The Messenger

by Eugene Wilson

  “Carolyn, we both know that those boys have found some sort of alien device. You admitted that David was trying to hide something when he was talking to you. Am I right?”

  “Yes, but short of kidnapping them, how do you plan on doing this?”

  For a few moments, Anthony makes no reply

  Briefly, he views various stone artifacts on the fireplace mantle, which he had excavated in years past. One is a pre-colonial cylindrical artifact with a Mayan warrior engraved on it. “I have no intention of letting some stupid black kids take this from me. I’ve searched for evidence of this since the early fifties.” He turns around to face her. He discerns that she is having serious doubts.

  “Tony, don’t you think you’re becoming a bit obsessed with this?” Arlene protests again. “I’m just wondering now if this is all worth it.” She begins feeling that her efforts in supporting him were a mistake, despite their previous twelve-year marriage and subsequent divorce. Her violent confrontation with Pamela Baums had made front-page news.

  “Yes! We will be in possession of an alien device from another planet! This would be worldwide headline news! Any major government would gladly pay billions of dollars for that device!”

  “Billions of dollars?”

  “Yes! Billions! We can have wealth beyond our wildest dreams. Think woman! You’ll be able to buy anything you want! Anything!”

  Suddenly, the idea of obtaining extreme wealth grips her.

  She imagines living in a house of palatial dimensions, dining only in the most expensive restaurants, shopping at only the most prestigious clothing outlets. In addition, she imagines driving nothing short of an Italian-made, late-model, high performance Lamborghini-one of four in her possession. Anthony walks up and sits beside her. He softens his voice. “And, my sweet, after you ditch that pathetic job at UCA. We’ll spend an entire year vacationing in Europe, the center of the world’s greatest sights. Better yet, we’ll move there. You can have your choice of Italy, Germany, Sweden, Spain or France.”

  Anthony gives her an entrancing smile. Slowly, he moves his hand across her left upper leg and gently kisses her. She pulls away and looks at him with a mixture of fear and want.

  Despite his past ways, she still loves him. “Tony, you can be so sweet when you want your way.”

  “Carolyn, I—” Anthony pauses. He wants to convince her that his vision is best for them both. “I want to be able to make up for all the trouble I’ve caused you. I’ve made some serious mistakes. My biggest mistake was losing you.” Arlene is taken aback by Anthony’s passionate admission. Their heated divorce in November of 1966 was the most painful and devastating experience in her life.

  Her many conversations with her best friend, UCA history professor Jennifer Adwood had proven indispensable in comforting her. Earlier, Jennifer had warned Arlene about Anthony’s high rolling and womanizing lifestyle.

  Later, Jennifer had to continually remind Arlene to stop blaming herself for the failed marriage. For the next few years, Arlene worked hard to put her life back together. Still, she loved and hated Anthony Weiss. The two conflicting emotions were tearing her apart. In turn, Anthony, despite several additional, yet fruitless romances, could not completely forget Arlene, who had proven time and again that she genuinely loved him. Anthony’s closest friend, Navy Lieutenant Matthew “Matt” Wiener, lambasted him for cheating on Arlene. Anthony got the message.

  He and Arlene remarried in August of 1971. Yet, this re-marriage brought a degree of uncertainty. “Tony, I never doubted you. Something could go wrong. Then what?”

  “No more questions,” he replies. He stands up and walks to his album collection on the mantel piece. As he runs his fingers along a row of older albums, he selects Greatest Hits-Johnny Mathis.

  “What are you doing?” Arlene asks, with a slight laugh.

  “I am going to play our favorite oldies.” He faces her with the cover jacket in his hand. Their first meeting is forever burned in his mind.

  The then Anonwood University undergraduate had fallen deeply in love with the stunningly attractive brunette and history major. He introduced himself to her in a manner that made her pay serious attention to the strikingly handsome archaeology major.

  Afterward, they would spend many evenings going to various upscale nightclubs. At drive-in theaters, they spent much of their time in the back seat creating their own love scenes. One year after receiving his Ph.D. in 1953, he married Arlene. At present, Anthony pulls the album and places it on the turntable, sets the tone arm and adjusts the volume. Arlene smiles as she begins hearing Johnny Mathis’ Chances Are. After turning off two lamps, he walks over and sits beside her. Overwhelmed by the music and Anthony’ passionate gaze, she encircles her arms around him. Resistance is futile as she succumbs to this unforgettable chance for love.

  5AN OMINOUS JOURNEY

  Aboard the Starship Phesavius

  “I am trying to make sense of this situation,” Ra’el tells Quafeira. With increased concern, Ra’el continues to look carefully at much of the additional information that was gathered during their stay on Akrosia. For the past hour, she and Quafeira have been going over earlier information regarding the disappearance of the Illasius. “Why would Rahmik Sulbrin initiate a steep dive toward a planet before making a jump? I am no pilot, mind you, but is that not a dangerous maneuver?”

  Quafeira mentally agrees. “Ra’el, that is a good question. I assume that they must have had a good reason. Something else must have gone wrong aboard the Illasius. Now, I have a theory. However, I would rather not tell anyone until I obtain more information.”

  “You are making me curious, Professor Sibekk. What did Yusiras Anaken tell you after you spoke with him outside in private?”

  “I requested more information regarding the account of what specific crew members of the Quatoth had seen.”

  Ra’el begins developing the suspicion that Quafeira is not telling the entire story. For some time, Ra’el has been studying many of the earlier records regarding the Illasius’ disappearance. She pursued the matter by using the same logical approach. Like Quafeira, she had concluded that critical information had been deliberated omitted. Ra’el reasons that it is standard procedure for the crew of a ship to jettison the distress buoy during a dire emergency. Yet, she wonders why Daljik or Rahmik would jettison the emergency distress buoy prematurely. Ra’el can only imagine the horror on both their faces as they confronted a presently unknown disaster.

  The sound of the annunciator breaks her train of thought. She stands up, walks to the door and hits a wall contact. As the door slides open, she is surprised to see Thanor standing in casual dress, along with a broad smile on his face. Thanor’s smile vanishes when he sees Quafeira standing farther away. “I can return later until the two of you are through.”

  “No. That is fine, Thanor,” Quafeira tells him. “Come on in. I was just about to leave. I am certain that both of you have many things to discuss.” After noticing Ra’el’s eager smile, Quafeira walks out of her quarters.

  Planet Dabenar

  The Rolphus Communications Center

  The City of Laoceas in the Country of Baheera

  Date: Ebu, 27 Naru 2227 B.E.

  “I do not understand. Who could be doing this?” Pilosha Sovam asks herself. A young, upcoming and opportunistic Jantu female, Pilosha is one of among 10,000 employees of the Rolphus Communications Center, an agency that receives, processes and reroutes innumerable data/audio/visual transmissions off the AIHC Network. Although numerous stand-alone terminals automatically handle, route and process the vast majority of these transmissions, it becomes necessary at times for agency personnel to process highly specialized data requests by specific government, business, military and civilian agencies that are located throughout the galaxy.

  As a few of her colleagues had revealed, Pilosha has also discovered that an unidentified individual has been rummaging through numerous database servers in a rather haphazard way. Along with other networ
k communication personnel employed by various business, educational and government agencies located nationally and worldwide, she is surprised at the incredible amount of information this individual has been obtaining. The individual has retrieved much information regarding historical, mathematical, scientific, astronomical data.

  Pilosha reasons that the individual is not using his or her auvisuon properly in line with present day established conventions. Finally, she calls over the department head to her terminal station. Walking up behind her, Tajavin Kalic notices the puzzled look on Pilosha’s face. “What is the problem?” He asks. Pilosha adjusts a few controls on her console as she focuses on a regular flat screen monitor.

  “Tajavin, for some time, I have been receiving numerous and unusual data requests from an unidentified individual. Whoever this person is, he or she rummages through various database servers in an unconventional, almost illegal manner.”

  “Did you check the transmission’s registration ID code for a name?”

  “Yes. However, the system is unable to identify this individual. The identification field simply indicates unknown user.”

  Her answer only makes him more curious. “Unknown user? That is odd. How far did you search back?”

  “I ran a civilian registration ID scan back to forty years and yet, the system is still unable to identify this individual,” she answers.

  Tajavin is quite puzzled. “How is that possible? Anyone accessing our secure servers could not gain entry without his or her valid name, access registration ID and system password.” As Tajavin begins looking at the logs, he observes that the unknown individual’s registration ID and system password are valid. Yet, instead of a valid name, the identification field is still showing unknown user. “You indicated that you did a civilian check.”

  “Yes. However, I discovered something else.”

  “What did you discover?”

  Pilosha brings up another information page on the screen. “Tajavin, this specific auvisuon is using anoriun-level discriminating modulation, a much older form of signal modulation.”

  For a few moments, Tajavin looks closer at the signal waveform and its accompanying text data. “Well, this explains why you could not find a personnel match,” he tells her.

  Pilosha gives him a curious look. “Why do you say that?”

  “The anoriun-level discriminating modulating scheme was once used by military engineers decades ago.

  “The military?”

  “Yes. Approximately eighty-years ago,” he begins, “we were using this modulation scheme for high security encrypted communication between Tavus-Alverand Corporation and the Aweyan Science Institute on planet Paelos. At the time, we were involved with Project Hilexos.”

  “What is Project Hilexos?”

  Tajavin gives Pilosha a curious look. “Pilosha, how old are you?”

  Pilosha pauses. “I am forty-six.”

  Tajavin smiles. “Hilexos was a scientific experiment that turned tragic. Still, I need to find out who on the original team is making these data requests.” Tajavin manually inputs an older military passcode.

  Pilosha then switches to the military engineering codes screen and begins initiating a comparison scan of the signal modulation pattern. After several hundred picoseconds, the computer returns a match of the signal modulation pattern in question.

  “You are right!” Pilosha responds. “This is an off-world transmission. Apparently, someone at the Aweyan Science Institute is accessing our information databases. But why?”

  “We no longer use the Aweyan Science Institute. We ran into strenuous legal trouble with the lakarian government. Tavus-Alverand officials had moved Project Hilexos back to the Lubralen Experimental and Research Building. On 23 Andar 2148, over 600 people were killed in an accident. It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. Few made it out alive.”

  “I am puzzled,” Pilosha admits. “Why would a surviving technician from the Lubralen Experimental and Research Building use an older form of signal modulation to access so many servers and in an unconventional manner? He or she could use one of the modern day signal schemes.”

  “The answer may surprise you. Two years later, the government ordered Project Hilexos terminated along with the destruction of a device called the extraspatial otivicon. The remaining buildings were demolished to make way for the Cosijan Institute of Advanced Scientific Research.”

  Tajavin feels certain that someone from the old Project Hilexos team may be attempting to acquire sealed information. “Pilosha, send a message to the other international and off-world agencies linked with our agency. I want to know to what extent this person has been accessing our database servers.” Later in his office, Tajavin performs an extensive search of the unique registration ID number. Tavus-Alverand officials had kept the true nature of Project Hilexos project a heavily guarded secret up until the time a terminated employee exposed the scientific project to outside media agencies. Over seven hundred engineering scientist and technicians had worked with the senior staff on Project Hilexos, including a few lakarian engineering scientists. Only those employees with high security clearances were granted varying degrees of secured access by Tavus-Alverand senior management officials and military officials.

  Such employees could also use their personal auvisuon units to access computer servers located on numerous worlds throughout the intergalactic communications network. Tajavin was one of these authorized members. Although he had feared to tell his superiors, he was concerned that someone would be able to create a second and hidden information project file on Project Hilexos. The individual could access such a hidden file only by a specific password of the individual’s choosing. Tajavin reasons further that without the extraspatial otivicon and its associated technology, any such information would now be essentially useless.

  On his console, Tajavin enters an older access code that grants him access to sealed records on a remote server. He knew everyone on the old team who worked on Project Hilexos from its earliest conception. He remembers the building used for the original research before a decision was made to have all research moved off world to planet Paelos. The unusual events surrounding Hilexos, as well as the disappearance of his supervisor, made him highly suspicious. He could not understand the rationale of moving the project to planet Paelos. Tajavin cringed when he discovered how the extraspatial otivicon. The tragic deaths of 607 of his co-workers had confirmed his worst fears. His concentration is broken as he observes a confidential listing of all access codes and their respective owners. His mouth drops open in sheer disbelief. On the sixteenth line is the name of the individual to which the registration ID code belongs.

  “This cannot be possible! Could he be alive after all these years?” Tajavin briefly ponders his own questions. The data indicates that the many data requests are originating from Daljik’s auvisuon. Yet, the way in which the auvisuon is being used puzzles him. Suddenly, the thought occurs to him that Daljik may be attempting to contact him in some cryptic way. Tajavin remembers that he was twenty-eight during that time. Daljik wanted him as a lab assistant because of Tajavin’s expertise in Tuon Particle Isaphentrics, which is essentially the technical application of high-energy tuon sub-atomic particles.

  It is also the foundation for various technical applications used in many businesses, space propulsion and high-energy beam weaponry. Thus, tuon particle isaphentrics, along with extraspatial nebulonics, became the underlying foundation for the development of the extraspatial otivicon. In light of Quafeira’s legal battle, Tajavin begin suspecting that Selvon Jarrak was in some way responsible for Daljik’s disappearance. Now, to his surprise, it seems that Daljik is attempting to contact him.

  Aboard The Starship Phesavius

  “I still do not understand your behavior. You were not like this back at Hapoth,” Thanor tells her.

  Ra’el looks at him. “What is there to understand? I wanted adventure, not a home out in the forest. Besides, we were silly and impetuous youths then. T
hings are much different now.” Ra’el returns her focus to the screen. She tries not to look up at him again.

  “Ah yes, what is a youth? Impetuous fire, as I have often heard. What are your plans after all this is over?” He asks softly.

  Ra’el is somewhat puzzled by his beginning statement. “I plan on signing up with another research vessel, probably the Plikiros. I want to discover new places and have first contact with alien life forms.”

  “You can rediscover our previous relationship,” Thanor suggests.

  His answer compels her to look up at him with noticeable exasperation. “Is this the actual reason why you chose to accompany us on this venture, so you can pester me again like you used to do? I am not that young and inexperienced female you once knew and thought you could walk over.”

  She focuses on him as she awaits his reply. She remembers clearly back at the Hapoth Educational Institute how he would often attach greater importance to his opinions and views rather than hers. Although their likes would enhance their relationship, their differences would seriously challenge this same relationship. When it came to matters of serious importance-matters that affected their unity as a couple, his way of doing things often took the ascendancy. Thus, his claims of love, from her perspective, began sounding hollow. The lines of communication were beginning to break down.

  Eventually, during the course of a heated argument, injurious words were exchanged. Their teenage love affair came to a disastrously abrupt end. The situation had become too hot. With tears in her eyes, she turned away and hurriedly walked off. For a time, she had never felt as bad as she did then. She continually rejected his subsequent and persistent efforts to make up with her. During the final graduation ceremony several months later, she refused to look at him. At present, Thanor is stunned by her response. “If you actually felt that way about me, I would not be here discussing this with you.”