The Gods and the Builders

by Brandon Hale

  “And life,” Alice said.

  “If my father were concerned about me, he’d call,” Arthur said.

  “He could be thinking the same thing,” Alice offered.

  “And he would be correct,” Arthur said. “If I cared enough about my father, I’d call him.”

  “That just seems--”

  “Cold?” Arthur said. “Mean? Sad?”

  “No,” Alice said. “I was going to say it seems foreign. That’s all.”

  “Is this going to become your new cause?” Arthur asked. “If it is, I’ll nip it in the bud right now and give the man a call.”

  “No,” Alice said. “I’ll not mention it again. You shouldn’t call him because I’m a pain in the ass.”

  “Thanks,” Arthur said, turning back to the TV. “They’re supposed to show an interview soon that discusses how they travel through space. I‘ve been waiting for it all morning.”

  “Yeah,” Alice said. “That’s definitely more important.”

  “It is, actually,” Arthur said. “When you flipped out on us a few days ago, your point was well received. You were absolutely right. And this is important. If I’m going to decide to go with them, I want to know how they do it.”

  “Okay,” Alice said.

  Arthur turned to face her. “I appreciate your concern, Alice,” he said. “Your compassion and hope is what makes you beautiful. But you’re wrong on this one. This isn’t some painful topic I’m trying to avoid. This isn’t about pain or broken hearts. It’s about making two people that really don’t give a shit about each other pretend they do and have an awkward phone call just to please the people they actually do give a shit about.”

  “Okay,” Alice said again.

  “If you want me to call him, I will,” Arthur said. “I don’t mind. I just want you to know that I’ll be calling him for you, not me. Because I don’t care.”

  “Then I don’t want you to call him,” Alice said quietly. “I’ll drop it. For real.”

  “Thanks,” Arthur said again. “Now let’s watch this. It should be interesting.”

  The female reporter stood in a large, grassy field. She had shoulder length, blond hair and wore horn-rimmed glasses. A young girl, about five or six, stood to her left. Another woman stood to her right. This woman had black hair, pulled into a loose pony-tail. One of the pyramid ships sat in the field behind them.

  “This is Merrill Turner,” the reporter said, “reporting for Channel Six News. The woman on my right is Doctor Charlene Meade. She’s a professor of physics at one of the leading universities here in South Florida. To my left is Marie. Marie is six years old, and her parents have agreed to let her participate in this interview. Marie has spoken to the aliens on several occasions, and her parents have stated she seems to have developed a good relationship with them. Obviously, her parents will be here with us, just off camera, for the entirety of the interview. Dr. Meade and Marie have been introduced to each other and are fast becoming good friends. Together, they are going to help us interview one of the aliens, with a specific focus on space travel.”

  Arthur watched the television as they walked across the field and began to work their way through the crowd of people, trying to get closer to the alien standing by its ship.

  “It’s amazing,” Alice said, “that so many people are letting their kids talk to them.”

  “By now,” Arthur said, “it’s reasonable to conclude that these kids aren’t getting harmed by the contact.”

  “You think so?” Jerry said, walking into the room and sitting on the recliner. “Because I don’t personally think a few days is enough time to draw any reasonable conclusions.”

  “Point conceded,” Arthur said. “If for no other reason than so you’ll be quiet and let me watch this. I’ve been waiting--”

  “All morning,” Alice said. “We know.”

  The reporter, the doctor, and the child finally managed to get to the alien that was standing quietly beside the ship, looking at the little girl.

  “Hello,” Marie said with a huge smile. She turned to the reporter and said, “He thinks you’re interesting.”

  “I’m flattered,” the reporter said. “Tell him thank you.”

  “They don’t know what that means,” Marie said.

  “Oh, yeah,” the reporter said. “I forgot. Marie, does he know Dr. Meade?”

  “They do now,” Marie said. “Because I know her. They know she’s a space doctor.”

  “Well,” Dr. Meade said, “that’s close enough I suppose.” She looked down at Marie and said, “Do you think they’ll mind if I ask them some questions about space?”

  “No, they don’t mind,” Marie said. “But they don’t think I’ll be able to tell you the answers.”

  “It’s okay if you don‘t get it all right,” Dr. Meade said. “We’ll just do our best to figure it out. Many of us are very curious about how they traveled so far. And we‘re curious how long it took them to get here.”

  “They can’t tell you how long it took to get here,” Marie said. “Because we don’t know how to tell time yet. We still think time is clocks and stuff.”

  “It’s not?” Dr. Meade asked. “It’s not clocks and stuff?”

  “No,” Marie said. “It’s watery.”

  “Time is watery,” Dr. Meade said.

  Marie nodded. “When they get the time hot, it’s watery. But if they make it cold enough, it gets like ice, and goes on top of the watery time.”

  “They can make time hot or cold?” Dr. Meade asked.

  “Not really,” Marie said. “But that’s how it is in my head.”

  “Can you see time in your head, Marie?”

  “No,” Marie said. “I can’t see it, but I know about it in my head.”

  “When they make time watery,” Dr. Meade asked, “does that make them go faster?”

  “Sort of,” Marie said with a sigh. “But that’s time like a clock. When they come here, they make the time around them colder. Then, when they get here, they heat it up again. They can’t do it on big stuff though. Only little stuff. That’s why they don’t use big spaceships.”

  “That’s interesting,” Dr. Meade said.

  “They tried to get the time really hot around the rocks, but it didn’t work.”

  “Definitely tell them thanks for trying,” Dr. Meade said.

  Marie groaned. “They don’t know what that means!”

  “Oh yeah,” Dr. Meade said.

  “Dr. Meade,” the reporter asked, “do you have any idea what she means?”

  “Not really,” the doctor said. “I think perhaps they can move forward through time, but that wouldn’t really make sense. It still doesn’t resolve relativity. Even if they managed to just move forward through time, our world would age hundreds of years between their visits. Considering their reason for coming here, I don’t think that’s the case.”

  “No,” Marie said. “That’s if time is like a clock. They don‘t move forward in time. They move faster than it.”

  “Okay,” Dr. Meade said. “Thanks, Marie. We’ll take some time and think about. For now, I have some other questions.”

  “They said you wouldn’t understand,” Marie said.

  “They were right,” Dr. Meade said with a wink. “They’re really smart.”

  “They’re awake,” Marie said.

  “They’re awake?” Dr. Meade said. “What do you mean?”

  “That’s what he said when you called them smart,” Marie said. “He said they aren’t smart. They’re awake.”

  “Interesting,” Dr. Meade said.

  Marie turned to the reporter. “Merrill,” she said.

  “Yes, Marie?”

  “They think you’re interesting,” she said again.

  “You told me that earlier. Why do they think I’m interesting,” Merrill asked.

  “Because your arm‘s messed up,” Marie said. “They don’t understand why we can’t fix you yet. They don‘t like it. It‘s why some of them d
on‘t want to take us to the new place.”

  Merrill stared at the child with a horrified look on her face.

  “Are you alright?” Dr. Meade asked. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

  “Two years ago,” Merrill said, “my husband and I were in a car accident. After the crash, my arm was pinned between the dashboard and the steering wheel for over six hours. There was permanent nerve damage. My left arm has been paralyzed since it happened. I actually did a segment on our show, once a week for six months, about my arm. I used the accident and following treatment to report on American health care.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dr. Meade said.

  “It’s okay,” Merrill said, barely noticing the doctor. “I think we may have stumbled onto a story much bigger than a piece on space travel. “ She turned to the little girl. “Marie, why don’t they like it? Does that mean they don’t want me to go with them to the new place?”

  Watching the television intently, Arthur said, “Someone go get Lauren. Now.”

  Alice immediately went to Lauren’s bedroom and knocked on the door.

  “You’re thinking about her diabetes,” Jerry said.

  Arthur gave a slight nod. “I’m afraid we’re about to hear some very bad news.”

  “That they‘re going to refuse to take sick people with them,” Jerry said.

  Arthur nodded again. “I can’t believe nobody’s considered this already. It makes sense that they’d refuse the sick. All the medical equipment, all the medicines. All of that would have to be transported to this new world.”

  “This is little disturbing,” Jerry said.

  “Yes,” Arthur said. “It certainly is.”

  On the television, Marie was shaking her head. “They think we should be able to fix you by now. And they think we should know stuff instead of talking. And they think we should know that time is watery. But instead of learning that stuff, we learned about things they don’t understand.”

  “Oh, shit,” Jerry said.

  “What?” Arthur asked.

  “I think the aliens are hippies,” Jerry said.

  Arthur laughed. “They’re talking about weapons, aren’t they.”

  “Yeah,” Jerry said. “War and shit like that.”

  “What is it?” Lauren asked as she walked into the room.

  “They’re talking to them about illnesses and diseases,” Arthur said. “I thought you’d be interested.”

  Lauren sat on the couch without another word.

  “Marie,” the reporter was saying, “are they going to be able to take sick people to the new place?”

  “They can’t take all the stuff,” Marie said.

  “You mean medical equipment?” Merrill asked. “The stuff doctors use to make us better?”

  “Right,” Marie said. “That stuff.”

  Lauren’s heart sank. She hadn’t decided if she would go with them yet, but the thought that she no longer had a choice made her sick. For the first time since the aliens announced the asteroid, she began to play it out in her mind. She saw herself standing in the street, looking at the sky as a giant shadow fell across the town.

  Arthur put his hand on her knee. “If you can’t go,” he said, “I won’t go.”

  “Me either,” Alice said, her eyes swimming with tears. Everyone in the room knew that Alice had made up her mind to go with them the moment it had become a possibility. To say she was staying was an overwhelmingly powerful sacrifice.

  “I was probably going to stay anyway,” Jerry said, “but now I can use this as an excuse to look noble.”

  Lauren felt the tears tickle her cheeks as they streamed down her face.

  “Like it or not,” Alice said, “we’ve become a family.”

  “She’s right,” Arthur said. “A seriously fucked up family, but a family.”

  “I would never allow you to do that,” Lauren said.

  On the television, Marie said, “They can’t take all the doctors’ stuff. So they’ll just have to fix you first.”

  “What did she say?” Jerry asked.

  “What did you say?” Merrill asked the little girl.

  “They’ll just have to fix you,” Marie answered. “It’s not hard. You just have to know how to talk to your parts and stuff. That’s why it bothers them that we can’t fix you. Because it’s not hard if you know how to do it.”

  “They can fix my…” Merrill cleared her throat. “They can fix my arm, Marie?”

  “He already did,” Marie said, smiling. “Just now.”

  “What are you talking about?” Merrill said. “He didn’t even touch….” She stopped speaking. She actually looked as though she had forgotten how to speak.

  Merrill always kept her left hand in the pocket of her jacket. She always felt that helped her arm to look more normal than having it hang limply by her side.

  Merrill slowly pulled her left arm from her jacket pocket. She lifted her hand in the air and wiggled her fingers. She felt the warm Florida air wrap itself around a hand that hadn’t felt anything in two years.

  Merrill began to laugh as she watched her moving fingers. To someone watching, it was impossible to tell if she was laughing or crying, but the look in her eyes left no doubt about what she was feeling.

  Joy.

  Unadulterated, unfiltered joy.

  “Thank you,” Merrill whispered. “Tell them thank you.”

  “They don’t know what that means,” Marie said.

  Merrill laughed.

  Lauren, Arthur, Alice, and Jerry sat on the couch trying to absorb what they had just seen.

  Jerry laughed, but didn’t say anything.

  Alice eventually succumbed to the overwhelming urge to hug someone. Lauren, being the person sitting closest to her, became the recipient of the hug.

  “This,” Arthur said, “is going to cause one serious shit storm.”

  Lauren sat on the couch, staring at the television as the words “Breaking News” scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Finally, she stood up and walked toward the front door, saying, “Be back in a bit.”

  “Where are you going?” Arthur asked.

  Lauren turned around and stared at him. “Where the fuck do you think I’m going?” She turned back toward the door, adding, “Sorry for the profanity, but really, man. That was a legendarily stupid question.”

  “Well hold on,” Alice said. “We’re coming with you!”

  They walked onto the street. There were a few people outside, watching the ship. Usually, the street was much more crowded in the late afternoon. Late morning was a lull in the activity, so the street was mostly empty.

  Lauren walked purposefully toward the ship, the others following.

  “Minister,” a neighbor yelled from his porch. “Did you see the news?”

  “I saw the news, Larry,” Lauren said as she walked by.

  “They can cure your sugars!”

  “I hope so,” Lauren said, more to herself than to the neighbor. “And it’s called diabetes.”

  She walked up to the ship and stood near the area that she knew had the door. The alien was apparently inside. “Hello!” she yelled. “Are you in there?”

  The ship sat silently on the street.

  “Maybe it’s asleep,” Alice offered.

  “Do they sleep?” Arthur asked.

  “How the hell do I know,” Alice said.

  “Come out, please!” Lauren yelled. “Please!”

  The ship continued to sit silently on the street.

  Lauren sat down in the road. “I can wait,” She said.

  “I’ll go get some food,” Alice said. “And drinks. We can make a picnic out of it.”

  “Wonderful,” Arthur said. “I suppose I’ll go with you.”

  Lauren didn’t speak. She just sat in the road, staring at the area of the ship where the door had appeared the last time she was there.

  Jerry sat beside her. “How long we going to wait?”

  “Until they come,” Lauren said.
>
  “Sounds good,” Jerry said. “You should be prepared for the possibility that they can’t cure you.”

  Lauren looked at him and said, “I know.”

  “Just because they were able to give that woman her arm back doesn’t mean they can fix anything,” Jerry said. “Matter of fact, we know they can’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” Jerry said. “The people that are in comas. They haven’t been able to repair that yet.”

  “Maybe they can’t fix it because those people are lost,” Lauren said. “Or maybe they can’t handle the stuff about the mind.”

  “Maybe,” Jerry said. “I just want you to be prepared for the possibility that they can’t fix this. We’ve seen them fix one person in one very specific situation.”

  “Of course I’m prepared for the possibility that they can‘t fix this,” Lauren said. “But I have to try.”

  “Yep,” Jerry said. “You have to try. And I’ll be right here beside you until we know. No matter how long it takes.”

  “You know,” Lauren said, “I wonder what we’ll do about the prisoners.”

  “You mean like criminals?” Jerry asked. “Kind of an odd time to ask that, but okay.”

  “It just hit me,” Lauren said. “Are we taking them too? I suppose we’ll have to.”

  “I suppose we will,” Jerry said.

  “I doubt they’ve built prisons there,” Lauren said.

  “Probably not,” Jerry said. “I get the feeling they wouldn’t understand crime.”

  “Because they’re all one mind,” Lauren said. “Yeah. I had the same thoughts.”

  “Technically,” Arthur said, walking up behind them, “they’re not one mind. I don’t know what you were talking about, but I heard you say they’re all one mind. They’re not. They seem to have a connection to one another, like a hive mind, but they also seem to have individual identities.”

  “We don’t care,” Jerry said. “We were talking about criminals.”

  “You mean whether or not they get to go as well?” Arthur said. “Interesting question.”

  “Okay,” Alice said, “I brought us something to sit on.” She spread a blanket on the road in front of them. “Come on up. Get off the pavement.” She then began to pull cans out of a plastic grocery bag. “Lauren, the diet’s for you. I just got you two a regular soda. You can binge on your usual coffee when we get back to the house.”