The Immortal Harvest

by L. J. Wallace

  He was so close.

  Michael rolled onto his side and watched his external monitor displaying what was happening top side.

  He watched as a Zero Gravity Auto Vehicle glided by on its way to join the masses as the operators of the vehicles all rushed to their places of employment.

  Of course the Z-GAV was just another of the technological advances made possible by the alien technology.

  The burning of fossil fuels had been made redundant several decades ago when the Zero Point Energy storage device had been created to provide an endless supply of power. Such a pure power source, made such things as anti gravity, commonplace.

  Michael had long since solved most of the Universes mysteries.

  He had identified Gluon pairs as being responsible for gravity. He also explained to the Scientists and Physicists, how an abundance of uncoupled anti matter particles made up the so called dark matter, which was responsible for the separation of galaxies throughout the Universe.

  As a consequence of this revelation, he had helped the Physicists identify the appropriate anti gravity particles, in other words, the ‘anti Gluon pairs’.

  Unfortunately, by helping the scientists discover and produce anti matter, he had unwittingly helped them to develop devastating weapons.

  What have I done?, he thought as he closed his eyes and thought of more pleasant things, like his time on the other world with Sylvan.

  He had been intrigued by the differences in the Universes. Her Universe appeared to be ruled by irrational fears, greed and superstitions.

  The majority of the population deferred every aspect of their life to an unseen higher authority that had several different names of the one name, ‘God’. This unseen singular authority was an intrinsic part of nearly every culture.

  This was a strange concept for Michael.

  In his Universe, everyone was responsible for their own life. The population of his world did not waste time talking to an invisible entity and they certainly did not give up all personal accountability simply because it was the will of a non-existent entity.

  He often wondered how an entire civilisation could believe that the concepts of good and evil should be interpreted from books written by anonymous men thousands of years ago.

  Isn’t good and evil in everyone and it is up to each person to decide who they want to be?

  Besides, he thought, if a singular ‘God’ had supposedly created humans in his/her image, who had created the aliens and therefore, his own existence?

  Michael often pondered this strange philosophy and wondered whether this unseen God person was also an alien species that, over a vast time period, had somehow imprinted itself on that world’s collective conscience.

  He also considered that maybe this organised religion was yet another way for those in power to keep the lesser minions under control.

  It had certainly slowed down the world’s technological and scientific progress. Their world was primitive compared to his.

  Michael also had a hard time understanding the almost fanatical preoccupation with pieces of coloured paper called money.

  It seemed to him that this was also a way of controlling the masses, as only a small percentage of powerful people possessed most of this money, which seemed to equate to power. He was not used to this concept called ‘greed’.

  Another obvious way that the Governments of Sylvan’s world were controlling the masses was by the use of televised sport, another type of religion where fanatics were so caught up in worshipping over-paid athletes that they were ignorant of the corrupt acts of Governments, Corporations and the environmental destruction of their own planet.

  Of course he was cognizant of the fact that his world was far from perfect. He was also very aware, that there was always one universal constant; the almost unlimited potential for humanity to bring about their own destruction.

  He doubted that in any Universe, mankind would need assistance in bringing evil and destruction upon itself.

  Such was the nature of humanity.

  He yawned, stretched and then sighed deeply as he realised yet another sleepless night had gone by.

  How many nights had it been since he had been able to sleep?

  The answer eluded him, as he sat up and prepared to dress and face the day.

  The modular accommodation he inhabited was sparse but practical. It was essentially just one room; however, it was designed to serve its purpose.

  Having to remain under the Mundus Nova and The United Government’s radar meant that his module was hidden.

  The Doctor had managed to procure several derelict buildings, under which he had created living quarters which were protected from scrutiny by an elaborate array of frequency jammers.

  The fact that they were so deep underground rendered The United Government satellite surveillance systems useless.

  As it turned out, the location of the building which contained his module in his world was very close to where he first met Sylvan in her world.

  As he stood, the large round bed which he had just been lying on sensed that there was no weight on it, so it sank and was promptly covered by the semi organic floor.

  The floor was quite a technological marvel. It was covered in an array of sensors that detected everything. It controlled the climate within the module. It also monitored Michael’s vital statistics and was programmed to notify emergency response teams if required. The wall and floors of the module were programmed with an artificial intelligence that responded to Michael’s voice.

  “Lights please,” Michael said as he tip toed across the room to the kitchen and proceeded to open the cold food storage container or FSC.

  He pulled out a carton of fresh orange juice and gulped the contents, enjoying the sweet cool sensation as it flowed down his throat.

  He finished the juice and tossed the carton into the garbage receptacle.

  He wiped his mouth as he bent down to take a good look at the contents of the FSC as he decided what he was going to eat for breakfast. The sensuous voice of the module spoke as if it had sensed his hesitancy.

  “Would you like an omelette or perhaps eggs Benedict for breakfast Michael?”

  “Mmm I think I might like to have fresh fruit today thanks,” he said as he waited beside the food dispenser.

  He placed his hand in the dispenser and waited for the gluten pellets, which were four pea sized pellets of differing colours. They promptly landed in the palm of his hand.

  “Michael, as you requested, and as per your personal preferences, I have produced banana, apple, orange and watermelon. I have also infused the bioflavonoid pellets with your recommended daily allowance of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

  After you consume your pellets I will analyse your organic waste products and provide you with your daily health report.”

  Michael placed the first pellet on his tongue and let it dissolve. The effect was instant. His taste buds detected the definite citrus tang as the orange pellet released its flavour causing him to salivate.

  He swallowed and felt the dissolved pellet tingle as it proceeded down his throat. The sensation was pleasant.

  He was just about to place the next pellet in his mouth when the module spoke again.

  “Michael, you have an urgent message coming through. Please activate your neural net.”

  After putting the remaining pellets in his pocket he touched the side of his head and activated his neural net. He immediately recognised the image.

  “Hello Doctor Becker, how can I help you?”

  “Michael, you need to get down here, we have reason to believe that Sylvan and Justen are in danger.”

  “What do you mean? What kind of danger?”

  “We think they’ve both been picked up by the Immortal Harvest team.”

  Michael swallowed heavily. He could feel a cold lump forming in the pit of his stomach.

  He was running out of time. He desperately needed to get the remaining exotic matter. His mind instantl
y went into an analysis of the Traverser that he had been working on for the Doctor.

  Do I have enough exotic matter to produce a viable wormhole? Will my latest modification work? Can I at least use thought projection?

  “I will be down there as soon as I can.

  In the meantime, can you ask Dr Oppenheimer to gather all of the exotic matter that we have and place it in the neutrino containment chamber?”

  “Why? What’s your plan?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. Please, just do it. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  Michael severed the neural link and quickly left his module.

  After reaching top side, he jumped into his shielded Z-GAV and sped off towards the Right-To-Die HQ.

  He thought of Sylvan and his son, he knew that he would have to take it on faith that his latest idea will work.

  Their lives depend on it!

  Twenty Four

  Justen began to awaken very slowly from his dreamless sleep.

  As the feeling began to return to his body, he could feel the beginnings of small pains that were arriving everywhere at the same time. His head ached, his wrists were throbbing. He felt like there was a very heavy weight on his chest. His tummy felt sick.

  Behind his closed eyelids he sensed a presence. His sense of smell began to return as well and he wrinkled his nose up at the horrible yucky smell.

  He tried to move his arms so that he could pinch his nose to shut out the smell but he could not move them. It was then that he realised that he could not move any part of his body.

  His panic intensified and he began to thrash around as he desperately tried to escape from his bondage.

  He tried to scream out for help. But he could not scream. His throat was very dry. All that escaped his lips was a hoarse whisper.

  Tears welled up in his eyes as he thrashed around causing the lights in the room to flicker violently. It was then that he heard the gentle murmur in his mind.

  It was a quiet soothing voice. The voice seemed familiar to him.

  Was it Mummy? Was she here to save me? No, it couldn’t be Mummy. The voice was a man’s voice and it was inside his head!

  The sensation of having an intruder in his mind instantly filled him with fear. He could feel the onset of tears in his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and shook his head as if he were trying to dispel the intruder’s voice. However, the calm soothing voice persisted.

  Shh Justen. It’s ok, I’m here.

  Justen opened his eyes and quickly lifted his head to try and look around the room. The room was brilliantly lit with fluorescent lights.

  Everything was either shiny metallic silver or a dazzling white. There was no one in the room with him.

  Justen became confused and more tears streamed down his cheeks. The voice came again, this time it was louder and clearer.

  Justen. You must listen to me. You have to be brave.

  “W…w…where are you? I don’t understand. I can’t see you.”

  That’s right, you can’t see me. I am a really long way away from you. I need you to listen to me and I will try to explain.

  “Ok I guess. But how can I hear you if you are so far away?”

  It’s hard to explain but I am using my mind to talk to your mind. It’s sort of like using a phone only there is no phone. In fact you don’t have to talk out loud for me to hear you. I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine. You can talk to me with your inner voice.

  “Really? Are you really inside my head?”

  Justen suddenly felt a feeling of joy and love. He stopped crying and smiled.

  He could see an image of a toy in his mind. It was a rocking horse. It seemed so real. The rocking horse faded and then he could see his Mother. She was laughing and holding a baby in her arms. He thought the words.

  Is that me?

  Yes Justen. I have shown you an image from your Mummy’s mind. Now please trust me and listen to me, I don’t have a lot of time.

  Ok.

  Good. You have to escape from where you are. There are a lot of bad people near you and they want to hurt you.

  Justen could feel his sense of panic returning and started struggling again. The voice tried to soothe him again.

  Shh shh Justen it’s ok. You can escape and I will tell you how. You just have to lie still and focus on my thoughts. Your mind is very strong. You can use it to escape and to help others to escape as well.

  How can I use my mind to escape? I don’t understand.

  You can feel that you are tied down to the bed cant you?

  Yes, I can’t move. Everything is so tight. I can hardly breathe.

  Justen started gasping for air as his lungs started to react to the stress and caused his asthma to flare up.

  The feeling of choking caused his panicky state to intensify. He started coughing violently as his airways began to constrict further. The voice in his head became very loud and demanding.

  JUSTEN! STOP!

  He choked back another cough and squeezed his eyes closed. There was a burning pain in his chest. His breathing was raspy and laboured. He began to gasp for every breath. The voice was quieter now and almost soothing again.

  You can control your body Justen. You can stop your asthma attack. Focus on the images I have placed in your mind.

  Within his mind Justen could see fluffy white clouds and a large green field. It seemed so real like he could reach out and touch each blade of grass.

  His breathing and heartbeat began to slow and he became calmer as he pretended that he could fly above the blades of grass and soar up to touch the fluffy white clouds.

  He could hear the voice surround him and it seemed to help to lift him further towards the clouds.

  He visualised himself reaching out to touch each cloud. They seemed soft like cotton wool, like the soft fur on his favourite soft toy. His breathing returned to normal and he felt lighter and happier.

  See Justen. You can use your mind to control things. First you can control your body and now I want you to focus on freeing yourself from the bed you are on.

  How can I do that? I can’t move my arms.

  I want you to lift your head up and have a look at why you can’t move and then show me what you can see using your thoughts.

  Justen raised his head as far as he could and tried to work out why he couldn’t move. He could see that his wrists had a brown strap around them. He could see a much thicker strap running across his chest. He visualised the image.

  Good. I can see that someone has strapped you to the bed. I want you to focus on the straps on your wrists. Do you sometimes wear a belt around you when your pants are too loose?

  Yes. I have a Sponge bob belt. I wear it to school sometimes. Mummy helps me thread the belt through the buckle.

  That’s good. You know that the belt must go through the metal buckle to secure it to you so that it won’t come off. I want you to picture that belt buckle and picture in your mind pulling the belt back through the buckle. Do you think you can do that?

  Justen squeezed his eyes shut tightly and pictured himself with his Mother. They were standing in Crystal’s apartment. He pictured his Mother helping him undo his belt. He focussed really hard on pulling the strap back through the buckle.

  That’s good Justen. You have to focus really hard on undoing those straps with your mind.

  Justen opened his eyes and raised his head. He could see and feel that his wrists still had the strap on them.

  He strained his arms against the straps. He felt the pain of the straps digging into his wrists and started crying again.

  I can’t do it. It’s too hard.

  Suddenly the image in his mind changed. This time he was in Crystal’s apartment with his Mother. She was strapped to a chair and the room was on fire.

  Justen could see the flames, he could feel the heat. His eyes stung from the smoke. He was frantic he could hear his Mother screaming. She was trapped. He ran to her and began tugging violently at the st
raps. He heard the voice around him again.

  Justen. Pull the straps as hard as you can back through the buckle. You have to do this or your Mummy will be badly injured.

  No! No! I can’t do it. The straps are too tight.

  Yes you can. You CAN do it. Try harder! Quickly, the flames are getting closer.

  Justen focussed on the straps that were securing his Mother to the chair. He could feel that the flames were getting closer. His eyes stung, tears streamed from them.

  He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and then using both hands he grabbed the strap and pulled it as hard as he could back through the buckle.

  The strap came loose and he helped his Mother out of the chair and pulled her by the hand away from the flames.

  The image in his mind dissolved. He could see the green field again. He relaxed. The image dissolved and he opened his eyes.

  Suddenly his nose felt itchy. He brought his hand up to scratch it. He scratched the itch and then smiled when he realised that his hands were free. He had undone the straps.

  I knew you could do it Justen. Now quickly undo the straps on your chest and ankles. You need to get out of there. You have to find your Mummy and help her escape as well. My time is up I have to go.

  Wait! How did you know I could that? Who are you?

  I am your Father Justen. I knew you could do it because I can do it. Goodbye my son I…love…you.

  The voice in Justen’s head faded. He could no longer feel the presence. He immediately strained his neck again and looked around the room. He was alone.

  His Daddy was talking to his mind, he thought as he put his hands over his mouth and suppressed a giggle.

  He reached down with his hands and undid the straps on his chest and then sat up and undid the straps on his ankles. He was free. He quickly swung his legs off the bed and ran to the door.

  He ran out through the doorway and continued running down a long curving corridor. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he ran.

  He passed lots of locked doors with little windows at the top of them. He slowed down and looked up at the windows. He was too small to reach them.