The Power of Gnaris

by Les Bill Gates

  “But this was not a meteorite. The next day, one of the Prehistorics, a man by the name of Mammula, came across a large object on the edge of the prairie whilst hunting krowy. Attached by strong fibres to the top of the object, he discovered a canopy of cloth, what we now know was a parachute. The parachute had arrested the object’s descent when it entered Ziemia’s atmosphere.”

  “It came from another planet?” Forster asked.

  “Yes. The object, which we now call KEO 3, came from a planet known at the time of its launching as Earth.”

  There was a stunned silence in the Oval Office before Forster whistled. “I am from Earth,” he said.

  It was the president’s turn to be excited. “You mean that you are a human being from Earth?”

  “Yes, but I have never heard of KEO 3. Do you know when it left the Earth?”

  “I can tell you the time in Earth years. There were two previous KEO pods launched. KEO 1 was launched in the Earth year 2017, and carried messages from the people of Earth, intended to inform humans of the future when it returned to the Earth fifty thousand years later. It also contained samples of various minerals from the Earth, a drop of blood encased in a diamond, and human DNA. KEO 2, which was launched in 2036, was much more sophisticated. It included a detailed history of the Earth and its human population, with messages from world leaders of the time, and recordings of sounds and images portraying the diversity of life and culture on Earth ”

  “So these were time capsules?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what can you tell me about KEO 3?”

  “KEO 3 was launched from the Earth in 2087. They also sent it on a trajectory that would cause it to return to the Earth after about fifty thousand years, but it seems that either they made a miscalculation, or some massive object such as a black hole must have catapulted it onto a different trajectory. It escaped from its planned orbit and continued through space until it entered this solar system, and by some chance came to land on Ziemia.”

  “What an incredible story. But how do you know this, and how did your people come to develop from the Stone Age to the Technological Age?”

  “That’s the real miracle. KEO 3 arrived with instructions on how to access the information it contained.”

  “But how could a Prehistoric understand those instructions?”

  “The time capsule itself was enclosed in a sphere about a metre in diameter and surrounded by several layers of metal and vacuum, designed to protect it from the extreme temperatures and radiation of space, and accidental collisions with small lumps of matter in the void. Mammula and some others dragged the object back to their cave where an inquisitive Prehistoric accidentally pressed a release button, and the capsule opened into two hemispherical parts. Inside Mammula found a device with buttons.

  “Again by accident, for they had no idea what the curious object might be or how to use it, Mammula pressed one of the buttons that operated a recording device. This began to record the sounds of the voices of Mammula and his friends and family who had shared the exciting discovery with him. The recording was transmitted to a computer inside the capsule that built up a vocabulary and syntax for the language, and a built-in program translated some of the information stored there into the language of the Prehistorics. It gave Mammula precise directions to access all the information contained within the capsule.”

  “Like a message in a bottle.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “When I was a boy on my home planet,” Forster explained, “I used to write a message on a piece of paper and place it inside a bottle. Then I screwed the lid on tightly, and hurled the bottle into the ocean. I hoped that someone on some distant shore would one day find my message. It was just a game.”

  “Yes, I guess it was something like that.”

  “So how did you and your people come to speak English?”

  “The computer taught the language to Mammula and his clan; a necessary progression in order for them to be able to understand all the sophisticated information that they soon came to learn. This was, however, the only fault of KEO 3. I understand that there are more than six thousand languages on Earth. KEO 3 was programmed with some knowledge of other languages from Earth, and had examples of literature in the most important languages, but all the blueprints for replication of civilisation were given in the English language.”

  “And the Prehistorics who gained this knowledge managed to replicate certain parts of twenty-first century Earth?”

  “Not just the twenty-first century. As you already know, there are many different types of people on Ziemia at different stages of development. Some are still Prehistorics; others learned to adopt some of the basic information from KEO 3 and became Ancients; others still live as people did on Earth in the eighteenth century; yet others in the twentieth century. There is a wide diversity.”

  “And what about you, the people who live in the cities?”

  “We were the lucky ones. Mammula’s son, Ben Franklin  that is the name he adopted  carried on the legacy of his father by studying in detail everything contained within the memories of the computers on KEO 3. With the help of others, he learned how to generate electricity, how to assemble a nuclear reactor, how to perform surgical operations, and many other scientific experiments and procedures that you will be well familiar with. Under his instruction, they built cities and the infrastructure that goes with them. He learned how to make an internal combustion engine and the jet engines that are used to fly our aircraft. He even oversaw the building of a space rocket that took the first Ziemians to the larger of the two moons. Ben Franklin was my father.”

  “What about this city, Washington. It is named after the capital city of a former nation on Earth called the United States, is it not?”

  “Yes, KEO 3 gave us a detailed plan of the city of Washington and many images of its buildings and geographical features. We built this city to exactly the same specifications as the original city.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not? KEO 3 provided us with the blueprint for civilisation. We had no reason to omit any of the information it taught us.”

  “Even to the extent of naming yourself after the fifty fifth president of the United States? Why are you not called Franklin like your father?”

  “Franklin was not his real name. He was the son of Mammula, a Prehistoric, and his father gave him a customary name. I also have another name, but I choose not to use it any more. The name Piotr Wojciech Kowalski has a certain ring to it, don’t you agree? I am honoured to have taken on the identity of this illustrious man from Earth’s history. I am now president of this part of Ziemia, which we also call the United States.”

  “Yes,” said Forster. “We even heard you take the oath of office. We received the signal from your satellite. That is one reason why we came to Ziemia.”

  “It must have been very confusing for you to hear that oath.”

  “Was that also recorded on KEO 3’s computer?”

  “Of course. The computer’s audio files contained many speeches made by famous people from Earth’s history, including President Kowalski himself. He was president at the time of the capsule’s launching. One of the recorded speeches was the reciting of the oath of office by the president. It also contained many image files and videos of events from the Earth’s history, and a collection of literature and other books of note, famous works of art, music, sports events, and many other things. KEO 3 contained a complete record of every important event and every famous person who had ever lived on Earth.”

  “How many cities have the Technocrats built?”

  “KEO 3’s computers contained details of twenty of the most famous cities on Earth. These have all been built exactly to the specifications given and in locations as similar as possible to those of the original cities; however, we have also built other cities using far less factual knowledge. They will not be identical to the ones on Earth; neither will their locations. The continents and oceans
on Ziemia are different in size and shape from those on the Earth. Also, of course, the number of cities on Ziemia is at the moment much less. There are vast tracts of land which remain undeveloped, and are still occupied by the less advanced races. One hundred years is not a great deal of time to move from the Stone Age to the Technological Age.”

  Throughout this dialogue between the president and Forster, the latter stopped from time to time to translate for the benefit of Barrow and Lolena, but the Great Savant spoke next.

  “There is urgent business that requires our attention,” he said. “We must get to the city of Jerusalem as quickly as possible. Is it far?”

  “Jerusalem is on a different continent. It is 6,000 miles away, nearly 10,000 kilometres, and you have to cross a vast ocean to get there. You will have to fly. Can you travel in your own spacecraft?”

  “That is not practical,” said Forster. “It would be necessary to attain orbit in the outer atmosphere, and then re-enter. It would use up too much fuel.”

  “Then you must travel by plane.”

  “Do these planes fly from Washington to Jerusalem?”

  “No, not exactly. To get to Jerusalem you have to fly to another modern city named Tel Aviv. Jerusalem itself is not a modern city. Its inhabitants have not attained the Technological Age, but are ruled over by a group of Ancients known as Romans. You must travel overland from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. There are commercial flights from Washington to Tel Aviv, but these will not be necessary. I will make my own plane, Air Force One, available to you. It can be ready to depart tomorrow.”

  “Thank you,” said Barrow. “But how will we get to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv?”

  “It is not far, about fifty miles. I can arrange for a jeep to transport you to a safe distance from the outskirts of Jerusalem. From there you would be advised to travel by camel.”

  “What is a camel?”

  “It is an animal that can be ridden. You sit on its back with one leg on either side, and control its movements with a rope attached to its head.”

  “Is it the same as a horse?” Forster described the animals that had pulled the carriage for his and Lolena’s journey to Washington.

  “No, they are different animals, but they can be ridden like horses. However, they are rather feisty animals.”

  When Forster translated for Lolena, she turned a lighter shade of green.

  “Is there no other way?” she asked.

  “Otherwise, you can walk the last few kilometres,” the president replied.

  “We’ll walk,” said Lolena.

  “Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will arrange accommodation for you for the night in the Queen’s Bedroom and the Lincoln Bedroom. I regret that this time you must share.”

  “We’re just grateful to have a comfortable place to sleep for the night, and a chance to take a bath and eat some food,” said Forster.

  Although the Karavec do not usually eat very much, they appreciated the fine food that the president’s chef prepared for them that evening.

  Barrow slept restlessly, tossing and turning. The distant rumble of a thunder storm and the patter of rain on the glass windows kept him awake until the early hours of the morning. He had just managed to get to sleep when something else disturbed him. He shot bolt upright into a sitting position in his bed. This time it was not the sound of a storm that disturbed him, nor was it a bright light, or a smell, or a bad taste in the mouth. It was the other sense, the one only the Karavec possess; it was his gnaris.

  “What’s wrong?” Forster asked.

  “It’s Leila,” Barrow replied. “She’s reaching out to me with her gnaris. She does not possess the power of the Council members to communicate directly with me, but I can tell that she is very distressed. Something is wrong, I know it is. Leila and the others are in trouble.”

  Chapter 15 – The Massacre

  “The ones you trust the most will betray you.”

   The Book of Karavec (39, 11)

  Leila and her party retraced their steps towards the south-west, following the direction of the source of Barrow’s gnaris.

  They had been walking for more than an hour and were encouraged by the fact that the gnaris was getting stronger.

  When the copse of tree-like plants straddling the stream came into sight, Leila whispered to Kuthrow, “I can sense that Barrow is very close now. He is down by the river.”

  At that moment a group of brown-skinned savages, holding primitive weapons, broke out from the cover of the plants, running wildly towards Leila, and shouting in a strange language. “Bardzo, Bardzo,” they said, followed by a long sentence of guttural sounds. When they saw more Karavec, they shouted once again in excitement, “Bardzo, Bardzo,” and pointed back the way they had come.

  “Bardzo? What can it mean?” asked Kuthrow.

  “It sounds a little like Barrow to me,” said Leila. “Are they trying to tell us that Barrow is down there?”

  “We already know that. We don’t need a group of savages to tell us. No, they must be saying something else in their language.”

  Kuthrow had just finished speaking when the sound of an engine spluttering into life drowned out the savages’ cries.

  “What’s that?” Leila asked. “It sounds like the motor of some primitive kind of vehicle.”

  The savages stopped in their tracks and looked towards the sky. “Bardzo, Bardzo,” they cried again.

  Leila heard a whirring sound, and what appeared to be a giant insect came hovering low over the treetops. The savages waved frantically towards the machine, brandishing the weapons that they carried.

  “Barrow and Elena are inside that flying machine,” Leila said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I can detect Barrow’s gnaris getting weaker again.”

  The helicopter did a u-turn over the canopy of foliage, and sailed off towards the east.

  The savages ran after the vehicle and were soon lost from Leila’s sight.

  “What do you think this means?” Kuthrow asked.

  “It could mean one of two things,” said Leila. “Either the Great Savant and Elena have been captured again, this time by the advanced race here on Ziemia, or they have gone willingly with those who fly the strange machine. The flying vehicle is taking them towards the east. Jesse told Forster that the capital is east of here. Willingly or not, it looks like they are on their way to the city.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “Nothing. I think we should just return to the Gnaris Voyager, and wait.”

  The captain of the guards ordered his men to drink at the stream and to fill up their water bottles for the return walk across the semi-desert to the spacecraft. By this time, the sun had passed its zenith, and he expected that they would reach the ship in the cool of the evening.

  When they came in sight of the craft, Leila’s heart quickened. She looked forward to sleeping in the safety and comfort of the ship.

  Kuthrow pushed past one of his men and hustled up the stairs to the front entrance of the ship. He hammered with his fist on the hatch, giving Sirrow the agreed code for him to open the door. A few moments later, the hatch swung open. An arm grabbed hold of Kuthrow’s neck, dragging him inside the ship.

  “What the ” Kuthrow didn’t have time to complete his sentence before the door slammed shut again.

  When Sergeant Wardrow, Kuthrow’s deputy, saw what had happened, he barked an order to his men to retreat to the safety of the rocks. He grabbed Leila by the arm, almost dragging her with him.

  “What’s happened?” asked Leila, gasping for breath.

  “I wish I knew,” said Wardrow. “Have Sirrow and the four soldiers we left behind been attacked inside our own ship? It seems unlikely. Who or what could have penetrated our defence shields?”

  “There can be no other explanation,” said Leila, “unless ”

  Wardrow looked at Leila in anticipation. “Go on.”

  “Unless Sirrow himself, or one of the others we left behind, is a
traitor; maybe even the perpetrator of those horrible crimes against the Karavec embryos.”

  “Impossible.”

  An anguished cry from one of the soldiers interrupted their dialogue. “Sir, I think you’d better come over here.”

  The interruption irritated Wardrow. “What is it, soldier?”

  “Sir, we have found Karavec blood on the ground behind one of those rocks.”

  Leila and Wardrow raced towards the source of the soldier’s dismay.

  Leila stooped and touched the green fluid, drawing her finger towards her nostrils. “It’s Karavec blood alright,” she confirmed.

  During the following few minutes, the soldiers discovered several more puddles of Karavec blood, but more significantly they found the emaciated bodies of Sirrow, the four soldiers who had stayed behind, and three crew members  the engineer and two cabin staff. Their throats had been cut, and all the blood had been drained from their bodies.

  “This is very serious.” Leila spoke softly and with emotion. “My worst fears are realised. The co-pilot, Joodrow, must be the murderer. It all makes sense now. He is the one who can freely travel between the Karavec planets, and even here to Ziemia to deliver his gruesome cargo. But why? And who on Ziemia has a need for Karavec blood? These questions will only be answered once Barrow knows what’s going on. We must send news to him.”

  “But Barrow is far away in the east. How can we contact him?”

  Leila patted here bald head while she considered their situation.

  “Sergeant, is there any way we can get inside the ship without Joodrow knowing?”

  “No.”

  “Then we will have to think of some way to tempt him to come out. Maybe the sight of so many more potential victims will give him the incentive.”

  At that moment, the ship’s engines burst into life with a loud roar, and the stairs disappeared into the underbelly of the craft.

  “It’s too late doctor. He is taking off, and he’s taking Captain Kuthrow with him.”

  “What possible use could Kuthrow be to him, unless he also wants his blood?”