says Jon. “We already have a good idea of the parts that need to be replaced. But once we get it inside the garage we will be able to assess the damages in detail.”

  “And then what?” I ask. “How are we going to get the parts? Not even NASA has them, and even if they did…” I pause, “How could we get them? Would I go and ask, ‘Excuse me guys, I am hiding some aliens in my house and they need some parts to repair their ship so they can go back home. Can you help us out?’”

  “Very funny,” says Jon. “We are aware the parts can’t be found here on Earth. They will come from our Base. A ship will come down here and deliver them to us.”

  “Wow! But, aren’t they afraid of being destroyed or getting shot down by our people? Just like what happened with you?” Gina asks.

  “Well, it will be safer this time, because they know about your weapons, so they will be protected and will use the non-detection mode. Their ship will be a newer model too,” says Leo

  “So they will be coming here to deliver the parts to fix your ship?” Gina asks.

  “Yes! They will be coming to your garage.”

  “How cool is that, Lee?”

  “I think it is amazingly cool. I have one question, guys. Why don’t they just come, pick you up, and leave the wrecked ship here?”

  “I was waiting for that question Lee. There are two reasons for that: one, we plan to continue our mission, and reason number two, we can’t let others take possession of the remains of this ship, even if it doesn’t work. It is our technology—nothing personal, you know. It is part of our policy to safeguard our technology.”

  “I see. How big is the ship that will bring the parts? Will it fit in the garage?”

  “No. The one that will come is twice as big as this one.”

  “Is that the biggest model of spaceship you have?” Gina asks.

  Jon chuckles, “Definitely not. The biggest ones are about thirty times the size of this one. There are 50 of them. They are able to carry several of these smaller models out into space to accomplish various tasks; very long trips into space and even across the whole galaxy.”

  “Across the entire galaxy!” I say, looking at Gina, “Can you imagine babe, traveling that far. It must take years!”

  “You will be even more amazed by how fast they can travel. It only takes a few days to get across the Milky Way,” says Jon.

  “But the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. Mind blowing, can’t think with that, Jon. I do believe you, though,” I voice, still puzzled about what he is telling us. “What kind of tasks do you do there? May I ask?”

  “Yes, you may. Some go out to find new sources of energy and survey for new materials with which to expand our Base. Others are used for collecting ‘space trash’—things others leave floating out in space, even wrecks from other ships. There are a few that are on watch for meteors flying loose and causing trouble or being a liability to our Base or others. And of course those like us, the ‘Peace Makers’.”

  “Don’t you have an Army or some kind of Navy to protect your Base and fight against others?” I ask.

  “No, we don’t specialize in warfare. Most of us are trained to fight if needed, and our ships are well equipped with weapons, but with the sole purpose of protecting our Base, our ships, and ourselves.”

  “Wow!” says Gina. “We have so much to learn from you. It seems to me like things work the other way around here. We have armies fighting wars among our own people. We don’t even get attacks from outer space, imagine if we did!”

  “I think the problem is that…we don’t have enough problems, so we go around looking for them. It is as if we have a lack of games to play.”

  “You are both right,” says Jon. “We can talk more about this in the future; war is a big subject. I’m sure we can come up with ideas that will bring about a change on this planet. It is not the first time we’ve gone through this.”

  “It’s a relief to hear that,” Gina comments. />
  “Hold on guys,” I say, “I am getting a phone call from my boss…can we call you in a few minutes?”

  “Sure, take your time,” he replies.

  Chapter 13

  Part Fired - Part Hired

  I pick up the phone to talk to my boss, “How can I help you, boss?

  “Hi Lee. I know you are trying to spend time with your family, but I wanted to talk to you about something very important. As you have seen, our company is going through a rough time, probably the worst since it came into existence. I had no choice but to let two other employees go yesterday, Bruce and Trish, from the Shipping Department. I am fully aware that you have a family to care for, and I don’t want to let you go, but wanted to know if you are willing to continue on a part-time basis instead of full-time. At least until things get better financially. What do you think?”

  “Well, I really appreciate your concern. I am willing to do it. I’ll be back on Monday. Is it okay with you if I do the morning shift?”

  “Morning is good. Thank you very much Lee. Enjoy the weekend.”

  “At this point I can’t tell if this is all part of my decision or if it is just misfortune. But it can’t be something bad. I feel that there is no way things can go wrong now,” I say to myself. “But wait a minute, more time is what I was asking for, more time to be here and help my new friends…”

  I shout to Gina in the kitchen, “I just got half fired!”

  “You got what?” Gina exclaims as she comes running back to me.

  “Maybe half hired,” I say.

  I brief Gina about my short talk with my boss and we are both speechless.

  “I kind of saw that coming,” she says. “I think these guys are having a really big influence on us and are making things happen much faster around us. After hearing what they can do and seeing that they have been able to survive in there for such a long time. I just think they are extremely capable,” she concludes. “My only concern is…how are we going to survive with half your salary? I am sorry, but I just get concerned about money, our future—”

  “I know you do babe,” I say to her.

  She goes on, “We just had a baby and we don’t even have savings.”

  “I know exactly how you feel about it, Gina. You are just doing your job of keeping the family safe and thinking about our future. And I’m just doing my job, maybe being too risky and daring, which is just how I am, but more than anything, I believe that we will make it; I just know it. I decided we are going to have an adventurous and successful future, and I truly believe we are causing all these changes, even though sometimes they don’t seem to make sense. We’ve just got to find other ways to make more money—any ideas?”

  “I’m not sure,” she says. “I think if we had other ways of making money we would have taken advantage of them already.”

  “That’s not true! There are always new opportunities. The world is constantly growing and changing, and so are the opportunities. We just have to look a little harder. Let’s take a look at our possibilities as of right now. There has got to be something! We are now more positively minded than ever before!” I start to get a little bit irritated, but excited at the same time, “We are very able beings!”

  She looks at me while I pace around the living room and reminds me of some of my past projects and ideas: “You wanted to do art, painting that is, but that didn’t go so well. You started playing the guitar in the hopes becoming a musician. That did not work out either. Then you started writing a book, wrote twenty five pages and decided it was taking too much of your time, the subject was boring and…”

  “That’s it!” I say with excitement and stop pacing.

  “What?” she asks.

  “Writing! I can do it now!” I get even more excited. “I can write a book now! I have the time, part-time that is. I’ve also got a great story—more than one.”

  “You got time all right. What’s the subject this time Lee? Aliens and spaceships?”

  “Exactly!” I exclaim.

  “No one is going to believe it,” she adds.

  “Who cares? You don’t write for people to believe what you write. It would be Science Fiction, anyway. I want to make people think, get their imagination to fly. That’s what I like when I read a good book. I love it when they make me feel that I am living various experiences and perceiving emotions. This might sound a bit naive, but one book I read even made me cry. I couldn’t believe it. Others have made me laugh. Anyway, I can make it seem very real. I can get some stories from those guys. I am sure they can help me out. They can tell me space stories and experiences, which can be really exciting because they actually happened!” I conclude with major excitement.

  “It sounds very doable,” says Gina. I can tell she really understood my concept now. “You’ll just have to make sure you transmit their experiences in such a way that people can actually digest them.”

  “I know, but knowing these guys...I am sure they are aware of how to do it. I will talk to them and see what they think about it.”

  “You should get started right away then. We also need to find a way of publishing the book—”

  “Grant! My buddy from New Zealand, always told me to finish writing the book I was in the middle of and said he would publish it for me. I think he is still waiting. Let me call Jon and Leo to share some ideas with them.”

  I call Jon and Leo and tell them how I got “half fired”, and about my idea to start writing. They think it’s brilliant and are totally willing to back me up, especially if it has to do with space stories.

  Leo tells me: “Writing is an art through which you express feelings, ideas, and knowledge”.

  They make me more confident, not only about writing a book, but also about believing in myself.

  Jon says, “If you have a good feeling about it, if you think it can benefit others in any way, even by just making their imagination fly, do it…just do it!”

  “I think this advice is pretty cool, as it’s exactly what I had been talking to Gina about earlier. I wonder if they heard me. Maybe they were around.”

  I spend the following two weeks collecting stories from Jon and Leo on a part-time basis, creating my own content, and putting it all together. Upon completion of the story I get Gina’s help with editing by correcting grammar and spelling mistakes.

  Finally, I find the phone number of my publisher friend Grant, and give him a ring. He picks up right away.

  “Hey Grant, Lee here.”

  He replies, with a strong Kiwi accent, like a true New Zealander. “What up, mate? Haven’t heard from you, about your book or anything, bro. I wanted to make your book the next bestseller!” he jokes. We both laugh.

  “Well, I finally finished a book.”

  “Cool, send it to me so I can check it out,” he says. “Don’t have much to do now, so it’s a good time. I can’t wait to read all the stories you told me you were going to write about your life!”

  “Well, this book is kind of different, Grant. I mean, I still want to write some of the stories about my life, but I came up with some other ideas. I’ve got some really exciting stuff man.”

  I feel like telling Grant more about my book and have to hold myself back. It’s best if he just reads it. But I tell him, “This is a real science fiction book. Let me email it to you right now, and please let me know what you think! By the way, I added some pictures to it. I think they give people more reality, something to think with.”

  “That’s awesome man! Sounds exciting. We’ll talk soon.”

  “I like Grant. He is a very simple and honest guy. He will let me know if the book is worth publishing. I’m confident it is.”

  Chapter 14

  Making Key Decisions

  After my call with Grant I hear the crackle of the radio.

  “That’s either Jon or Leo calling…” I tell Gina, who is preparing food in the kitchen. “Hello?”

  “It’s Jon here. Just wanted to check, if y
ou had sent the book to your friend?”

  “Yes, I just emailed it to him. He is very excited about it, and will let me know as soon as he’s done reading it.”

  “I am sure he will like it!”

  “Thanks! You and Leo did most of the work. I really appreciate your help and support with it.”

  “It is our pleasure. We will do whatever we can to help you out. We want to help you increase your power so that you achieve your goals and you won’t have to be concerned about money. We are definitely aware of the fact that you are working on helping us. We are a team,” he adds.

  “Yes, unfortunately money is always a concern for us. I’ve got to work things out so we can go ahead with our project without having to pay too much attention to the financial aspect of things. I don’t intend to get rich. I just want to make enough money to help you, and to move on in life.”

  “I’m sure everything will be just fine.”

  “I‘m telling you, Jon, one day I am going to write and publish a book regarding some of the things we talk about—our abilities, communication, drugs, and many other subjects. There are so many things people have got to become aware of,” I assert.

  “That’s a great idea. You can write about all these things. Just make sure you always respect religious freedom and human rights. Also, bear in mind that you could find opposition and even be attacked by some whose ideas are different regarding some subjects,” he advises.

  “But attacked by whom? We have freedom of expression here!” I say with surprise.

  “Freedom of expression is a right, and those who feel attacked by your ideas, also exert freedom of action. There are some people with lots of power who are responsible for all kinds of bad actions. The moment they feel threatened by those who are making the world more aware of their bad deeds, they may come looking for you or anyone else involved. They are always looking for targets. You’ve just got to be aware of that, that’s all,” he says.

  Leo, who has been listening to our conversation, gets on the radio and adds to what Jon just said, “Anybody wanting to write about these things and make the world more aware, has got to have balls to do it, Lee. I know you do!”