Evolution Shift (The New World Book 3)

by Kurt Winans

  During a lengthy solitary walk on the beach, Janet reflected on how much the loss of Colt, and others, had taken out of her. She also realized that she would be forever thankful for the type of young man that Hank was becoming as a byproduct of what each of those people had instilled upon him. The weight of all that surrounded her was in desperate need of release, so after turning in a complete circle to ensure that she couldn’t be seen, Janet plopped herself down on the sand and began to cry.

  Her thoughts soon turned to how their old alien friend might be able to assist with the new trouble facing Earth, but unfortunately he had never been seen or heard from since departing for his home world. As he was the one responsible for informing Ross about the need for genetic enrichment on Earth, Janet thought it was strange that the alien had never returned to check on the progress of the program.

  Silently expressing her desire to see the alien again, Janet also hoped that he would return to Earth and provide assistance toward their desperate endeavor. What she was unaware of at the time, was that her internal voice had been heard across the vastness of the cosmos.

  Approaching the high council of the exploratory fleet with the obligatory escort at his side, the alien who had come to know Ross and his collective so well gave the seven members a respectful bow. After receiving telepathy to explain why he had requested an audience with them, his own telepathic reply was, “I have some important information to share with you.”

  “From our perspective that is stating the obvious. No one ever comes before us with information that isn’t believed to be of importance. I will remind you that we, as the high council, will determine if you possess important information.”

  “I understand.”

  “Excellent, now what information do you wish to share with the high council?”

  “I have just received a telepathic request from one of the humans on ₹-829-Ԅπ-3, or Earth, as they call it. She was one of over two-hundred of our long term abductees many Earth centuries ago before the apocalypse interfered with that experimental process. I believe that she has now become the first of her species to develop long range telepathic abilities.”

  After a brief moment of exclusion while the high council communicated with each other, the leader replied, “You are correct brother, as that information is of importance to the high council. Now, you claim that she had a request of you?”

  “Yes she did. She is requesting that I return to monitor their progress on ₹-829-Ԅπ-3. It seems that her species needs help with a problem that they are unable to resolve.”

  After referencing their operational schematics, the leader of the council replied, “The rotations for monitoring the evolutionary progress of certain species are currently underway in another sector of the quadrant. I’m afraid that system ₹-829 will not be viewed again for quite some time.”

  Having learned from Ross and others within the group of humans that the need for political correctness may be one of but a few true universal constants, his response was carefully crafted. “I understand this is an unusual request of the council, and I welcome your guidance. With your permission I wish to depart immediately on a special mission to ₹-829-Ԅπ-3.”

  “Immediately, can you give the council a reason why?”

  “Yes I can. You are aware that although time is linear, not all systems, or even the various species upon a planet or moon within a system, have the same base unit for measuring that time.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

  “Well, in this instance the timeline moves very quickly on ₹-829-Ԅπ-3. During the six weeks of human time that were necessary to travel from ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2 to their home world, the planet completed thirty-five revolutions around the host star.”

  “And your point is?”

  “The human species is on the brink of a huge step forward in their evolutionary process. The female who sent the request for help is proof of that. I’m unsure as to what their problem is at this moment, but if we wait several years of Earth time before our normal observational rotations, then everything that we have worked for may be lost.”

  “You present a strong argument, and your point is well taken. Now, do you have a plan of action to present?”

  “Our home world is much closer to ₹-829-Ԅπ-3 than system ₹-593 is. I could take two crew members with me in one of the newly developed fast long range scout ships, and traverse the distance to Earth in just a few of their years.”

  “Your proposal is understood. We will deliberate.”

  During the course of that debate, the newest member of the high council also reviewed the operational history of system ₹-829 from his position at the end of the bench. Then when asked his opinion by the leader of the council, he replied, “Our brother who stands before us, like me, carries a special interest in this project. The archives indicate his involvement with prior monitoring of Earth as they call it, and with leading the most recent of the four relocations of the dominant species to ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2. He also led the mission to retrieve a few of them and return that group to ₹-829-Ԅπ-3.”

  “I see. So you believe that his qualifications justify our consideration for him to proceed?”

  “Yes number one, I do.”

  “And that we should grant his request immediately?”

  “Yes number one, I do.”

  After another moment of deliberation, the council leader then projected, “We agree with your assessment number seven. As you possess such belief in our brother’s abilities, then we feel you should be the one to grant him the mission. In so doing, be aware of the fact that his actions reflect upon this council. As you are his sponsor, you may experience some repercussions if he should fail.”

  “I understand number one. However, in the absence of failure, there should be praise for our brother if he succeeds in salvaging our long term objective for ₹-829-Ԅπ-3.”

  Upon receiving the subsequent blessings of the council from the member to his farthest left, the alien glanced over and recognized his former supervisor. It had been a long time since he had been a member of that alien’s command, and had observed, among several others, system ₹-829. It was during one such rotational tour that the two of them experienced an accidental encounter, and the near tragedy that ensued, with two of the few humans to ever walk upon the now non-existent moon of ₹-829-Ԅπ-3.

  The memory of meeting the human Ross for the first time was crystal clear. How Ross had then offered assistance in saving the life of an alien, only moments after witnessing the death of his own companion Dennis, was inspirational. That wounded alien was most fortunate that a minor piece of equipment, which was previously needed for the survival of the dead human astronaut, had been able to spare his life. Without it, he would never have eventually become the most recently appointed member of the high council.

  Maintaining his gaze toward his former supervisor seated at the high council bench, the alien whom Janet had communicated with projected toward all seven of them, “I have maintained a special interest with the project of Earth since the time of my first visitation, and wish to see it through. I thank each of you for granting my request.”

  Janet bolted upright from her mat on the floor, as an unexpected voice boomed loudly within her head. Then while searching her surroundings in an attempt to locate the source, a wave of confusion followed. There was no one in the room, but the voice of her old alien friend sounded as if he was standing just a few feet from her. Janet wondered if the experience was nothing more than a harmless dream, but simultaneously hoped that it wasn’t something that could be far worse. Had the virus finally caught up with her? Had she entered the dreadful hallucination phase that every other victim of the virus had faced near the end? She knew that she needed to get a grip before paranoia completely took over, but her current foggy state created a momentary challenge in that regard. Although the concise message of the voice didn’t make much sense to her, Janet realized that if it was indeed authentic, then it must have been telepathic in
origin. She had heard, “Janet, I have received your request for assistance and am departing. We should arrive at your planet within a few of your Earth years.”

  Later that same morning, while attempting to enjoy a relaxed breakfast with Hank, Janet said, “I’m somewhat hesitant to discuss this, but the strangest thing happened to me earlier this morning.”

  With nothing more than a passing interest, Hank asked, “Why, what happened to you?”

  “I was awakened from a sound sleep when I heard a very strong thought projection from our old alien friend.”

  Now noticeably intrigued, Hank lifted his gaze from the engineering sketches that he had borrowed and said, “Really? Is he here? Has he come back to check on our progress?”

  “I don’t think that he’s here, but he may be on his way. The thought projection was strange, and didn’t specify if he would be checking on our progress.”

  “May be on the way? Didn’t specify? Come on mom, there must be more to it than that.”

  “Well, his message claimed that he had received my request for assistance and he would arrive in a few Earth years.”

  “Would arrive in a few years? That doesn’t sound like the way he has communicated with any of us in the past.”

  “I agree, and that’s why I’m concerned. The message may have been a dream, but what if I just experienced the first instance of my eventual hallucination phase of the virus?”

  “Well, maybe you were dreaming, but I haven’t seen you exhibit any behavior suggesting that you are moving into the hallucination phase. As Ross or dad would have said, we need more evidence before jumping to that conclusion. Of course they would also explore another possibility.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, maybe our old alien friend did communicate with you. Just because he has always sent his thought projections toward each of us while in close proximity, it doesn’t mean that he can’t communicate from a greater distance.”

  “That’s logical I suppose, but as you just said, we need more evidence to validate your thesis. Besides, even if the alien were capable of long distance projection, why contact me?”

  “Why wouldn’t he contact you? He is aware of our societal structure. With Ross, Gabriela, Aurora, and even dad having passed on, it would be logical to think of you as the leader of our group.”

  “I have never claimed that position or responsibility.”

  “I know that, but maybe the alien just assumed it.”

  “If that’s true, then it explains why he contacted me. There is still the question of his message content though. I haven’t spoken to him since right before his departure the day after he deposited all of us here. Why would he project that he received my request for assistance?”

  “I don’t know mom, but as Aurora would have said, we should review the available data.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think back to that farewell discussion. Did you request anything from him that may have been interpreted as a need for assistance when, or if, he returned to Earth?”

  “I don’t think so. I remember joining Ross and others in thanking him for everything that his species had done to help ensure our survival, but nothing more. Then I hadn’t given our old friend another thought until yesterday.”

  “What happened yesterday to make you think of him?”

  “I was sitting on the beach thinking about all that has transpired recently, and that he might be able to…”

  After her abrupt stop, and the long pause that followed, Hank snapped his fingers next to Janet’s face and asked, “Might be able to do what mom?”

  Startled back into the reality of the present moment, Janet gulped and replied, “Help us with defeating the virus!”

  “Really, well that’s interesting!”

  “What is? You don’t actually believe that he heard my request do you?”

  “Sure I do. We have been showed numerous times that the abilities of their species are extremely advanced?”

  “That’s true enough, but I was told by many of those dying throughout the early struggles upon our former home moon that they had prayed for help and the alien species had not responded to their plea.”

  “Maybe their message wasn’t properly delivered.”

  “You mean they weren’t asking the right questions?”

  “Or the correct entity, but that’s a different discussion. No, I was thinking that perhaps there is another reason.”

  “What are you getting at Hank?”

  “The timing of your experience is just too coincidental. What you heard last night shows us that the alien species can theoretically receive and project from a great distance.”

  “That’s true I suppose.”

  “And you have just stated that many others besides you have asked for help that was never granted.”

  “That’s also true.”

  “Why do you think that is mom?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well I think it’s possible, however unlikely in our belief system, that you have developed an ability that none of those other people possessed.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Mom, I think that the reason our old friend heard you, and not the others, was because you telepathically projected your thoughts toward him.”

  Throughout each population center, nearly everyone over the tender age of twenty had become either infected by, or dead, as a result of the virus. In truth only about a thousand over thirty were still alive and just four more beyond the age of forty. Now six years since their return to Earth, it appeared that the selective set of four would continue to outlive many of those that were younger. If their current state of good health remained the same, there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t become five in the near future. The youngest of the three Flight 19 pilots, and the fourth of the five long term abductees within the group of recruits, would reach the age of forty in less than a year. In so doing he would then join Tikal, who continued to test negative for the virus, Janet, and his two flying companions as the only souls of that less than advanced age to still be breathing.

  Within Dripping Springs, the recent death of Natiya, at only thirty-seven, had become another reminder of how the young continued to perish. Now with the exception of Tikal and Janet, her passing had reduced the high end of the age scale in that population center by another year.

  As a recruit, Natiya had most certainly done her part in providing offspring for the gene enrichment program. Aside from Kristyn, who had been born on ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2, Natiya had given birth to three children from different fathers during the first four years since her return to Earth. Unfortunately the youngest of those three, her first and only son, never had the chance to know his mother with great detail. Everyone around her had known that Natiya was within her final days, and luckily for the children her hallucination phase had been mild. Still, she hung on fiercely to the last. Natiya stayed alive long enough to witness little Yuri celebrate his second birthday with friends and family, but within a week of that joyous event she was gone. With each of the three respective fathers having previously succumbed to the virus, her death left Kristyn, now thirteen, with added weight. While still a child on the verge of young womanhood, the role of parent was added to that of older sister for the latest in the long line of orphans.

  Several mothers within the community, including Janet, had been mindful and supportive of Kristyn’s plight. Collectively that group of women had done whatever they could to assist the young lady, as she was also beginning to experience the challenges associated with her own physiological changes into early womanhood. The combined transitions would be most difficult for anyone to handle, but Kristyn was aware of that. Not only would she be responsible for her own well-being, but the complex and unenviable task of caring for three younger siblings, aged five, four, and two, had also fallen upon her.

  Kristyn’s situation was also proven to be unique within Dripping Springs. Although she was an orphan hers
elf, no other such person had been left to care for other orphans. Knowing that every previous young orphan in the community had been absorbed into the fold of neighboring families, Janet felt Kristyn deserved the same consideration. While providing a supportive hug, Janet said, “Kristyn, I want you to know that you, and your little sisters and brother, are welcome to live with Hank and I if you wish. We will find a way to make room for you.”

  “Thanks Janet. Your offer would provide great comfort, but I think that we should stay in our dwelling for the time being. I have been helping my mother with many of the daily tasks for quite some time, and the little one’s each have their various routines. I believe that the added shock of transplanting them to another location right now would make things more difficult for them than they already are.”

  “Alright Kristyn, that’s fair enough. I admire you for the strength you are exhibiting, and it’s nice that you want to keep things as normal as possible for yourself and the little ones. My offer still stands for you to come by our place as often as you wish, and please don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.”

  “Thanks again. I’m sure there will be many things I need help with that I haven’t even thought of yet, and I promise to come see you as the need arises.”

  “That’s good Kristyn, but don’t feel you can only come by when you need help. I have always thought of you and your mother as friends, and there is no reason that you and I can’t continue to build upon that.”

  From that moment forward the primary concern for Kristyn became the welfare of her younger siblings. She made sure that the basics of nutrition and rest were covered, along with their needs for fresh air and exercise. For each of those aspects, she could roughly follow the patterns that had already been established by her mother. As to the importance of their education, and hers for that matter, Kristyn knew that help from external influences would be required.