The Alternative

by Richard Dante

There was movement at the far end of the hall and a tall, familiar figure stepped forward, Sharon gasped and covered her mouth with one hand.

  “It’s Mr. Parker,” she whispered to Kirk.

  Now dressed in a dark, fitted jumpsuit with silver epaulets, Amos Parker, stood for a moment looking around at the large party. They still looked frightened, yet were calmer now as they waited to see what would happen next.

  At last he spoke, and this time it was not with the effeminate lisp of the old movie buff. His voice took on a calm assurance and commanding tone. Kirk recognized the voice as one he’d heard earlier that evening.

  The Grand Inquisitor! He said to himself.

  Parker smiled at the group.

  “I’m sorry we had to resort to such melodramatic means to get your attention. A bit theatrical I admit, but I wanted to make sure you understood the party was over and it’s time now to get down to business.

  A rustling whisper came trough the crowd.

  “Business? What’s going on?”

  Just then, the little dwarf they’d seen in THE Movie as the court jester and executioner trotted out from the far crowd. He pushed his ugly face toward the larger group and gave the razz berry; then stuck up his middle finger and flipped them the bird. The dowager who had played the murder victim and looked very much like the Queen in THE Movie, rushed out and drew him back by the ear as she would a naughty child.

  The little man placed a king sized cigarette in a holder and lit it with a golden lighter. He smiled at Kirk as he clasped the cigarette holder at a jaunty angle between his teeth, reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

  Senator Bracken staggered out from the larger crowd. He was very drunk. Slobbering slightly, he bellowed.

  “Ish thish some sort of gruesome joke?”

  As Bracken stood there swaying unsteadily, Parker answered him with an indulgent smile. “No joke, Senator. Don’t be impatient. Everything will be explained in good time. I’m well aware you’ve all had a very trying evening. In our movie you’ve been battered, burned and shocked. Hopefully we’ve managed to amuse you from time to time.”

  “We’ve tried to make you think; to make you feel and perhaps to make you concerned. We’ve been damned cruel to your delicate sensibilities and for that I must apologize. I’m doubly upset some were hurt just now. We didn’t realize you would react with such violence to our little charade.”

  “At least you deserve an explanation. This entire evening was planned as test. An examination of your innermost feeling, thoughts, and desires. We’ve shown you the past, the present and are about to show you your future. As we said earlier in our little movie presentation, the past is dead. We can learn little from it . Tomorrow--today will also be in the past. Too many of you live only for today, that is your folly. the possible downfall of all humanity. Your are fast running out of todays. too many going merrily on your way with little concern for the future. Most of you’d rather let someone else worry about it. You’re wrong! You must think of yourselves, only yourselves before it’s too late. “

  “And that’s why we’re here. We call ourselves Primagnons, what you might consider an alien force, yet we’ve always been here; a part of your society, yet apart from it. Waiting until this moment we’ve always known would come. When the world would need us. That time is Now!”

  The audience listened gravely. The shock of his introduction had silenced some of them. Others were concentrating, trying to fully comprehend what he was saying. Nearly all were impressed by his sincerity. His calmness was as dynamic as it was commanding. They were compelled to listen.

  “As I said before, this entire evening has been a test. We’ve observed you involved in a series of experiences to see just how you’d react under various stresses. I believe you’ll agree we’ve shown you your most intimate, secret, even subconscious thoughts and emotions. A bit presumptuous of us, I agree, but necessary nonetheless.”

  Some of the audience were looking at one another, more or less embarrassed to recall the image of his or her own reaction to THE Movie and the other events that had battered them earlier.

  “You may wonder who “We are. I’ll try to enlighten you more about that as the evening moves along. We are part of a large organization sent to save you from your own destruction. Unfortunately, you don’t seem capable of formulating a solution to your own problems, therefore, we now offer you guidance as well as our advanced technical assistance.

  Parker continued to dazzle them with his logic. After all, within any group, no matter now well educated or sophisticated, there are those who believe anything as long as it’s wrapped in a pretty package. These individuals now found themselves under the spell of this amazing person. Some, even to the point of looking up to him as a savior or new messiah.

  Parker went on. “Some of you have grasped part of the method we plan to implement. I must point out your plans are impractical and why we, members of the Primagnon Force are giving you, the nations leaders, the first opportunity to join us. Primagnons are, I might add, are a very select group. It’s partially the reason for this elaborate evening; to determine which of you are suitable for membership.’

  As the Primagnon spoke, he walked back and forth before the group of the nations leaders and their ladies.

  “You have seen the first phase of our evenings entertainment.” continued the Primagnon. “ We must now interview each of you individually and privately to make our final choices. I hope this won’t disturb you, but if you qualify, then you can become one of us. You will be required to participate in an initiation ceremony in which certain psychological and physiological changes will take place.”

  He turned away as if he was about to leave them, But turned back as if struck by an after-thought he wanted to relate to them. He spoke very positively, laying each word for effect.

  “I’m afraid one step in your metamorphosis will be -- Death!”

  There was a choked silence. Death! the awesome word hung in the silent air. The already fearful guests fixed their eyes in horror on the figure before them. Several of the ladies fainted into the arms of their partners. Some of the men found themselves suddenly sitting down hard, on the floor.

  “Death!” the thought was still there. Death! --how it turned them, froze them, weakened them. With this one simple word Parker had laid the bombshell carefully and quietly, and as as always it worked. Fear was the strongest persuader know to human kind. He’d used it for hundred so years and found it indispensable in his work. He’d converted many humans to their secret society and always felt a pang of sorrow at having to resort to such drastic means. His studies had shown him that humans experience great psychological pain when faced with the threat of death. He regretted their suffering, yet the mission was foremost and any means must be used to accomplish it.

  As Parker, the Primagnon, stood there, waiting for the panic-stricken mob to settle down, he flexed his powerful intellect and let his mind reach out and envelope the personalities of the hundreds of the human being cowering before him. As his power probed and plucked at the senses of each, he was struck by their topsy-turvy derangement and confusion, the terror and consternation that seethed within each psyche. He compared the disorder of the human mind with the well-ordered emotionless channels of his own.

  Humans--so weak and fragmented when set beside the more-than-human mechanism of the Primagnon. It wasn’t pride that made him think this, as Primagnons are almost devoid of personal ego or vanity. Other drives and obsessions were their rewards.

  Parker did feel a moment of doubt as he scanned the confused mental working of the crowd. This was to be the first mass trial of The Change. Would it be able to convert the vanity, fear, weakness, ambition, petty prejudices and other useless imperfections of the human spirit into motivated, dedicated Primagnon’s? And would the conversion of this group lead to the modification of the majority of the rest of the world? And would there be tim
e to complete their work before it was too late?

  He was forced to stand for a few more moments to allow the full force of his declaration and presence work its will on them. While he stood watching them go through the various phases of their terror: from realization, to foreboding, to horrified anticipation, he considered once again what it as to be born a Primagnon. It was impossible to convert humans to this purest form of demigod during The Change, but an excellent facsimile was possible with most of them. He looked back into his own history to the point when the first Primagnons walked the earth.

  His ancestors were spawned in a remote and isolated part of northern Europe. Only two, a male and female escaped when the ice age trapped and destroyed the rest of their kind.

  The pair made their way into the outside world and even during that primeval age, they sensed their uniqueness. Possessed of unusual intelligence, longevity and a sixth sense that gave them extraordinary puissance over others, the two began the tradition of incestuous intermarriage that caused them to multiply only among themselves. Yet instead of weakening the strain, their powers increased with each succeeding generation.

  The Primagnon leader noticed the crowd before him was now in a proper state of fearful attention and spoke to them:

  “The interviews will begin shortly,” he said aloud. “Try to make yourselves as comfortable as possible. This will be a long night.” The Primagnon paused for a few moments to let this sink in, before he turned to where Senator Shipley was standing.

  “I would like the see the Senate leader, John Shipley, for a few moments before we begin in earnest. If you please, Senator?”:

  Parker made a welcoming gesture toward the far end of the room. Two uniformed Primagnons moved forward to escort the Senator, who hesitated a moment before falling in step with them as Parker lead the way.

  Parker took them to a short hallway containing several doors. He halted the group before one of them. Pausing, he turned to look at the Senator before he opened the door, and with a slight bow, bade the old man enter.