by Yossi Soika
The cold waves increased gradually. The chief scientist looked at the maniac standing on his desk, screaming loudly and saluting with his arms. The scientist hastily left in the wagon was waiting nearby and it started to move with incredible difficulty, barely climbing its way back to the city’s homes. The lights started to flicker like they were about to die, and the city looked like a ghost town. Not a single wagon was seen passing by, it seemed as if it was the last wagon traveling through town. With great difficulty and the occasional stop it made its way until it was about a hundred feet away from the chief scientist’s home where it stopped and did not go on. He climbed out very slowly, and with great effort made his way to his house. About ten feet in front of his home, he dropped down on all fours and the continued crawling to his door. When he reached the door he knocked and his wife opened it.
“I don’t believe it!” she said. She was surprised. “I have never before seen you in such poor condition!”
He tried to lift himself up, half-frozen he signaled for his wife to approach him, and with the last of his strength he whispered in her ear.
“We are rapidly approaching a catastrophe. The maniac is wasting the last of our power multipliers, and soon our wretched world is going to vanish and cease to exist. Now, please look at the screen,” he said and pushed a tiny button. On the screen in front of them appeared the image of the maniac, Verrucktler, standing on a desk, still screaming in joy, triumphantly and celebrating the victory of the superior master race.
“We got what we deserve. The maniac is celebrating the destruction of the planet. These are his last moments. You maniac!” the scientist wailed into the transmitting machine, “Get down off the table! You are a hopeless madman! You’ve destroyed our wonderful world, you’ve ruined Planet Plentitude… and I helped you in your criminal efforts.”
Suddenly the maniac stopped screaming and yelled out hoarsely, “Who dares to call the greatest of leaders, revered by all his people, names?”
“You wretched monster! I’m not afraid anymore,” the scientist called with angrily. “You’ve destroyed the most beautiful planet in this world; you’ve destroyed thirty thousand years of happiness and progress, animals and plants that lived and thrived in this wonderful world. All this glorious progress was erased in six years of senseless war, waged by an undiagnosed psychopath.”
“I am the greatest leader of all! I’m the wonder of this nation. I am the state. I have elevated it; I gave it my great name. If not for me no one else would have the right to exist. After my death the nation’s future and hope will cease. And now I command you to come to the extermination room. You are designated for a fast termination!”
“Guards! Bring me the traitor, fast! And you, scientists prepare, the crematorium… we are going to kill the treacherous scientist very soon. We must cremate him quickly! The traitor must be extinguished!” he yelled in a chilling voice, his eyes running around their sockets in a frenzy. “He is a disgrace to his country, a disgrace to his country…” he kept mumbling irrepressibly. “I’m going to turn the traitor into coal… you’re about to be billowed away… you’re a disgrace to the master race.”
“What are you doing, darling,” the chief scientist’s partner asked. “Don’t we have enough troubles?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Watch the screen closely so you don’t miss what is going to happen next.”
The maniac climbed off the table in a sharp movement and pushed a buzzer; however no one entered his room.
“What’s going on here!” he roared gruffly. “Where are the guards? You will be heavily punished… damned guards!”
“Please watch,” the scientist uttered with the last of his strength. “Here are the guards.” The screen displayed a picture of about thirty guards who were frozen at their posts and had become pillars of ice.
Verrucktler burst into their room and screamed, “Where are you and why are you not responding to my orders?” He grabbed a wooden pole and started smashing the frozen guards. “Damn you, damn, damn!” He shouted with all his might, “Bring me more guards, and quickly!”
Suddenly the incredibly loud noise of an explosion was heard and the large roof started to split slowly, but Verrucktler didn’t pay attention to the collapsing roof.
“Guards!” he screamed even louder. “Hurry and bring the mutinous scientist; you must kill him because of his dar— dari— daring.” Vapors started to penetrate the clefts that were growing quickly until the interior of headquarters began to quickly freeze. They could hear only the first syllables of his choked calls as he remained standing in a Nazi-like salute: we woni— woniwon, nonnne. Before the last syllables were uttered his body turned into a pillar of ice, with two arms pointing at his own picture, his eyeballs slowly came out of their sockets and dropped down to the floor, his arms detached from their joints and fall to the floor and his fingers dissolved and scattering in all directions in the room. Then all at once his body collapsed and shattered as though it was fragile glass.
The scientist hugged his wife and whispered with his last breath.
“This is the end of a nation that chose a psychopath to lead its state, aided by the power of science.”
Intensive cold waves streamed from all directions and the air was covered by a white screen, while the light began to dim and immense chunks of ice started to collapse into the world beneath the vast cover of ice.
“Dan, I’ve seen enough. I’m really tired of these scenes.”
As soon as her transmission ended we hovered quickly back to the Minderon and as soon as we boarded it we ordered, “Home, to the United States.”
***
At two o’clock in the morning a tiny flicker of light appeared on a radar screen in an underground control room in the Nevada desert.
“An unknown object from space is approaching Earth!” cried the controller, who looked with wonder at the glowing object that crossed his screen. He quickly established communication with a supercomputer and retrieved the data: an unidentified flying object was moving at hypervelocity toward Earth. Expected landing site: New York; Speed: unqaintifiable. Suddenly the object changed direction and it moved toward the Karakoram Range.
Mr. Da Costa or Mister___ or___?
“There is a change,” a message appeared on the screen. “There is a change of route. Get ready to land in the Land of the Ten Tribes.”
“Dan, what’s going on here?” Melanie asked. “I’m surprised at this the unexpected change.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not aware of any change.”
“There is a change in route,” the Minderon emitted again. “We will be landing in the Land of the Ten Tribes.”
Before we even processed what was going on the spacecraft had landed very gently. It opened widely and Mr. Da Costa appeared, standing in the doorway, a wide smile spread over his face.
“What happened to you, my learned friends? Is it nice to run off without saying goodbye? And did it even occur to you to ask how I am? We parted in the Third World and have not seen each other since then. Do you not have any questions after all that you have been through? Well, don’t forget that the green rings on your fingers must be replaced with black ones.”
To tell the truth, we were dumbfounded and couldn’t utter a single sound.
“That’s fine,” Da Costa said. “I understand your surprise but now you must get over it. Welcome back to the Land of the Ten Tribes. Come, follow me.”
His speech awakened us from our deep shock and freed our feet from their paralysis.
“And now, my enlightened friends, please help yourselves, eat well but don’t fill your bellies too much.” And he pointed on a table laden with various strange foods that had appeared out of nowhere.
“After you’ve eaten your fill I’ll be delighted to listen to your story. I know that you must have many questions on the tips of your tongues.”
“That’s right!” I exclaimed cheerfully. “We have millions of questions and I’d be delighted to get even a small amount of the answers.”
After we finished the refreshments, Mr. Da Costa invited us to sit on the nearby sitting area. We stepped into the next room but saw no furniture. Perplexed, we looked at each without uttering a word.
“What’s the problem? Please sit down.”
“I’m sorry, but where exactly is the sitting room?” I asked with a smile.
“Wherever you sit is the sitting room,” he said chuckling and gently touched a small circle on the wall. A wash of violet light filled the room. Then we could easily see a small table surrounded by chairs. There was nothing regular about them only red rays of light.
“Please, sit down my friends, there’s nothing to worry about. This is excellent equipment, and the chairs are especially soft.”
Uncertain, I crouched and carefully leaned back, expecting to fall on the floor… But no. It was surprisingly odd to feel the soft and flexible material. I just sat comfortably for a while and felt like the king of the world.
“This is unbelievable!” Melanie exclaimed and rushed to copy me. “There is nothing here, yet it’s amazingly comfortable – it’s so soft and cushy.”
“My esteemed friends,” Mr. Da Costa started. “I hope you enjoy the wonders of this room. Over there, in the right corner, is a tiny eyepiece called a projecteron, this tiny eyepiece designs the room according to human demands. All you would have to do is to visualize things you would like to see, and then they will materialize immediately. Whatever you have in mind and in an endless range of colors – shelves, tables, chairs, and even chandeliers that would light up the room with precious light. These rays can be very flexible, very soft, or as hard as steel. You must still remember the City of Dreams – it is made from the same immense rays which are called Haimhadad rays, as well as many other things that the Sons of the Ten Tribes contributed for the wellbeing of Sons of the Third World.
And now, my learned friends, I want to share some of what I know and then I will be delighted to hear what you have to say. I am sure you have many questions that you want answered.”
Mr. Da Costa paused for a split second, and then continued eloquently.
“I have not yet told you, but upon your arrival at Masada, I received a signal and from then on I constantly knew all you wanted to do at the moment and in the future, all this was with the help of the black ring attached to the tiny nerve center at the heart of Masada. The moment I received the signal I made preparations for your arrival in the Land of the Ten Tribes; I even painstakingly planned your adventure journey in the Third World. And so shortly after we entered the Third World I disappeared and you have not seen me until this very moment.”
“That’s true.” Melanie remarked. “I really wondered about that, but as hard as I tried I couldn’t understand what happened to you, but somehow I knew that you were doing excellently.”
“I must admit that many strange and unexplained things happened to me during my visit to the Third World, I would say even senseless. And, this of course, has raised an infinite number of questions,” I said excitedly.
“Very well then, I’m happy to see you excited and passionate. If this is so, please listen well to the rest of my story. When you entered the Third World you were given a hood for the passage and a necklace to blur your image, and you became invisible. At the beginning of your visit that you already tasted the forbidden fruit… and you experienced its effect on your body. Well, Dan, it was me who summoned the Dolphin Man to capture you. I remember well the piercing look in your eyes when I stood in from of you – it was a strained look that tried to connect my image with other images you have known well in your past. It made me laugh.”
“I really don’t believe it!” I jumped up. “You stood near me and didn’t move a finger to help me? Yes, I remember your image as a Dolphin Man… your eyes were so familiar, but you were a Dolphin Man! It’s unbelievable!”
“Can I continue my story?” Da Costa asked politely. “I am the scientist, Ben-Dag, and I put the pills in your hand but they were worthless because I destroyed the real pills a long time ago. You should be aware that I saved you numerous times. I buffered your courageous jump into well. It was me who melted the cobwebs with which the flying spiders chained you. When you were captured by the Dolphin Men I brought Melanie, who was unconscious, with the help of my kinsman, the Minister of Peace, to the City of Dreams and we enthroned Melanie Queen of the City. However, for you, my friend, I prepared a long list of troubles and obstacles, but each time I was there, close to the scene of the event. Dan, my friend, you’ve finished your biochemistry degree which opens to you the door to the secrets of this world. In the same way you hold the key to improve or worsen the condition of the human race. I wanted to show you the results of the experiments conducted by the scientists of the Ten Tribes, as well as the experiments you experienced on your own body.
I showed you the power a scientist holds and the ease with which they can destroy humanity or affect it in an irreversible and unmanageable way. An atom bomb can ruin vast areas, but a biological one might destroy even bigger ones, which might be irreparable. You undoubtedly understand how easy it is for humans to destroy the creation upon Earth, all that has been living for thousands of thousands of years, all of which can disappear in one fell swoop. Today the scientists of the Land of the Ten Tribes and I hold an amazing power of destruction. They have achieved skills inconceivable to the human imagination. I will give you a very few, tiny examples. Do you remember the sound of the children’s laughter and their stories about the Queen of the City? Well, I did that and of course also the tiny turtle that directed you to the City of Dreams.
However, I didn’t protect your body from being transformed into an ape, so that you felt how being an Ape-man is not pleasant. You probably wanted to scream and protest but you were incapable. In the same way, your body was shrunk to a minute and wretched size and you found yourself this way while your girlfriend reigned as the Queen of the City of Dreams.
“That’s incredible!” I called out.
“Please control yourself,” Da Costa said in a relaxed tone. “I haven’t finished yet.” After a short pause he continued and said, “Of course it was I that guarded your body when you entered to the deconstruction device in the City of Dreams. From the time of your arrival to the Third World I took care of Melanie and she was saved from the horrible results of the biological experiments. Her heart would not withstand such horrors. Dan, my friend, on your journeys in the Third World you witnessed how much suffering hybridization has caused human beings. The results were terrible. From the day I saw it, I resolved to never let such things happen again and now I’m making great efforts to amend the damage, however I can.”
“And now, please tell me – what became of Markusha ben-Shusha, the scientist? Did he get what he deserved when he tried to run away to the Outer World with Melanie?”
Da Costa stopped the flow of his words, look at us for a long time, and said, “I must say that it would be very challenging for me to punish Markusha ben-Shusha, simply because he was me…”
“Wow! I can’t believe what a crazy world you built for me… and for a long time I believed that Melanie had been kidnapped by a crazy scientist.”
“You have seen the terrible results of experiments on animals and plants, and the path on which humans are walking today. The divine power which is called God or the Creator created a wonderful world; but many pitiful people speak in His name and advocate for destruction and hatred. The enlightened world must stand up, unite and align against these immoral preachers, who hold no human values and are ready to wreak destruction in the name of the lies they spread in their preaching.
You have seen the tragic end of Planet Plentitude, where a maniac eliminated the most beautiful planet in our whole universe. And now my learned friends, it is time to sa
y goodbye. Give me the green rings and put the black ones on. I am sure you will think about many more questions and I promise that we shall talk again.”
We shook hands warmly and walked back to the Minderon.
***
“The unidentified object is taking off from the Karakoram Range; assumed landing direction – New York,” announced the controller in the radar station in the vast Nevada desert.
“Velocity – immeasurable … there is no measurable data.”
“That’s impossible,” uttered one of the controllers and alerted the shift officer. A few minutes later, dozens of eyes clung to a replay of the broadcasting of the unexplained flash that moved at an unimaginable speed on the radar screen.
“No known object can move at such an amazing speed, there is no doubt that we have witnessed a mirage.” A few minutes later the computer emitted: “Landing direction: 0.62 miles south of the town of Larchmont; velocity – immeasurable; unlikely velocity – check for a system error.”
“Hurry up!” Called the shift officer. “Call the security forces close to the landing area...” A minute later the computer came back online with the message: “A foreign body is taking off from Larchmont and heading to space at an immeasurable velocity… an unreasonable velocity, please check system for malfunction.”
“Stop,” called the shift officer. “There is no need for any security forces; I am asking everyone here to forget what you saw or heard here tonight. It never happened… There is no life on other planets! The US government will not accept any facts or evidence contrary to this statement. This is friendly advice, but it is also a strict warning! This never happened!
About The Author
The life of Yossi Soika took root in the little neighborhood of “farm worker” huts near the town of Afula in 1949, the first year of the establishment of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Life among the fields and orchards was fertile ground for his vibrant and varied activities. After completing his military service, he went on to study electricity. His father, who was a master electrician, taught him the trade and prepared him for his job as manager of electrical work, leading large teams in building projects (new factories under construction). Along with this work, Yosef took up sculpting in wood, bronze and ceramics. His sculptures are styled in figurative symbolism and have been exhibited in several venues throughout the country. His first book, “The Secret of the Second World,” was published in Hebrew in 1998. He has written numerous yet unpublished works and is now completing work on a third book. His great vision is to change the thinking of the inhabitants on the earth, this blue-green wonderland of a planet that is their home and the hearth of their offspring. The earth - a gem that is gradually waning, to the dismay and sorrow of many…