Evolution

by Jim Reilly

  Then James started to hear David say, “James…James…James. I’m going to get you out of here. You will be OK!”

  Jennifer then reached them, “James, are you OK?” she asked.

  He started to feel a lot of pain in his right side and told Jennifer, “I think my leg is broken.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of here,” she said.

  After he cleared the rubble off James’ chest, David pushed one of the boulders a few inches to the side, dislodging James’ leg. They both grabbed James and lifted him up to the now large opening. Carrying him a safe distance from the now-collapsed hill, they lay him down carefully and gave him sips of water to clear his throat while Jennifer cleaned some of the dust and dirt from his face.

  “Are you guys alright?” asked a tired Dr. Gibbs, who had run all the way from the other dig site after seeing a plume of dust rise in the distance.

  A few seconds later, Dr. Sanchez and a few others arrived. “What the hell happened here?” yelled Dr. Sanchez as he viewed the collapsed hill where layers of rock had been for thousands of years. “Was there a gas explosion? Did you hit a methane gas pocket?” He looked into the crater in the hill. “Wait a minute… what is that equipment doing there?”

  They all stared in disbelief, trying to comprehend what they were looking at. They all saw what looked like shiny new equipment, but no one had any idea what it was doing there.

  “All right,” said Dr. Gibbs. “Are we looking at old mining equipment, or could this be an abandoned drug lab or something?”

  There was silence, as not a person there had an answer to give because no one knew what he or she was looking at. Dr. Harris broke the silence. “I don’t know what that is, but look how the rock formed around the whole structure like it has been here for thousands of years. You would think that the structure would bend and break over time, but why would it still have power for the lights if it were here for a long time? I don’t get it.”

  “Hold on here,” said Dr. Sanchez. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. All I can say is this obviously could not be built by an ancient people, because it has power. So is this a modern invention? Can this be space debris, like an old satellite? It might explain how it got so deep into the rock if it traveled from orbit at a fast rate of speed.”

  Dr. Gibbs answered for everyone. “I don’t think so; just look at it. It has technology I have never seen before, and if it were a satellite that crashed into the rock, it would not be in such good shape.”

  They all stood there, except James, who was lying on the ground with his leg wrapped and his head resting on a soft bag, looking at what might have been considered a vehicle or a craft of some sort sticking out of part of the hill that had broken away during the vibrations. It was the size of a school bus with what looked like large engines underneath it and in the back. The surface was smooth with a very high shine and not a scratch on it. The whole left side of the vehicle had been opened upwards like a canopy as if to give shade, and the table was under it. In the exposed interior, there were control panels with instruments unfamiliar to the many team members.

  There was no national insignia or any writing or symbols of any kind anywhere to be seen. Anything a space agency would send into space would have some sort of markings.

  Dr. Sanchez then surmised, “Maybe this is some secret NASA vehicle that landed here, and the rock caved in around it or melted around it due to the extreme heat from reentry?”

  A skeptical Dr. Harris said, “It can’t be. The rock didn’t melt around it. It formed around it, and that takes a very long time.”

  Jennifer ran over to Dr. Gibbs. “We need to get James to a hospital. He has a broken leg and possible broken ribs. There are no signs of a head injury, even though he does look dazed, but he is in a lot of pain, and we have to move him.”

  “All right, let’s get him out of here,” said Gibbs.

  James started to fade in and out as he tried to focus on the structure in the rock he could view from his position. He finally passed out as the pain overcame him.

  Dr. Gibbs walked over to Dr. Sanchez. “We need to contact the university, the museum’s air and space department, and even NASA and the European Space Agency. Maybe we can get someone in here to help explain what the hell this thing is. This looks like a sophisticated piece of equipment, and someone must be looking for it.”

  “I agree,” said Dr. Sanchez. “But let’s try to keep this under wraps for the time being, so wild rumors won’t start to fly around until we can get a better idea of what we have here.”

  The Humvee was brought over, and James was lifted into it. Two of the team members stepped forward. Anthony “AJ” Johnson, a thirty-one-year-old former Stony Brook student, was now a second-year adjunct professor at Suffolk Community College on his second dig. Kevin Jones was a retired insurance agent, volunteering his time for a chance to fulfill a dream of working in an archeological dig to find ancient fossils. Together, they took James on a trip fifty miles north to an Ethiopian military base where they got him on a military transport to the capital and then to a hospital. Once they reached the base, medical personnel stabilized James and got him on a helicopter for the trip.

  As per procedure for being on a university project outside of the United States, Johnson contacted the university by satellite phone, and they made all the arrangements for James. Once James was en route, Johnson and Jones used the phone and a computer at the base to let friends and colleagues know what they had seen. Without Gibbs and Sanchez’ knowledge, Jones had been able to take a few pictures with his digital camera prior to leaving with James. Before returning to the camp, Johnson and Jones, unable to resist the temptation to show all their contacts what they had seen, shared the information via Facebook and Twitter. Whatever hopes Gibbs and Sanchez had of keeping the find under wraps was dashed as word got out, and it did not take long for each member of the team to be bombarded with calls and emails.

  James, meanwhile, was taken by helicopter to another military base with an airport. He was then taken by small plane to Addis Ababa. After a day in a local hospital, he was then transported to Rome to have surgery. He was mostly unconscious for four days, due to the painkillers he received from medical personnel along the way. When he awoke and realized where he was, he then started to remember what had happened back in Ethiopia at the rock formation in Kibish. In time, he turned on the television and found the BBC’s twenty-four-hour news channel. One of the stories they spoke about piqued his curiosity because it was about the expedition in Kibish.

  “This morning we have some breaking news,” said the female anchor as the words Breaking News rolled in red at the bottom of the screen. “In a joint news conference via satellite feed, NASA and the European Space Agency have stated they can find no cause for the seven seconds of interference half the world experienced four days ago. In an interview with NASA Deputy Director Jean Sisco, she said, ‘So far, we have no reports that a sun flare caused the interference, but it seems unlikely because the part of the planet affected by the phenomenon was not facing the sun at the time. But we are looking at other possibilities.’

  “Another story that is getting worldwide attention is the unknown craft found in an ancient rock formation outside of Kibish, Ethiopia.”

  James perked up at the anchor’s explanation of the mystery of the find while pictures taken by Kevin Jones were shown on the screen. Because James had been injured, he did not see much of the craft after the vibration broke the rock away. He looked at the pictures in amazement.

  “We are told that it was discovered by a doctoral student named James Connor on a Stony Brook University anthropology dig led by Doctors Ronald Gibbs and Roberto Sanchez. In his briefing this morning, Dr. Gibbs said, ‘We do not have any new information to give you this morning except to say that we are bringing in experts from around the world to get their consultation, and many are arriving daily.’”

  James noticed that there were many more people at the site tha
n when he left, but in one of the clips, he did see Jennifer and David in the background. All he thought about was that he needed to get back to the site, but he knew that wouldn’t happen for a while because pins had been inserted into his leg during surgery, and he would be immobile for a while. The concussion and broken ribs only compounded his dilemma, and he would need weeks of therapy to be able to walk.

  As James lay there in the hospital in pain, he got a phone call from a familiar voice.

  “Hi, James. How are you doing? I was so worried.”

  “Hi, Mom. I’m a little banged up, but I’m OK now,” said James.

  “Your dad had to change his flight plans a few times during his route to you because we got conflicting reports as to your location. But he will be in Rome sometime tonight. I stayed here because the university said as soon as you can be moved, you’ll be transferred to the hospital on campus.”

  James could hear the emotions in her voice that any mother would have when her child was injured. He let out a deep breath, knowing he had a long rehab ahead, and told her, “I’ll be OK. I’m just a little disappointed that I can’t be back at Kibish with all the others. It looks like I’m missing out on some big discoveries.”

  “No, James. You have made a big discovery out there. They are just trying to understand what you found.”

  James paused a second, feeling weak. “Hey Mom, I’m getting tired. Can I talk to you later?”

  “Sure, I’ll talk to you in the morning. Your dad and I…well, we are very proud of you. Get some rest.”

  A few hours later, James woke up to a presence he recognized.

  “You know, James,” the man said with a concerned laugh, “this Indiana Jones crap only works in the movies with fit movie stars. Bookworms like us end up in a hospital with bandages and casts if we’re too adventurous.”

  “Hey, Dad,” James said. “When did you get here?”

  “A little while ago. I didn’t want to disturb your rest. You need it after what you’ve been through.”

  James said, “I’ve been asleep for days. I’m OK.”

  Patrick seemed relieved that that James was in good spirits. “I just wanted to come by to see that you are OK, but I can’t stay long,” Patrick told James.

  A disappointed James asked, “Why not?”

  Patrick responded, “The University asked me to assist Gibbs and Sanchez with your extraordinary discovery.”

  A perked-up James quickly asked, “Really? What’s going on there? All I’ve heard is what is on the news.”

  “Well,” he said. “I don’t know much, except that they have dug around the craft and found ancient human remains. I am not sure if they believe the remains are relevant to the craft, but I’ve been asked to assist. From what I have been told, it’s a circus over there. More journalists and photographers are starting to show up every minute. The news organizations want up-to-the-second updates, and they don’t understand that we don’t work that way. In any find, it usually takes years of study before publishing a paper about it. This is really crazy.”

  James looked puzzled and asked, “Journalists and photographers? Really?”

  He replied, “Oh, yeah. This was not kept a secret, and, as a matter of fact, there are journalists and photographers camped out at this hospital waiting to speak to you. But you will not have to worry about them. The hospital will shield you from them, and when you get back to the university tomorrow, they will have their public relations department communicate for you.”

  Patrick looked at the time and quickly grabbed his belongings. He headed out the door, but looked back to James to say, “I have to go, but I wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you. Not for stumbling on to that craft, but for the remains you found. Gibbs and Sanchez told me how excited you were. It made me happy.”

  Then Patrick smiled and left the room. He still had a long journey to go to reach the camp and hoped to reach it by the next afternoon.

  The next day, Dr. Gibbs was sitting on a rock outside to supervise the dig around the unknown craft when David called him over to see their progress. David and some of the members of the team were chiseling away rock from an anklebone. They were clearing an area near the table. Right above the location of the original remains there were three large cylinders that had been uncovered two days after the discovery of the craft.

  The team believed that they might find a complete specimen judging by how good the ankle looked. David brought Dr. Gibbs to show him that they were ready to lift the cylinder off the spot where they expected to find the rest of the fossil. The cylinder was about six feet long with a diameter of about three feet.

  David pointed to the cylinder and said, “We have been able to move it now, and it doesn’t seem too heavy. So if you can stand back, we can lift it.”

  Then David and three others started moving it to the side, but Cameron Steele, a newly arrived anthropologist from the museum, was startled and yelled, “There is some sort of liquid in it!”

  However, the uneven ground and the sudden weight redistribution in the cylinder caused Cameron and Rodney Thomas, a respected biologist whom Dr. Sanchez had recommended, to drop their end. The impact caused the other end to be dropped. It lodged on an incline with one end higher than the other. The impact forced what looked like a lid to open. Because of the angle, a blue liquid spilled out on to the ground and began to evaporate in the air.

  Doctor Harris then screamed, “Gas!” They all ran about one hundred feet away in case it was toxic. It was about twenty minutes later, as they inched closer to the cylinder, that Jennifer noticed that the lid might have moved.

  “Jennifer, back away. We don’t know if it’s safe,” said Dr. Gibbs.

  Steele told Dr. Gibbs, “It may be a good idea to stay away from the area outside the craft until the hazmat suits arrive.” This safety equipment was to be brought by the arriving teams.

  While everyone hung back, Jennifer still had her eyes on the cylinder as the lid slowly opened and out fell a body the size of a young man.

  ‘Look!” she yelled.

  The team was shocked when the body started slowly to move. Then it picked itself up and stood. The team saw an individual about five-foot-six without any clothes, but quite hairy on most of his body. What was most intriguing and garnered the most stares was his head, with its small cranium and sloped forehead.

  As they were looking at him, he started to gain his balance and realized he was surrounded. The confused being saw a gap in the crowd around him and with cat-like reflexes sprinted through the gap. He ran in a side-to-side stride down what was left of the hill to about one hundred yards away from the craft. He ran into newly arrived members of the team and came to a stop as he tried to get his breath. David and the others caught up to him, and he was surrounded. He continued to breathe heavier and heavier as he looked around at a place he was not familiar with. His eyes started to roll to the back of his head, and then he fell to his knees. As he collapsed to the ground, one of the new team members caught him. With his last breaths, he looked up at an astonished Patrick Connor, who had in his arms a person he had always dreamed he could meet. After a long journey to the site, a very tired Patrick held not a young man or a boy, but a fully-grown man. To Patrick’s surprise, he was not a modern man.

  Patrick surmised to himself as the others gathered around, “He is…umm…he is not Homo sapiens. The brain case is larger than Homo erectus. It is earlier than Neanderthal. He looks like he is more developed than Homo heidelbergensis and a little less developed than Homo sapiens. In any case, this might be our closest direct ancestor.”

  He couldn’t believe his eyes because this individual was from a species that had not walked on earth for hundreds of thousands of years. All he kept thinking was, “This is not possible!” But according to his extensive knowledge, the characteristics of this man were clearly of an ancestor of modern man as he gazed over this helpless being.

  As Patrick put the body down on some plastic sheeting someone had brought
over, Jennifer interrupted the group. “You’ve got to see this, and you are not going to believe it.”

  Still in disbelief, Dr. Sanchez said, “I just had an ancestor nobody has seen for two hundred and fifty thousand years stand in front of me. What is more unbelievable than that?”

  Jennifer just motioned with her hand to say, “Come on.” Then they walked over to where they had lifted the cylinder. Pointing to the exposed area, Jennifer explained, “As we had hoped, there is what looks like almost a fully fossilized skeleton of an early woman here, but when you look to the left we found this.” Jennifer pointed to a second find, which, unlike any find anyone had ever seen before, did not resemble any human ancestor or any other creature known to walk this planet. In the rock they saw the remains of a creature that were not only its bones. It still had skin and muscles fossilized -- or more like mummified. The head had a round shape with eyes twice the size of a man’s, and limbs much longer than those of the fossilized human ancestor right next to it. If it were to stand it would be about six feet, six inches tall.

  Even though members of the team had thought it, they had not wanted to say the craft was not from this world until now. They just stood there in quiet disbelief and stared at the odd-looking being.

  In Long Island, a semi-recovered James prepared to speak to the press.

  “James, it is time to go before the wolves. I hope you are ready,” said Hilary Barns, the head of the public relations department for the university. Due to the size of the press and their equipment in attendance, the gymnasium had needed to be organized into a makeshift pressroom. Not only was the press there, but also the stands were filled with all types of people, from scientists to writers to UFO enthusiasts.