The Zul Enigma

by J M Leitch

  ‘Are the Americans still bothering you?’

  Carlos laughed. ‘No – that’s sorted. Hey, Greg told me you’re back in DC figuring out how the messages came in.’

  ‘More information came to light at the weekend.’

  ‘The holovideos?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘So NASA’s not still claiming I sent them to myself?’

  ‘They always thought that was a stretch.’

  ‘So… did you work it out yet?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Really! And where they came from?’

  Joseph hesitated. ‘No. That’s still a mystery.’

  ‘So how did they come in?’

  ‘I can’t tell you. The report hasn’t gone to the President yet.’

  ‘Well, when it’s official, be sure to let me know.’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘And what do you think about the content? You’ve seen it all now, right?’

  ‘It’s bizarre. All I know it’s a lot of effort to go to for a hoax that nobody’s claiming responsibility for.’

  Carlos sipped his coffee. ‘How about blackmail? Or what Bob Anderson thinks – that someone’s trying to discredit him?’

  ‘Both feasible ideas, but there are simpler ways to put either scenario into effect. And why hasn’t anyone taken responsibility? It’s been two weeks since the first contact.’

  ‘Exactly what I keep saying.’

  ‘Of course the science is sketchy, but this idea of evolving to higher densities? It’s not the first I’ve heard about it,’ Joseph said.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Many websites and blogs have been talking about it for years. Information allegedly channelled from the Cassiopaeans, the Pleiadians and from Ra. Believe me, plenty of people think something’s going to happen.’

  ‘Do you believe it?’ Carlos asked.

  ‘I don’t know. They say truth is stranger than fiction.’

  ***

  ‘Hey Drew, it’s Erika’

  ‘Erika! Babe. What’s up?’

  ‘I miss you. I’m lonely,’ she said in a small voice and Drew grinned.

  ‘Lonely? Impossible with your two horrors running around. Or are you telling me they learned to be quiet in the last week?’

  ‘They’re boys. They’ll never be quiet.’

  ‘So… how’s tricks?’ he asked. ‘Anything from that arsehole ex-boyfriend of yours?’

  ‘He wasn’t a boyfriend. Anyhow, what did you say to him?’

  ‘Mind your own business. It’s boys’ stuff.’

  ‘Big boys’ stuff, you mean.’

  ‘Yeah… well…’

  ‘But thank you. I was really scared. Oh, before I forget, Carlos just called.’

  ‘Really!’

  ‘He’s out of hospital and back at work.’

  ‘No shit! That was quick,’ Drew hesitated before adding, ‘so why did he call?’

  ‘He has magnificent Mediterranean manners and he wanted to thank me for driving him to hospital last Sunday.’

  ‘That’s a surprise. I thought you were on his blacklist by association with me.’

  ‘So did I, that’s why I’m so glad he made contact. He sounds terrific, you know? Just like his old self. And guess what? He said the Secretary-General was very impressed with me the other day.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’

  Erika laughed. ‘We’re going to meet for dinner…’

  ‘But Erika… he’s married…’

  ‘Not the Secretary-General you goofball – me and Carlos – after he’s got the Subcommittee Session out of the way.’

  ‘Oh, really?’

  ‘What’s wrong with that? Perhaps I can persuade him to start talking to you again.’

  ‘If he takes you out for dinner, perhaps I won’t want him to talk to me again.’

  ‘What, jealous?’ There was silence. ‘Drew? Are you there?’

  ‘Maybe you don’t get it,’ he said quietly, ‘but I miss you too.’

  ***

  Towards the end of the working day Greg called Carlos asking him to come up to the fourteenth floor for a chat. There was a lot to catch up on, especially the “Zul Enigma”, as Greg had christened it.

  ‘The thing I don’t understand,’ Greg said, ‘is why you didn’t call Corrinne when this Astraea woman appeared. Or record the call. That would have proved it right then and there.’

  ‘I thought I was imagining it. It never crossed my mind to get proof.’

  ‘Well… it doesn’t matter any more.’ Greg said, tapping the arm of his spectacles on the desk as he leaned back in his chair twisting it from side to side.

  ‘Has watching Zul and Astraea changed your mind?’ Carlos asked.

  Greg sucked air in between his teeth and screwed up his face. ‘No. I still think someone’s going to speak out. But the more time goes by, the less likely it seems.’

  ‘It’s already been two weeks. How about the Americans? What do they think?’

  ‘Barbara made it clear she never believed you were responsible, not even at the beginning.’

  Carlos nodded. ‘I spoke to Joseph earlier. That’s pretty much what he said about NASA too. Hey, did you know he worked out how the messages came in?’

  ‘Barbara mentioned it. But I didn’t know it was thanks to Joseph.’

  ‘He didn’t give me any details. What did Barbara say?’

  ‘Just that they’re waiting for NASA’s report. But she did say they’re no nearer finding out who sent them. Or where they came from.’

  ‘I hated her for what she did to me – but you know? She never acted like she thought I was guilty.’ Carlos shifted forward on his chair and jabbed his finger in the air. ‘When she accused me of playing Zul, she couldn’t even look me in the eye.’

  Greg smiled. ‘And what about you, Carlos? What do you think about it all now?’

  ‘You saw my conversation with Zul… and I think I said the same thing to Astraea… sí,’ he made a slow nod of his head. ‘I know I did, remember I kept asking Zul what he thought I could do, knowing the Americans were putting me in hospital? He made me so crazy with his answers, you know… the “believe in yourself” and the “when the time comes you’ll know what to do”? Astraea was the same. It drove me crazy. They were so evasive. But in hospital, I had time to think. What Zul said about meditating and doing things for selfless reasons… I don’t know if you know… but last week I had a big bust up with an old friend.’

  Greg nodded, ‘Corrinne did say something …’

  ‘And I can’t stop thinking about what that person said to me. He made it very clear what kind of a man he thinks I am. And it’s totally different to how I see myself. It made me reassess my life – the way I was with Elena – and I swear I never saw it before but… well…’ he looked down at his lap and shook his head, ‘I wasn’t always very nice to her.’ When he raised his head, Greg saw a watery film covering his eyes, making them shine as if he had a fever.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I don’t like the man I am, and for sure I don’t like how I was with her. I want to change.’

  ‘But what’s all that got to do with Zul?’

  Carlos smiled. ‘Everything. Like I said before, whenever I questioned how I could do anything once they put me in hospital, he kept telling me to “believe”. It made me doubt him then. But now I know they were good answers.’ He leaned forward and shook his hands in front of him. ‘Here I am. I’m not in Madrid, I’m not in hospital and I’m not mad. I’m still Director of OOSA. Now let me ask you,’ he pointed his finger at Greg, ‘would you have put money on that last Sunday?’

  Greg laughed and shook his head.

  ‘I’m learning I can use my free will to do anything I want. And what I want is to become a better man. You see, I honestly believe what Zul says and I want to help others believe it too. So I’m going to do what he wants. I’m going to get Zul’s message about meditation and service to others out to the world.’
r />   ‘You really believe he’s an entity from a different density?’

  ‘I do. But that’s not important.’

  ‘What do you mean? Surely that’s the key issue?’

  ‘No,’ Carlos said shaking his head, ‘in fact it doesn’t matter much at all, because his message is valid regardless of what he claims. Forget what might happen next month or next year… the important thing is for us to become better people now. That’s something we can do. That’s what matters. In fact, Greg, that’s all that matters.’

  ‘Hello Bob,’ Greg said. ‘Yes. Yes, Barbara did mention it. I don’t know. When? Friday? Yeess…’ he said the word slowly, as if he was still thinking about it. ‘I was planning to fly home on Thursday, but I suppose I can come to DC first. Yes. That’ll work for me as long as I’m in New York Friday night latest. Yes. Fine. Yes. That should be no problem. Right you are. Ten o’clock? Good. See you then.’

  Greg hung up the phone. ‘Well, well. That was Bob. It’s official. They know how the messages came in. He wants us to meet him Friday morning to discuss how we should proceed.’

  ‘Us?’

  ‘Yes. He wants you there too. Are you up to it?’ Greg asked, and Carlos grinned.

  ‘Sure I’m up to it, but there’s one condition.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Greg.

  ‘You tell Corrinne.’

  CHAPTER 4

  There were distinct advantages when flying with the Secretary-General of the UN. His assistant took care of all the formalities and in no time the senior flight attendant, slick and efficient in her red Austrian Airlines uniform, escorted Carlos and Greg onto the plane.

  Carlos settled himself in the window seat next to Greg and they sipped Domaine Laurent-Perrier Brut champagne from cut-glass flutes as the aircraft taxied onto the runway. The cold spell was breaking at last. Temperatures in Vienna had risen a few degrees and a fine drizzle replaced the snow that had been falling for the last three weeks.

  After they finished the five-course lunch and were relaxing with cognacs and double espressos, the conversation turned to Astraea.

  ‘I’ve gone over it in my mind a hundred times,’ Carlos said touching his forehead, ‘and I feel like I’m missing something.’ He shrugged, ‘but I can’t work out what. I know I kept getting angry. She’d calm me down then I’d get mad again. I guess it was the amphetamines. The last thing I remember is feeling so angry… I was shouting at her.’

  ‘She’s a stunning woman.’

  ‘When I first saw her? I didn’t know what to think. She was too sexy. And it wasn’t just the way she looked. She was flirting with me.’

  Greg raised his brows. ‘That much was clear from the little bit I saw.’

  ‘She made me uncomfortable. That made me unsure about her. One moment she was joking around and the next almost too serious. But I understood her better than Zul.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s because she’s only at fourth density. It’s because the “gap” in understanding Zul was talking about isn’t so wide.’

  ‘What about the resettlement programme?’ Greg lifted his cup and saucer towards his lips. As he gripped the handle between his thumb and forefinger the tiny espresso cup, compared with the size of his large face, made him look comical – like a giant at a children’s tea party.

  ‘It will really be something,’ Carlos said, his eyes shining and Greg wasn’t sure if his expression was fired with excitement or anxiety.

  ‘Although it will be horrendous… unimaginable… at first, because the humans rooted in third density will have to deal with the remains of the people who evolved to the fourth.’

  Greg screwed up his eyes. ‘There would be so many bodies. I don’t even want to imagine it,’ and he shook his head making his jowls quiver.

  ‘But, Greg, like after the Twin Towers collapsed in New York, Astraea said people will unite because everyone will be sharing the same shock, the same grief. And in a way it’s better that there will be something left behind for them to grieve.

  ‘And later… just think?’ Carlos gripped his boss’s arm, ‘the opportunity to do things right next time and… with no opposition.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘Because we’ll all believe in the beneficial effects of embracing selflessness through meditation and know quantum leaps in evolution to higher densities are for real, because we’ll have witnessed it with our own eyes. No one will want their descendants to fail the next time, so everyone will want to raise the vibration level of their consciousness.

  ‘And with such a depleted population, the world will have enough oil and enough food. We won’t have to mass produce. We can return to free range farming, crop rotation, biodegradable pesticides and fertilisers. We’ll reduce pollution. The rivers and seas will get clean again and the fish levels will come back. There won’t be wars, because there won’t be anything to fight over.

  ‘Life will be so much healthier. There’ll be less stress, because there will be enough of everything for everyone. The pace of life will slow down. And education can be made available to all.’

  ‘We can develop a planetary system of honourable leadership that will cut across race and religion and give everyone equal opportunities. You see?’ Carlos shook his hand at Greg, ‘that’s exactly what you and I want too.’

  ‘Sir Thomas More’s dream realised – Utopia,’ Greg said.

  ‘Through consciously healing our planet and ourselves, we and our future generations will raise our vibrationary rate so the next time we have the chance to make the evolutionary leap to fourth density, everyone will be successful.

  ‘I so wanted to believe in this new planet, this new, beautiful way of life, but because at that point I thought she was in my head, I got angry.

  ‘But now?’ Carlos said, tapping himself on the chest, ‘now I know I didn’t imagine Astraea and you,’ he pointed at Greg, ‘and they,’ he cocked his thumb over his shoulder indicating the Americans, ‘know the messages had nothing to do with me, now I can believe in the future she described and, well, I want to do everything to make sure we don’t mess it up again.’

  ‘You believe everything she and Zul said?’

  ‘Yes. But like I told you yesterday, right now it’s not important if it’s true or not – if the evolutionary leap happens or not – because promoting meditation across the planet will help the population, regardless.

  ‘Later, when the Earth does evolve to the fourth density, that will be the proof. After that everyone left will have to believe. After that, we’ll all know for sure. After that, everyone will want to make a better world in the future.’

  Greg cleared his throat. ‘Of course, what Astraea describes for the new Earth is my ideal too. It’s what the UN represents and it’s what I’ve been working towards. But unlike you, Carlos, I don’t believe in Zul and Astraea. I’m quite sure they’re human. I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but I just don’t believe it.’

  ‘I know. And I understand. And Astraea told me to think hard before sharing the actual process of evolution with the world. Unless people are truly committed, they’ll be horrified. I was horrified myself when Astraea first explained. But to promote meditation? We can do that.’

  ‘I… oh Carlos! I can’t accept that you really think this evolution thing is actually going to happen.’

  ‘I know,’ he smiled, ‘it sounds so crazy – so horrible – but it is very, very beautiful. It just takes a while to see the beauty in the horror.’

  ‘And you don’t intend telling anyone else about it?’

  ‘No… it won’t do any good to make that public. But we can help people raise their vibration without revealing what’s behind it.’

  ‘May I clear these, sir?’

  Greg looked round into the smiling face of a flight attendant stooped over his shoulder.

  After she had taken their empty cups and glasses, Greg looked back towards Carlos.

  ‘So what do you have in mind?’

  Carlo
s lifted his hand and made a fist, clenching it tight, close to his face. ‘I have a plan and it can work. It will work. I can do what Zul wants. But I need your support.’

  ***

  Carlos jostled his way around a throng of women in their late twenties out on a hen night. In spite of the fact it was not yet nine o’clock, it was clear they’d been celebrating for some time and the bride-to-be, identifiable by the headdress and white veil planted on top of her head, staggered backwards into him as he tried to manoeuvre past the squealing mob.

  ‘Ooh. S’rry,’ she slurred, giggling.

  He reached the bar and sat down next to Joseph. They were at the Screwball, the same cocktail lounge in DC where Drew had met Carlos a couple of weeks before.

  So much had happened in that time. Carlos’s world had been turned upside down, right way up and then back again. Or rather, the reverse. He was definitely right way up now, he thought.

  ‘Drink?’ Joseph said.

  ‘Just offering, or are you going pay for it as well?’

  ‘Very funny, Carlos. And a little bird told me you don’t do jokes.’

  ‘Not such a little bird, hey? And not of this world.’

  ‘Is that what you believe?’

  ‘That’s what she said.’

  ‘Drinks gentlemen?’ inquired the barman and they both ordered vodka tonics.

  ‘So,’ Carlos said, ‘tell me how they did it.’

  ‘There had to be a logical explanation. Something simple. Then it came to me. Whoever sent them used lasers.’

  ‘Lasers?’

  The barman finished their order and rushed off to serve the organiser of the hen party, who was waving her empty glass in the air.

  Joseph raised his drink.

  ‘¡Salud!’ Carlos said.

  ‘You see,’ Joseph rested his forearm on the counter so he could lean in closer to Carlos and be heard above the hubbub, ‘it’s possible to construct a laser signal and beam it from another building, or even from outer space, through your office window and provide your virtual keyboard with a stream of data that could create any type of file onto the network file space attached to your terminal.’