by Dave Lacey
“Well, of course, that is the real story, what we have been doing in preparation. Amongst other things within the text was a clue to our continued survival. The moon.”
“What, we all move to the moon? Brilliant, that sounds like a smashing plan. Count me in.” Jack laughed.
Lemac frowned. “No, Detective, I'm afraid not. We will not all be moving to the moon. In nineteen sixty-nine, the Americans landed on the moon. Don’t you think it's funny how little we have been there since – just six manned flights in three years? I can assure you, Detective, there have been many more flights than that, so many in fact that we have managed to streamline our whole mechanism for getting people there.
“Our shuttle is far more advanced than the ones NASA has been rolling out for the public’s pleasure for the last few decades.” Lemac leaned forward as if to emphasise his next words. “There are, or at least were at the last count, some one hundred and fifty thousand people living on the moon, and in the next year a further twenty thousand people. People that have been working on the project currently on earth will join them.”
“This is mental. You’re all mental. I need to go now, I'm done with this little spectacle.” He looked around the room, desperate for someone to see sense.
“Detective, please calm down, you are not leaving until I am finished with you. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the moon. People have been travelling there for forty years, travelling there and building, building and growing. You would not believe the facilities we have up there, it really is quite incredible. Man’s ingenuity truly is staggering at times. You know, we are growing plants and vegetables there? We also have livestock, enough to produce dairy produce, eggs and meat for special treats.
“There are seventeen different laboratories working on work-streams as varied as medicines, foods, weaponry and disease. There are three schools and a university. They are currently building a shopping mall, a cinema and a new hospital unit.” Lemac smiled at his news, clearly proud of the achievements reached by the people three hundred thousand miles away. But Jack could only think of one thing.
“What about the other seven billion people that aren’t going to be living on the fucking moon, Lemac? If what you say is true, that our planet will be invaded in a year’s time, what’ll happen to them?” Jack thought he knew the answer already, but still felt obliged to ask.
“Well, they will stay here, of course, what did you think would happen? They obviously cannot all go to the moon, that would be prohibitive. No, they will stay here and take their chances, I'm afraid. What would you do, Jack, what would be your solution?” He looked genuinely interested in Jack’s response. He leaned forward again, resting his chin on his latticed fingers.
“I certainly wouldn’t have created an exclusive society out there in space. What happened to all for one and one for all? If it is true, and it does happen, then I would have everybody make a stand. Together, I would think three or four billion grownups would have a chance against anything that might come our way.” Jack’s eyebrows met his hairline and he shook his head. “When do you plan on telling the rest of the world what you’re telling me now? Why the hell did you decide to go to the moon? How have people not seen this complex when looking through telescopes? Why not stay and fight?”
“So many questions, but we do have some time. We will tell the world next year as the time draws closer. To tell them beforehand would just turn the planet into one large lawless fire pit, a hell on earth. We will tell them, and arm them, and we have made some provisions for the people left behind.” Lemac’s expression was hard to read. “We went for the moon because that’s what the ancient text told us to do. The moon will be our life raft it said, and the reason people do not see it, Jack, is because we are located on the dark side of the moon. The race that is coming is cruel and savage, but not deep thinkers.” He tapped the side of his head with a finger.
“They are a simple but voracious race and only have eyes for the earth and its resources, humans being one of those resources. The idea is that they will simply not know that we are on the dark side of the moon. We can’t just stay and fight, because the text tells us that we cannot win by doing so. But it says that victory can be achieved if a small number of humans leave the earth in order to protect our species and develop a weapon. And before you ask, we don’t know what that weapon is yet. Some of the text was damaged, and even using all of our technology and techniques we were unable to recover its damaged detail.”
“This is too much to take in, Lemac. I still can’t believe it. It just seems too incredible. What provisions have been made? What can we do if they are going to sweep all before them?”
“In most developed countries, there are the usual network of subterranean tunnels, whether it be subway systems, drains or tunnels left over from past wars. For the last twenty-five years, governments from around the globe have carried out works to these networks, expanding them and shoring them up to provide a semi-permanent home for those left behind. They will not accommodate everybody, but they will provide a home for many. There has been a continual programme of work to create nutritious foodstuffs in tins, packets and foil packaging in order to provide supplies for those living underground.
“As a guide, there is around ten years’ worth of food for one hundred million people round the world, in repositories located underground. Along with the food there are medicines, clothing, water and many other items considered useful for survival.” Jack sat open mouthed at this recitation.
“Jack, everything you know, everything you see, will change irrevocably in twelve months time. Our planet and our race will never be the same again. We may survive, but we will never be the same. The codex gave instructions on a great many things. It told us where to build, what to build, what the alien race would be like...and it also talked about you.” Lemac made the announcement, and then stopped. Jack thought he had misheard him. Lemac leaned back in his chair, the muscles at the side of his jaw flexing and relaxing.
“I'm sorry, what?” He cocked his head to one side, better to hear the Frenchman.
“I thought that would get your attention. Your name appears in the document.”
“How? For what reason?”
“Ah, there is the problem. Your name is there, but the rest of the text concerning you is illegible. So, now you understand a little more regarding our inability to...make you disappear? We don’t know why your name is there, we just know that it is, and for that reason you are largely untouchable.”
Jack’s mind was reeled at this news. How and why would his name be in a thousand year old document?
“I see you are struggling with this,” said Lemac. “That is not so surprising, I suppose. I hope that in all of this you can understand a little more of our predicament? We are, by and large, bad men doing very bad things for a very good reason.
“Planet earth will survive this assault. It will continue for a very long time after we are finally gone from it. But as to when we are gone from it, well, that is for us to decide, and as of now you are part of that decision making team. We know, or at least it has been predicted, that at some point in the future the time will come when we will return from our temporary home up there.” Lemac gestured toward the heavens. “And that return will mark the beginning of mankind’s greatest and final battle. We will be rejoined with our earthbound fellows, and together we will stand to rid the earth of a violent rapacious beast that would feast on our very flesh were it given the chance.”
“That’s very poetic, Lemac, but it doesn’t answer my next question. Who gave us the warning?” Jack asked, thrusting out his chin in a defiant gesture.
“It doesn’t tell us exactly, but there are only two possibilities. The first is that the warning was given to us by another race, one that is unable to repel the hoard but advanced enough that they could visit us and tell us of the attack...”
“Are you trying to tell me that this attack has been planned for two thousand years? That’s ridiculous.”
“And the other?” Jack asked, dreading the answer.
“That it was ourselves that gave the warning.” Lemac made this sound very simple and straightforward, belying the physics involved.
“Ourselves? Are you telling me that on top of everything else, we created time travel?” Well, he thought, on a night of surprises this wasn’t too much to believe. He shook his head again, utterly bemused.
“Why not? Is it so hard to believe, Jack?” Lemac looked at him hard, a small frown creasing his brow.
Jack, despite everything that had happened, laughed raucously at this. “I suppose it isn’t, no. It should be though, shouldn’t it? But if we managed to do that, then it means we’ve already won against the interlopers?” It didn’t make sense even as he said it.
“Jack, I am not the man to discuss the vagaries of time travel and the multiple paradoxes that result from it. But, as far as I understand, the future is liquid rather than solid, and the outcome of the next ten years is far from being predestined.” He opened his hands out to signify his ignorance of the subject.
“Why do you think I’m in there, Lemac? You must have an opinion?”
“It has been the subject of much debate, I must admit. Not just in our small world here in London, but also across the Atlantic. There are a number of theories, but the most popular of them is that you are in some way linked with our ultimate survival. Why else would yours be the only name that appears? I must say, I believe you are vital to our cause. It must be the reason for your inclusion. Some think you will be a focal point for those left on earth, and I'm afraid for that reason you will not be ascending to our new home among the stars. The text also talks of the weapon soon after your name is mentioned, which, in my personal opinion, points to your involvement in it somehow.”
“In what way?” Jack asked, shaking his head again.
“Sadly, I do not know. This is all conjecture. Believe me, I would rather you were not so important. It would be much easier for me to deal with all of this if I could just simply remove you both.”
“You’re a charmer, Philippe, you must be a real hit with the ladies. There must be others who know, people from other countries who’ve uncovered the truth?”
“There have been a few over the years. As I said earlier, there has always been a me – my role has been a constant since this all began. I assume you are trying to work out how many people have been killed to protect the secret?” Lemac asked.
“And how many more might be killed in the next year? Isn’t it all a bit arse about face, killing people to save them?”
“How do you think it would pan out if we had told people fifty years ago, Jack? What do you think their reaction would have been? Or if we told them now, with a year left to run?” He looked at Jack with genuine curiosity.
“I don’t know. I imagine we would have taken pains to protect ourselves. We would have found a way to beat them I guess. I don’t know what would happen now, but I imagine there would be long queues wherever you’ve been launching the shuttle from.” He was only half joking.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it. You don’t know, and neither do we. Neither did our predecessors. We are all flying in the dark...”
“Well some seem to know more than others, Philippe. Let’s not get too carried away with the ‘we’re in it all together’ vibe. You know more than they do.”
“Ah, but there’s the rub, so too do you now. You know more than the general public, and what will you do with that information? Will you tell the world, or will you just tell your family and friends? Because, if you did tell the world, what’s to say that you wouldn’t just plunge it into anarchy. What’s to say that the population wouldn’t just eat itself?” Lemac became animated again. He stood up and started pacing.
“Look around you, Jack, the world is on the verge of implosion as we speak. Our violence toward one another is barely suppressed by a judicial system that would be utterly helpless if the people knew the power they really held. Watch any crowd on the news – the mob rules. We cease to think as individual entities, instead becoming a baying pack of dogs, screaming for blood and justice.” He waved his arms about as he walked.
“There are utopian thinkers in this country who would love to see the dissolution of their national police force, who believe the police force is a corrupt, both morally and fiscally speaking, manifestation of the government’s desire to control their populace. Ask those same people if they think we would police ourselves justly, if we would refrain from taking what we want, when we want it. Ask them if we would dole out justice judiciously.” He stood and pointed at Jack with each point.
“Ask them if the people would rule themselves fairly, and they would all tell you yes. But you and I both know that they are wrong. We know that society would become utterly lawless and that people would indeed just take what they wanted if it took their fancy. No, I'm afraid the human race is not capable of being self policing. How many times have you felt the urge to do something, yet only stopped yourself because you feared the consequences?
“The world needs order, Jack, and I do not say this from the standpoint of one who likes to be in control, I say it because I know what the consequences would be if it simply ceased to be. The world needs us, you and I. It needs to know that we are looking out for it even while it sleeps. Would we like to have done things differently? Of course. Do we wish that we had come up with a weapon that could defend us against what is to come? Sure we do, but we don’t know enough about the invaders, and the biggest options, nuclear and chemical, would be just as bad for us as it would be for them.” He took a deep breath, before continuing. “Jack, I believe we have done the right thing. It was what we were advised to do. I truly wish we could have done it all without the need for loss of life, but I see no other way that we could have done it.” He stopped, looking tired and old, in stark contrast to how he had looked when he arrived.
Chapter 53
“That was a pretty convincing speech, Philippe. Almost, but not quite. And, I admit it’s hard for me to sit here and argue with what you’ve said, especially as I agree with some of it. You’re right about the lawlessness bit. People, most people, would be just fine, but the rest...well, they would make it so bad for the rest that they would all be brought down to the same level, base level. But if this had been done fifty years ago... surely we would have adapted, changed our ways? Flawed though we may be, communities have a habit of pulling together when things reach their worst. Think of any war that has ever taken place, anywhere in the world, at any time in history, and there is an almost measurable knitting together of society –
Lemac cut in. “You’re being naive again, Jack. That has not always been the case. There have been many wars that have pitted neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend. You have a point in terms of pulling together. I am sure it would have happened. But do you think we could have managed it for fifty years, and what else would we have done for that time? Would we have stopped producing, building, working, travelling, growing – all of the things that we do now? Would we have simply stopped all of that and tried to ready ourselves for the coming storm?” He held his arms out at his sides, palms facing Jack, shoulders hunched.
“Maybe that’s exactly what we would have done. Maybe that’s exactly what we should be doing anyway. None of the building, working, producing or making money is really necessary, it's all a man made side effect of the human condition. We think we need all these things, but we don’t really. We don’t need plasma TVs or android phones, we don’t need Michelin star restaurants or overpaid footballers. Maybe this is part of the grand design. Maybe it’s how we’re meant to
proceed beyond this point?” Jack’s voice rose in pitch, his frustration evident.
“A good point, but again flawed in many ways. A great deal of man’s evolution has indeed been driven by the desires and by-products of material wealth. But in some of the things you talk about, are they not also driven by our desire to learn or be entertained? To continue to explore and develop as a species? There are many threads of human achievement that are truly altruistic and beneficent. History is wrought with generous spirited pioneers who have created or invented in ways that have furthered our species. Tell me, without this endeavour, how would we have fed, clothed, warmed and healed each other for the last fifty years.” Lemac took his seat again.
“We would’ve told people the truth, and set everybody a role within the future plan. Some would’ve grown, gathered and prepared food, some would’ve been involved in weapons and craft production...”
Lemac laughed at this, clearly highly amused.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked him.
“You seem very young and idealistic all of a sudden. Is that how you really imagine it would have happened, that we would have worked merrily in the fields side by side, steel workers and professionals united by the need to survive? How long do you think we could have kept that up for? What about the ones who refused to work, who decided on an easy life for the next however many years they had left?”
Jack was frustrated now, the amount of time Lemac had known about the subject had armed him with an answer for everything.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Detective. I know the counter arguments only because I have heard the arguments so many times in the past. Many, many, senior officials have debated this subject over the last fifty years, exhausting all possibilities open to us. There is an oversight committee that was set up specifically for this. They meet every two years to ensure that we are still on target and to hear alternative projects to our current one –”