The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty

by Steve LeBel

  “But we do die, Bernie. You’ve seen it.”

  “So do we, but not because we get old. Neither of us age. If a god dies, it’s from accidents or something that hurts us on our world.”

  “Why do we have green skins?”

  “I don’t have an answer to that. Maybe it’s because there are no other animals here. You might have some special connection with the plants.”

  “We believe our skin is green because the Sun loves green. The green is His promise to us that He will always be here for us.”

  Bernie wasn’t paying full attention to Alcandor. He was still thinking about the putty.

  “You know what else this means?” Bernie said, grinning.

  “No.”

  “We’re related!”

  Quakes and More

  Billy scowled. He didn’t know why Bernie had built the mountain range. It wasn’t part of what they’d learned in school, so he guessed it was intended for whatever higher life forms Bernie was planning. He could see regular breaks in the mountain range to allow north-south movement for them. Bernie was such an optimist. After he was done, there wouldn’t be any life forms who wanted to live on the planet.

  The mountains had given him the idea. There was a lot of planetary stress underneath them. Bernie had sealed the tectonic plates earlier, but these mountains were a perfect place to hide new fault lines.

  Billy systematically began work on the crust beneath the mountains. He cut lines at different angles and depths. He created fault lines designed to weaken and eventually give way. He used the height and mass of Bernie’s mountains to leverage the pressure. Then he created more fault lines on the ocean floor, to make the slippage easier.

  He could have stopped here and let the earthquakes happen at seemingly random points in the future, but Bernie hadn’t been advancing time on his world. And, because of Bernie’s booby trap, he didn’t dare to use his own time lever. Yet he didn’t want to wait forever for his plan to begin. So he deepened the faults and applied more pressure, until he knew the damage was but hours away.

  They wouldn’t be big quakes, to be sure—nothing like half the continent falling into the ocean. But quakes would be just the beginning. He had created a little surprise for Bernie—a series of little surprises, actually, that would keep on giving. He grinned, thinking of the effort it would take to undo what he had done. You get three-for-the-price-of-one today, Bernie, he thought.

  Had he stayed to watch, he would have been pleased. But by the time things started happening, he was home in bed, fast asleep.

  Command Performance

  As the hour of the meeting drew close, the Senate’s amphitheater was filled beyond capacity. Every seat was occupied, and the aisles were jammed with yet more people. The only place not crowded was the center of the amphitheater, where one man stood alone. Everyone waited anxiously for the meeting to begin.

  Gondal understood their anxiety. This would be the most important meeting in the history of their world. They were about to meet the Great Protector. Gondal wiped his sweating palms on the side of his toga and tried to control his breathing.

  Everyone was waiting for him. He could delay no longer.

  “Senators, Lords and Ladies, and citizens, as Leader of the Senate, I thank you for your attendance. Everyone knows the events that have befallen us. In all the history of our world, there has been more death and destruction in any week of the last five months than all the time before. We have never known such sorrow.

  “With respect to those who sought answers, I remind you, just a month ago, we had none. Our only hope lay with Lord Alcandor, who spoke of a Great Protector. He believed such a being existed and urged every effort to contact Him. He believed such a being, if he existed and could be found, would be our salvation.

  “The Senate charged Lord Alcandor to use every means possible to find and communicate with the Great Protector. By now, all of you know he succeeded. Lord Alcandor found the Great Protector. Everything Alcandor hypothesized about Him is true. The Great Protector was the one who interceded time and time again to save us from the worst of our disasters.

  “On behalf of the Senate and our people, I asked Lord Alcandor to invite the Great Protector to appear before us. It’s fitting He receive our thanks for all He has done to prevent our fate from being worse.

  “I turn the floor over to Lord Alcandor, who will tell us more.” Gondal gestured to the man in the center and took his seat.

  * * *

  Lord Alcandor appeared solemn. He’d kept his head down while Gondal was speaking. Slowly, he looked up at his audience. “Everyone here has lost loved ones in recent months. Each of us has shed tears over this wanton death and destruction.

  “Let me remind you how I knew the Great Protector must exist. I knew it when I realized the disasters we’ve suffered could have been much worse. Remember the drought that threatened to destroy the very food we need to survive? It ended when the gentle rains came. Remember the forest fires that ravaged our world, killing thousands of people? Suddenly, they were extinguished. Remember the hurricanes that brought the floods and brutal winds? They suddenly ceased. Remember the recent heat that threatened us? That too suddenly ended. All of these are common knowledge. These are but a few of the things our Protector has done to stop the evil that has come to our world.”

  It was the custom of the Senate to give their feedback with cries and foot stomping. Today, with the gravity of what was being discussed, the only responses to Alcandor’s words were scattered cries of “Hear! Hear!” and the sound of a few stomping feet. The rest of the audience devoted their full attention to his words.

  “I have the honor of introducing you to the great and benevolent being who has chosen to aid us.” Alcandor selected his words carefully, avoiding any reference to the Sun. They decided it would be best not to suggest any relationship between the two. “Great Protector,” Alcandor called out with his arms raised high. “Please appear before us. We beg the opportunity to speak with you.” As Alcandor spoke, he moved to the side of the center stage.

  As the people held their collective breaths, a bright golden shimmer appeared and took the form of a giant who sat cross-legged, hovering six feet above the ground. The being had long gray hair and a full beard. Dressed in a bright white robe, He looked like them, except for the gray color of His hair and the pale color of His skin. There was no sound and little breathing as the Great Protector looked around the room. It was a measure of His godly power that each person thought the Protector looked directly into their eyes.

  There was a rush of sound as hundreds of people moved from their seats to their knees before the Great Protector.

  “Please,” said the deep reverberating voice of the Protector, “I require no such observances. Rise and be as you were.”

  Leader Gondal was slow to rise from his knees, but it was his duty to lead discussions with the Great Protector, and he must perform it.

  “Great Protector, I welcome you on behalf of the Senate,” Gondal said with a shaking voice. “Lord Alcandor has told us of the many times you helped us. On behalf of the Senate and all of our people, I thank you. We are forever grateful for everything you have done.”

  “Thank you, Leader Gondal. I regret not being able to do more. I know your people have suffered greatly.” Everyone felt the sadness in the words of the Great Protector.

  “Great Protector, Lord Alcandor has told us of your great power. I must ask, on behalf of our people, do you have the ability to bring back those who have been lost to us?”

  “Alas, Leader Gondal, that is beyond my power. I cannot change what is past.”

  “Can you tell us why this is happening to us? Can you tell us what we’ve done to deserve this fate? Or what we can do to make it stop?” Gondal knew these were the questions in everyone’s mind.

  The Protector lowered His head, and then raised it again. “I know your people, Leader Gondal. You are good and kind. You have done nothing to deserve this. This is the re
sult of an evil force that has discovered your world. I have done everything in my power to stop this evil, but it is very powerful. And I am not always successful.”

  “Is there anything we can do?”

  “For now, I know of nothing. If you need me, Lord Alcandor can reach me, although it may not be as quickly as you wish.”

  “Great Protector, there are others who would ask you questions. Will you speak with them?”

  “Yes, Leader Gondal, but please be brief. There are other demands on my time.”

  Minister Tonst, the liaison between the Senate and the Temple, stood. “Great Protector, your presence here comes as a great surprise to us. We are curious to know how you fit into the cosmology of our world. Are you an agent of the Sun? Are there others like you yet to be discovered?”

  Alcandor and Bernie had anticipated this question and knew to avoid it. Any attempt to provide answers would lead to controversy and divisiveness. Bernie said, “Minister Tonst, I understand your curiosity, but I have no time for such discussions. I have spoken of these matters with Lord Alcandor. I will let him answer your questions at another time.”

  Senators were not used to having their questions deflected. Several responded with boos. Almost immediately, there was dead silence as they realized what they had done. The Great Protector frowned at the senators who had booed him.

  “What am I to make of this discourtesy?” The Great Protector’s displeasure was clearly written on His face.

  Gondal responded, “Great Protector, please forgive us. It is our custom to respond to our speakers in this manner. No disrespect is intended. I beg you to think of it as nothing more than an expression of disappointment.”

  The Great Protector turned to the Leader. As He did so, Gondal shrank from the steely gaze of the giant god who faced him. Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

  Every senator and lord felt terror as they braced for the unknown fury of the Great Protector. Senators and lords scrambled to their knees. Cries from every corner beseeched the Great Protector for forgiveness.

  Only one lord was confused. Alcandor knew Bernie would not harm them. What then, he wondered, was happening? He and Bernie had talked about the skepticism of the Senate and the possible need to demonstrate his power. But this was not part of the script.

  “Alcandor, something is happening,” said the Great Protector to the only man still standing in the Senate.

  “Can you tell us what it is?”

  “I can show you.”

  The Great Protector’s image transformed into a giant image of Alcandor. As the small Alcandor looked up at the giant Alcandor, the giant also looked up. It took a moment to understand.

  “We’re seeing the world through the eyes of the Great Protector,” Alcandor called out, shocked at the enormity of it all.

  Alcandor’s image disappeared, replaced by a rapid series of new ones as the Great Protector sought the source of the shaking earth. People saw images of their world from high in the sky. There were views of the coast and then close-up views of waves from far out in the ocean. When the view changed again, they saw a long and wide strip of land with ocean on both sides. Far below, the clouds looked like tiny puffs of smoke. Green forests covered the land, except for swatches of destruction left by fires and hurricanes. In the middle, they saw the Central Mountains.

  Everyone watched, unable to tear their eyes away, as the Great Protector searched for the source of the disruption. Forests and mountains flew by, and they saw the end of their land. Only one man among them truly understood what they saw.

  Moments later, far out on the ocean, they saw a round continent. If Alcandor had any reason to doubt the science lesson Bernie had given him about the shape of the world, those doubts were forever banished. From Bernie’s height above the planet, Alcandor saw the softly rounded edges of his world.

  Image after image flashed before them, none lasting even a second as the Great Protector searched at the speed of thought. Quickly, another continent loomed ahead. With a flash of insight, Alcandor recognized the course traveled by the Great Expedition. Viewed from above, it was easy to see the explorers were right. The entire continent was a ring of land completely enclosing a small ocean.

  The god was moving fast, and the Sun was left behind as more images of western lands were seen. It might have been complete darkness, but the god’s vision shifted into a new spectrum and the visibility remained clear. Finally, as He rounded the planet and came to the eastern coast of their land, the light of the Sun could be seen again.

  Another vibration shook the Senate building, knocking several senators from their seats. Please hurry, Bernie, thought Alcandor.

  Without warning, everything began shrinking, until it appeared the land and the oceans had been painted on the outside of a child’s ball. The eyes of the god turned from the painted world and the night sun appeared. In an instant, the night sun went through a full cycle of light and dark.

  Then, in the distance, they saw the Sun, surrounded by black instead of blue. In a flash, the great Sun loomed larger than anything imaginable. They could almost feel the heat as enormous columns of flame flickered and shot upwards from the surface of their god.

  Just as quickly, they saw their world again. This time, the view was from high above the Central Mountains. Smoke and gas were escaping from a large fissure near the top of one mountain. The images came more slowly now, although harder to describe. It was as if the god had entered the mountain and was looking at the pressure and heat changes deep below the surface. Alcandor sensed Bernie’s desperation to find and correct the problem before it was too late.

  Before He could do anything to release the pressure, the top of the mountain exploded. The top, once covered with white snowcaps, disappeared as pieces of rock and magma flew in every direction. Immediately, red magma gushed from the open wound and flowed down the mountain, igniting everything in its path. The images changed again as the Protector scanned the area for nearby cities or towns. He found none.

  The Protector’s view shifted back to the emerging volcano. And then it ceased. In the center of the Senate, there was only emptiness.

  The crowd was silent as they tried to absorb what they had seen. Here and there could be heard soft whispers as people tried to understand the un-understandable.

  “Was that real?” one of the senators shouted to Alcandor.

  “Yes. Without a doubt.”

  “Why didn’t we hear or feel anything when the mountain exploded?” asked another.

  “It’s very far away,” said Alcandor as he considered the distances involved. “We probably won’t feel anything for a while. It will be even longer before we hear it.”

  Gondal asked, “How dangerous is this?”

  “Anyone living close to the mountains is in great danger. The quakes might be able to reach us even here. The danger will come from the quaking earth, fires, and maybe flooding. I’ve seen stone buildings knocked down—”

  Gondal didn’t wait for Alcandor to finish. He shouted to the crowd, “We must leave. It’s not safe here. Seek protection in open areas. Stay away from the water. Watch out for fire. Tell others. Go! Go, now!”

  No one needed to be told again as they made their way out of the Great Chamber. Just twenty minutes later, seismic waves rippling through the earth reached them. Two massive columns on the eastern side of the Senate Office Building crumpled, and a large section of its roof fell to the ground.

  It was two hours more before they heard the sound of the explosion.

  The Rest of the Story

  During recent weeks, Bernie had developed an inspection routine to use when he thought Billy might have done something. When the quake hit, he automatically launched into his routine. It took several minutes to realize his mistake. It had been careless to let the Senate see him viewing a world they believed was flat, or checking out the sun and the moon. He had no time to think about that now. He would have to trust Alcandor to contain the damage.

  Finally, he
’d found the problem. It was a volcano and not a simple one either. It was a supervolcano, capable of wiping out life on the planet with its lethal combination of toxic fumes and cloud cover. In just days, the clouds could fill the sky, cutting off the sunlight his plants needed to survive.

  He stopped sending his vision back to the Senate. He needed his full attention to deal with the problem. They would have to use their imaginations from here.

  Then he remembered the quake damage could easily reach the Senate and beyond. Did he dare go back and make sure everyone was safe? No. This was the priority. He had to stop the volcano before it killed thousands of people.

  Bernie watched in horror as the earth trembled yet again. He hadn’t expected Billy to have made more than one. Within minutes, a chain reaction along the Central Mountains had given birth to four more volcanoes. Three of the four were supervolcanoes and the fourth showed potential. Each arrival was accompanied by an explosion and massive quakes, which opened giant fissures and unleashed billowing clouds of dark gases, volcanic ash, and more red-hot magma to flow down the mountain.

  As Bernie tried to gauge the full extent of the problem, he saw three hot spots in the ocean, where clouds of steam and gases bubbled up from the ocean’s floor. Potential tsunami sprung into his mind. Meanwhile, the new volcanoes spread fire to the beautiful green hills. Soon they contributed their own smoke and ash to the once-blue sky.

  Bernie focused on the active volcanoes. He’d had plenty of practice when Billy created over 200 of them. Two million years ago, Billy’s volcanoes had wiped out his plant life. After you plug your two hundredth volcano, you start getting good at it, Bernie thought with some sarcasm. Thanks for nothing, Billy.

  Bernie began by cooling the magma at the mouth of each volcano to stop the flow and to seal it. He moved rapidly, cooling hot magma everywhere he found it. In this way, he corked one volcano after another.