“Can we borrow these?” Agent Kennard asked. “We need to have our lab analyze them.” Agent Kennard put all the photos back in the briefcase. She appeared almost in a panic as she clumsily banged the exit door around trying to leave quickly.
Agent Neil sat there for a few minutes and appeared to be daydreaming. “So, assuming everything you’ve told us is true, let’s get to the heart of the matter. What exactly is your intention? Why are you here? What is it you want?”
“I’m sure glad we have come this far Agent Neil. Those photos of the saucer ships look familiar, don’t they?” Atik asked.
“Yes of course. They look like the UFOs people have been reporting for the last fifty years. Is that how long you have been here?”
“That’s about right. But we are not the only alien race to visit Earth,” Atik said. “There are other intelligent races scattered across the universe.”
Agent Kennard still looked stunned when she quietly stepped back in the room and sat down. “We can tell you all about the other races we’re familiar with, but first I want to explain our mission,” Atik said. “We’ve formed the beginning of what we hope will eventually be a league of races that share knowledge. It’s mostly about learning from each other but also if the need arises, we will protect each other.”
“Are there hostile races out there?” Agent Neil asked sounding more like an FBI agent.
“Probably, but so far we’ve been lucky. Included in our league are three other races. Actually two of them are from neighboring twin planets within the same solar system. So there are four races including us. To get right to the main point of our visit, we are a delegation from the planet Ranjisan and we are here to ask the human race to join us.”
“Why didn’t you land your ship on the White House lawn or at Lincoln Center?” Agent Kennard asked, smiling for the first time. I still wasn’t sure at that point if she believed us.
“That would have caused a panic,” Atik said. “That is why we have come to you first. Announcement of our existence and our arrival needs to be well thought out. It may be difficult for some of your race to accept.”
“Our program consists of three phases,” Atik said. Atik was still doing all the talking. “The official name of the project is Gamma Anadeia Alliance which when translated means an alliance of races of the Milky Way galaxy. The first phase was strictly aerial observation with no contact. The second phase which is about to be phased out consists of living and working among you. We currently have hundreds of people who have been assimilated into human society. The purpose of Phase II was to study the human race up close. We needed to really get to know you and understand you. Phase II was supposed to continue for several more years. But through closer study of the human race, we have determined that you are ready for Phase III.”
“I’m assuming this visit here today is the beginning of Phase III,” Agent Neil said.
“Precisely,” Atik said. “Since we have studied the human race closely, we understand that we could not just land somewhere and announce that we are here. We know it would cause a world-wide panic. So we have come here to quietly coordinate the announcement of our existence and our arrival with your government.”
“I see,” Agent Neil said. “We do appreciate your diplomacy.”
“We have a lot to offer your people, in the short term and over time. For example, we have brought with us a cure for one of Earth’s most deadly infectious diseases.”
“This will need to be kept top secret until we can figure out how to introduce a new vaccine through our pharmaceutical industry,” Agent Kennard said. “What disease are you talking about?”
Chara looked confused and just a bit frustrated. “The human medical field is profit driven,” Atik said softly to Chara. “I guess we need to be careful we don’t disturb the pharmaceutical industry’s control over medicine.”
“We are talking about Ebola and the cure is not a pharmaceutical,” Chara said sounding annoyed. It was the first time she said anything and the agents stared at her for a few moments.
“What do you mean?” both agents asked at the same time.
“The cure utilizes nano-robotics. You’ve probably wondered at some point if diseases could be controlled and cured with computers. It is true. I will explain in due time. The best thing about it is that you will be able to easily reproduce the vaccine. The computer intelligence can be easily duplicated using our code. The only variable will be duplicating the soft organic/polymer hybrid casing. We should be able to reproduce an equivalent shell for the vaccine using materials found here on Earth.”
“This is getting to be quite amazing,” Agent Neil said. “But what is it that we need to give you in return for all your benevolence?”
“Nothing bad,” Atik said. “We aren’t going to enslave the human race.” We all laughed but the agents didn’t seem to see the humor in it.
“The only criteria we have for continuing is that we will need a guarantee that this will not be kept from your citizens. Everything will need to be public knowledge,” Atik said. “Also, you should know that we have sent a similar delegation to Moscow. We will need to figure out how to share everything with your citizenry without causing a panic.”
“This is all too overwhelming,” Agent Neil said. “We will have to move this up the chain, and I’m afraid you will have to be interviewed at length. Since you approached us, I don’t think we need to worry about you disappearing. We will need to get in touch with you.”
“We’re staying at Family Suites right off the interstate, rooms 316, 345, 502, 512 and I’ll give you my cell number and email address,” Atik said.
“Aliens with email,” Agent Neil mumbled. “Who would have ever guessed that?” Agent Neil wasn’t actually expecting a response. He was just thinking out loud.
The two agents walked us to the exit, signed us out and told us they would be in touch with us. We spent the next couple of days sightseeing in two pairs, mixing it up each day. It had been three days since our visit to the FBI when we got the call from the assistant director. The sign-in process was more extensive with body scans and short interrogations but we finally made it to the upper levels of the agency. This time we waited in a lush sitting room consisting of leather sofas and wall-to-wall bookcases. After a short wait, the door opened and five people walked in. A woman began setting up a laptop while we were introduced.
Assistant Director Abbott opened up the folder with all the photos and went through them, asking the same questions as Agent Neil and Kennard. The other three people just listened and took handwritten notes while the woman with the laptop typed away. I assumed we were also being recorded. When it seemed we were reaching the end of the interview, Atik delivered the clincher, “There is one more thing we can do to move this process forward. We can take you to one of our ships.”
The FBI people stopped typing and writing and looked shocked. Assistant Director Abbott’s eyes widened. “How, where can we do this? This is possible?”
“Our drop-off point near Jollett is good. We can land a small ship that won’t be too noticeable and we can do it at night.”
“Please proceed with arranging it,” Assistant Director Abbott said.
“We must request that you bring unarmed agents or possibly even scientists but no military,” Atik said.
Assistant Director Abbott walked around the table, shook each of our hands and handed Atik a business card. “It should take a day or two to arrange,” Atik said. “We’ll call with the details when we are ready.”
The other FBI people followed Assistant Director Abbott and smiled politely as they shook each of our hands and said goodbye. I knew at that point that we had reached a milestone. The FBI was beginning to believe us. We were making progress toward our goal. Eventually it would be an accepted fact that we were indeed aliens from a faraway world.
I was a little nervous on the evening of our trip out to Jollett. I considered it the last step in convincing the FBI that it was really happenin
g. Close encounters of the fifth kind would be confirmed and documented. What had become commonplace back home would be the most significant event in human history. I was excited and proud to be a part of it.
Assistant Director Abbott had not really responded to Atik when he asked that only civilians should take part in the historic event but he must have been listening. When we arrived at the special entry point to his office, a small bus was parked and running just outside the doorway. Along with Assistant Director Abbott, the woman with the laptop from the previous meeting was there along with a 3-person technical team with what I assumed was recording equipment. Assistant Director Abbott finally introduced the woman with the laptop as Christine. The technical team consisted of Willie, Scott and Janus.
There is one way in and one way out of Jollett. It’s a good choice as far as secrecy goes but not so good for getting there. We had to drive over the mountains of Shenandoah National Park to the far side of Skyline Drive and enter Jollett valley from the west. But it was a crystal clear and star filled night. The technical team was commenting on how perfect the weather would be for night photos.
The moment of truth had come for the human race. Although technically we were living in the “close encounters of the fifth kind” moment, there was still that sliver of doubt. The problem was that we looked too much like humans. The single lane road ebbed and swelled through the low rolling hills of Shenandoah for the last few miles. The story of planet Earth changed forever as we approached the top of the last rise. Aside from the narrow gravel road we were traveling on, the life-changing view was surrounded on all sides by small mountains that appeared black in the dark mountain night.
At the far end of the valley there was just enough bluish light coming from the port windows to make out the size and shape of our ship. It looked peaceful and majestic sitting there quietly.
21 - Proof of our existence
Watching the five humans try to mentally process what they were seeing with their own eyes reminded me of the time I confessed my secret to LeAnne. Convincing LeAnne was a slower, gentler process. She was able to consider all the possible explanations for what I was telling her. It was a natural human reaction. But this was different. It was extreme. It was shocking. There could not be any other explanations. For Assistant Director Abbott, Christine and the three technicians there was only one explanation. The human race was not the lone intelligent life form in the universe. In fact they were not even close to being the most advanced life form in the universe. A few days earlier, four people had walked into the FBI headquarters and abruptly changed the course of human history. They were aliens. They were us.
The little bit of light coming from the ship’s port windows didn’t light up the valley and we had to step carefully as we approached the ship. When we got to within about twenty feet from it, the entry hatch began to open and white light from the ship lit up the valley. The ship was our most common design consisting of a saucer shaped hull. The underside of the hull was about twenty feet from the ground.
The hatch walkway consisted of steps on each side and a smooth ramp in the middle. The FBI team looked like they were sleepwalking as they walked up the ramp. At the top of the ramp, the captain and small crew greeted the visitors. “So, all those reports of flying saucers the last sixty years were true,” Willie the cameraman said. “But you guys don’t look like the aliens with the creepy large heads and eyes. I guess that’s all bullshit.”
“Well it’s not exactly bullshit Willie. In fact they are real. They just aren’t us,” I said.
“So you’re telling us that you are not the only aliens visiting Earth?” Scott interrupted.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Atik said. “We will tell you more about the other aliens in due time. For now, we would like to show you the rest of the ship.”
We took the FBI team through the ship, beginning in the rounded control bridge. Aside from some of the air shuttles, all of our ships were round. Round is the logical shape for any moving thing that needs to change directions quickly.
“Based on UFO footage you’ve all seen you may assume the ship can travel in any direction,” Captain Elgenubi said. “Most of our ships actually travel in one direction; forward. But “forward” changes as the outer ring of the ship adjusts according to the pilot’s instructions.”
The FBI team stood there wide-eyed and speechless so the captain continued, “You see pilot Terebellum there at the controls? His view of the port windows is shielded and he only sees what is on the monitors. No matter which direction the ship moves, the pilot doesn’t need to shift around in the seat. The inner ring of the ship is stationary, although it is not relative to anything. The pilot sits comfortably without any sensation of motion. So if we want to make a sudden 90% turn to the left, it takes about two seconds.”
“The job of the co-pilot is to move around the bridge and watch the real universe through the port windows, checking that the physical reality always matches what is input into the pilot’s controls.”
“Amazing!” Assistant Director Abbott said.
“And yet these ships are considered almost obsolete,” the captain said.
“Why is that?” Assistant Director Abbott asked.
“Our propulsion systems still use electromagnetics. We will be studying symbiotic propulsion with the Aegialia over the coming years. The Aegialia are a highly intelligent and peaceful race that are part of our alliance. That is the point of all this. We wish to exchange knowledge and ideas with other races,” the captain said and added, “We are getting the best of that deal since the Aegialia can teach us many amazing things.” I wondered where the captain got his sense of humor from. It seemed human-like, even though he had not spent any time among humans.
“There are so many questions,” Assistant Director Abbott said. “I guess Director Felder should have come, or maybe even the president himself. I just needed to make sure this was all real.”
“Can we bring another group here?” Assistant Director Abbott asked.
“It will be much more complicated bringing President Hawkins here. He’ll need all the security so it will turn into a crowd. But I do suppose it will speed things along,” Atik said. “We may as well call it a night. We can look at the sleeping and living quarters when the president comes.”
***
Atik was right. Three days later the secluded valley in Shenandoah Park looked like a crime scene. I was thankful they had at least not arrived in helicopters or even limousines. All the big SUVs were conspicuous enough. I went with Atik to bring the security people into the ship first. Atik and I followed Captain Elgenubi and the three security agents through the ship. When they were finished, we waited at the entry ramp for the president.
President Elvin Hawkins seemed less overwhelmed by the whole thing than the agents were a few days earlier. FBI Director Felder was the same. He almost looked like he had seen UFOs before. I assumed they already knew of the existence of alien visitors and they probably had access to top-secret, privileged information.
After the introduction, Captain Elgenubi took the new group through the ship, explaining the navigation briefly. Again I got the impression that the president had seen it all before, especially when he asked the simple question, “Electromagnetics?”
“Yes Mr. President. We will eventually move to a combination of electromagnetics and symbiosis. We understand and use advanced robotics but to move to the next level, we need to go beyond hard-programmed robotics and on to conscious robotics.”
“Are you close to achieving this?” President Hawkins asked.
“Fortunately we have help,” Atik said. “You’ve probably been briefed on our mission here and the other three races included in our alliance. The Aegialia from the Ophiuchi Star System are teaching us about symbiotic propulsion. As you already know, this is the reason for all of this; to share knowledge and ideas with other races.”
President Hawkins seemed content and relaxed, following Captain Elgenubi through the ship
. He seemed to be admiring the design and aesthetics of the ship. Due to the ship’s “spin” navigation, the sleeping quarters were part of the inner ring of the ship. The inner ring never turned so the crew would never have the disorienting sensation of spinning. The downside was that the apartments had no outer port windows. To see the view of the outside of the ship, the crew had to walk the outer wheel which frequently changed direction. For those who didn’t mind the constant motion, there were chairs set along the outer ring where you could take in the beauty of deep space while monitoring which way the ship was traveling.
The lighting on Ranjisan ships uses “glow” lighting. There is no direct lighting. The walls, floors and ceilings emanate enough light to see comfortably. Along the hallways and in most of the rooms there are dimmer switches to adjust the glow lighting. President Hawkins seemed to love the glow lighting, stating that it made him feel relaxed.
“Will you share your lighting technology with us, if we join your alliance,” President Hawkins asked.
“It would be our pleasure. It’s relatively simple. I only know enough about it to make minor repairs on the ship,” Captain Elgenubi said. “The building material has a circulatory system consisting of thousands of veins of light. The lighted veins produce the soft glow which can be dimmed or brightened as needed.”
The dining area and kitchen are housed in the third and inner most ring of the ship. There is sometimes some noise from the propulsion room below but the ship design ensures that the living quarters on the second ring can’t hear any noise from the propulsion room. Adjoining the kitchen there is an exercise room and a room that doubles as a pharmacy and clinic.
The Good Reaper Page 20