The Relic

by Francisco Angulo

  The reason for this is because time is not linear, it is curved by the speed and gravity of the stars, producing a singular time in each galaxy, a different timeline for each of them, affecting the transmission in the following manner -a transmission from the home planet would send us a series of consecutive numbers in a message, like so:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. As it distances itself from the planet, the various forces space-time is subjected to, will cause us to receive the same message in interstellar space, away from the influence of the galaxy, we’d receive the following message: 4, 1, 5, 2, 3. And when this new message again were to enter the galaxy that was listening, the message in the receiving galaxy would be this: 3, 4, 2, 5. The different temporal states thatthe message has been subjected to, besides being misplacing in its timeline, could also make it lose important parts because time can be stretched until halted, or crushed until it cannot be perceived physically, and thus it would be impossible to count it.

  Now, if we think that the effect on the digits is actually being produced in time, on the timeline the message stretches through, we would then be able to imagine that the message was almost imperceptible when received by the target galaxy. To solve this problem and get detailed information of each planet in the universe, Gardeners placed repeater probes, signal decompressors in interstellar space. These stationary buoys in the middle of space received messages from the home planet in deep space where they were not disturbed by the forces exerted by the stars and, from this space, where time was a standard constant throughout the universe, they received all messages, decompressed them taking into account the origin of the planet, and then conveyed the message amongst them in a universal language that would be received by Gardeners wherever they were located.

  The Gardeners moved throughout the universe at "Tachyon" speeds that made them travel to different multiples of 'C'. This may seem impossible to us since we tend to believe that the speed of light is an insurmountable barrier but this concept is framed by our perception, by the time factor applied in our galaxy. Gardeners could manage time, they could compress it or expand it. This made it possible for a ray of light to travel at different speeds. Actually this was not so. If a galaxy is located five light years’ away, at the speed of light we will take 5 years to reach it but if we can dislodge the seconds in the sum of time by compressing them so much that they become unquantifiable, we would then be able to travel to that same galaxy in the blink of an eye. As a matter of fact, we’d never really be traveling faster than light but we would force the light beam that has to travel the distance to do so in a timeline tied to our galaxy, not to interstellar space. And by manipulating gravity and pressure we would modify the timeline and this would allow us to jump in space-time, making our journey a lot shorter because we will move as a sewing needle in a piece of fabric.

  In the eyes of the observer, we would be appearing and disappearing from one of the sides of the fabric, as if we were hopping in time and space, travelling through distances at a speed greater than the speed of light. In reality,that’s just an illusionbecause the needle that passes through the tissue would have never travelled faster than the speed of light, it would have simply cut the time and therefore followed a different timeline. While we remain invisible to the observer, we continue travelling at the speed of light, but in a different time line that does not exist for the observer, a compressed timeline in which seconds are crushed to the point that they become countless to the observer. That’s why he can’t even see us, because he can only see one side of the fabric, he can only see us when the needle passes through its side and doesn’t know what is happening when it is on the other side.

  The Relic

  THE LIGHT that covered everything vanished - slowly at first but then like a lightningmerging with the stars in the firmament. Suddenly, there was total darkness and I began doing my work, the work for which I had been designed, the work that I most enjoyed doing. I’m not sure whether I had been programmed that way but I couldn’t wait to start working. Taking control of the planet would require trillions of mathematical calculations every hundredth of a second. First I had to produce water. Let me tell you that water is not something at all unusual in the universe because the truth of the matter is that you’ll find a bit of everything in it, we just need to change the way we see things - where there’s rocks I see water, where there’s gas I see water. There really aren’t different matters, only stellar matter, or what your civilisation calls hydrogen. There’s no other matters, no other elements, everything is hydrogen in different states of energy caused by temperature, pressure or time. If you can look at matter just for a moment the way I describe it, you will realise that every single element can be obtained from them because they are all the same. Thus changing the pressure or the temperature we can transform rocks into water and believe me when I tell you that there is no other matter more precious than water.

  I remember the first time it rained. It was wonderful - the first drops fell on the dry land, on that fine dust, and there began a magical symphony. Long after, the first vegetation started to appear, at first only comprised of lichens and mosses that partially covered some of the rocks but then gradually the first plants emergedand almost simultaneously the first beings that fed on them.

  I only first saw animals a long time after, animals one can see with the naked eye without magnification, but as soon as they appeared, the rate of change accelerated – soon the vegetation covered the entire planet with large trees, animals seemed to grow endlessly, like plants, all of them huge and majestic. It was a time of an incredible beauty but even faster than their appearance was their extinction - perhaps these creatures were too big for such a small planet so that large animals were killed and the younger ones survived. These small animals branched out into many different new species which, although they were not imposing as the old giants, filled everything with sound and colour.

  Over time there appeared a group of small beings that had a little resemblance to the Gardeners. They were small creatures that lived in the tree tops and jumped from branch to branch constantly making noises. As time went on, these beings spent more time on the ground and some of them began a rapid process that gradually, made them look even more like the Gardeners, my creators.

  I walked slowly down the street. The water quickly disappeared as if earth hand drank it. The sun was shining high in the sky, the clouds disappeared and people watched the event in amazement as they remained in their shelters, on the roofs of their houses, on the trees or from the windows of their homes. Finally, for the first time in life my thoughts were clear and untangled, finally I could see things clearly. Now I was free to go wherever I pleased, I would walk endlessly without having to think about going back, now it would be spring forever. I could see so many things at once! The sun on my face made me feel happy.

  It looked as though many things had happened while I was inside, as though many things had changed in a short time, as though the world had been at the gates of hell. Although I had seen nothing of it enfolding, all images were in my mind like a fragmented sleep. I walked without a destination, without a fixed course. I now understood the meaning of the word freedom, being able to walk without having to decide how far to go, walking without a reason allowing your legs to take you wherever they wanted.

  In the distance I saw the silhouette of a person approaching - it was a young woman who walked slowly. Her slender figure reminded me of someone familiar, someone I had kept in my mind for a long, long time. Her image became clearer with each step I took towards her and her memory became more vivid with each step she took towards me. I was glad to see her and walked with a smile on my face. She looked at me from a distance and stopped. I walked even faster, not knowing when to stop. Finally I stopped only a meter from her, wishing I could get closer and closer until I was able to touch her skin. She stared at me in silence, then, a few words came out of my mouth:

  “Hazel Eyes”?

  I knew it was not her, but she looked a lot like her. "H
azel Eyes" was very short and this girl was tall, but perhaps my perspective was confusing me because before I stood at a short height over the hill from where I remember “Hazel Eyes” and now my perspective was higher. It really looked a lot like her. She was “Hazel Eyes'” daughter and one who liked a lot like her.

  My name is María. You are Elías, right?

  Heaven is better than an ice cream in summer. Heaven is better than the heat of awarm fire in winter. Heaven is to be able to walk on the clouds, to be able to fly, to be able to reach the stars with one’s bare hands. That’s how I felt walking beside her. I didn’t dare say anything for fear words would make me descenddown from heaven to earth. I could only think about holding her hand, touching her skin, feeling her soft touch on my hands, but I didn’t dare. For me, walking beside her and watching her beautiful eyes as we walked, feeling her presence by my side was enough. But in my mind, an idea was brewing, slowly, a single idea - to feel the warmth of her skin. An idea slowly ripening like a fruit on a tree. I had to make a decision but perhaps it wasn’t the right one, a very simple decision, a very small movement.

  Barely a few inches separated her hand from mine, a few insurmountable inches, a few inches that could change everything. I thought I could move my hand casually as I walked and pretend itcollided against hers so she would not think I had deliberately touched her hand and the expression on her face would give me an indication of what she thought of me. Just a moment of courage. I felt like a coward becauseno matter how much I thought of doing it, I could not bring myself to. Whatever it took, I had to unite all my courage, I could not pass up this opportunity. So I decided to count to three and then make my hand accidentally bump against hers. One, two ... and when all the wheels were in motion to put my plan into action, when my hand was about to cross the little world between us, she took my hand. Then I noticed her delicate touch, her radiant heat and my lips curved in a smile of happiness. A second later I gently squeezed her hand, ascending back to heaven, flying through the clouds with her in my hand.

  Love is something magical beyond our understanding, something that overcomes us, something that goes beyond the merely physical world, something that is able to last over time and distance, it is something that makes men different, giving them light in the darkness. It is possible that every person is born with only half a heart and the other half is waiting somewhere in the world to be found, and that when these people find each other, something magical occurs, a union without rings nor ceremonies, a union that will never break up, a union where one fills the other's heart with light, a single soul that feels the same things, a union that is beyond reason. Some think that this is not possible. Some spend a lifetime searching for that soul and never find it but even though the world may seem large, these souls will find themselves without even looking for each other, and they will reunite, for nothing in this world can stop his force.

  Just by looking into her eyes, I could feel her sorrows and joys, make her dreams mine, sharing her feelings. I didn’t know where she had been for so long, or what she had done throughout my life, but all of that did not matter, it was like meeting another part of oneself, a part that had always been missing, a forgotten part that only appeared in dreams.

  The Relic

  EVERYTHING WAS ready for launch, all control systems in perfect condition. The green light came on and the countdown started: Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, ignition. The rocket fired its powerful engines. The safety distance was ample but even at this distance the ground vibrated under one’s feet and you could feel the great power of the engines throughout your body. This caused a unique feeling in all attendees, a feeling of having participated in the construction of something that went beyond what any man could ever be, a great joint effort, a great technological achievement that would make it possible for the first time to send a man-made device beyond the solar system. A probe that would transmit images of never before seen planets of the solar system and that, after this mission, would go further into deep space, crossing the interstellar space. The ship contained a message, launched into space as a message placed inside a bottle and thrown into the sea, a message about our world and our species, with images, sounds and music, to give someone out there a sample of our civilisation. After these probes, there were to be others, all of them a lot more advanced and carrying a lot more sophisticated scientific instrumentation.

  Then came the “Aceleretron” project. This new mission was directed to nearby stars, to which the probe would be rocketedby an electro-cannonas if it was a projectile. The length of the barrel was nearly two miles and it wasn’t directed vertically upwards but towards the horizon. Itsrear base was ten meters above sea level and thebarrel’s muzzlefifteen, causing the projectile probe to be in contact with the Earth's atmosphere for a long time and, contrary to what it may seem, this was what gave it the impetus towards the stars at a rate at which no other device created by man had travelled earlier. The tube was water-tight and inside it the most absolute vacuum was formed so that the probe could accelerate without any aerodynamic drag. The electromagnets surrounding the barrel left the probe suspended without ever touching the sides of the barrel. Its progressive acceleration during the nearly two miles long journey inside flung the probe at a rate that exceeded fifteen times the speed of sound. The probe was made from a tungsten alloy to withstand the high temperatures to which it would be subjected in its acceleration through the atmosphere.

  The small probe weighed only one kilogram and was shaped aerodynamically with large aperturesto allowthe air to enterand then exitthrough a sort of posterior nozzles. In taking off from the interior of the electro-cannon where the void was complete, the probe entered into contact with the atmospheric air. At the very high speeds at which it left, the air entered through the frontal openings and it was compressed inside. Rich in oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, this air only needed to be compressed by the shape of the probe to be turned into a great fuel. Taking advantage of the air in the Earth's atmosphere to propel the small probe, it achieved the highest speed that man had ever managed to make a probe travel at.

  The probe did not work independently. In order to form a complete unit, it was necessary to launch several projectiles and every single one of them was needed. They travelled through space at small distances from each other, as they were fired at short intervals, and each had its own function - one was the transmitting antenna, the other was the mainframe and others possessed the scanning devices selected for usage like sonars, laser gauges and cameras. All the small probes were connected to each other via small range antennas, thus being linked via radio among them they formed a single largeantenna.

  This extremely low costs of this new launching system made the detailed study of the solar system and other galaxies possible. After receiving the reports sent by the probes, human beings began planning to these distant worlds. The main goal was to study the geology of these new worlds, but if no fossil history was to be found, if no living creature was discovered, even if it was just a bacteria, then the visiting ship would begin the process of terra-forming, the process of giving life to an inert planet.

  The mission - finding new worlds and different ways of life, but at the same time, creating new life. In the same way that those ancestors, in the same way “Hazel Eyes” began to sow the land, now interstellar travellers from planet Earthwould sow life in new planets.

  After all, we shared the same genetic program with our parents, the Gardeners.

  The Gardeners

  I WILL USE terms and words from our language to explain how gardeners obtained and used energy:

  Hydrogen can be directly used as energy or as fuel. Energy can be directly extracted from it, through a hydrogen battery that collects all remaining electrons generated by combining hydrogen with oxygen atoms, producing pure water as residue.

  There are different methods to extract hydrogen from water but all of them require a lot of energy thus rendering the use of hydrogen to co
nvert it into electrical energy again unprofitable, since to extract it from water via a process of electrolysis we would have used a lotmore energy than we will be able to produce via the hydrogen battery.

  The Gardeners’ technology was based on natural and organic methods, thus achieving perfect harmony with the world around them.

  If the goal is toobtain hydrogen from water, perhaps the easiest way is not to extract it from it but to leave hydrogen where it is. Extracting oxygen presents the same difficulty, however, as what really interests us is the hydrogen, does it really matter if we lose some oxygen? And how can we consume this oxygen in an efficient and simple way? There are many organisms that live in water and consume this oxygen to breathe, then let's give them what they need to live and they’ll give us the hydrogen we need.