The Circle

by Harold R Watson

  “Mom will have to explain it to you sometimes, Dad,” Doreen said.

  We were met inside the “OPERATIONS CENTER” by armed guards wearing jump suits similar to ours. We were then escorted into a large auditorium filled with people where we were seated in the front roll. The place was packed.

  My wife then followed them up to the platform where there was a podium with a microphone. One of the uniformed guards went up to the microphone and began speaking:

  Let me have your attention Ladies and Gentlemen. Our Commander is here now and we can begin.

  He then introduced my wife as Captain Neville as she made her way up to the podium. This was all new to me. I had never heard anyone refer to my wife as Commander or as Captain before. What she was about to say caught me even more off guard.

  As I recall, her words went something like this:

  Officer of the Day, Fellow Officers, Enlisted Personnel, Honored Guests and Ladies and Gentlemen. We feared that this day would come someday. Well it has and a little sooner than we had expected. Because of your dedication to duty over the past twenty-five years since my parents first established colonies on Earth, we are now prepared to complete our mission.

  That mission today is to furnish the transportation for evacuating you from this planet to a safe location during the time of the holocaust that is being perpetrated upon it by evil doers who have launched nuclear and biological attacks that might destroy the earth and all its inhabitants.

  Within the next few days, the earth will no longer be a safe planet on which to live for members of the human race. Several countries have already been destroyed by the armies of the one who calls himself the new Messiah.

  The severely damaged ozone layer which surrounds and protects the earth is failing allowing ultra-violet rays from the sun are literally burning up our planet. Let me show you a video containing some of our latest intelligence received earlier this afternoon from our satellites.

  She worked some controls on the podium and the lights in the auditorium dimmed and the giant theater screen lit up so the video could be seen by all in attendance. She then began explaining the events shown on the screen.

  Here are satellite photos taken yesterday and I will move the time frame forward to show you how rapidly the changes are taking place. At noon yesterday after several the nuclear devices had already been exploded in countries in the Middle East, in Europe, in Africa, and in Asia, one exploded in our nation s capitol bringing our country into the mix.

  As I move the time frame ahead an hour at a time, notice how the hole in the ozone layer is enlarging. It now appears to be growing larger with geometric progressions. Now note how the temperatures in the Middle East and in North Africa have increased.

  In just the last twenty-four hours it has gone from eighty degrees Fahrenheit to one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit. Already in those areas, millions of people have died from the intense heat and more will die as the surface temperatures go even higher. As the temperatures continue to rise, the structures, the plants and the fields will be set on fire by the sun s rays.

  When I mentioned earlier that we had an other twenty-four to forty-eight hours before the same fate awaits us here in Cleveland, I might have been too optimistic. As fast as things are progressing, we might only have twelve to twenty-four hours to evacuate the Earth.

  After she turned the lights back up she said something that surprised me even more.

  Now I want all the Torens in this auditorium to stand up.

  Several hundred others including our two daughters stood up. I wasn t familiar with the term Toren.

  Wh at is a Toren anyway? I thought to myself.

  Several hundred of us in the auditorium had remained seated. It appeared that many of them were as confused as I was. My wife continued to speak.

  Torens, take a few minutes to hug your spouses and loved ones who have remained seated beside you. Until now, you swore to never divulge to any Earthlings the term Toren.

  She waited a few minutes and continued: “Now you may explain who you really are and where you come from. We will take a twenty minute break.

  She then came down off the stage to where I was seated and began telling me how her parents brought her to the earth twenty-five years earlier with others from several Toren planets. Their mission was to establish secret bases, like the one we were in, from which they could manufacture power crystals needed by the other planets in the Toren Empire.

  Originally, they were planning to let their off spring mingle and marry people from Earth who would one day be trained in the Toren ways and be given the advanced Toren technology to improve conditions on Earth.

  In earlier scientific expeditions to Earth by the Torens, they discovered raw materials necessary to manufacture crystals they needed for their space ships were abundant on this planet. The crystals they were able to make turned out to be superior to any they had been able to manufacture on any of their ten Toren planets. They decided to set up a colony on Earth.

  At first, they planned to just have enough Torens on the planet to gather the raw materials but found that is was much more economical to manufacture them here than to haul raw materials to one of their distant planets.

  One of the problems was to provide enough capital on Earth to develop manufacturing plants capable of producing enough crystals to supply the needs of the Toren Empire. My wife s parents where in charge of the ones who helped them establish the first of Earth s crystal manufacturing plants. In order to have the needed capital on Earth to continue their secret operations, the Torens decided to share some of the crystalline technology with the people of Earth in order to earn the profits necessary to fund their operations on this planet.

  Crystals began to replace fossil fuels used in transportation because one crystal the size of a golf ball could fuel a car for a lifetime. Also no harmful pollution emissions were present when crystals were used for fuel.

  When her parents returned to Starsis, one of the nearest Toren planets to Earth, they left their daughter in charge of manufacturing the crystals but they did not allow her to share the technology with any companies other than those she owned or controlled. As the market for crystals increased both in the Toren Empire and on Earth, my wife and other Torens on our planet became extremely wealthy.

  Things might have gone on indefinitely but before long the Torens discovered that the people on Earth had a long history where nations were waging wars on each other with ever growing capabilities of destroying the planet along with their abundant supply sources used for making the crystals.

  Learning of these tendencies, the Torens decided to increase the numbers of Torens on Earth and presented them with an additional mission of preparing for a time when they could no longer live on the planet because of those who would seek to destroy it.

  That additional mission caused the Torens to secretly build enough space ships to remove the Torens and their families in the event of a major holocaust like the one my wife spoke up from the stage.

  My wife s continuing mission after her parents were called back to Starsis was to complete the project her parents had started on Earth which included building the space ships at different locations around the globe and have them ready if and when they might be needed.

  This base where I had been taken for the first time is located in a secret base under Lake Erie. It had ten of these space ships with three hundred and ninety other such space ships located in secret bases around the globe all controlled by the Torens.

  After telling me this fascinating story about the Torens, my wife returned to the podium to continue her briefing.

  May I have your attention again, please, she asked. We have much to cover and we need to keep going. Even though the earth as we know it appears doomed, we will be able to transport tens of thousands from this planet to the nearest Toren planet called
Starsis where we will be able to live in much the same way as we have here on Earth. The difference will be that there are no wars on Starsis.

  Here in our facility, we have ten star cruiser class space ships, each with a capacity of 400 passengers and crew. That means that we will have room for all of us here. Thirty-nine other facilities like ours, each also has ten star cruisers and will transport a similar number of Torens with their families. All of the other facilities have already launched their ships and we will join them at a rendezvous point in space where we will all proceed together to a mother ship that will carry us and our star cruisers to Starsis.

  Many of you might have heard the term THE PROJECT from time to time, not knowing what it meant. Well I can report to that THE PROJECT was to complete enough space ships and have them ready to launch should the emergency arrive. I can tell you now that the mission has been accomplished. The ships are fully stocked with provisions for our journey. The only thing left is for us to climb on board and take off.

  In this auditorium you are seated in sections with your families. Please make a note of the section you are seated in. You will next report to a building with the same section numbers shown with large signs on the front of the buildings located in a circle around the mall area.

  Your ship s Captain will meet you inside your assigned building to tell you when and how to board your particular star cruiser. Your Captain will also have a list of your names and will double check to be sure you are in the right building for boarding. You may now leave this auditorium in an orderly manner to find your building.

  With that said, she returned to where my daughters and I were seated to tell us that our ship had been named THE BONNIE ONE and that it would be the last ship to leave the Lake Erie base because it is the flagship of the fleet of ten ships leaving this facility.

  CHAPTER 3-EXODUS OF THE CHOSEN ONES

  After my wife returned to us, the crowd began to leave the auditorium. We were seated in Section One and my wife took to Building labeled with a big number One on the front. Once inside the building, we saw the name of our ship “THE BONNIE ONE” in big bold letters.

  My wife told the security guards that once the people found their building to make sure they go inside and then seal the doors so no one could get out without a proper reason.

  As soon as our building contained all the ones who would be on THE BONNIE ONE, the guards sealed the exterior doors. Then my wife addressed the group of about 350 people in attendance.

  “Before we get started, let’s have a moment of silent prayer for all those who will be left behind and give them the respect and reverence they deserve. We who are gathered here are the fortunate one who will be given a second chance at life.”

  We bowed our heads in silent prayer as we thought of all of Earth’s people who are being left on this dying planet to suffer the harsh consequences brought about by the holocaust and we thanked God that we had been chosen to survive.

  After the moment of silent prayer my wife began again.

  “If you are in this building, your ship is THE BONNE ONE. This ship is for all those who were seated in Section One of the auditorium. If you were seated in any other section, you are in the wrong building. Please report to the security guards at the door so they can take you to your proper building. Do we have anyone who is in the wrong building?” No one stood up. “Good, I take it that you have all chosen the right building. Please note that there are tables labeled with the letters of the alphabet from A-Z. Please go to the table labeled with the first letter of your last name to pick up a sheet with your cabin assignment aboard the ship.

  Do not lose this. When we board the buses later that will take us to the ship, you will be called to board by the same first letters in you last name. Also the buses will take you to your quarters once it drives on board the star cruiser. You will need your paper to show the ship’s attendants your quarters assignments so things can be done in a orderly and efficient manner. Any questions?” There were no questions so my wife continued.

  “It is now 20:00 hours military time. We will use military time from this moment forward and while aboard the star cruiser. If you don’t know how to tell military time, please have your spouse teach you and your children.”

  Once you receive the forms with your cabin assignments, you may go into the next room which is a cafeteria where you may eat and enjoy yourself until 21:30 hours when you must be back in this room. Boarding of the buses will begin promptly at 21:45 hours and we have a departure time scheduled for approximately midnight. You are dismissed until 21:30 hours.

  When she mentioned food, I realized suddenly that I was very hungry. I had missed supper and had not eaten since lunchtime before leaving our penthouse suite. My wife said that we would not need to pick up a cabin assignment sheet because she would take us to our quarters when the time came. We therefore went straight to the cafeteria to have supper.

  Once we had eaten, my wife lead us to a golf cart near the rear entrance of the building and we slipped away from the crowd to be taken aboard the star cruiser.

  It took us about ten minutes to reach the star cruiser. She drove us all around the ship. Across the bow in bold letters that I would guess were at least ten feet high were the words THE BONNIE ONE. There were several ramps from below the ship with each one large enough to drive two busses on side by side. Each ramp was labeled with a different roman numeral from I to X. There were several banks of rubber wheels under the ship upon which it rested.

  My wife explained that the platform upon which the ship sat was actually a large train car with hundreds of wheels sitting upon fifty or so railroad tracks.

  After our trip around the exterior of the star cruiser, Tess drove up one of the ramp into a large loading bay. She indicated that the buses would be stored inside the bay to be used at some future time when needed.

  Looking around the large bay area, I also noticed something very familiar. I was the craft that we used to return to Cleveland from Colorado which she had referred to previously as her toy. She had had someone paint in large letters across its bow THE TOY.

  I see you brought your toy along, I remarked.

  Yes, I think it might come in handy some day if we want to get away from the crowd or we can just use it as our own private shuttle if we like.

  Once we drove through the large bay area she took us on a tour of the interior of the ship. We were using streets marked out with traffic signs and traffic lights and painted lines much like those in the city. There were actually curbs and sidewalks and building type modules inside the ship. In these modules were located living quarters, various stores, a theater, a bakery, a barbershop, and all manner of other shops one might expect to see in a small village.

  Along the road, which was positioned to allow anyone to circle the interior of the ship, were enclosed bay areas adjacent to the ship s exterior that contained fighter aircraft that could be launched in space to protect the star cruiser should such a need arise. My wife said that each star cruiser has a contingent of one hundred of these fighters.

  In addition, each star cruiser has ten shuttles, not counting her toy that can be used to take persons and supplied to and from a planet from an orbiting star cruiser. After our brief tour of the ship, Tess drove us to our quarters. On the door were the words: CAPTAIN S QUARTERS and underneath were inscribed the following names: Captain T. S. Neville; Commander Damon Neville; Cadet Lt. Doreen Neville and Cadet Lt. J.G. Susan Neville.

  I had achieved the rank of major in the Air Force reserves before I got out. My wife said the Commander rank meant the I had been promoted to Lt. Colonel if I was still in the Air Force. She said that Naval ranks were used aboard a star cruiser. She said that I was now officially in the Toren military service.

  We are all in the Toren military service now, she said. As far as I know, there is no longer a United States military service and if the
re is, it can t last much longer with the deteriorating conditions on Earth.

  The ship was constructed in the shape of a triangle with a planning hull much like that of a speedboat pointed in the front and wide at the rear. My wife reminded me that I must start using terms like bow and stern while aboard the star cruiser because it was a ship, albeit a space ship.

  The Captain s quarters were actually three sets of quarters. Doreen and Susan each had their own separate quarters with an entrance from inside of the Captain s quarters plus their own private exterior entrance.

  With such an arrangement, we could live as a family when we chose or they could come and go using their own exterior entrance when they chose.

  The quarters are certainly large enough, I said. It s a shame there is no furniture. Are we going to sleep on the floor?

  Everyone come over here, Tess instructed. She then had us all stand in a foyer area. She then punched in a security code into what appeared to be an alarm setting device located in side a closet panel box next to the front entrance. Soon afterwards, a panel opened up and there was a secret little room. Inside the room was a console with a computer screen. She activated it. The console had a keyboard with all the regular keys plus maybe a hundred more.

  She typed in the word FURNITURE and hit the return. Suddenly, furniture came up out of the floors and down from the ceilings and out from the walls like some magic power had taken over. When the operation was completed, our suite had every conceivable furnishing one might need in a living quarters.

  She told us that when the furniture was all stowed away in the concealed compartments, the space could be used for any number of purposes from a storage space to a store to a gym or even to a hospital.

  For example, if the ship s primary cargo was trade goods rather than people, the conversion to open storage space would become very important. She said that this was to remain our little secret. All the other quarters being used by the other passengers had their furnishing already in place when they boarded and there was no need to tell them about the secret little room and console exclusive to the Captain s quarters.