Project Earth I: Origin

by Lidier Fernandez

  I begin to laugh, and then say, “How do you know I’ve got balls, Leo?” They laugh, too. “Thanks for encouraging me, man. I am willing to take the challenge. I will do anything to make people more aware, and to wake them up to the fact that things are not right the way they are. But also, that we can make changes in this world, and stop being effected by just a few in power who are controlling us. I am sure I will also find many good people backing me up,” I say with certainty, and a positive tone of voice.

  “That’s very kind of you. Very brave, too,” says Jon. “It sounds like a great project,” he adds.

  “Well…thanks guys. I must get going with our current project of building the underground garage. I am sure everything will go fine with the book I gave to Grant. I hope he can publish it soon. I need to start getting money so I can keep building the garage.”

  “Do what you can with the time and money you have,” says Jon. “Also, make sure you spend enough time with Gina and Sarah. We don’t want you to neglect them while trying to help us.”

  “I will keep that in mind. As a matter of fact, I will go out and take a walk with little Sarah and Gina now, and share what we just talked about so we are all on the same page.”

  “Sure buddy. Have fun,” he pauses and then adds with a sad voice, “I wish I could take a walk on the surface of Earth like you do.”

  “I’ll make sure you and Leo will take many walks on the surface of Earth someday. Leave that up to me and my girls.”

  “Poor guys, I am sure they are not having the greatest time down there. I mean, how can they? I would go crazy. I have to get going with this project and get them out of there soon.”

  I place Sarah in a small baby carrier, grab Gina’s hand and we head out towards the open field. We walk around the lake once and notice the smell of fresh flowers all around. Some birds are flying around us, as if they had been waiting to meet us to show us the beauty of flying.

  “There is so much freedom waiting to be attained. And we...we drown ourselves in a glass of water sometimes trying to accomplish small duties. We literally kill ourselves trying to survive.” I chuckle.

  “What is happening?” Gina asks as we follow a path that leads up to a hill where we can see some distant neighboring houses.

  “I was just thinking…” I pause unsure what to say.

  “Freedom! Isn’t it?” she asks. “Freedom is what you are thinking, isn’t it?” she smiles. “Your thoughts are getting louder and louder!”

  “I am going to have to watch it.” We both laugh softly.

  Sarah’s beautiful brown eyes are fully open, she doesn’t want to miss seeing and perceiving all that goes on around us. It’s a beautiful afternoon and I can tell there is going to be a beautiful sunset.

  Towards the end of our walk I brief them about my recent talk with Jon and Leo, and we agree that I have got to get back on the garage project as soon as we return to the house.

  Chapter 15

  Construction Begins

  I had already gotten the parts needed to fix the tractor so I replace the old ones and get it running.

  I take measurements and make some rough calculations of the area to dig, get on the tractor with a big cup of coffee next to the steering wheel, and start digging.

  I begin by making a big trench that defines the area to be dug up. It is located 300 feet away from the house, on a sloped higher area, which is perfect as no one can see it unless they come very close to it. It also has a big slope towards the back, which makes it easier for me to throw some dirt down there.

  “This is going to be more like an underground warehouse.”

  Jon wants me to make it six meters deep. That’s definitely not possible with this tractor, as its shovel only reaches about four meters—13 feet that is. I will do whatever I can with this machine I have and then think of something else.

  “I will rent a big truck and a bigger tractor, a digger or excavator. That’s what I’ll do!”

  “The fun part is going to be building the walls and pouring the concrete floor and roof. There is some engineering involved with that, but I am sure Jon and Leo can give me a hand.”

  The next day, I drive to the company that rents out equipment. I make the rental arrangements for a digger, also called excavator, and a dirt truck, and ask to have them delivered to my house.

  I can dig as deep as I want and move the dirt anywhere I want with those machines. It is going to be really interesting and exciting since I love using heavy equipment.

  The equipment arrives early the next day, a huge excavator and a dirt truck.

  “Hey Gina, what do you think about my new toys?” I ask her.

  “They are huge!”

  “Yep! Now we are talking! Let’s do some major construction, baby,” I voice with major excitement.

  “Right! Make sure you don’t run us over with those things of yours, Mr. Construction!” says Gina as she turns around to head inside the house.

  “I want my coffee rather strong today, please!” I call after her.

  She comes back out with a question, “How did you pay for that, Lee?”

  “I knew you were going to ask,” I mutter.

  “Credit card?”

  “I also knew you had the answer,” I reply.

  She rolls her eyes and goes back inside.

  “I still want some fresh coffee!” I shout.

  I keep looking at the machines and start to tell myself, “I have always wanted to work with really heavy equipment. These guys are making many of my dreams come true. I feel like I have experienced so many things in so little time. I wonder what will happen once they get out of there!”

  “It is going to be such a pleasure seeing them in person or ‘in alien’, I guess. I feel a lot like one of them in many ways. Everything they say is so real to me. The funny thing is, when they tell me, ‘You don’t have to believe what we say or what we believe in’. I can’t help but believe them. It all makes so much sense to me.

  Anyway, I’ve got to get busy. The clock is ticking and every hour is expensive with the equipment I am renting.”

  I start digging and load up the dirt truck. I fill up the truck and empty it five times and it still doesn’t seem like I have done much, so I keep going nonstop.

  Gina approaches around noon, “You should stop for lunch!” she shouts over the noise of the equipment.

  “Hello there!” I respond loudly, while turning off the digger.

  “Wow! You have done a great job!” she says. “It must be hard to load up the dirt truck, get down from the tractor…”

  “It’s a digger or excavator.” I interrupt her.

  “Yeah, whatever you want to call it, and then drive the truck and go back to the digger again and again. How many times have you done it?” she asks.

  “Oh, don’t know…twenty times maybe,” I tell her. “I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s a funny thing, dirt seems to grow as you dig it up. I mean it actually does, as it is not compacted anymore.”

  “No matter what you say, I think you are doing a great job.”

  “Well thanks honey.”

  We head back to the house and sit down at the table to have some lunch. “Hmm, great soup Gina. I didn’t feel hungry at all. I was having such a blast with my toys.”

  “I knew I had to come and get you, otherwise you would starve yourself to death.”

  “True that! I want to give you and Sarah a ride on those machines after lunch. Are you keen?”

  “I guess so,” she says a bit uncertain about climbing up on the digger.

  After lunch, I help them both up into the excavator. Gina is holding on to the handles very tightly with Sarah in a baby carrier on her chest. We have put headphones on the baby to protect her sensitive new ears. They both seem more relaxed after a short while.

  “This is so much fun for me girls!” I tell them as I plunge the digger’s bucket into the ground and grab a full shovel of dirt to
pour it into the dirt truck.

  “I think Sarah is enjoying it as much as you Lee. And like you say, ‘Why not have fun while working’, or is it ‘Why not work while having fun’?” she wonders.

  “Either way is fine,” I smile. “It is just more enjoyable now; we are doing all this for a very good cause, and personally, I think those guys are amazing!”

  “I agree, Lee. I also want to let you know that I really admire you for doing all this work for them even though we don’t know them.”

  “Well, believe you me, I know them and they know us, Gina! We have become part of them and they have become part of us. I know this is not the first time I have worked with them. Remember how I told you the other night that Jon and I talked for hours, and how he believes we have existed for a long time, lived many lives and all that?”

  “Yes, I remember that,” she nods.

  “Well, I had a realization after I finished talking to him. I am sure I met them a long time ago. Part of what made me realize that was their communication. I keep seeing images of some past lives, when I even had a different type of body, like theirs. I know all this may sound crazy to you, but it is not just my imagination,” I tell her with such certainty so as not to leave Gina any room for doubt.

  “Were you very able like them?” was Gina’s next question. “I mean, don’t get me wrong...I know you are a very strong and able person.”

  “I know what you mean and the answer is yes and no. I say yes, because I know I was powerful and no, because I am not sure…or, I can’t remember what I was capable of doing. Do you know what I mean?” I ask.

  “Not sure,” she says.

  “Well, it’s like this, you know you are capable of many things and you feel you have that power within you, but you don’t know how to use it.”

  “I see. It must be an interesting feeling knowing that you were part of them.”

  “It sure is.”

  Gina begins to look more comfortable and seems to actually be enjoying the ride.

  “Even I am starting to like the ride now,” she voices. “It actually feels good to be up here. I can tell this machine is strong and can do so many things.”

  “Yep! It is making our job much easier.”

  “Isn’t it hard to drive?”

  “Not at all. And you don’t really drive it, you operate it.

  “I think it’s amazing. It even has air-conditioning inside…unreal. Don’t you need a license to drive…I mean, operate this thing?”

  “A certification is what you need in order to operate this type of heavy equipment. And if you want to do this as a full-time job, you must prove that you are certified, other than that…I don’t think so. I wasn’t asked at the rental company,” I say to her with smile on my face.

  “I bet you didn’t ask them what the requirements are, either.”

  “You are asking too many questions,” I interrupt her. “Not only that Gina, I know you also have the answers.” I look at her with a mischievous smile on my face. “Let’s go to the dirt truck. I want to show you how that one works.”

  I take them to the dirt truck, which I had just completed filling with dirt. I start driving it towards the mountain of dirt I had already piled up.

  “I am being careful to spread the dirt as much as I can,” I tell them. “Otherwise it is going to be a huge mountain—too obvious.”

  “See…I park here, pull this lever gently and make the bed dump the dirt,” I tell them while making the bed tilt and start to slowly dump the dirt. I also make the hydraulic arm shake the bed a few times, which makes the whole truck shake.

  “Lee! That’s scary!” Gina shouts.

  “My bad!” I say, chuckling. “Well I will take you girls back home and keep at it until it gets dark. I don’t want to bore you nor scare you anymore.”

  “We had fun and got a good idea of what you are going to be doing. Just don’t be too wild with your toys.”

  I start laughing, “You are asking a race horse not to run so fast, or a motocross rider not to jump…”

  “Come on Lee! Stop this thing so Sarah and I can go home. I have a few things to do,” I can tell she has had her fill of the whole thing.

  Once they leave I keep on with the digging, but the sky is getting cloudy and it starts to get dark within a few hours. It’s the kind of darkness that announces rain. And sure enough, fifteen minutes later it starts to pour.

  “It sort of sucks because the rain will slow things down. But then again, it is also kind of cool since we haven’t had rain for a while. I will do as much as I can. I have no time to waste.”

  Half an hour later the dirt truck gets stuck in the mud, and I mean really stuck. The ground is soft and slippery with all the rain, and with me trying so hard to get it going, it tilts to the side and falls into a trench, which scares the hell out of me. As I completely lose control, it is now very close to tipping over. The dirt in the truck is also heavier as it is soaking wet.

  “I should have thought of that! The truck is probably twice as heavy! Let’s see what I can do here….”

  Gina comes running out of the house holding an umbrella and calling, “Lee, are you okay?”

  I shout back to her, “Yes honey, I just…lost control for a minute.”

  “I heard the truck make a lot of noise and running so loudly…and with all this rain…why don’t you come inside?”

  “I will be there soon! Just let me fix something here.”

  “These are the times when a helper could be very useful!”

  All drenched from the rain I climb up into the excavator and use it to unload the dirt truck as much as I can. The excavator has so much power, that I am able to easily pull the truck right out of the ditch and into a safe spot. I cover the trench with a few rocks and some sand, so I will be able to drive the truck back and forth tomorrow.

  “What an adventurous day!”

  I head back to the house.

  “Hi babe.”

  “Oh my! You are quite wet and…dirty. Stay there! Let me get you some towels. I just cleaned the entire floor!” says Gina in a bossy tone of voice.

  She throws me a couple of towels to clean myself so I don’t make a mess on my way to the shower.

  I finish my shower, and as I come out naked I can smell freshly brewed coffee.

  “Now we are talking!” I grab the cup that Gina had purposely placed next to the coffee maker and fill it up. “Thanks sweetie. I am going to check on Jon and Leo while I enjoy my coffee”. I give her a friendly little spank on the butt as I pass by.

  She turns around and spanks me back. “At least get some shorts and a T-shirt on, Mr. Greek Statue,” she says, still with a bossy ring to her voice.

  “Don’t you worry about a thing! Jon and Leo won’t be able to tell I’m naked,” I joke.

  She shakes her head.

  Chapter 16

  A New Reality

  I turn the radio on and start to talk to the guys, “Hello! Jon, Leo, are you there?”

  “Yes, it’s Jon here. Where else would we be?”

  “Right! Well…do you ever sleep, rest, nap, anything?” I ask.

  “Normally not, but down here we have been getting used to taking naps, just like you. We take a nap for a few hours every day to save energy.”

  “Amazing! I wish I did not have to sleep. I could get so much more done.”

  “I know what you mean. Sorry the rain slowed you down today,” he comments.

  “Yes, but I made good progress. It turned out to be a very adventurous day for me. I really love doing that kind of work.”

  “I could tell you were enjoying it. Gina and Sarah had some fun, too.”

  “They did. So you are able to see what is happening outside?” I ask very interested.

  “See, hear, and other perceptions,” he replies.

  “So, you can see and hear everything we do or say?”

  “We could, but we also respect your space.
We don’t just go around checking on others. We follow a strict code of ethics when being around others,” Jon responds.

  “Cool! I really like talking to you and Leo! I feel like this is not the first time we have been close, you know. I don’t even wonder if what you are saying is true. I just know it is true. It becomes true to me anyhow. I feel like I met you before Jon. I was telling Gina and—”

  Jon interrupts, “It wasn’t too long ago, about 200 Earth years ago. You and I were part of a big group, doing similar work to what we are doing now…”

  “And what happened?”

  “You were captured by the enemy, who must have rendered you unconscious before you were able to realize who and where you were. Then we assume they put you in some sort of machine to keep you in a state of amnesia for some time. We know they also tried to get information about our operations and our Base.”

  “Maybe that explains the headaches I get sometimes,” I tell him. “Do you think I gave any information about you or the Base?”

  “We have very strong reasons to believe that you did. Our Base was under attack soon after you were captured. They destroyed many of our ships and caused major damage to the Base. We fought back and defeated them. We also found one of their Bases and destroyed it. But they still come around from time to time looking for trouble, as they own other Bases around our galaxy. They are still one of our main enemies. After all that happened we started bigger projects, designed to establish more peace in the universe,” Jon ends.

  “I feel really bad for what I did, Jon. I am so sorry,” I tell him, feeling very miserable.

  “It is all over, Lee. It is now in the past. We all have to move on and continue to be the best we can be in life,” he says in a calm voice.

  “Thanks. That makes me feel a little bit better, nevertheless, I still feel miserable…”

  “Like I said, no hard feelings. We now have to work thinking in our future, don’t worry about the past.”

  “Well, you can be sure I’ve got my mind set on the future, but I also want to take some responsibility for what I did. Do you think I would ever be allowed to visit the Base again?”

  “I can’t answer that question,” he says calmly. He pauses and then continues, “Most of the time, beings like you have to go through a long rehabilitation process before they can ever go back to the Base. They must show that they are more ethical and capable than before. I can tell you one thing though, they know we found you, and they know what a great job you are doing!”