Spontaneous

by DiMirra

  "Let me have that short list of military leaders, also. Start working on their replacements, as they will be needed within 24 hours. This is not the time for diplomacy. When you run into opposition, just advise me, and have a replacement in mind."

  "Damn it, Johnny, I like the way you solve problems!"

  I said to my Father, "Miche, do you have anything you wish to add to the conversation now?"

  "Son, nobody other than Coherent Harmonics has working prototypes for dark energy or background radiation conversion into alternating current. We need to build plants on all continents for distribution, once things settle out. We do not have a pricing model yet, but they are inexpensive to build. I expect they will be around thousand dollars, as a one-time fee, for a thousand kilowatt-hour device. Basically, they will sell for a dollar per continuous kilowatt-hour with an indefinite lifespan.

  "The devices are almost indestructible and should last the owners a lifetime. The only downside to this particular technology is that it does not really have any potential for rolling or flying transportation, which requires more power than these devices can produce.

  "We've also set up an advanced research group that is looking into the electromagnetic spectrum for future transportation needs. Zheng assures us we will find the answer in the area of electromagnetics and vacuum fluctuations creating synthetic gravity.

  "A simple interim solution may be based on an advanced energy storage medium, such as the super capacitor with these devices for power storage. Single or multiple fixed power generation devices can source electric power for mobile and transport uses."

  Don Francisco broke open the picnic basket, which contained chilled fried chicken, grapes, flour tortillas and condiments. We had brought along an ice chest with ice-cold Safari Lager.

  After lunch, I lit a cigarette, opened a new beer and contemplated the majestic vistas that spread out before me. I was excited, and concerned at the same time, about acquiring everything that Zheng knew, in short, his essence. As the sun started to wane, I knew it was time to head back. When we boarded the helicopter Don Francisco handed me the lists I had requested.

  I knew the two families from Brazil. They were closely related. They had been a thorn in the side of humanity from their beginnings -- the Cardosos and the Mellos, whose wealth appeared to come from banking. In reality, it actually came from rape-and-pillage policies they applied in managing their agro-mineral industry. They had destroyed millions of acres of prime Amazon rainforest.

  Over the last five years, we had several run-ins with them when we were purchasing large, delicate parcels of land in, and around, the rainforests. We crushed them by substantially overpaying for the land in cash, thereby preserving it and denying them access.

  We had a second cousin who was a Cardoso -- smart, handsome and ruthless -- a lethal combination. He lived a flamboyant lifestyle, which we, by nature, shunned. I made a mental note to keep a better eye on him.

  I knew the gentleman from Argentina, reasonably well, so I decided to send Brother with a squad of Guardians in the Embassy jet belonging to Juan Carlos to reason with him. Then the alarms went off, what am I thinking?

  The Premier of China had already told him the way of things and he and disregarded that sage advice. I would add the entire Argentinian Air Force, under control of his brother, to the list to be taken out by the Raptors with JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) kits. They always line their airplanes up on taxiways as a show of force. How Latin can you get? It would be a shooting gallery.

  General Hamilton, had at my request, put into play a pair of B-2 Stealth Bombers, a half a dozen close air support A-10s, a full wing of F-22s and two KC-135 tankers. All landed at our base in Colombia. The B-2s carried a variety of ordinance, including the bunker-busting GBU-28s and smart JDAMs. These assets would get the job done.

  On the way back, I called Jackson, gave him the names, asked him to get eyes on those targets and execute immediately. It would send the right message. This was not a time to negotiate.

  I gave both my Father and Grandfather big hugs and told them I would spend the evening with Zheng. I arrived at the appointed hour. Zheng was waiting and very enthusiastic.

  "Uncle Johnny, I have anticipated your apprehension so I will explain the procedure to put you at ease. I already have your essence mapped out from your Twin. I will induce a state of euphoria using a herbal drip which includes morphine, ayahuasca and other sacred recipes.

  I'll leave you in that condition for several hours for you to reach the state of bliss and enlightenment. Then I'll add my knowledge, thoughts, and essence to yours. I can't explain that process because it is simply unknowable. Upon awakening, you'll understand everything, and from your own, distinct perspective."

  Though I wasn't sure what came next, I nodded my head in approval, and counted back 99, 98, 97. . .

  It felt to me that I reached nothingness in a matter of minutes. First there was that place where all your life is revealed to you. Then a place with brilliant light and melodious sounds I did not recognize, which became nothing. My world exploded with pure knowledge pouring into me -- formulas, theories, diagrams, pictures, thoughts, processes, equations, calculations, the Periodic Table, sums, symbols, musings -- and finally, truths. Absolutes and truths.

  Here and there I caught glimpses of things and places I did not understand but yearned to know about. Then a young being appeared who I did not recognize, who seemed so happy to know me. Then came a deep and blissful slumber.

  I slept the sleep of the dead and awakened in a room that Zheng had built for me based on my memories. I caught the aroma of fresh espresso nearby. My Twin handed me a double shot. I reached for a cigarette. I took a deep drag and threw my head back. I realized that somehow, I am different now, that same person, but also different. Somehow I am . . . something more.

  Chapter 38

  Bariloche, Argentina: 10:00, January 29th

  "Welcome back Gianni," said my new twin Brother.

  "Why don't you make us both another double espresso?" I replied.

  While he was busy with the machine, he said, "The night with Wakani was much more than I expected. It is one thing to know about something and quite another thing to actually experience it. How does she do that milking motion?"

  I laughed out loud and said, "Lots of practice, producing incredibly strong and well-trained vaginal muscles. It's her way of controlling the, ah, situation."

  Brother said, "As I started to leave, she took hold of me. She looked me in the eyes and said 'Everything is the same but this is not you.' As I turned to leave, she said 'But it will do.' How could she know?"

  I said, "Brother, Wakani is highly spiritual. I will have to ask Zheng about this."

  "Gianni, let me bring you up to date on the world situation. I spoke with Ali very early this morning.

  "General Sloan and Reza's forces have an under-strength division of Republican Guard trapped on open ground south of Tehran. The United Arab Emirates are providing close air support. Reza expects to roll them up this afternoon. The Guard, in Bandar Abbas, is trying to surrender but our troops continue to press their advantage.

  "Ali said to tell you there are still some hard-line Clerics around, so the hunt for them has begun. Reza said 'There will be no loose ends.' "

  "The overnight missions in Sweden and Norway were successful. Whether these countries' new leaders have political will to move forward and gain control, we'll know in a couple of days. The immigrants will have to make up their minds to be members of the community-at-large to which they immigrated or they'll have the same issues in ten years. One way or another, there will be no Caliphate in Northern Europe, either by force or by stealth."

  "In Southeast Asia, infections are rising exponentially. All countries in the area are in full-panic mode as they should be."

  "A distant relative of Gandhi is asserting control over India with the help of the military. She expressed an interest in immediate disarmament in exchange for 'the cure,'
as she called it, and ceding control to the United World."

  "Brother, I would like you and Ali to work out the details and grab that opportunity immediately. We'll need more transports. Ask Vasily for immediate help from Moscow."

  "The big news -- the Premier of China has requested that you set up an organizing meeting for the United World at the Villa in Lugano, on February third. The Premier, the President of Russia, General Hamilton, and you will attend."

  "The really weird news of the day is that NewGen Labs of Geneva, Switzerland, has obtained a small supply of our Cellbot therapy. They say we may be infringing on a patent they own. They demand that we cease and desist distribution and also reveal our formulation so we can prove were not infringing."

  "Brother, this really means they haven't a clue about what we've done and they just discovered we put them out of business. Have the attorneys for Applied Biologics tell them to 'fuck off,' legally and literally. Ask Ali to start monitoring their communications and personnel. This sort of crap is exactly why the United World legal system will be streamlined, dumping 90% of the laws and regulations on the books in each country. This is also why lawyers will not be allowed to hold public office."

  I told Brother that I would be flying to Bogota late this evening and wanted to spend some time with Zheng before I left.

  My nephew Zheng, I believe, is the happiest person in the Universe. He arrived in that perpetual condition for a late lunch in my quarters. Since we were in Argentina, I asked the local cowboys to cook us some churrascos and sausages accompanied with fresh hot breads and lots of sauces. Some Antares honey beer completed the menu. It was a messy affair. These were all local finger foods. You just wipe your mouth on your sleeve. Completely sated, we sat back and looked at each other.

  He asked, "How do you feel and what are you thinking?"

  "I feel better than I have in years. My thought processes are more calculated, but nonetheless, firm. I think about things and get ideas that would never have occurred to me before yesterday. My mind is working on how to process the changes and all the new information. I'm having some issues with compartmentalizing various things that I'm not focusing on."

  Zheng observed, "That's good. I mean, it's great. It's the natural order rearranging itself. I want to take you to a place in this complex, where the future will be revealed to you. This is where all of the recent breakthroughs in the various sciences have occurred. Please follow me."

  Nothing, I tell you nothing, could have prepared me for what I was about to encounter.

  We went down eight more levels and exited into a well-lit and nicely decorated corridor. There was a security-scanning device like nothing I had ever seen. The device picks up the aura of a human body and either grants or denies access. Zheng moved in front of the device and motioned for me to do the same.

  "Uncle, it recognizes multiple people in the room. It won't open unless all occupants have prior clearance."

  "Zheng, I've never heard of this technology but I seem to have a basic understanding of it and do not know how."

  "Uncle, even though presently this is the year 2016, this technology is mid twenty-first century. You will understand more in a few minutes, just clear your mind and be ready to understand."

  We entered a room that was bathed in soft hues across the visible spectrum. The waves were constantly moving, changing shapes and intensity. It almost looked a little smoky the way some of the beams curled and drifted. There was a low background hum I felt, rather than heard, and it was quite chilly there. There was perceptible music, which was melodious in its own way, but it was nothing I was familiar with. Or was I? It bothered me that the music was eerily familiar yet I could not place it.

  I followed Zheng to an enormous glass container in the center of the room that was shrouded in gases of various earth tones. There was a primeval look and feel about it, as though it was the beginning of time on Earth.

  Then I heard Zheng's voice say "Uncle" no, that not right it was thought not a voice.

  Zheng's thoughts filled my head. I looked at Zheng, who was standing close to me. He motioned with his hands to be patient.

  "Uncle, I'm delighted to see you so young and so healthy."

  There was no sound. This was pure telepathy, or so I thought.

  "Uncle, it is telepathy, and much, much more. I see and know your thoughts before they become an electrical impulse pattern."

  At that, the gigantic tank started to clear.

  "Uncle you will see me momentarily, the Original Zheng. Lately you have been enjoying the company of my Twin."

  I glanced to my left and Zheng winked at me. I chuckled and shook my head.

  "Uncle, I will use telepathy since I no longer have a mouth nor do I need one to speak with you."

  Zheng's Twin said, "Uncle, the original Zheng has sacrificed himself to advance our science."

  Zheng said, "The truth is, this was in no way a sacrifice. I wanted to see where and how far we can go as a species."

  The tank had cleared sufficiently so that I had a vision of a Picasso or a Dali portrait floating in the tank. The original Zheng had changed in ways that I could not believe. It was as surreal as a dream.

  "Don't be alarmed Uncle. I'm just fine. Better than fine, actually. Let me explain a little. You contain my basic information so you will begin to understand. I am becoming science. I follow each clue to its next mystery. As I advance, I apply new science to my own being. It is evolution but at a post-evolutionary speed, as it has never before been imagined.

  "I rearranged my own atomic structure so I no longer need to breathe, eat, drink, eliminate waste, or satisfy any other human physical necessity. In this stage, I'm part matter and part energy.

  "My being is roaming the earth in what we know as the present dimension. I can read all the thoughts on the planet when I concentrate. I'm also now able to change others' thoughts.

  "I see this power startles you, as it should. Going through this process, I'm undecided about free will. I know I am being guided through this journey myself. I don't know my guide but I know the guide is there at all times. I can only surmise that my guide is 'The One.'

  "I foresee a time in the very near future when I will become pure energy, a being with no atomic structure. When I reach this form, I will be able to travel the Universe, as Einstein correctly thought, at speeds exceeding light by a factor of ten or greater. I have not discovered dimensional travel as of yet, but I'm confident I will.

  "At all times, I will be in contact with you and my Twin. I'll impart my thoughts and discoveries to you both so you may know what is possible and how."

  I said, "Zheng, will I be able to contact you at will for advice or direction?"

  "Yes, Uncle. I will always be just a thought away. When I'm ready, I will leave this enclosure and continue my journey but I'll also always be nearby and willing to help you."

  "So, is this is how all the recent discoveries have been made?" I asked.

  "Yes, Uncle, I can call upon all the knowledge in the world and have a billion humans or more processing what I need in their subconscious minds. This is a virtual network of the most powerful and under-used machines in the universe, human minds. Think of it as an Internet enhanced by an unlimited factor. The speed of thought measured by scientists was really the speed of reaction, not primary thought. In other words, when I pose any theory, I know the answer before I am finished formulating the question."

  "Uncle, you are moving along the right path with the resources you have at hand. I'm still not sure why our Designer decided to make our ecosystem one of chaos and violence in the search for, and exchange of, energy -- where one being dies so that another might live. The blessing is the system is not a closed-ended structure. We can, and we are, evolving. I see one day a free exchange of life force from one creature to another. Just that, with no violence, no death and no food chain."

  "You still have much to accomplish, Uncle. Over the next months, I'll help you understand what remains to be
done. I will guide you if the path begins to diverge."

  "Until we meet again, Zheng.

  "When you are ready, Uncle. I will assist you in all the things you must accomplish. You will know when this time has come."

  Chapter 39

  En route to Bogota: 19:00, January 29th

  The Gulfstream literally leapt into the air. I was on my way to see Cristina. Now I knew where these apparently random thoughts were coming from. With a five-hour flight in front of me, I decided to catch up with Ali via videoconference. Uwishun came on line, covering the late night shift. He said Ali was sleeping.

  "The big news is that the Republican Guard, as a tenable fighting force, has been broken and destroyed. When there were about three thousand dispersed Guard members left, we systematically hunted them down, with the help of the populace, and executed them on the spot. Reza's form of monarchy has taken control of the country, much to the joy of the citizens.

  "Johnny, General Hamilton has turned the corner and it looks like all the chaos will gain some type of order within a couple months, Nietzsche was right. Assessment teams are in the detonation areas of South Manhattan and DC. Screens three and four are live shots. It's one Hell of a mess and much too soon for damage and casualty estimates there.

  "Elsewhere, things are starting to settle into a routine. Power crews are restoring electricity and there are regular water, food and gasoline deliveries to many of the affected areas.

  "Europe is starting to look a little better. Ernst, François and General Bruce are coordinating with us. We have sent a hundred thousand doses of Cellbot therapy. Francois is in charge of distribution among the European Union countries that are making the most progress and cooperating to their fullest extent.

  "There are a few remaining hot spots. The USS Connecticut, along with the Specter IIs, will complete a dozen missions tonight. There have been so many casualties that all countries have resorted to burning bodies and mass graves to keep the contagion down.