She stood as a golden statue before him, her exposed shoulder turned against him. He grabbed her left breast and held it. It was firm in his hand. Dagmar did not move a muscle when he increased the pressure. When he noticed the pain affecting her, he smiled to himself.
He had always known that to reach the pinnacle of society, he needed a wife. But not any wife. He needed an exquisite specimen. He had gone through his fair share of women in his youth, but no one seemed to live up to his expectations. Sometimes a woman showed real promise but it the end, there was always something they had done that made him discard her.
But with Dagmar, it had been different. He had been at a meeting the manager of the local bank and when he was walked out, he had bumped into a woman heading in.
He had lost his footing and had almost fallen but had been able to stop his fall by clinging to the door frame. He turned to scold the woman who had almost made him endure an embarrassing fall but when he did so, it was like time stopped.
The woman in front of him was the most exquisite creature he had ever seen. Her golden hair radiated in the sun’s rays that came in through the high-placed windows in the hallway. A kaleidoscope of colors hit him when she moved. He tried to speak but no words left his mouth. A violent urge of lust and need welled up within and he knew that he had to have this woman. And so, it had become. Three months after they first met, they had married. For him, another piece in his large, complicate puzzle of life had been placed. And now, with the help of his deceased father, god bless his soul, he had gotten two more pieces. And the third, he would get himself.
Castle Mountain, Canada
March 14, 2049
The darkness in front of them was as an infinite, black abyss. Dr. Lisa King stared into the darkness and tried to find a shadow or contour that would reveal its insides, but she saw nothing. She leaned forward and felt her face prickle when the moist, cold air rushed out from the cave. The chilly air from the cave mixed with the cool Canadian air from the wilderness and she shivered. It was morning, but she had been sleeping badly the past few days and she had to steady herself by leaning on the cold stone wall. A wave of nausea rolled through her. The gravel beneath her boots groaned when she moved. She turned around when she heard a voice behind her.
“Are you ok?”
Tim Pedersen’s handsome face was looking at her. She smiled.
”Yes, I’m fine.”
Lisa was an archeologist and gotten her Ph.D. studying the early middle-American culture. The past week though had she spent in an unusual place, the cold, desolate plains of the Canadian wilderness. Tim walked up to her and took her in his arms. His embrace was comforting, and she enjoyed the quiet warmth when he held her.
“You’ve got to be careful. The doctor said that the pregnancy would take its toll on you.”
She nodded and gently stroked back a lock of hair from Tim’s forehead.
“Yes, I know I need to take it easy. But it would be so nice to get through this excavation and then go back home to relax.”
She was almost halfway through her pregnancy and soon her doctor would not allow her to participate in active excavations. But given the extraordinary circumstances and the chain of events that had unfolded the past few months, the usual rules had been kind of set aside. It was not more than three months ago that what humanity for ages dreamed of, finally came through. Contact with an intelligent, alien species had been established.
It was still fresh, and the world was still adapting to the new situation but the intelligent spheres that had made contact seemed to have come to stay. What their purpose was not entirely clear but as far as anyone knew, they had come in peace. A few nervous military commanders around the world had feared that the spheres had been some sort of advance troop movement before an imminent alien invasion but so far, no actual military response had been activated.
And as the days went by, communication between the spheres and humans steadily continued to improve. As far as Lisa knew, there were now seven different locations around the world where humans had direct contact with the spheres.
“What are you two lovebirds up to?”
Lisa and Tim turned around and saw Dr. Sonja Rai walking towards them on the narrow, gravel-covered path. Sonja was just over forty years old, tall, and thin and behind her dark eyes was a sharp intellect. She wore the same kind of bright, orange coveralls that Lisa wore. She glanced over to the cave opening.
“Having second thoughts?”
Tim chuckled.
”Not at all. But it’s not safe to send Lisa down in the first team. She ought to wait until it has been cleared before going in.”
Lisa spun around with fire in her eyes.
“Who are you to decide that?” her eyes firmly fixed on Tim, “I can decide I’ll go into the cave or not, thank you very much.”
Sonja smiled uneasily, unsure if she should respond or not. It was the first time Sonja had a pregnant woman on an excavation. And to top it all off, the pregnant woman’s boyfriend was also on the excavation. She sighed, she had enough to worry about without getting involved in some silly lover’s quarrel.
Tim did not give up.
“It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry but it is just not safe if you were to go into the type of cave. It’s just not safe.” He paused, “Let me and Sonja do the initial survey of the cave. When we have gotten some lights and lines in place, then you can come down. Ok?”
Lisa glared at him. She was still annoyed over his blatant attempt to decide if she was strong enough to go down into the cave. Sonja cleared her throat.
“Doesn’t sound too bad to me. Once I and Tim have secured the area, you can join us”, she glanced towards Lisa’s growing belly, “It’s probably not the best idea to expose your baby to unnecessary risks.”
Some of Lisa’s resentment drained away when she realized that they were right.
“No, you’re right, it’s probably best I sit this one out.”
Tim looked quizzically at her. He did not see any sarcasm in her face, nodded contently and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“It’s the right decision.”
Lisa’s eyes flashed.
”You’re not of the hook yet, mister.” She had no intentions what so ever to going along with their proposal, but she kept quiet and smiled at both.
***
A while later, silence surrounded her, and she was alone with her thought. Lisa sat on a cold, wobbly, plastic chair and lazily watched the portable holographic viewer on the table in front of her. The trampled earth floor in the tent was flat enough not to make the table sway.
The holographic viewer was activated and waiting for the transmission to start. She thought of the last week’s events. Arik Zimki had contacted her and given her a proposal that she could not refuse. Arik had requested that she and Tim would participate in an excavation near Castle Mountain in Canada.
This time of the year, the biting cold had still enough fury in it to make her shiver. She reached for the remote and activated an infrared heater that hung from the roof. Soon it glowed red and she felt a bit more comfortable.
She and Tim had after the discovery of the spheres in Costa Rica stayed there and together with the authorities continued to research them. It was not more than a month ago that she had made a doctor’s appointment to confirm what she already suspected, she was pregnant. Tim had been overjoyed and she felt a sliver of hope for the future that she had not felt for a long period of time.
The holographic viewer beeped, and Lisa was jolted from her daydreaming. A shape of a face began to form above the small, metallic arms that protruded from the viewer. The bald forehead of Arik Zimki glittered in the air in front of her. His trimmed goatee made him remained her of Napoleon. ,
”Hello, Lisa. How are you?” his lisp could not pronounce the letter r.
Lisa beamed at him.
“Fine, thanks. What about you?”
A wide smile stretched across his face.
“Excellent, ex
cellent. I’m so grateful that you and Tim could be on site to help Sonja. Sonja is a very competent excavation leader, but I know that your expertise will come handy here.”
”I’m still not all too clear on what type of assistance you expect that we can provide. Sure, we were there in Costa Rica when one of the spheres was discovered but given the time passed, we don’t really have access to any more information that you do.”
Arik was quiet for a few seconds.
“You’ve had actual, direct interaction with the spheres and in that regards, you are part of a very exclusive club of people. Even now, it is not more than a few hundred people that have had direct contact with them, so I am convinced that you are well worth the money.”
She nodded and thought on the more than generous, economic compensation that had been promised them. And as they had already received half of the funds, she felt that she had a responsivity to provide some value for all that money. Arik turned his head and said something that she did not hear. He turned back to Lisa.
“Any news to report?
“No, not for the moment. Tim and Sonja are on the way down into the third cave system. They left about an hour ago and I expect them back not too long from now.”
”How does the third system look like?”
She weighed her answer.
“Hard to say, we’re only had time for a few initial analyses, but it certainly looks promising. It looks like the first part of it stretches at least fifty meters in.”
“Excellent, excellent.”
Lisa tried to look unsurprised.
“Is that in line with your prognosis?”
Arik looked down and seemed to read something. He nodded thoughtfully.
“Yes, it seems to add up quite well actually.”
Lisa thought about pressuring Arik for more information. Everything had gone so well the past week, which it was only now when she could go through the week’s event in peace and quiet that she had noticed that some pieces of the puzzled seemed to be missing.
”May I ask a slightly inappropriate question?”
Arik raised an eyebrow. Lisa swallowed when she searched for any clue that he was lying to her. She did not see anything.
“Yes?”
She took a deep breath and said with a slightly louder voice than she wanted.
“It seems that we don’t’ have all the information available. It’s always risky to explore new cave systems and when doing so, one needs to have all possible information available to make it a safe exploration.”
Arik did not respond immediately. A couple of seconds passed when his face broke into a smile.
“I see”, he paused, “I’m sorry that I maybe not have had been completely frank with you from the start. There might be some information that hasn’t made its way to you yet.”
A seed of seething anger mixed with indignation within Lisa. She regarded him coolly.
“What kind of information?”
Arik shifted.
“According to some of the classified documents we have been able to access, there seems to be different factions or groups within the spheres. It’s now always the case that they agree on everything, and when that happens, there is a communication exchange taking place that we at this point in time do not fully understand. There seems to be a sort of voting process, where each sphere casts its vote on the matter being discussed. In that sense, they resemble humans. If one sphere encounters a situation where it needs the advice of the other spheres, the first sphere will collect as much information about the situation as possible and then pass it on to the others for further analysis.”
She frowned. She knew that there was still a lot they did not know about the spheres, but something like this she had not expected.
“How democratic. How do they communicate?”
Now it was Arik who frowned.
“We don’t know yet, but we suspect that it is a kind of communication that is based on entanglement a quantum level.”
Lisa leaned forward.
”What’s that?”
“Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon that is not fully understood yet. The principle for it is on the other hand quite straight-forward. It means that if two particles are entangled, then changes in the state of one particle is instantaneously reflected in the other, regardless of the distance. According to the laws of nature, nothing can move faster than light but, in these cases, it seems that information is doing just that.”
Lisa chuckled.
”That sounds fantastic, like some science-fiction thing.”
”It is, and it’s only one of the many facets that we are beginning to understand about the spheres. In the last month alone, we’ve been able to identify several different factions within the spheres. And we’re also beginning to understand what actually differentiates them.”
“What are the differences?”
Arik stroked his goatee as he continued.
“So far, we think that some of them want to take a more active part in the evolution of humanity and what the others want. Most of them seem to belong to the faction that wants to limit their involvement as much as possible and that the interaction established between the spheres and humanity at the seven locations around the world is quite enough.”
Lisa considered what Arik just said.
”And the other faction?”
”It looks like they want to take a more active part in the cooperation with them and us.”
The tent seemed a bit colder and she shivered. She glanced up at the infrared radiator that glowed red.
“I wonder which of them is winning.”
Arik’s glittering face smiled at her.
”That’s the ten-thousand-dollar question, isn’t’ it? However, it seems that all spheres are aware of a secret that encompasses our entire solar system.”
She flinched.
”What secret?”
Once again, he thoughtfully stroked his goatee.
”It sounds pretty amazing, but if there is the slightest chance that it’s true, we need to do everything we can do investigate it.”
“But what’s the secret?”
He hesitated before continuing.
“It seems that there is a chance of life not only on earth but on all other planets and moons in our solar system.”
She stared at him and first thought he was joking but soon realized that he was not.
“How’s that even possible? Life on Mars, or the Moon? That’s just ridiculous.”
Arik smiled.
“Even so. It might be so that something is hidden on all the major celestial bodies that are waiting for someone to push start.”
She gasped when she realized that he was serious.
***
The darkness and the cold enclosed them. Sonja and Tim carefully made their way down the shadowy cave. Their progress was slow because of the mix of sand, gravel and lose rocks. At even spaces, Tim took out a small, air-powered gun and shot in a metal ring that he attached the long rope that he and Sonja carried. Sonja was right behind him and attached miniaturized LED-spotlights in the ceiling as they pushed deeper and deeper in the cave. The ceiling was high enough for them not to bend down when they made their way, but still low enough for Sonja to reach. The rocky walls were jagged and provided ample places for them to grab hold of. The weak trickle of water echoed, and Tim felt his fingers get wet as he grabbed hold of a small ledge. After about ten minutes they reached a point in the tunnel where it bent. He stopped, and Sonja came up beside him.
“How does it look?”
He took a deep breath.
”Pretty darn good”, and exhaled, “I can feel a faint draft, you feel it?” he pointed into the dark. She tilted her head and noticed the weak movement of air. Sonja put down her rucksack and pulled out a tablet. The fluorescent blue screen lit up when she powered it on.
“Looks like we going to need some help in mapping it all. I think we can save some time on this.”
Tim watch
ed as Sonja went to work. She flipped the screen and pressed a button on the backside. Tim could hear a humming sound as a small compartment revealed itself on the top of it. As Tim watched, a small cloud of artificial insects made their way out of it. The insects were not more than a few millimeters, but they were exceedingly powerful. The small cloud congregated above the screen. Sonja nodded.
“Ok, let’s do it.”
The artificial cloud made its way in the dark and Tim saw how it divided itself into smaller groups as they made their way into the different tunnels. Tim leaned near the screen to see how Sonja controlled the insects. As the insect’s progressed, they fed back information to the tablet and Tim could see how the different sections of the cave were reflected on the tablet. Sonja pointed to a narrow passage that bent inwards onto itself.
“It looks like this one almost goes back to the main entrance.”
Tim frowned.
“Yes, looks like there are quite a few of these passages that break off from the main tunnel and then circles back. A bit unusual.”
Sonja scratched her head.
“Yes, it does look a bit weird. Doesn’t look like any passages I have ever been in.”
They continued to watch the screen as the insects sent more information about the layout of the cave. The cloud had now divided itself into four distinct groups that each mapped a passage. Each of the insects was completely autonomous and equipment with a miniaturized AI-brain. A few minutes later there was a faint beep and a metallic voice was heard from the tablet.
“No more possible passages discovered. Mobile sensors enroute back.”
Tim adjusted his coveralls that had begun to chafe on his left thigh. He swung the backpack over this should and prepared to move.
“Looks like our friends did their work.”
Sonja saw how a shadow-like cloud slowly appeared before them. The thin cloud became increasingly darker as the insects made their way back. Less than thirty seconds later, the compartment opened on the tablet and the cloud easily made its way into it. She pointed to the map on the screen.
Genesis Page 3