Jon felt Zoe didn’t believe a word he had said when she replied, “I congratulate you on your successful experiment, but before I can help you I have to see the subject. Please bring me to Delta. I’ll have to talk to him personally.”
Jon felt shaken. This was exactly what he had been trying to prevent. He felt like a doctor protecting his patient from someone who might upset him and potentially disturb his delicate state of mind, but Zoe’s request was stated firm and clear and there simply was no other way. “Sure, let’s go and visit Delta.”
Jon felt sick. What if Delta felt threatened by the unknown woman? “And, please, Zoe, be friendly and kind. Delta has only been with us for a few days. In some ways he’s still like a child.” Jon felt that Zoe understood when she looked at him and simply nodded, a spark of compassion illuminating her beautiful eyes.
* * *
Delta had finished the sushi he had requested and seemed to be in a good mood. “The sushi that you kindly offered tastes very interesting. I prefer it to hamburger and chips.”
Zoe looked stunned. She hadn’t expected Delta to act so normal, even human. She exhaled slowly, taking a brief moment to ground herself, to feel the physical presence of her body. The reality of the moment centered her. She regained her composure and was now studying Delta with her brown, almond-shaped eyes; a predator observing its prey.
“Hello, Delta. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Delta smiled at her. “Thank you, Zoe. I was wondering when CATI would take an interest in me.”
Zoe felt as if she had been hit by a brick. How could he know about the global organization that had been set up to counter the alien activities?
“Yes… we are very interested and we would like to learn more about you and your plans for this world.”
Delta studied her face. Zoe sensed that he noticed how she struggled not to give away any information, not to show how her mind was racing and how her heart was beating faster. She was trained to keep a perfectly cool façade no matter what the situation. Still, the faint dilation of her pupils, the slight blushing of her cheeks, and her tongue moistening her lips as they became dry and started sticking together were subtle signs of the nervous tension she was experiencing.
“I will tell you what you desire to know, but first please tell me what you see.”
Zoe didn’t know where to start. “What I see? Well… I see a tall, handsome man wearing a very tight blue skin suit. I see a face that is perfectly even, symmetrical, piercing blue eyes, and dark blond hair. There are absolutely no markings or scars on your skin, you seem to be perfect.”
Zoe felt her heart beating faster.
“Thank you, Zoe. You are very pretty too. Please take a seat and relax. I will now be talking to Zoe, not to Agent Page. Are you OK with that?”
Zoe felt like a little girl. What was happening to her? “Please talk to me like you would talk to a friend.” Zoe instinctively took off her grey suit jacket and sat down at the table opposite Delta.
“My maker here, Jon, was successful in crossing human and alien DNA. He shaped me based on his dream of saving humanity. He did so only wishing to help his own kind.”
Jon looked up in surprise. Zoe sensed he hadn’t expected Delta’s compliment.
“While he succeeded in the task of creating me he did not succeed in creating a weapon. I am no threat to you or to the aliens. I will help you if you wish. But I can only help you if you are willing to help yourself. You will have to see your mistakes and you have to be willing to make amends. No one can be helped if they are unable to see the reason for the trouble they are in. I believe there is a saying that applies: you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. You seem to believe that an alien attack is threatening humanity, but what is truly happening is a lesson. It is the ultimate teaching that will result in humanity reaching a higher plane of existence or alternatively will lead to its demise. There is no other possible outcome.”
Delta’s eyes seemed to hypnotize Zoe as she listened attentively. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re proposing. Are you saying that we should ignore the attacks and only work on ourselves? That sounds crazy. There has to be a way to win this war.”
Delta just looked at Zoe with a kindness in his eyes that made her feel like something was melting inside of her.
“Wars are never won by violence, but only by understanding. First you will have to understand yourself, only then can you understand others. When one truly understands then no war will ever be necessary. Diplomacy will replace violence and compassion will replace the war of words.”
Zoe shook her head. “I do see your point in that wars can be avoided, but violence is a natural part of life, even animals kill other animals when they’re hungry and need to eat.”
“To the human mind it might look like violence, but when a lion hunts and kills a zebra that is not violence. Violence is always only in the mind. One can only be violent when true understanding is missing. Ignorance is violence towards your own self. You live in violence all the time by missing the truth, by deforming it into something that it is not. Thus you hurt yourself and once you have started hurting yourself the step to hurting others is taken easily. You try to escape the pain you inflict on yourself by chasing certain goals, which often include violence towards others and sometimes even war on opposing nations. I tell you again, this is not a war that the so-called aliens are waging against humanity. War has no meaning to them nor has human life. All that counts is the well-being of the one, of life itself.”
Zoe felt as if a truck had run her over, but at the same time a small spark had been set alight inside of her. “I’m not really sure how to take your comments, but I have to agree that all these attacks don’t look like a war, they’re simply cold-blooded executions. There is no mercy or any other kind of emotion apparent in these actions. Is there really no way to stop the aliens? We don’t have to fight them, we only have to stop them being able to kill us.”
Delta looked down at the table. It seemed he didn’t like delivering the bad news. “There is nothing you can do to stop them, only convince them that humanity itself has changed and thus deserves to survive. Life has been watching its own creation for some time and now self-protective measures have been taken. These measures have not been planned or decided upon by anyone, they are a natural process to defend the whole, to keep it from fracturing any further.”
Zoe felt that this discussion couldn’t be won. She was even confident that there was no real reason for winning it. She actually sensed that Delta was speaking the truth. It sounded crazy, but she felt that she would like to change and live the way that Delta seemed to be proposing.
“And what about these two individuals, the man and the woman you are asking us to find and bring here?”
“Let’s say I require their presence to formulate a cure for humanity. The male and female side are essential in finding the balance of life; one side cannot do it alone. Just like light needs darkness to be recognized as shining brightly, so the female side is required to balance out the male and vice versa. I have seen that both individuals have transcended what you call fear. It is one of the primary beliefs that will have to be overcome if humanity wants to survive. I promise you no harm will come to these people. We will only use them as messengers of a very special kind.”
Zoe was on the verge of giving in to Delta’s request. “I don’t really see how that could work, but I also don’t see any other way out of this mess. So let’s get started.”
Jon smiled at Amy. He seemed to be relieved that Delta had managed to convince Agent Page by his unconventional way of describing things. He led Zoe to his lab where he had already prepared his holographic workstation. “Please take a seat. It’s all yours.”
Zoe was trying to come up with an explanation of how all of this could have happened so fast. She stared at the screen for a brief moment before shaking her head, logging into GlobeSec, and launching a few search queries.
“Stop
! What about her?” Amy pointed at a Japanese-looking woman wearing a Japan Airlines uniform.
“There seems to have been an incident in San Diego just a few days ago where all passengers in the plane were found dead on arrival. All besides one, Ms. Suki Tanaka. Our colleagues in San Diego interrogated her. They also did a psychological profile. She was allowed to leave as the scan showed that she was telling the truth. Her story about what happened on the plane is very strange to say the least.”
While Jon read Suki’s explanation, Amy suddenly laughed out loud. “That sounds crazy. A woman with long hair on a killing spree… Why would the aliens show up in the disguise of a woman that seems to be plucked out of a mythological fairy tale?”
Jon looked at Amy. “Good question. I guess we’ll have to ask Delta about that, but it doesn’t really matter what form the alien is taking to kill people. It’s much more important to find out why the Japanese woman has been spared and what qualifies her to be of such paramount importance to Delta and potentially to humanity’s survival. I propose we treat her with the utmost respect and don’t threaten her in any way.”
Zoe nodded as she started a global search query for Ms. Tanaka. A few seconds later satellite imaging and mobile communications data were automatically linked into a report of her activities over the last few days. She had returned to her home in Tokyo where she had slept last night and was now getting ready for her day. She had been suspended from flying for some time and assigned psychological counseling which she had to attend on a daily basis.
“We can get our staff in Tokyo to talk to her and ask her to join us here in San Francisco,” Zoe suggested.
Jon appeared skeptical. “Maybe one of us should fly over and join your colleagues when they first approach her. I think it’s important to deliver the right message and to explain it in a way only we can. Amy, what do you think?”
Amy was surprised at Jon hinting at her flying over to Japan to fetch Suki. “Ahh… yes… sure, if you think that I can be of any help.”
Jon looked at Zoe awaiting her confirmation.
“I can’t see any reason why not. I propose that we arrange your journey as soon as possible so you can meet Suki directly after her appointment with the psychologist.”
Amy looked uncertain. She wasn’t sure if she was the right person to successfully perform this task, but then again, she couldn’t think of anybody else more qualified. Maybe Jon, but he had to stay here and look after Delta. “OK, I’ll do it. Before I start getting ready, can we look for the second person, the man that Delta was talking about? I would feel more comfortable if I could tell Suki that there’s another individual that will be joining her and that we already know who he is.”
Zoe moved Suki’s profile to the second workstation with a swipe of her hand and initiated another search query. A few potential candidates showed up, but they all seemed to be imposters or storytellers, not true survivors of an alien attack.
“Amy, I think you should get yourself ready for the journey. It doesn’t look like we’ll find this man anytime soon. If there was any record of a survivor Zoe would have found it by now.”
Amy looked disappointed. “OK, I’ll leave you to it, but please contact me as soon as you have news about this man.”
Jon watched Zoe cross-referencing huge amounts of data, without success. “How about we issue an international request for support to all local police departments describing what we’re looking for? Considering Suki’s unbelievable story I wouldn’t be surprised if a police officer ignored the story, believing it to be pure imagination and instead reported his own interpretation of events. Something that sounded more believable and that didn’t make him look a complete fool. We could offer confidentiality to the officer so his reputation won’t be compromised in his own department.”
Zoe looked up from her holo display, staring at Jon. “You know, Jon, you should be one of us. You have a very sharp mind.”
Jon smiled. He liked Zoe, which made him feel awkward. How could he be attracted to a CATI agent? He had always despised them and now, when he finally met one in person, he seemed to be growing fond of her.
“I’ll have to return to HQ to work on this with my colleagues. We have specialists in international relations. Maybe you could come up with a draft of the message to be sent out that we can use as a framework. Here’s my card. Please forward it to my private address so I can have a look at it before discussing it with my colleagues.”
Zoe handed Jon her business card, a blank, see-through piece of amorphous silicon, which carried all the required data. Only the person it was handed to could access the information as it automatically encrypted the data contained using the unique fingerprint of the individual accepting the card.
“I’ll compile the message. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Zoe smiled and extended her hand. “The pleasure was all mine.”
Fifteen
Eva
“You want me to do what?” Mov stared at Eva in disbelief. “Are you crazy? Do you know how much a single second on the Ring will cost us?”
Eva had expected Mov to react in anger. She sat down opposite him and took a slow, deep breath. “How much is a life worth?”
Now Mov was caught by surprise. “A life? What’s this got to do with the value of life?”
Eva tried to remain calm on the outside while inside her thoughts were racing. Her plan seemed to be working out. She had put a little flea in Mov’s ear. “I guess you’ve heard about the strange attacks in the CBD and a few hours ago also in Moscow. More than five hundred people have been killed.”
Now Eva had Mov’s full attention. “What about it?”
Eva took a sip of water as she considered her next move carefully. “We’ve found signals interspersed within the alien base signal that are able to isolate themselves from their carrier signal and move freely in our atmosphere. These signals seem to be able to interfere with the workings of our brain; they might be able to influence our patterns of perception.”
Mov started to get fidgety. “Eva, don’t go too far. What are you proposing?”
Eva decided she had better tone it down a bit, defusing her next statement into a small bluff that she was pretty sure would eventually be proved correct. “I’ve been able to link one of the attacks in Moscow to a signal that was ejected from the Green Egg. The location and time are exact matches. It has vanished now and I don’t know where it will materialize next. The only way to scan our whole global atmosphere is by using the Ring. I believe that by doing so we might be able to warn people about imminent attacks and save thousands. A bit like our global tsunami warning system, if you will.”
Mov sat back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. He was weighing up calling the security guards to accompany Eva to her lab, forcing her to pack up her things, and throwing her out of this compound, or trusting her instincts and supporting her ridiculous theory. He looked at Eva who was oblivious to how close she was to losing not only her job but also all future opportunity to ever work in her field of experience ever again.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Mov was shocked at his sudden decision to support her cause, but he truly was not able to think of any other solution to this burning problem.
Eva smiled, walked over to Mov, and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, Mov. I knew you would understand.”
“You better get out of here fast before I change my mind.”
Eva laughed and quickly made her way out of his office.
* * *
Ivan was stunned at Eva’s success. “Really? How did you manage to convince him?”
“I told him that he’ll be saving thousands of lives, that he’ll be the greatest hero of all time, and that the only thing he has to do is allow us to proceed with our work.”
Ivan looked startled. “Are you proposing that the attacks are linked to the signals that are coming from the Green Egg?”
Eva nodded. “Yes, obviously they’re connected, don’t you agree?” She smil
ed at Ivan who required some more time to see through her bluff.
“Oh my God. If this doesn’t work out as you’ve planned we’re all dead. Mov will kill us himself or even worse…”
Ivan’s colorful way of painting a picture of what Eva had just done sparked a strange tingling sensation in her stomach. Cold sweat started to appear on her forehead.
“Don’t worry, Ivan, when have I ever been wrong?” Eva was not only trying to calm Ivan down, but was primarily looking to find a good reason for her reckless behavior. Something that would placate him and that would serve as a base solid enough for them to be able to move on with their investigations.
“While Mov is working on getting us some time slices on the Ring we should analyze the signals in more depth. Are you ready for that?” Her positive demeanor seemed to work on Ivan who now looked up, a brief smile crossing his pale face.
“I guess that’s the only thing we can do right now.”
Ivan went back to his holo display and zoomed in on one of the spikes that appeared in regular intervals of about thirteen minutes or 777 seconds to be more precise. “Funny that, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these signals show up every 777 seconds. I just don’t know what kind of coincidence it’s pointing to…” he wondered aloud.
“Well, in Christianity the number 777 stands as the opposing power to 666 which has been linked to the devil. 777 represents the threefold perfection of the Trinity. Looks like a positive sign…” Eva again surprised Ivan with her unusual knowledge in areas that he didn’t expect her to be interested in. She pointed at a strangely shaped part of the signal’s peak. “Look at this section of the signal, what do you see?”
Humans and other Aliens: Book 1 Page 8