by Wm. Barnard
The network broke to another story about a terrorist’s trial in Las Vegas and the clamor immediately returned as strangers engaged in enthusiastic dialogues about the UFO siting on TV.
A college-aged woman wearing a Stanford sweatshirt turned to me. “It’d be so cool to see something like that.”
“Yeah, it sure would.” I said, laughing to myself
“I didn’t think that astronomer’s explanation made any sense. I mean, since when do planets move all over the place like that?”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“Oh, I get that all the time. I guess I just have one of those familiar faces,” I said, smiling back.
“Yeah, people say I look like the actress Laura Ledger from Streetscape.”
“Wait a minute; you mean you’re not her?” I said, turning my head so I could get a different angle.
“I wish. I’m Courtney. Nice to meet you…”
“Johnny, I said, extending my hand. “Sorry, but I got a flight to catch. Nice talking to you, Ms. Ledger.
“Ha. You’re funny. ”
I leaned down to pick up my duffel bag, heading for the bathroom before she could connect my face with the news story. An extra-wide Anchor Brewing mirror behind the bar revealed my five o’clock shadow that had grown out the past few days and I hoped it would help keep me incognito on the rest of my travels. On the short walk out toward my gate, I thought about how fascinating it was to watch normal, everyday people in a normal, everyday setting react to a sighting. While I not only looked forward to sharing this barstool perspective, I couldn’t wait to read all the new posts on my webpage about this video clip.
The next day in my study I became swamped with all the messages regarding the shotgun-toting Granny. Many people who had personal experience with The Ancestors commented that we should expect even more sightings in the near future and that “unbelievers” would be given more proof of extraterrestrials. Finding it impossible to go through all of the posts that morning, I decided to run some errands and read the rest when I returned. Back at the house, I hurriedly put down my groceries in order to answer my cell phone in time.
“Zach, This is Jack. How ya’ doing?”
“Hey, long time, Jack. What’s up?”
“Sorry I couldn’t make it to your little shindig celebrating the movie deal. I had already scheduled a flight back east to look at an investment property.”
“No problem. I figured something came up for you. But, hey, my phone might be bugged so…”
“I thought that’d probably happen before you even wrote that warning. Thank goodness for these disposable ones, huh? The Colonel feels like he’s been watched for years because he became so vocal about what he saw when flying for the Air Force. You know what, they can come after this old codger if they want, ‘cause I got nothing to hide.”
“I like your spunk, Jack.”
“Well, what could they possibly learn from us that they couldn’t just see for themselves on Fox News?” Jack started chuckling.
“Yeah, I saw that lady’s video from the desert last night. I was actually at an airport bar and everyone started getting really jazzed up.”
“Did you see the footage they showed about ten minutes ago?”
“No, what? There’s more?” I said, hurrying over to turn on my TV.
“Only a couple of our friends circling the House of Congress.”
“What? How did I miss this?”
“They just had a special news break. I turned the channel five minutes later and it was all over the networks. Just when it seemed the story was starting to die down some, The Ancestors appeared again to let people know they better wake up.”
“This is incredible,” I said, even though I was only finding a series of commercials as I flipped through the major networks.
“Yeah, my old neighbor called to say he was watching it, too. You should’ve heard him laughing at his wife in the next room. She used to always mock us when we talked about ETs back in the day. Now she knows we weren’t crazy after all.”
“It’s bizarre that there’s still so much cynicism. Maybe I was being kind of gullible, but I thought once I wrote the story that those who didn’t believe would be the minority.”
“Well, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s still pretty mind-boggling to me at times. But I have definitely seen more people coming around. A few weeks ago I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal. A couple of career politicians went on record as saying that we should be ready to embrace the message of hope and peace The Ancestors bring.”
“I didn’t hear about that, but hey, you made me think about a news story I saw on TV where I recognized Boris Wolfe in the background. I think he was mediating a prison exchange between Israel and one of those Islamic militant groups, maybe Hamas.”
“I heard about that from Bill. Mr. Wolfe is constantly on the front lines trying to broker peace deals in those trouble spots around the world. Besides that, he’s on a super proactive committee about climate change and Bill told me he’s also working to set up his own human rights advocacy group. The guy speaks like ten languages; he’s amazing.”
“That is impressive.”
“Heck, if Boris was a citizen of this country, he’d probably be President. Well look, I just wanted to give you a call and let you know we think you’re doing an awesome job with the webzine, and look forward to seeing the story come to the big screen.”
“I’m actually going to L.A. tonight to start collaborating with a bigtime screen writer. He thinks we can hammer it out in a couple of months.”
“That’s great news, Zach. Listen, if you need anything at all, feel free to call me.”
“Appreciate that Jack; thanks for calling.”
“Take care.”
“You, too.”
Nothing but a continuous cycle of promises to save on my car insurance or secrets to flatter abs flashed across my TV, so I hustled into my study to look for the new story on Fox’s webpage. Waiting for my computer to start up, my phone rang again.
“Hey! I just got off the phone with Johnny,” Vanessa blurted out.
“Oh, yeah… Hey, go to Foxnews dot com. They have some fresh footage of a unique aircraft flying over D.C.”
“That could be a challenge because I’m driving down the freeway. Why didn’t you tell me about how God saved Johnny’s life?”
“Well, it seems pretty ambiguous to me of what actually transpired that night. Did he happen to mention an empty bottle of whiskey?” I paused for effect. “Hey, don’t get me wrong, whatever it takes. No one’s happier than me that he didn’t go through with it.”
“You just don’t think God had anything to do with his truck not starting? That was all by chance, just a freak accident?”
“I don’t know,” I said, only half listening as the broadcaster came on the featured video to explain the events that occurred over the nation’s capital.
While the UFO made a few loops around the National Mall and back to the Capitol, the shaky camera work made it difficult to determine if the craft was similar to the one that I witnessed at the ranch. Despite the amateur footage, this clearly was not anything man made.
“Vanessa, this is absolutely incredible. They are showing this spacecraft right now.”
“Yeah, I saw the news story yesterday about that woman out in the desert,” she admitted reluctantly.
“So, what did you think when you saw that?”
“Well, right now I’m wondering how my brother could ignore the fact that his best friend experienced a miracle from God.”
I stood up and grabbed my head. “Wait a minute! I hadn’t even thought about this. I actually prayed to my guardian Ancestor on the plane.”
“What? Are you trying to say that an alien somehow kept his truck from starting?”
“Look, you are so ready to give your god the credit, but did you even consider that I might’ve prayed
, too? You don’t know the half of what I’ve experienced lately. A huge rattlesnake bit me out in the desert; I’m talking out in the middle of nowhere. I got so nauseated I couldn’t even drive to a hospital. I thought I was going to die.”
“Really, what happened?”
“I’m sitting there puking my guts out on the side of the road, as helpless as I have ever been in my life so I just called out to my Ancestor. Next thing I know, I am watching the swelling in my arm go down before my very eyes. I drove straight home feeling like nothing had even happened. What do you think about that?
Because to me, that’s a miracle!”
“Umm…well, I… I honestly don’t know what to say,” Vanessa said, dumbfounded by my account.
Receiving another call, her phone beeped and gave her the perfect escape from having to answer my question.
“But hey, I gotta take this call. I’m actually getting ready to interview somebody.”
“Okay, give me a call later. Let me know if you and Jason want to get a bite to eat,” I said enjoying the prospect of watching Mr. Fundamentalist have all his neatly defined theological ideas go up in flames.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”
This is amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t even realize it.
Not only had The Ancestors rescued me in the desert, they had also answered my prayers about Johnny. Overwhelmed with joy, I looked forward to talking with him soon so I could share this revelation.
CHAPTER 20
The American dream came true for me in the form of a three thousand square foot English Tudor home, minus the white picket fence and two point five kids. Overlooking the ocean from a hillside in La Jolla, it cost me most of my advance for my story. But at the end of each day, as I soaked in the cool ocean breezes and amazing sunsets, it felt worth every dollar. Sitting on my patio with a good glass of cabernet, I had to almost pinch myself as I wondered how I had fallen into such luck. Thank you, Ancestors!
Sterling Hames came to stay with me two weeks after I had bought the place. Despite his peppered gray hair and grandpa bifocals, he looked almost ten years younger than his fifty-five years. I soon discovered that this famous author was quite the character.
Every morning he started the day the same way: wake up before sunrise, do yoga for thirty minutes, and finish up with a thirty minute bike ride. While telling him that I admired his discipline, I purposely failed to mention how humorous he appeared in his hot pink colored spandex shirt and shorts.
His exercise ritual wasn’t the only thing he practiced religiously. Like clockwork, he prepared and drank an entire pot of coffee by nine o’clock, and always followed that by brewing up a batch of green tea each day after noon. These routines seemed to help him stay focused and fuel his inspiration as he proved to be a writing machine.
By six each evening, he would stop and pour himself his first glass of wine. I think I saw him break this custom only once over the next few weeks when he had to drive to L.A. to meet with a producer. Extremely pleased that he had done an enormous amount of research before arriving, I found we rarely needed to talk about the project after dinner, but had some great discussions about life in general out on my patio. When the clock struck nine, I could count on him retiring to his room and I wouldn’t hear a peep out of him until he walked in from his morning ride.
During one of Sterling’s early bike rides around La Jolla, I got an email from Jack telling me that Bill Hunter needed to talk to me immediately. I sent Jack my new cell number and got a phone call within five minutes.
“Zach, I hope I caught you at a good time. I have some great news.”
“It’s always good to catch up with you, Bill.”
“Now, don’t go and publish what I’m about to tell you – this is strictly between us. But let me just put it this way: we’re not going to have to worry about Homeland Security interfering with us anymore.”
“What? How can this be?”
“As you can imagine, I’m not at liberty to give you the details, but there have been some serious changes going on inside the White House administration. Things are moving fast, Zach.”
“Well, whatever, that’s absolutely amazing.”
“I knew you and a couple others you met at the ranch would be relieved to hear it.’
“I’ve tried hard not thinking about it since they invaded my old home. I didn’t know if my place was bugged or what, but like I told Jack, it’s not exactly like they would have discovered anything new.”
“You’re right. And I think that honesty is really paying off. Listen, Gloria and I enjoy going on your webpage almost every day. We’re proud of all your hard work.”
“Thanks Bill, I appreciate that.”
“No, thank you. We can’t wait to see the movie.”
“The writer that I’m working with is a flat-out genius. I think it’s going be better than I even imagined.”
“That’s great, Zach. We are going down to stay in the desert in our motorhome a couple of hours from you the next few months, so we’ll have to try and get together.”
“That’d be great. Please, please call me and let me know.”
“We will.”
Always a man of few words, Bill ended the call abruptly. Absolutely relieved to hear that I would no longer have to worry about being trailed by my own government, I sensed that people were starting to open up to The Ancestors.
ONE EVENING IN THE MIDDLE of the week, Vanessa and her fiancé Jason were finally able to make it over for dinner. Excited to see my new home, they brought me a unique, handcrafted, wooden vase for a house-warming gift, which they had bought in Mexico while visiting an orphanage. Joining us for dinner, Sterling entertained us with his presence until nine o’clock when he predictably excused himself and retired to his bedroom.
As we moved out onto the patio, Vanessa told me about their wedding plans at a small local church, followed by a honeymoon on Kauai. Besides their wedding, we kept up the small talk, such as which new restaurants we had recently visited, comparing notes.
While genuinely enjoying their company, I was tempted to ask Jason if he was aware about some of the things I had recently learned that made their faith obsolete. I was curious to see how he would respond and if he would willfully ignore these truths. Part of me desired to leave the whole subject alone, but after I finished the last glass of wine, I caved into my temptation, opening the proverbial can of worms.
“So, Jason, did my sister tell you about how I got miraculously healed from a rattle snake bite out in the desert?”
“Yes. Matter of fact, she did mention it.”
“And what are your thoughts on that?” I said, twirling the stem of my empty glass in my hand.
Jason paused, glancing at Vanessa as if she had reins on him, before talking with some apprehension in his voice. “Well, that’s pretty puzzling, Zach. I honestly was taken aback when I heard your story.”
“Uh huh,” I said, hopeful this kind of story would help them start being more open-minded.
“But then I remembered that in the book of Exodus, Pharaoh’s magicians actually performed miracles as well. It’s pretty clear that demons have supernatural powers and are able to do a lot of things that we don’t understand,” Jason said.
“So, these “demons,” who you Christians say are trying to hurt us, turn around and help me by healing me? You have to admit that doesn’t make a ton of sense, Jason.”
Jason wanted to reply, but Vanessa closed her eyes and flattened her lips so he remained silent.
“Let me give you kids a little knowledge to chew over at your next church picnic. Because I know you’re all about historicity and facts, let me tell you about some other famous Messiahs; you know, the ones that existed before Mr. Jesus. Like Krishna from India, Dionysus over in Greece, and Mithra in Persia.”
Setting my glass on the table, I leaned forward.
“Interesting little stories. Each one had their own following since they were all born of a virgin, with
a little star in the East. Along come three kings proclaiming them King and Savior. Sound familiar? Next thing you know, Mr. Messiah, aka the Son of Light, aka Alpha and Omega, has himself a little cult following. The best part is how all of them have the same crazy recurring theme; seems like every story has Mr. Messiah finding himself crucified at the end.”
Switching to my best infomercial voice-over impersonation, I added, “But wait, there’s more. Wouldn’t you know it; all of them are miraculously resurrected!”
Jason and Vanessa looked almost shell-shocked so I knew I had them right where I wanted them.
“I’m glad you brought up Egypt earlier because maybe you have, or maybe you haven’t, heard of a guy named Horus. Same story. Mr. Sun God. God the Sun. Whatever you like to call him. He is the original. Crucified – Resurrected – Legend. Only Horus predates Jesus by three thousand years, but who’s counting. Can I offer you any more wine?” I said, unable to hide my smirk.
“Did you say three thousand years B.C?” Jason seemed stunned at this revelation.
“Indeed. Your friends over Encyclopedia Britannica will confirm it if you care to look it up.”
“Well, Zach. That doesn’t make any sense. Crucifixion wasn’t even invented until around 1000 B.C.”
“Jason, you’re missing the point.” I said, slightly embarrassed and wondering if I had remembered the date wrong. “Don’t you see? Every society has had their Savior. I mean, I get it. Everyone needs hope. I understand why you guys want to hold onto what you believe in, but you have to see…”
Inhaling deeply to compose my thoughts, I tried to refrain from maintaining the sarcastic tone I was so fond of. “Look, there are good aliens and there are bad aliens. I’ve been shown that. And I can see how you would see extraterrestrials as ‘demons’ in light of what you have been told, but there is something deeper going on here. Something below the surface of what mankind has believed for so long.”