Humans and other Aliens: Book 1

by Winzer, Alexander

  “What do I think? Well, you’re the best mathematician I’ve ever met and you’re also very creative in using your skills. You’re a better physicist than I’ll ever be. So yes, sure, go!”

  Peter slumped back in his chair. Did the professor really think he was more qualified than even he himself? “OK, if you think so. When do they want me there?”

  Prof. Dvorak smiled. “Today. I’ll miss you, but I know you can do much more over there and Jon is an amazing scientist. You’ll see new horizons opening up.”

  Peter was getting excited but he was also deeply upset about his girlfriend. He wasn’t sure what hurt more, her betrayal or the brutal death she had to experience. Peter swallowed twice as if to remove an unpleasant taste from his mouth. Julia had cheated on him and now she was dead. In his burning anger Peter felt that it was maybe even a fitting punishment. He stared at the table, sensing a dark numbness spreading in his chest. No! He forced the darkness back into a remote corner. He still felt it; he knew it would eventually erupt, but not now. This was maybe the most important decision in his scientific career. A new world was waiting and the door was already open. He only had to walk through it.

  Twenty-Seven

  Zoe

  “I’m not sure how to do this. How do you look for people who don’t fear? What defines them?” Zoe was dumbfounded. Ezrah sat next to her looking at the long list of people that Zoe’s queries had generated. The smallest change in search criteria resulted in a completely different selection of individuals. There simply was no coherence in the results. Besides that, the lists were extensive, thousands of names belonging to people from all over the globe; testing them all would take months, maybe years, time they didn’t have.

  Suki quietly entered the room. “Why don’t you look for people that had near-death experiences?”

  Zoe was startled. She hadn’t noticed that Suki was standing right behind her. “Well… I don’t know. Why would that help?”

  Suki continued, “My mum told me that I had a bad fall when I was only three years old. I was clinically dead, but somehow I survived. I only remember a voice asking me if I wanted to stay here or leave. It told me it would be OK either way, that there was nothing to be afraid of. That I would never have to be afraid anymore.”

  Zoe started typing.

  “And considering Chris’s experience you could also look for people that had to endure and survived extreme situations. Maybe combine these two criteria with a certain lifestyle that people started leading after these experiences happened. Maybe some practice extreme sports, others might simply live alone off-grid or they might be leaders of innovative businesses… Look for the extraordinary…” Suki was quiet for a minute while Zoe compiled a new query.

  “Hmm, this might work… what do you think?”

  Zoe had now finalized her query and turned around smiling. “Thanks, Suki. That helped. I’ll let you know about the outcome.”

  Ezrah scanned the list that had just popped up. “Interesting… look at these people. They’re rather unusual. They either have basically no social media records at all or they are completely the opposite. They’re either very reclusive or extremely outgoing.”

  Zoe nodded. “But there’s still nearly five hundred of them. Where do we start?”

  Ezrah was good at this kind of work. “I propose we prioritize people that have a potential match of the opposite sex close by. Then we look for general hotspots of these kinds of couples. It’ll save us a lot of traveling if we look at the hotspots first.”

  Mumbai, India was listed as number one with seven potential couples. London, UK followed with six.

  “I’ve never been to India. What about you, Zoe?”

  Zoe looked uncertain. “I went to New Delhi a few years ago. Too hot for me and so many people…”

  Ezrah smiled. “Looks like neither of us is too keen… How about we toss a coin?”

  Zoe didn’t like the idea. She never won anything when it came to games of chance. “Really? Do we have to? I thought that you… being a man…”

  Ezrah looked sheepish. Zoe sensed he was aware of his insensitivity. Proposing a game of chance to decide who would be allowed to travel to the preferred place was not very gentlemanlike. “Thinking about it… I’d actually be happy to go to Mumbai. As I said, I’ve never been to India but I’ve seen London before. It’d be nice to explore somewhere different.”

  Zoe was relieved. “Thank you, Ezrah, you’re a gem. Let’s go and talk to Delta about how we should approach these people.”

  Delta looked at Zoe’s list of people, making a few notes for every single person.

  Ezrah nodded. “How do you propose we convince them to join us? We can’t force them, can we?”

  Delta answered, his eyes still fixed on the list. “No, they will join us because they will see that this is what is right, it is their destiny.”

  Ezrah was not so sure that these people would immediately see what seemed to be perfectly clear for Delta. “I don’t know… if some tall, good-looking guy like me approached you, asking you to leave everything behind, board a plane to the US and fight an alien invasion… what would you do?”

  Delta smiled at Ezrah as he handed him an electronic note. Ezrah had to read it a couple of times and was still not sure how Delta’s cryptic note could be of any help.

  Dear friend, this message is delivered as a reminder; a reminder that when a decision has to be made the heart should be followed; a reminder that times of inaction are balanced with action. Join us and help those who do not know. Do this for the sake of all beings that live with the taint of ignorance. There will be no reward, no promise of glory, just what needs to be done. If this message touches your core you will know what to do.

  “Hand this to the people you will be meeting. If they understand they will join you, if not then thank them and leave them behind.”

  Ezrah was not sure he understood. “You want us to simply hand over this message and that’s it? Shouldn’t we explain what we expect from them? Who we are and what we’re doing?”

  Delta got up from his chair. “Do so if they ask you. Otherwise don’t. The right ones will follow you no matter where you go.”

  Zoe patted Ezrah’s back. “Let’s go, handsome. I’ve organized a CATI jet for each of us. We’ll need to be flexible when carrying back whoever we’re able to convince.”

  Ezrah was starting to feel like an agent himself. “When are you leaving?”

  Zoe looked at the display on her desk. “In a couple of hours. I still want to talk to Jon before we depart.”

  Ezrah got up from his seat. “Good idea.”

  They found Jon in his lab where he was chatting to Eva while Ivan was busy dismantling Professor Dimitrios’s machine.

  Ezrah noticed that Eva was getting closer to Jon day by day. She really hangs on to his every word when he talks, thought Ezrah.

  He observed Ivan working. The Russian’s forehead was furrowed into deep lines, mouth hanging slightly open, revealing the tip of his tongue, while steady fingers connected miniature cables to a messy-looking setup of technical equipment. “He’s really into it, isn’t he?” said Ezrah, his face displaying clear signs of amusement.

  Eva smiled. “Yes, that’s Ivan… sometimes I don’t know what’s more human, the machine he’s working on, or the man that’s sitting in front of it.”

  Zoe giggled. “You are funny, Eva.”

  Ezrah noted how Jon looked at Eva in an affectionate way before he focused on Zoe.

  “Now, what can I do for you?”

  “We’ve compiled a list of people that we’ll be visiting in Mumbai and London that will hopefully be willing to help us. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours.”

  Ivan had overheard the last part of the conversation and was now walking over to their table. “Hi Zoe, Ezrah, I have a present for you.”

  He handed them one of his mobile tracking devices each. “You never know… it might be helpful, just in case…”

  Ezrah’s s
tomach contracted thinking about the night at the technology tower. “Thank you… I hope that we don’t need it.” He looked at the device, unsure how to activate it. “Ahh… how does it work? I’m not…”

  Zoe grinned. “I’ll show you, old man.”

  Ezrah knew she didn’t mean it like that, but it still stung. “I’m not that old, you know…”

  Zoe touched his hand. “I know, you’re ancient.”

  Ezrah laughed. “Sometimes I feel like I am.”

  Jon cleared his throat as if to catch their attention. “We’re trying to reconfigure Nick’s machine to turn it into some kind of defensive weapon. Ivan has found out that the device is mostly based on equipment that’s already ten years old.”

  Ivan took over. “It seems he was short on funding. I’m sure using modern technology we should be able to reduce the size of his machine to something one person can easily carry on his back.”

  Ezrah listened attentively. “Are you saying that we’ll soon be able to blast these monsters from the surface of the earth?”

  Jon held up his hand. “We won’t blast anyone off anything. It’s not a weapon that can destroy the aliens.”

  “What’s the point then? If it can’t harm them then why build it?”

  Eva looked at Jon and said, “It won’t harm them, but it will keep them from harming us. It will basically transport them back to a location close to where they initially came from.”

  Ivan seemed keen to explain further. “It’s not truly a place. The aliens are not made of matter at all. Look at it like a computer virus. Essentially it’s only a piece of information. It comes from somewhere outside, from the global Internet. It finds its way onto your computer via an email or some malicious download and boom! You’re infected. Now, how do you get rid of the infection?”

  Ezrah looked at Zoe hoping she would help him out. “You shoot it?”

  Zoe burst out in laughter. “Yes, why don’t you shoot your computer? Man…”

  Ivan’s face turned red. “Ahh… sorry… no you don’t shoot it. You simply remove it, you isolate it, and confine it in a secure location.”

  Ezrah was starting to understand. “OK, we’re sending them to jail. Why didn’t you say that in the first place instead of talking this nonsense about computer viruses?”

  Ivan nodded. “Sorry, my fault.”

  Jon smiled. “We’re working on building a device that will render them harmless to humanity. But it’s not as simple as it sounds. We’ll need some help. Someone that is deeply familiar with the theoretical background of Nick’s machine. We need Professor Dvorak. I received a call from the professor, who is unable to join us but he said he would ask his best scientist, a man called Peter Steiner, to help us out. I’ve just received word that he agreed and will be arriving soon. I hope that by the time you get back, we might have something to show you.”

  Ivan looked less optimistic. “I hope this Peter is a genius as it looks pretty impossible to me.”

  Eva glared at Ivan. “Don’t listen to him. We will succeed. Have a safe trip and good luck with talking to all the… interesting people.”

  Ezrah felt that Eva had hit the nail on the head. They would need all the luck they could muster. He still felt weird about turning up at someone’s door, handing over Delta’s strange note, and expecting them to drop everything to join them on their quest to save humanity. “Thank you, Eva, we’ll need it.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Ezrah

  “Detective Hill, this way please.” Two men in ominous grey suits led Ezrah to the CATI jet. He felt awkward traveling without a partner. It’s a shame Zoe’s not here. I kind of miss her, he thought to himself.

  Ezrah relaxed into the air-cushioned seat, and had a drink of ginger ale, before starting up his mobile holographic display to have another look at his agenda. There were fourteen people in total whom he had to visit in less than three days. It wouldn’t be such a difficult feat if he were back in New York, but Mumbai… Ezrah had been reading up on the city once called Bombay. It is the most populous city in all of India, home to more than thirty million people based on the last census conducted in 2050.

  A man named Kal Dosh was first on his list. A photo showed a middle-aged man with jet-black hair that had turned snowy white in one small section above his left eye. His eyes were light, with a silvery-greenish tinge, a rare coloring considering his Indian descent. Kal had graduated from the University of Mumbai, studying journalism, which eventually led to him writing for the English-language branch of The Indian Express where he worked for nearly ten years until… This is when the story turns strange, thought Ezrah …until he started to investigate a series of fatalities that he believed were caused by a chemical preservative that was part of many food items in India at the time. Kal was trying to prove that the compound could be detrimental if taken in combination with certain medications and would lead to muscle paralysis in the victim resulting in a slow, dreadful death by suffocation.

  Kal was initially threatened and later abducted by what he believed to be a group of men who were hired by the chemical companies’ board of directors to deal with certain delicate problems. Kal was such a problem. Children playing found him a few days later, wrapped up in plastic foil lying under a bridge in the outskirts of Mumbai. He was lucky. His kidnappers had not wrapped up his head properly and thus Kal was still able to breathe, if only in a very shallow way. He was taken to a hospital nearby where he recovered next to a man called Parikh Khan. Parikh was very old, around ninety years of age, but he was still quite spritely. Well… besides the lung cancer that slowly killed him, thought Ezrah. Kal had talked to Parikh and told him all he remembered about his days under the bridge, not being able to move, and consciously dying three times and always coming back knowing that this would not be the end. Something had changed inside of him. He stopped identifying with his body; even his thoughts no longer belonged to him. They weren’t any more important than the voices that occasionally drifted over from a radio nearby. Parikh smiled and listening to Kal’s story, but he never offered advice, not even his opinion; actually he never even said a single word until, on the third day, he died peacefully in his sleep. Kal felt desperate; he thought that this man had understood him in his pervading silence, but now he was dead and there was nothing more to say. A couple of hours later a nurse made up the bed Parikh had died in. Kal noticed a small piece of paper with some writing on it slide out from under the sheets, dropping onto the floor. He got up as fast as it was possible for him in his delicate state and placed his foot on the piece of paper. As he bent down to put his slippers on, he took the folded note and walked to the toilet.

  Dear friend, I cannot hear your words as I am deaf, but I see more than most people hear. Trust in what you have been shown. You might not consider the last couple of weeks to be a blessing, but in a few months you will see them as such. Not many are given the opportunity to know. Follow your inner being, ignore all external belief, and you will be established in truth. The time has come, I am being called. A chapter of The Divine Comedy comes to an end and another begins.

  Ezrah shook his head at the irony of Kal’s story. The man next to him, Parikh, wasn’t able to hear him, but the hospital room’s surveillance system had recorded every detail of Kal’s monologue. Still, Parikh’s advice was much more to the point than anything Ezrah could have ever said. You never know who’s listening, thought Ezrah as he again read the old man’s note. Sounds similar to the gibberish that Delta has given us… maybe there really is a connection between these people… maybe some kind of secret language.

  Kal now lived in a small flat in Mumbai, he had given up his job, and he seemed to be doing… well… nothing. He was living off the money that he had made over the last ten years and led the life of a hermit, a hermit amidst thirty million people.

  * * *

  “Detective Hill, I am Anil. How was your flight?” Anil wore a bright smile while folding his hands in the typical Hindu way of greeting the divine i
n the other. “Hello, Anil. Please call me Ezrah. Do you know if there has been transport organized for me?”

  Anil pointed to a grey pod that hovered over the tarmac some twenty meters from the plane. “Over here. Zoe asked me to help you while you are in Mumbai. I’ll be your driver and guide.”

  Ezrah was glad that Zoe had thought about organizing a guide. “That’s great, thank you. I’m sure you will be a great help.”

  Anil smiled and led Ezrah to his travel pod. “Where would you like to go, sir?”

  Ezrah decided to first visit a few potential candidates before checking into his hotel. He would feel better once he was ahead of his schedule. “Let’s start with Mr. Kal Dosh; Bapu Bagve Road, Anand Park, Dahisar West.”

  Anil nodded and programmed the pod’s navigation system. “Please have a spiced candy. It is very good for your stomach. This one is with cardamom.”

  Ezrah didn’t like sweets, but he felt that it might be unfriendly to reject Anil’s kind offer. “Thank you.”

  Anil smiled as Ezrah hesitantly put the colorful piece of flavored sugar into his mouth.

  “I told Mr. Dosh that we would be there at 4 p.m. We’re two hours early, but I don’t think he goes out much.”

  Ezrah’s eyes were drawn to all the colorful Indian hangings and decorations that covered every inch of the pod’s interior. He smiled. Looks like some traditions never change, no matter how much technology advances.

  The holo display now showed a virtual view of the city. “This makes even New York look like a relaxed place… it’s quite something.”

  Anil smiled. “Yes, sir. Mumbai is the most densely populated place on earth. I live in an apartment building consisting of more than one thousand dwellings; each apartment is really only one room, but it is luxurious as it has its own travel pod dock and a fully automated Indian kitchen.”