《Space Y》


 Chapter 1 The Con

    Lane was busy dabbing a paper towel on top of his pizza to remove the excess oil when his friend Mike told him there was an exhibit where you could get a million dollars if you could decipher this hidden code. He looked up from his dabbing to see where his friend was looking. He took a bite of the pizza as he looked at the sign.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s worth a try. What do you have to lose?¡± Mike said excitedly.


    ¡°20 bucks according to the sign. It¡¯s a gimmick to get people into his booth.¡± Lane said with far less enthusiasm.


    Mike chewed on his piece much quicker than Lane did, and he didn¡¯t seem embarrassed to speak with his mouth full. ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡±


    ¡°You are a fool my friend, but if you want to waste your money on that, then it¡¯s your prerogative.¡± Lane said. ¡°Can we at least finish eating first?¡±


    Mike didn¡¯t take the requisite amount of time to enjoy the HQ pizza like Lane did. He packed the pie in his face as fast as he could chew and swallow. The enormous slice of pizza was easily as big as a medium pizza at little Caesar''s, maybe as big as a large. Lane motioned with his eyebrows to go ahead, and that he would catch up in a minute.


    Mike stood as he jammed the last corner of pizza into his mouth and used his paper towel to wipe some of the grease off his face as he hurried away.


    Mike was already inside the exhibit by the time Lane strode up. There were some devilled eggs for sale for $25 if you wanted some brain food to heighten your senses. Lane looked at the eggs and wondered how gullible a person would have to be to try eating them, and then realized that his friend Mike probably got one before he entered. He looked up at the attendant that was looking in through the doorway at the suckers on the inside before making small talk.


    ¡°Busy day?¡± Lane asked.


    The attendant paused his peering through the doorway to see what he was all about.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± The man stated as he gave Lane an assessing look. ¡°You want to give it a try?¡±


    Lane pressed his lips together and blinked his eyes in disapproval. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Thanks.¡±


    The man nodded and resumed looking at the few people who were inside and took some money from some other suckers that went in while he waited for Mike to come back out.


    This guy was probably raking it in if this is all that there was to his exhibit. Lane began to wonder how long it took for people to not find anything and to exit. He was just looking around at what they would go to next when Mike came out of the makeshift shack shaking his head.


    ¡°Are we rich?¡± Lane asked Mike jokingly as his friend came out, Mikes face filled with wonder. It took a moment for Lane¡¯s words to register.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± Mike said as he looked at the walls of the room through the narrow passageway through squinted eyes. The attendant reassessed Mike as he joined his friend, and they were beginning to head off.


    ¡°Are you guys going to be here for the whole 3 days of the convention?¡± he asked as they were walking away. Lane tried to keep going but Mike wanted to be curious.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the idea. Tomorrow¡¯s my birthday.¡± Mike said, turning around to speak with the attendant some more.


    ¡°Is it? Have one of these deviled eggs for free then. Happy birthday. I¡¯m Jonathan.¡±


    Mike came over and shook Jonathan''s hand before taking one of the devilled eggs from the tray and eating it in one mouthful.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mike.¡± he said with the garbled speech of someone eating a devilled egg.


    ¡°Come back tomorrow and I¡¯ll let you in for half price.¡±


    ¡°Why would he do that if he couldn¡¯t figure it out this time?¡± Lane asked.


    Jonathan gave him a dirty look for his efforts, but Mike was oblivious to the unspoken conversation.


    ¡°It just seems weird in there. That¡¯s all.¡± Mike pleaded with Lane. ¡°I think I can figure that out. Let¡¯s come back tomorrow and we can see.¡±


    Lane didn¡¯t want anything to do with this scam, and he wished that he could convince his friend that he was being ripped off, but he had that look in his eyes. He was determined, and not to be deterred.


    The pair of friends wandered around the convention for the rest of the day, and when they had finished a fine dining experience at Wendy¡¯s they went back to the hotel to get ready for the nightlife. Mike would be turning 21 at midnight, and Lane had every intention of getting his friend drunk legally for the very first time at the strike of 12:00.


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    After working out in the gym and trying to hit on some of the women there, the 2 men wandered toward the night club to await midnight. They were waiting at the door when Jonathan came walking up with a few devilled eggs in a Ziploc bag. Lane looked at the bag of eggs and sighed.


    ¡°Jonathan, what¡¯s with the eggs?¡± he said by way of a greeting as Mike turned to see his new friend approaching.


    Jonathan smiled and sped his pace to get close enough to hear over the racket. ¡°Do you want one?¡± he offered as he held the bag over toward them.


    ¡°Hard pass for me.¡± Lane said, holding up his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take one. They¡¯re delish.¡± Mike said as he took a couple of the offered snacks.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they magic or something? Why are you giving them away?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Not magic.¡± Jonathan reminded him. ¡°They help give you vision.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm.¡± Lane responded unimpressed.


    ¡°They¡¯re great.¡± Mike assured him.


    Lane smiled at Mike. He didn¡¯t want this clown coming in and ruining his best friend''s birthday bash. He tried to think of a way to ditch him when they got inside the night club when Jonathan entered before midnight. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t be a problem after all.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like him, do you?¡± Mike asked as Jonathan went into the nightclub.


    ¡°I don¡¯t dislike him. I just don¡¯t want him interfering in our celebration. That guy seems like a wet blanket, and I don¡¯t want to be around him all night.¡± Lane said as he scoped out some of the women entering the nightclub and spilling music onto the sidewalk. ¡°I just want you to have a great time and relax.¡±


    ...


    The memory of the previous night''s events was a blur as Mike rushed to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach for the umpteenth time. His aching throat and belly were competing for attention with his pounding head. Usually, his head was in the lead, but every now and then his stomachache took control, and he hurried his aching body to the throne room. It was a competition that left him as the loser either way. He felt obligated to go to the con anyway since he had already bought the nonrefundable passes. His idea of rehydrating to get over his hangover just reenergized the alcohol that was in his system and caused him grief.


    It was past noon when the young men were at the convention and walking past the Million-dollar exhibit.


    ¡°You look rough.¡± Jonathan announced as the men approached. ¡°Know when to say when.¡± he teased.


    Lane nodded his agreement and Mike sported a smile that was more of a grimace of pain.


    ¡°Want to take another look?¡± Jonathan asked. He seemed to have more anticipation of this benign event than the hungover participants.


    ¡°My head is still swimming.¡± Mike said weakly.


    ¡°Have another devilled egg. It might help.¡± Jonathan suggested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be a good idea.¡± Mike admitted.


    ¡°You can go inside and sit down if you wish. It¡¯s cool, and the lights are turned down low. It might ease your hangover.¡±


    Lane helped Mike inside toward a bench sitting on the outside wall of the dimly lit room that was built up on a sturdy platform. It seemed to be ducted to the convention center¡¯s air handling system, and it was fresh and cool. Mike had his head between his knees for a long time before he ventured to look around the place. It looked the same, but there was some shimmering around the walls. It looked like when you look through a tinted car window while wearing polarized sunglasses. Mike blinked his eyes hard a few times but when he reopened them, he noticed that the shimmering shadows formed an arrow on the walls. Lane left his friend on the bench while he looked at the text on the ancient papyrus behind glass. Every language known to man must have been represented in the writing on these ancient looking texts. In English it read that This Is Not the Hidden Text. Lane looked at the brightly lit inside framework of the texts but couldn¡¯t find anything. When he looked over at Mike, he saw that he was just staring at the wall.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± he asked as he moved over to his friend.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a shimmering.¡± Mike stated softly. A young couple that was in there looking around looked to see what he was looking at but didn¡¯t see anything. Lane looked at the walls and thought that his friend must be too hung over to come to these events. He vowed not to do this again to his bud. The drinking, not the convention.


    Jonathan stopped trying to get people to come in for a minute and looked at Mike with a hopeful look on his face, but Mike just stood up and ran out the door toward the restroom. Lane shrugged his shoulders and followed.

 Chapter 2. Visions.

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 Chapter 3. I heart New York.

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    Each column had 2 glyphs on it. one on the inside surface toward the center of the room, and one on the outside surface of the column facing the wall. Lane decided to do the same.

 Chapter 4. The prophecy.

    The bank manager arrived at 9:35 am. Far sooner than the woman had implied. He was an older gentleman in his upper 50¡¯s with immaculate white hair and an expensive suit. He sported an unusually thin black tie with a complicated knot that seemed contrary for his age bracket. He was thin and fit. He wore black shoes that were well worn and taken care of. Any blemish that they had was disguised with shoe polish and care. He rounded the corner from behind the gate and made his way to the two young men. His alert eyes took in the scene at once as he made his way over to Mike to shake his hand by way of introductions.


    ¡°My name is mister Stanley.¡± he said as he offered his hand first to Mike, and then to Lane.


    The men introduced themselves with the common pleasantries as mister Stanley was surveying the area as if he was looking for something, or someone who was missing.


    Lane followed his gaze as he looked around the room. It made mister Stanley nervous, and he focused his attention on the tiny metal book in Mikes other hand.


    ¡°What are you looking for mister Stanley?¡± Lane asked incredulously. ¡°Never seen the waiting area before?¡±


    The older gentleman put a keen focus on Lane¡¯s eyes and gave him an assessing look. It was Lane¡¯s turn to feel uncomfortable.


    ¡°I was expecting...¡± he started but then cut himself off. ¡°This box is in the oldest part of the vault. I expected that you would be much older. May I see your key?¡±


    Mike began digging in his pocket, retrieved the key and displayed it to mister Stanley. When mister Stanley reached for the key Lane moved to stall his movements and Mike pulled it away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you to this box then. I¡¯m sure you are anxious to be on your way.¡±


    ¡°Anxious, but wary.¡± Lane added as they walked through the cage-type door into the back and the vault door into the basement of the building.


    There was another vault door that mister Stanley approached and started spinning the dial to enter the combination. It had 7 numbers in this combo, and it didn¡¯t open the first time mister Stanley tried it.


    ¡°We don¡¯t often get into this part of the vault.¡± mister Stanley offered by way of an excuse.


    When the combo was entered correctly the large latch handle clicked, and it took all of the old gentleman''s weight to get it to move. All three of the men were needed to get the door to swing on the gigantic hinges. Lane was certain that it would take more than the people present to shut the door with them in the room, but there was an oak door prop that was placed in the threshold that eased his mind.


    They stepped inside and found the right box. Mister Stanley put his old key in his side of the lock as Mike put his key in the other. They spun their keys simultaneously, and mister Stanley turned his key the rest of the way around another full turn and removed his key and replaced it in his pocket.


    ¡°Should you require some assistance, it will be provided for you. Don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡± mister Stanley said as he spun on his heel and left the room.


    Mike slapped his hands together and rubbed them like a little kid, or a guy in a movie that was expecting a big prize. Then he opened the door, slid out the heavy box, and opened it.


    The box was twelve inches tall, twelve inches wide, and 24 inches deep. When the hinged top was lifted it exposed fat stacks of cash beneath a very large leather-bound book with a brass clasp on it. The leather was grey, thick, and embossed with glyphs similar to the ones on the columns in the waiting area.


    Mike smoothed the leather with his hand. It was rigid as if it was reinforced with plywood. The leatherwork seemed to be pressed in place, and not cut. Mike pulled it out of the box with reverence as if it was some sort of holy artifact. His attention was fixed to the ancient book as he turned and sat on one of the low benches in the vault. Lane¡¯s attention was on the money. It looked fake. It was neatly stacked in the box in wraps that told the amount in each stack. There were 2 stacks that read fifty thousand dollars on them. The rest of the stacks each said ten thousand dollars. The funny-looking money was old. Lane was surprised to find that the money was entirely made up of silver certificates. He wondered if it was possible to exchange the money for money they could use.


    ¡°These are silver certificates.¡± Lane informed Mike. He wondered how Mike could be more interested in the book than the cash, but he could hardly tear his eyes away.


    ¡°Is it money?¡± Mike asked as he absently took fifty K from the box and flipped through it. It was made up from a stack of one hundred $500 bills which they don¡¯t make anymore, or at least most people have never seen one.


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    ¡°It was money, a long time ago. I don¡¯t know if you can use it these days. We might have to get a collector to buy it off us or something.¡± Lane explained.


    ¡°Well go get mister Stanley. He¡¯s a money man. He will know what our options are.¡± Mike instructed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust him.¡± Lane explained.


    Mike gave him a calming look. ¡°Well start trusting him. Did you think we were just going to walk in here brandishing that key and walk out with a million dollars?¡±


    Lane pondered his words for a minute before heading out and up the stairs. Mister Stanley was waiting at the threshold of the stairs.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± mister Stanley asked.


    ¡°Yeah. What options might we have if the money in the box is silver certificates?¡± Lane asked.


    The old gentleman started stewing on the question as he tried to think of a solution. Lane offered to have him come with him to assess the situation and recommend a solution to the problem.


    Mister Stanley looked embarrassed by the invitation, but he went into the vault to see what was up. He looked at the big book and his eyes went wide.


    ¡°You are him.¡± Stanly said. ¡°You are the one we have been waiting for. How did you get that key?¡±


    ¡°I won it in a contest.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I found the hidden text and deciphered the code.¡± Mike continued.


    ¡°So, you have the vision.¡± Stanly continued. He went to shake Mike¡¯s hand again, but this time he pulled back just a little and gripped the first knuckle of his forefinger between his thumb and the tip of his own forefinger. Once he did, he looked into Mike¡¯s eyes and narrowed his eyes in concentration. Mental images began to flood Mikes mind causing him to get dizzy. He pulled his hand from the older man''s grasp and shook his head to clear it. It was like a Vulcan mind meld.


    Stanly apologized for the intrusion before Mike gained his thoughts.


    ¡°What the... What was that?¡± Mike asked as Lane moved between the two men.


    There was a long pause as the men stared each other down. Mike pulled out the little metal book and showed it to Stanley, but mister Stanley was slow to take his eyes off Lane.


    ¡°You would make an excellent protector.¡± mister Stanley said before turning his gaze toward the book. He guessed Mikes unasked question.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t see the text in that book, and only part of the big leather one. You are the first person in many decades to be able to see the entire text.¡±


    Stanley didn¡¯t even look at the money. He moved around and sat on the low bench next to Mike.


    ¡°How did the seeker find you?¡± he asked.


    Lane and Mike exchanged looks before Lane sat on the other side of Stanley. Mike opened the big leather book up and set it on mister Stanley¡¯s lap. There were impressions from writing on the vellum pages, but they were faint. The book was very old. The old gentleman pointed out some writings and drawings on the page, but only Mike and he could see them. Lane was left out of the club. The genetic lottery had taken his money and he had lost.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± Lane asked as the other two men exchanged their secret codes in a secret text.


    ¡°Old.¡± mister Stanley admitted. ¡°I have been the keeper of this knowledge for nearly one hundred thirty years. I share the obligation with another. We trade off occasionally as time passes and we remain unchanged.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Lane wondered. ¡°That isn¡¯t possible.¡±


    ¡°All things are possible Lane. Your world is expanding faster than you can grasp. The wheels have been set into motion now. There will be no stopping the progression of events.¡± mister Stanley whispered as if there were people trying to listen in on his conversation. ¡°You need to figure out your place in the annuls of time. Although you don¡¯t have the vision, you are a key to the progression of events that will fundamentally change our world, and many of the worlds around us.¡±


    His smooth tones and soft speech exuded confidence that helped Lane to keep his mind together.


    ¡°So how do I turn that cash into money?¡± Mike asked at last causing the others to laugh.


    ¡°I can work that out for you.¡± mister Stanley admitted. ¡°We have good financial backing. But we are going to need outside help.¡±


    Mike put some of the money, and the big leather book into his bag. When he was nearing the bottom of the box, he found a page at the bottom with a message written on it. Unlike the other texts, this one was written with normal ink. It was written in calligraphy.


    Congratulations for having full vision. You were selected to be the representative of this system. An effort has been made to deliver four packages of great worth for you to use to bring about the biggest change in history. In five days hence there will be a delivery sent for you to bring these changes about. They will be delivered to the western foothills of Mount Olympus at precisely 12:05 am MST five days from today. It is imperative that you are the representative that receives this delivery. Our intentions are good. You must proclaim this message to the masses that they may see that this is a legitimate claim and aid you in your future endeavors. Please do not shirk these responsibilities. This is the key to the future of our system.


    ¡°W T F?¡± Lane said as Mike finished reading the message aloud.


    Mister Stanly stood and walked to the vault door before doing a slow face palm. He turned around to face the other men. ¡°I need to arrange for you to get some funds. And you need to contact the media with this message. A prophecy is only effective if it is given before it is fulfilled.¡±


    ¡°A prophecy?¡± Lane asked. ¡°When was that note put in that box? There is no way that can come true. How can we go off these instructions? We will look like idiots.¡±


    ¡°The note was put in there before WWI. It is true. Higher powers are at stake than you can possibly imagine. And yes, we will look like idiots. At least until the prophecy comes true.¡± mister Stanley replied.


    Lane watched mister Stanley give his answers to his list of responses. It was all just so incredible that he couldn¡¯t take it seriously.


    ¡°How?¡± Lane started again and then a long pause as he screwed up his face trying to grasp how any of this could be possible. ¡°How could it have been put in there more than a hundred years ago? And if it was, how could it be true? Is somebody watching this place? Somebody who knows that we had the key?¡±


    Mikes head was swiveling back and forth like someone watching a tennis match. He was the one in the middle of it, but he seemed disconnected somehow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Mike exclaimed suddenly. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the world about it and look like a fool. But before I do that, I want some of my million dollars.¡±

 Chapter 5. Fuel for thought.

    Lane and Mike coordinated a media presence from mister Stanley¡¯s office. They made a short series of advertisements that detailed the prophecy about the delivery on the foothills of Mount Olympus. Lane felt like he was getting an ulcer as they worked out the details. Mike was in good spirits. ¡°It¡¯s like getting paid to be in a commercial.¡± he said as he cheerfully made a fool of himself and posted it on every media platform that they could get access to. When they were just finishing up with the ads Mike¡¯s phone started to ring.


    ¡°Jonathan. How the heck are you man?¡± Mike said as he answered the phone.


    ¡°Are you guys all right? I thought you would be back by now.¡±


    ¡°We are still at the bank. We needed to make some advertisements and post them as soon as we could.¡± Mike continued.


    ¡°Who is there with you? Are you getting some help?¡± Jonathan asked. He had a worried tone to his voice. Mike pushed the tab that made the conversation go to speakerphone.


    ¡°We are here with mister Stanley. He is really helping us out.¡± Mike continued.


    The other side of the conversation went quiet for a long time. The icon was still lit up, so it was obvious that the phone was still connected.


    ¡°Jonathan, this is Sebastian. How have you been, brother?¡± mister Stanley said, but there was still no response. ¡°It has been a long time. It looks like you have held up your end of the bargain. That is the only thing that matters. All is forgiven as far as I am concerned.¡±


    ¡°I was not the one who messed it all up. I was the one who saw the path forward. I found the one with vision. My end of the deal is done.¡± Jonathan said, and he hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.


    ¡°Well, you guys have some history. When was the last time you two got together?¡± Lane asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Me and Jonathan?¡± Sebastian asked while making air quotes. ¡°We go way back. He did find you though.¡±


    ¡°Why the bad blood? He was acting suspicious last night.¡± Land said. ¡°He did not want to come here today. Was he afraid of you?¡±


    Mister Stanley took a few moments to consider his response. ¡°He had a falling out with the organization. It was the organization that he has bad blood with, not me. I am just the facilitator of this establishment. Anger may have been brewing in him for a long time.¡±


    ¡°What exactly is the organization?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Let us promote this advertising some more. There will be plenty of time to talk later.¡± the old gentleman said.


    ...


    The trip back to Utah was both better and worse than the way to New York. Mike was very well off, but Lane did not want to leave his crappy Honda there, so they brought it back. Jonathan had made himself scarce when the friends got back to the B&B but showed up at the first truck stop on the way back to Utah. Dumb luck was the only thing that got them together before they got too far back to turn around. He was mysterious on the way home, but he did explain a few things during the drive. Jonathan sat up front while Mike rode in the back. He was looking through the big leather book and paid the other two little attention. They never stayed in a place that was ideal for working on the prophecy statement, and it took most of their time to get back to Utah. Todd and Mike were worried about looking foolish, but even Jonathan was confident that they would be well known by the time they got to Salt Lake City. Lane stopped by the convention center in Salt Lake for Jonathan to pick up his truck. They went back to his place to rest up for the night and get ready for the big prophecy reveal.


    One of the local news outlets got their hands on all the footage they shot in New York about the prophecy. Mount Olympus water company was capitalizing on the hype. The news showed the foothills on the west of Mount Olympus. Housing had expanded since the last time any of them had been there. There did not seem to be much space for the shipment. The rest of the foothills were covered with the national guard trying to secure the area from campers and treasure hunters that wanted their 10 minutes of fame.


    ¡°How am I supposed to receive the delivery when the place is crawling like that? And if the guard has been deployed..., how are they supposed to get the delivery there?¡± Mike asked as he pointed at the computer monitor.


    Jonathan seemed unconcerned. ¡°It will be there, and you will be the one to receive it.¡± he said calmly. ¡°This is going to take no less than a couple of years to play out. This plan was set into motion a long time ago. The reason this prophecy is unique is because it will be the first one that cannot be proven false, or ambiguous in nature.¡±


    ¡°Mike giving the prophecy won¡¯t prove anything.¡± Lane said. ¡°Doubters will just say that someone saw the prophecy and then made the delivery. It is not a big deal. Unless you want to buy an inexpensive bottle of water while you wait. The delivery is already there under some air strike camouflage or something just waiting until midnight to pull off the disguise.¡±


    Mike nodded agreement while Jonathan brought in some boiled eggs and put them in the refrigerator.


    ¡°The shipment isn¡¯t there yet, and they won¡¯t be doubting when it arrives.¡± Jonathan said. ¡°No one will be able to keep it from showing up on schedule, and you will have an opportunity to be the one who gets to it first.¡±


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    ¡°You seem awful confident.¡± Lane observed.


    Jonathan nodded. ¡°I am. The whole reason that you made the videos is so that there would be a time stamp that was irrefutable. The entire world will know the importance of this prophecy, and it will have a time stamp. Future generations might misconstrue things, but everyone that is paying attention will see that this is real. That this is happening, and that this is right now. Everyone in the system will know the name of Mike Bennett for the rest of time.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but even I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Mike said.


    ...


    Zero hour was approaching fast. There was a big crowd gathered near the foothills that had been there for a few days. Mike was standing on a platform with Astroturf covering the top of it being interviewed by the local news stations. They had been broadcasting live and doing interviews during the commercial breaks of whatever program they had been showing. Mike just answered questions and commented on everything except how he found the hidden message, and how much money he had won. Many of the people there had been at the convention, and some recognized him from that 3-day event.


    At midnight, the news crews went live with footage of the west foothills. Everyone in the capital city of Utah recognized the place, and many were tuned in to see the prophecy come true, or not. There was a countdown as it grew near, and when the countdown reached zero... nothing happened. About half of the crowd booed as they witnessed nothing happening. Then there were the laughs, and the embarrassment kicked into high gear. Mike was crushed. Jonathan had him so stoked that he believed something big was going to happen that when it didn¡¯t happen it wounded him deeply. Most of the crowd began cleaning up their encampments and started to leave. Jonathan appeared from nowhere and came up on the platform that they were using for the newscast. He stood behind the desk next to Mike and moved close to his ear to give him some support.


    ¡°The prophecy stated that the shipment would arrive at 12:05 am MST.¡± Jonathan whispered.


    Mike nodded his head wondering if he confused am and pm.


    ¡°It is summertime in Utah.¡± Jonathan whispered.


    Mike nodded again as tears rolled down his face.


    ¡°It is now 12:12 am mountain daylight time. The shipment will arrive at exactly 12:05 am mountain standard time.¡± Jonathan drew his head back enough to see the recognition in Mikes tear filled eyes.


    ¡°Hold on everybody.¡± one of the news casters said. ¡°We forgot about daylight savings time.¡±


    It took a few minutes for many of the crowd to grasp the difference. Some of the ones present did not want to commit to another hour of waiting, and they left anyway.


    When it was finally 12:00 MST there was another tense moment as many people in the world awaited the prophecy. There were helicopters circling the area looking for the delivery of the containers. At 12:03 it was obvious that nobody was coming. Several people thought it was going to be a David Copperfield moment. At 12:05 am MST there was no new activity on the west foothills. Tens of thousands of people were simultaneously disappointed. Mike closed his eyes and bowed his head in embarrassment again.


    ¡°This is the worst day ever.¡± he said.


    Jonathan whispered again in Mikes ear.


    ¡°This is the wrong Mount Olympus. Your delivery has arrived on schedule and is waiting for you to retrieve it.¡± Jonathan whispered.


    Mike wiped his eyes again and looked up into the sky. He was not sure where Mars was that evening, but he was sure that Olympus Mons was facing the earth, and there was someone watching it.


    Mikes phone rang. He looked down and noticed that it was Sebastian calling from New York. He toggled the icon to answer but mister Stanley was talking before he could acknowledge him.


    ¡°Your shipment has been delivered and awaits you.¡± he said. ¡°There is too much dust to get any good video, but I am certain that it is intact. Stick out your thumb Mike. You need to hitch a ride to Mars.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°Best day ever.¡± Mike replied.


    ...


    It would be a couple of years before Earth and Mars got their alignments worked out for Mike to get the delivery. The media blew up after the prophecy came true, but people still found a way to be unconvinced, and others were just pissed off that the shipment did not come to our own planet. There were still a lot of people who thought it was a hoax. Sebastian was right about this being the right time in history, and now Mike and Lane understood why. Jonathan mentioned that he was hopeful that he would find the man with vision in the late sixties or early seventy¡¯s during the space race. Jonathan did not appear to be any older than thirty-five. The other men did not press him about his age until he admitted that he was born in 1866.


    ¡°Sebastian was born in 1740.¡± Jonathan said. ¡°It is a quirk of high-speed travel. I do not know if it is possible to stop ageing completely but it can be drastically slowed if you travel fast enough for long enough.¡±


    Lane blinked a few times as he tried to decide if Jonathan was telling the truth.


    ¡°How?¡± Mike asked. ¡°It must have happened a long time ago to make you able to get this old and look so young. How did you go that fast?¡±


    Jonathan ate a hardboiled egg while he considered his response.


    ¡°There are a few people on earth who belong to an exclusive club. Each of us has been abducted by beings from another planet and taken to another world.¡± Jonathan said calmly. ¡°The aliens are waiting for our planet to advance to the point where we can compete in interplanetary commerce. We have been slow to get onboard with the rest of the worlds because we lost something that allows us to power an interplanetary ship.¡±


    ¡°That is impossible.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°Actually, it is not. Mike has vision right now. He can control a ship to another world.¡± Jonathan said. ¡°This planet lacks fuel. There are a couple of ships in this system that can travel to other worlds.¡±


    ¡°This system?¡± Lane asked. ¡°Every time you talk about the system, are you talking about our solar system?¡±


    Jonathan nodded.


    ¡°No way.¡± Mike said. ¡°That can¡¯t even be possible.¡±


    ¡°But it is.¡± Jonathan said. ¡°One of the ships is yours. No one on Earth can fly it. Except you.¡±


    ¡°Well saddle up. Let¡¯s take it out for a spin.¡± Lane said sarcastically.


    Jonathan gave him a look that could curdle milk.


    ¡°Although they use fuel sparingly, there is not enough to leave the system. That is why there is a shipment of fuel sitting on Mars right now. Mike needs to go and get it.¡± Jonathan said.


    Lane tried to think of a way to get to Mars to get the fuel.


    ¡°How much fuel will it take to get to Mars?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°To purge the engines and manifolds it will take about 200 liters. Once that is done, we could get there with just over a milliliter of each of the 3 fuels, and a quarter milliliter of coolant.¡± Jonathan said.


    ¡°This is America you freaking commie. Do not tell me how many liters it is going to take.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°Does the fuel disappear or something? Why do we need to purge the system with so much fuel?¡± Mike asked.


    Jonathan got a disappointed look on his face.


    ¡°No one has used one of these drive systems for a few decades. The fuel and coolant were drained from the ship so that the one with vision could be found.¡± Jonathan pointed at Mike. ¡°I have been using the fuel and coolant in the fertilizer for my chicken feed. I needed that fuel to boost the color receptors in my eyes, and the eyes of the people in my little contest.¡±

 Chapter 6. Carbon

    In the first year after the shipment was delivered to Mars several things happened.


    An eccentric billionaire who was fixated on putting people on Mars was inspired to help get a space craft into orbit around Mars with a capsule that could get a few occupants safely to the surface, and then power them up for a return trip with ample supplies of fuel and coolant.


    A select crew was brought together to make the journey.


    An even more select crew was shown the only working spacecraft that was accessible on Earth. It was hidden beneath the surface of the Earth in Roswell New Mexico.


    Several of the people who were taken off planet by aliens assembled and reformed a committee to ease people into the realization that there have been aliens influencing Earth for a very long time.


    Designs to terraform Mars for human population were drawn up and started for future colonization.


    A recruitment program was set up in order to find more men with vision. But none were found to have any vision let alone total like Mike Bennett. He was apparently the only one in the system.


    ...


    Earth''s orbit around the sun takes an entire Earth year. Mars¡¯ orbit around the sun takes nearly twice as long. (686.5 days) when the delivery was made to the foothills of Olympus Mons the Earth and Mars were in a close orbit. That meant that any mission to pick up the goods would be no sooner than 2 years, and on a timetable of close proximity. So, if they missed this window, it would be another 2 years before they could make another attempt. When the space program was run by competing governments, they used governmental controls that were put in place to safeguard assets, people, and even though they didn¡¯t like to admit it, reputation. Space X was privately owned, and not restricted to government safeguards. The risks and rewards were weighed and measured by a different standard. The potential benefits to humankind were astronomical. The risks were minimal and mitigated. Everybody who had been abducted and returned to Earth assured the world that nothing would go wrong. Apparently, it had been preordained, and written in the stars. Assurances did little to ease the concerns of the affected. It had to be a personal choice.


    ...


    ¡°They will still get there. It will just take a little longer than expected.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just go with plan A?¡± Lane asked. ¡°Everyone is prepared to do what we were expecting. Why go changing it now?¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t the only ones interested in this venture.¡± Sebastian clarified. ¡°It actually speeds up the timetable for the Mars colony and opens new avenues for progression.¡±


    ¡°The stakeholders who are privy to this turn of events aren¡¯t happy with it.¡± Jonathan chimed. ¡°But they are going to be compensated.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°With extended lifespans for one.¡± Jonathan said.


    ¡°And monetary compensation.¡± Sebastian interrupted. He gave Jonathan a sideways glance for his efforts and hoped no one would question what he was about to say.


    The room grew quiet for a long time before Mike spoke up.


    ¡°And if we refuse?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that.¡± Sebastian pleaded.


    ¡°I need to consider both sides of this issue. I expect some counsel from all of you.¡± Mike said. ¡°The final word on this is mine, right? We have been scouring the planet for people with vision, and thus far, I am the only one who has it. Without me this ends. Now everyone clear out and let me speak with my crew.¡±


    The people stood up and began to file out of the conference room. Some of them reluctantly.


    ¡°Sebastian, Jonathan and Lane. Please stay here and let''s hammer out the details.¡±


    The room emptied and the door closed behind the last one as they left. Mike sat at the head of the conference room table and leaned his head back in frustration letting out a sigh.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t issue ultimatums like that.¡± Sebastian said quietly.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Mike asked. ¡°If I am that important then I need to have some say in what we do. Isn¡¯t that, right?¡±


    Sebastian and Jonathan shared a look. Jonathan was slowly shaking his head no.


    ¡°We have to tell him.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°Tell me what?¡± Mike asked.


    Sebastian took a seat, put his palm over his mouth and closed his eyes for a long moment before he regained his composure.


    ¡°We have been in contact with a remnant of the aliens in this system.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°With whom?¡± Lane asked, but no one was in a hurry to clarify his statement.


    ¡°The aliens.¡± Jonathan said with a reassuring nod.


    ¡°THE aliens?¡± Lane asked again.


    Sebastian nodded.


    ¡°I was the one who put the money and book in the safe deposit box. And the note.¡± Jonathan admitted.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°But you were with us. How could you have put it there?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°I did it a long time ago. Before we ever met.¡± Jonathan said.


    The room went still as the men mulled the information out.


    ¡°But the note, the prophesy said the delivery would be there in five days. When did you put the contents in the safe deposit box?¡±


    ¡°December twenty first, nineteen hundred and five.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°It was cold and snowing.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Lane said. ¡°If that were the case then how do you explain the prophecy?¡±


    ¡°The runes.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°You were the first person to visit that waiting room and examine the runes. The first one with vision anyway. It activated a transmitter in the dome that sent a message calling for the delivery.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Lane repeated.


    ¡°How can you believe everything else, but not this?¡± Jonathan asked. ¡°This is the easiest part to believe.¡±


    ¡°Mike, how did you get that armored box in my exhibit to open? The combination lock that I had tried to jimmy so many times throughout the decades?¡± Jonathan asked.


    ¡°I put my eye up close to it.¡± Mike explained. ¡°Like the hidden text instructed me to.¡±


    ¡°And what did you do when Lane pointed out the runes on the columns in the waiting room?¡± Sebastian asked.


    ¡°I went over to look at them.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°And the same aliens that received that message, and sent the cargo to Mars, have informed me that they want to fake a crash landing on Mars so they can give you a gift. The people of Earth will believe you are gone. There will be an investigation, and committees. But you and the others will be on your way to another world.¡±


    Mike took a moment to think about the issues.


    ¡°I still need to think about it. I don¡¯t think they can do any of this without me. I need to think about it.¡± Mike said frustratedly.


    ¡°Then think about it but think quickly. They want a response.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°How do we give them a response?¡± Lane asked.


    Sebastian blinked hard with a grimace on his face.


    ¡°Have you been in contact with them?¡± Lane asked. ¡°This whole time?¡±


    ¡°Not this whole time.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°But yes. They contacted me a few times in the last year.¡±


    Mike¡¯s head drooped down, and he bit his lip.


    ¡°From now on, I want all of the information on this subject to be brought to Lane.¡± Mike said as he stood up. ¡°Is that clear? Everything. Are you willing to sift through all of this for me buddy?¡±


    Lane nodded resolutely.


    ¡°I want Lane to record you doing your mind meld handshake thing with me. I don¡¯t like secrets especially when they involve me.¡± Mike said.


    Sebastian capitulated wordlessly. He moved toward a handshake with Mike, and each gripped the other by the first knuckle in the others forefinger between their fingertip and thumb. Mike both sensed and felt the exchange as he could sense a quick progression through Sebastian''s life experiences and his own being transferred to the other person. It started quickly and increased to the point where Mike was getting overwhelmed, and he broke the connection releasing his grip and pulling away. To Mike it felt like the transfer took about three quarters of a minute. He gained a great insight to the abduction of Sebastian in a world before electricity and technology. The trip to another world. The vision from his perspective. It was diminished by comparison to his own at the same time as being more vivid and radiant somehow. He saw the progression of Sebastian losing vision as time relentlessly plodded on. The effects from space travel were the key. When Sebastian was returned to his world his vision was in a perpetual state of decay. It happened slowly but steadily without ever being renewed. Since it had been so very long since his voyage, his vision was nearly depleted. He needed another journey to replenish the effects.


    ¡°You lied to me.¡± Mike said to Sebastian accusingly. ¡°I saw it in our mind meld. You contacted them, not the other way around. You asked for this.¡±


    Sebastian shook his head slowly in denial, but his past had been laid bare to Mike in the exchange.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the timetable acceptable? You have had vision for a hundred years.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°Two hundred.¡± Jonathan interrupted.


    Mike looked at Jonathan with new eyes.


    ¡°Those eggs.¡± Mike said in realization as Lane sensed the anger building up inside Mike and moved between Mike and the other men.


    ¡°They sustain me.¡± Jonathan admitted. ¡°Actually, they have increased my perception of the vision throughout the years. It is stronger now than it has ever been.¡±


    ¡°You have been digesting the fuel that powers our ships you ingrateful bastard.¡± Sebastian said frustrated. ¡°You are the reason that we needed an intervention.¡±


    ¡°I am the reason we have found the chosen one.¡± Jonathan announced indignantly.


    Lane physically separated the two men before hostilities overflowed.


    ¡°You guys need to settle down.¡± Lane said calmly.


    ¡°You can¡¯t change the past.¡± Mike said. ¡°We can only do our part in the present to create a better future.¡±


    ¡°Consuming these eggs increases the vision?¡± Lane asked of no one in particular.


    Jonathan nodded.


    ¡°Have you tried the eggs? The devilled ones are quite wonderful if you like that sort of thing.¡± Mike suggested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that consuming rocket fuel is good for your body.¡± Sebastian admitted.


    ¡°Firstly...¡± Jonathan said before being halted by a look from Lane. ¡°It¡¯s not rocket fuel. It is made up of elements like everything else. Elements that are similar to ones that everybody eats all of the time.¡±


    ¡°Like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil?¡± Lane asked earnestly.


    ¡°I would not use that as an example, but yeah.¡± Jonathan continued. ¡°They are more closely related to radioactive isotopes. Not the bad ones, but like carbon fourteen. It is present everywhere carbon twelve is, and we all consume it every day. Everything that is alive consumes it every day.¡±


    Mike and Lane gave him a quizzical look.


    ¡°You have heard of carbon dating, right?¡± Jonathan asked.


    Both men nodded.


    ¡°All of the carbon is one of two types.¡± Jonathan continued. ¡°Carbon twelve is normal carbon. Carbon fourteen is a slightly unstable cousin to carbon twelve. It is a small sample of the carbon that is used as the building blocks of life. It is stored in carbon-based life forms as they grow and do everything that they do. It goes completely unnoticed.¡±


    ¡°Then what? How does this help with anything?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°When a carbon-based life form dies the carbon fourteen breaks down and becomes carbon twelve.¡± Jonathan continued. ¡°It does it at a reliable and consistent rate. In 5730 years after a life form stops renewing its carbon fourteen intake it loses half of its carbon fourteen isotopes. Another 5730 years after that it is reduced to a quarter. In another 5730 years it is reduced to an eighth. Etcetera. The same thing is happening to the flux molecules in the people who have been exposed to rapid space travel. The natural buildup of these molecules used in the flux fuels are reduced to base elements without them. Like the amino acids in the eggs. The eggs have a high concentration of flux molecules in them. I consume them and it rejuvenates the flux molecules in my system. It enhances their effects.¡±


    Sebastian looked at Jonathan with newfound respect.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that.¡± Sebastian exclaimed. ¡°And you used that effect to prime the pump in mister Bennett? Genius. No one knew that you were doing that. Why didn¡¯t you say something when you found out?¡±


    ¡°You guys ran me out of town several decades before I figured it out.¡± Jonathan said. ¡°I was tasked with finding the one with vision. I noticed my own perception fading so I took a chance. When I did, I was rejuvenated. When I initially drained the fuel, it was so long since my space travel that I couldn¡¯t even see the color. It wasn¡¯t until after I started consuming the eggs until I started to get it back.¡±


    ¡°I remember not seeing the shimmering the first day of the event. Not clearly anyway.¡± Mike said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t until I ate that egg that it became clear.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to find anybody with vision until we get that fuel from Mars.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°I need to speak with the aliens. How do I contact them?¡± Mike asked.

 Chapter 7 A small detour

    The speed of light is roughly one hundred eighty-six thousand miles per second. For the shipment to get to Mars in 5 days from when Mike activated the beacon it meant that the aliens must be located someplace in system, or in other words, inside the Sol system. Mike wanted to have a meeting with the aliens, but they wanted nothing to do with it. The ones that were local had been hiding for far too long to be called out of the shadows by this little kid that wanted some attention. Communication was made through a set of one-way transmissions using a communication device that sent a signal to another place and then waiting for a response. The time displacement suggested that they were on Earth someplace. Hiding. They had been around since the dawn of humankind so whatever they were doing was not going to be changed just because Mike wanted to meet up with them. The original plan had been reinstated at Mikes request.


    Sebastian and the other abductees were moved to the underground encampment in Roswell and took up a diet supplemented by flux eggs provided by Jonathan. They were all regaining the vision that they once had if they had it in the first place.


    Women who had been abducted never seemed to get the vision. Even if they were colorblind, which most of them were, they did not have the aptitude to see the colors that were manifested by flux materials like the men were. Each was granted some other form of gift, or power that seemed supernatural. A woman named Madam Vadoma Roma had the gift of communing with the dead. She creeped many of the other Roswell inhabitants who would have otherwise dismissed her ability as nonsense. Bringing her ability into the light was disturbing.


    It was obvious that each wanted to be among the first to revisit another world and refresh their ability. Mike and the space X executives were the ones tasked with picking the crew that was to go to Mars. There was room for 6. Mike had to be one of them, and he would choose Lane and Todd to go with him. The space X team was still up in the air, but Mike trusted his two picks. The plan was to meet up with the aliens on the foothills of Olympus Mons when they landed. An exchange of information would take place that would expedite the adoption of Earth in the business of interplanetary trade. No one on Earth knew what the Earth would have to offer to beings that could travel vast distances throughout the galaxy, but he went along with the plan.


    Work was completed on the Space X ship for the trip to Mars. The crew had been selected. The terraform ships had been designed and 3 of them were built minus the drive systems, fuel, and coolant that they needed to retrieve from Mars. Only the one Mars rocket ship was common knowledge. The terraform ships were hidden from the public to reduce the possibility of sabotage and maintain a semblance of proprietarily of intellectual property.


    The plan was to travel to Mars in a 6-person rocket. Then to land and assess the cargo. Work on the base camp and prep the area for the terraforming ships. Load up what was needed to power the gravity drive systems and return with them to Earth.


    Three automated habitats would be deployed prior to the manned rocket landing. All of which would be close to the cargo site on Olympus Mons.


    The dilemma was that Mars is about 140 million miles away. There is no feasible way to get there and back the same year. The trip is expected to take 160 days, and land while the orbits are aligned. The return trip would have to wait until the interception date would place the two planets close again about 2 Earth years later.


    The astronauts were loaded into the rocket and awaiting liftoff. The ship was provisioned with enough supplies to get the crew there safely, but the return trip was dependent upon each step going according to plan.


    Space X crew opted for two Americans who were excellent pilots. Both were partially color blind like Sebastian in the hopes of future gains although both were women.


    Paige Simpson was in her mid-forties. She was a combat medic in the Marines before getting drafted into the Space X crew.


    Rebecca Shumway was in her early twenties. She is a pilot, an electrical engineer, and a physicist.


    Todd Wells who ran security at the New York bank had become one of Mikes friends, and the head of security.


    Sebastian Stanley was an original abductee born in 1740 who fought in the revolutionary war for the United States of America before getting abducted in 1790. He was one of two bank managers that traded off as their coworkers aged and retired. Both had been abducted in the 18th century.


    Lane Mathers was in his early twenties. He was Mikes best friend, and coordinator of all things alien related.


    Michael Lynn Bennett was twenty-two years old. He was the one called the prophet, and the only person known to have full vision.


    ...


    Zero hour had arrived, and everything went off as planned. The rocket took off with an easterly trajectory to slingshot from the Earth toward the position where Mars would be sitting in one hundred sixty days. The engines were shut down and the solar panels deployed for the interplanetary power supply for the journey. The crew had just sent off their first broadcast from space to acknowledge that they were on course and looking good.


    Sebastian was the first to get out of the bulky space suit and start stowing it in his cargo area.


    ¡°When do you think we should tell them?¡± Lane asked as he changed clothes.


    ¡°Tell who, what?¡± Paige asked.


    Sebastian started stretching his muscles while the rest of the crew got in their street clothes put on.


    ¡°We are going to be sharing each other''s company for just under the next two years.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°There is some work to get done on Mars in about 161 days, and Mike needs to be there for that. We have a few decks of cards, but it¡¯s hard to play cards in zero G.


    Starting from about an hour ago our skeletons and bodies are starting to get weak for lack of gravity, and if you want to eat anything that we do not have you are screwed.¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    That got a laugh from most of the people in the ship, but only four of them were privy to the events that would soon be unfolding.


    ¡°Our next rendezvous will be witnessed by the entire world as we meet up with Mars and look at the cargo that has been set there.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°So, the question is whether we want to take this flight as planned or take this time to visit another planet in a system that is much further away.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Rebecca asked. ¡°In a book or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, young jedi.¡± Lane said. ¡°What our friend Sebastian is talking about is the real next rendezvous. Tomorrow night we will get a visit from real live aliens.¡±


    Rebecca and Paige looked at the men in the ship and tried to figure out what their game was.


    Mike nodded and the rest of the people who knew the real plan did the same.


    ¡°We have decided to take a different journey.¡± Lane said excitedly. ¡°We will be leaving this ship tomorrow night and come back to get some things taken care of on Mars as expected. The new question is whether you guys want to come with us or stay on this ship like you thought we were doing.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Rebecca said as she looked for the catch line.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said at first.¡± Lane said. ¡°But there are advantages to rapid travel. Maybe it¡¯s time for you to expand your horizons.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°In about 40 hours we are going to have a spaceship move up alongside this ship.¡± Mike said. ¡°Either four of us, or six of us are going to climb aboard that ship and speed off to another world around another star. The question is, do you want to come along, or wait here for our return.¡±


    ¡°Are you being serious right now?¡± Paige asked.


    Mike and the others nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m in if you are.¡± Rebecca affirmed.


    Paige was unsure whether it was possible or not. She had seen some strange things in the past year and was willing to go along with something that she thought was impossible if it proved not to be.


    ¡°I¡¯m in too then.¡± Paige said reluctantly.


    ¡°It is settled then.¡± Mike said.


    Sebastian found the stowed communication device and affixed it to the radio controls.


    ¡°Six to beam up.¡± Lane said into the microphone after activating the radio. There was no immediate response.


    ...


    Forty-one hours after Lane sent the message there was a huge ship approaching the rocket using an intercept vector. It moved into position next to the door they climbed through before starting the voyage to Mars. A universal docking boot was extended from the other ship and attached to the rocket. Everybody on the rocket ship was surprised by the size of the ship, and how easily it maneuvered next to the door. There were some muffled thudding and scraping sounds followed by a knock on the door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Mike called out, causing everybody to laugh and easing the tension slightly.


    Then the door opened and a sturdy looking bald man entered. He did not look alien other than his hands and eyes. Each of his hands had 6 fingers on them. His eyes were large, black, and shiny. He floated over to Mike and shook his hand as if he were meeting his idol for the first time.


    ¡°I am Rubin.¡± Rubin said. ¡°I have been wanting to meet you for quite a while. Are you ready for an adventure?¡±


    Rubin met the crew and shook each person''s hands in turn with Sebastian being last.


    ¡°It has been a long-time brother.¡± he said just before he engaged the mind meld handshake with Sebastian. They were frozen in that pose for a long time. Rubin had unblinking eyes while Sebastian had his closed. The onlookers saw what appeared to be power drawn through the handshake and into Sebastian filling him up and changing his color to one that made him look more alive. When the handshake was released, Sebastian inhaled a deep breath before letting out a sigh.


    ¡°Thank you for that.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°I have been so hungry for so long.¡±


    ¡°Let us get underway then, shall we?¡± Rubin said as he motioned for them to go through the doorway.


    ...


    The ship that they entered was called Special Delivery. It was huge in comparison to anything that Earth had ever sent to space, but as they would come to understand it, very tiny for a cargo ship. It was a converted scout ship. It was squat, flat black, wide, and not very aerodynamic. It was already stocked for a journey much larger than the one they would be taking.


    Only Rubin and Sebastian seemed like they were at home on the ship. They were comfortable and relaxed. The others sat in some sturdy chairs on the bridge of the ship.


    Special Delivery had an artificial gravity that was exactly one G. Rubin explained the controls to the ship followed by a guided tour of the ship and an introduction to the method that it used to move through space.


    The same artificial gravity system that made the ships inhabitants stand on the deck plating was channeled and angled by moving the flux fuel flow in the engines in a coordinated method that created an artificial gravity on the exterior of the ship that pulled the engines toward the distorted gravity zone. The engines were precise, and the fuel flow had to be measured and controlled according to mass. The onboard computers used a network of Coriolis mass flow meters and a historian to assimilate the controls of the pilot after initialization. There were no machines that could detect or sense the flux fuels for initialization. It was all done manually. Rubin explained how to get the right mix calibrated quickly even though only Rubin, Mike, and Sebastian could mix the fuel since they were the only ones that could see it for what it was. It worked as Jonathan had mentioned using the color pallet. The flow controllers to the engine controls had 3 windows with sight glasses and a prism for viewing the actual fuel. The background would be set up with the hue that was needed for the mass of the ship and its contents. Coolant would be added at a constant rate, and then fuel flow would be adjusted to make the right color in the sight glass to match the intended background. It was all quite simple except for the fact that Mike was color blind from birth and was shaky about how to mix colors to get the one you want. Sebastian was familiar with the controls but out of practice. His vision had improved since he had started eating Jonathan''s enhanced eggs, but he still was not up to full and did not trust himself with the task.


    After going through all the controls and moving a comfortable distance from the rocket that they arrived on, Rubin deftly brought the ship to one G forward thrust with the Flux Gravity drive system on the ship and it started forward smoothly. There was a moderate sensation of acceleration as the ships drive system accelerated. It only lasted a moment though, and the 1 G on the deck resumed its pull to seem like it was only downward force. Ruben explained that the coolant was compensating for the distortion, but it had a small lag. Rubin moved the controls to 2 G¡¯s, then 3. Then 4 G¡¯s. 5 G¡¯s 6 G¡¯s. He kept accelerating like that. The view on the huge monitor on the front of the ship showed them speeding up at an incredible rate, but the sensation of accelerating was only felt each time the rate of change was adjusted. When they had reached 12 G¡¯s Rubin held his course as he made some corrections to the flow, and the computer automatically duplicated the commands and predicted flow for real heavy acceleration.


    They continued at 12 G for several minutes while Rubin made some final adjustments with flow as he fine-tuned the parameters. He set up tuning parameters that worked on a principle like a PID controller. After a few setpoint changes and automated corrections he locked the program into Cascade function and pushed it to 144 G¡¯s. The sensation of thrust only lasted a few moments as the coolant compensated. They blew by the earth like it wasn¡¯t even moving as they flew toward Jiirdrian, which was the transit planet that coordinated the travel in this section of the milky way.


    ¡°How fast are we accelerating?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°One G is 9.80665 meters per second squared. We are accelerating 144 G¡¯s which is 1412 meters per second squared. The apparent speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. In just under 60 hours, we will be moving faster than the speed of light.¡± Rubin said.


    Lane usually made a comment about the metric system that somehow seemed inappropriate in this moment, so he kept it to himself. Mike and Sebastian were expecting the comment. They shared a look and a smile.

 Chapter 8 FTL travel

    There was plenty of space on Special Delivery to stretch out and get comfortable. Lane was the only one that hung out on the bridge with Rubin. There was a recreation room with weights, bars, ropes, and things hanging from the ceiling. Sebastion and Mike sat at simulators trying to mix the colors while the others made a complete investigation of the small freighter. It looked like it could hold 20 Abrahms tanks according to Paige. Three times as many if they were stacked on platforms. When they completed the survey, they all seemed to meet up in the weight room. They sat on benches and chairs that were scattered around the place and began to converse.


    ¡°What do you think about traveling faster than the speed of light?¡± Todd asked. ¡°That¡¯s impossible right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Rebecca said. ¡°I had a close encounter of the 4th kind today. I do not know what to think.¡±


    ¡°It might be time to rethink everything that we thought we knew.¡± Paige said. ¡°I know that some of this could be faked easy enough, but to what end? I must admit that I am feeling...¡±


    ¡°Different?¡± Rebecca finished.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Paige admitted. ¡°It might be some kind of aerosol drug in the air, but I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we could increase the gravitational pull of the deck plating so that we can get super strong?¡± Todd asked as he messed with the weights on a bench press machine.


    The ladies looked at him like he was missing the whole point of the conversation before moving up to the bridge to talk with Rubin.


    ¡°Was it something I said?¡± Todd asked as they left him there alone.


    ...


    The colors in the tubes seemed more vivid to Sebastion and Mike as the ship increased speed. It was getting easier and easier to adjust the mix as they hurried along.


    ¡°Do you feel that?¡± Sebastion asked. ¡°I can feel the effects of fast travel affecting me already.¡±


    Mike had been so focused on his task that he had not noticed. He relaxed his body and assessed the changes in the way he felt. He was different. He felt like he was energized and tingly. His hands felt halfway between falling asleep and rejuvenated. When he examined them, he was surprised to notice that he had little runes faintly drawn on them. They were assorted sizes and designs, but they were all the same shape. They had an outer ring that was segmented like a rune that was turned into a maze. They were drawn on his skin with the same colors as the colors of the fuel. There was a rune in each of the places that Sebastion used when he did his mind meld handshake. Mike turned to Sebastion to look at his hands and noticed the runes were scattered around his face and arms as well. He pretended not to notice, but he gave his own body a reassessment and found that there were runes all over his body. All of them had a segmented outer perimeter like a maze.


    ¡°I am going to take a break.¡± Mike announced as he stood and left the room. Sebastian followed him with his eyes but seemed content to remain behind.


    When Mike entered the bridge, he noticed that Sebastian was the only one that was not there. He also noticed that Rubin was plastered in these rune tattoos. He wondered how he had not noticed them earlier. On Rubin they were so dark that they were nearly black. The others had faint rune tattoos as well, but they were growing more prominent right before his eyes.


    ¡°Lane, I want to show you something. Have you got a minute?¡± Mike asked.


    Lane looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist and nodded his head.


    They walked through the corridor to the men''s barracks. It was built for 8 people of average height and build. They sat in some of the comfortable chairs beneath a dart board to talk.


    ¡°Um, how are you feeling bruh?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°Good. Energized. Sebastian was not kidding.¡± Lane answered.


    ¡°You are covered in runes.¡± Mike revealed.


    Lane looked at himself but saw none.


    ¡°They are faint but getting more pronounced.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they harm us.¡± Lane said. ¡°Do you think they have always been there, but we just couldn¡¯t see them?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Mike said with a disappointed look on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know who to talk to about this though.¡±


    ¡°Sebastian probably knows.¡± Lane suggested.


    ¡°I am certain that he does. Maybe I should just talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you? Are you afraid?¡± Lane asked.


    Mike nodded.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s go together then.¡± Lane offered. ¡°If he gives you any grief I will kick his ass.¡±


    Everybody was on the bridge when Mike and Lane came back. They were watching the screen, but it did not seem to have any stars whipping past like in star trek. They were all just sitting in the same place. There was a picture in picture of a star map that showed Earth, Jiirdrian, and the ship in between them but it did not seem to change. It reminded Mike of the trip that he took to Hawaii a few years back.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Are we still accelerating?¡± Mike asked as he sat down on one of the chairs.


    ¡°One hundred forty-four G¡¯s.¡± Rubin said. ¡°We will keep accelerating until we are 40% of the way there. Then we will decelerate and change course to a point that the controllers give us. They do that so we do not crash and make a big mess of space debris that would impede travel.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything. No acceleration anyway.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°I assure you that we are accelerating.¡± Rubin said.


    ¡°What is happening?¡± Mike said. ¡°How does high speed travel change people?¡±


    ¡°It unlocks the abilities that you already have.¡± Sebastian answered.


    Mike gave him a cold look. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°By moving faster than the speed of light.¡± Sebastian answered.


    ¡°I am asking Rubin. If it happens because of moving faster than the speed of light, then why has it started changing us already?¡±


    ¡°I thought it was happening because of the faster than light travel.¡± Rubin said.


    ¡°How can you travel faster than light? I thought light speed was the maximum.¡± Rebecca said.


    ¡°Einstein was mistaken.¡± Rubin explained. ¡°The theory of relativity does not take objects that are in motion into account. I like to think of the light being relative to the light source.¡±


    Mike felt like Rubin and Sebastian were dodging the question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about light speed. I don¡¯t care about Einstein.¡± Mike said. ¡°We are experiencing effects right now. What is causing them?¡±


    ¡°It must be brought on by really fast travel.¡± Rubin said. He seemed embarrassed when his idol felt that he was being deceptive.


    ¡°I think the changes started when we stepped onto this ship. Could it be the gravity plating?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°No. There isn¡¯t gravity plating on the ship. It seems easier to explain it as if there is. Science fiction has made gravity plating seem possible, but it is not.¡± Rubin said.


    ¡°Sebastian, you were abducted right?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°I was.¡±


    ¡°How long were you on the ship before you noticed any effects?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°I was in stasis. I had vision when I woke up on Jiirdrian.¡± Sebastian admitted. ¡°Rubin was the one that told me that I got it from FTL travel.¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Rubin.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always had it.¡± Rubin admitted. ¡°I was told that Earthers got it from FTL travel.¡±


    ¡°Earthers?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°People and animals from Earth.¡± Rubin clarified.


    ¡°Do you mean the cows?¡± Lane asked. ¡°I always thought that shit was made up.¡±


    ¡°No, chickens.¡± Rubin said. ¡°The cows were the US government.¡±


    ¡°You stopped by and got some chickens to take to another world?¡± Rebecca asked.


    ¡°Yes. There are chickens on nearly every inhabited world now.¡± Rubin said. ¡°Did you know that chicken eggs have every amino acid in them?¡±


    ¡°How many Earthers have made their maiden voyage to Jiirdrian while they were conscious?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°None that I am aware of.¡± Rubin answered. ¡°Until today.¡±


    ¡°Does anybody feel like they are changed in any way since they have been on this ship?¡± Mike asked.


    All of them raised their hands except Rubin.


    ¡°We are changing right now, and we are not even close to light speed.¡± Mike announced.


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°The runes.¡± Mike answered. ¡°Every one of us has runes forming on our bodies.¡±


    They all started to examine themselves, but no one saw anything. Nobody except Mike. Not only did they all have them, but they were getting more pronounced every minute. Mike got a pen and started tracing them out on his own hand, and then on Sebastion. He could not draw them well on his right hand, but he showed Sebastian where they were, and when he did his special handshake, he started to feel overwhelmed.


    ¡°We all have them.¡± Mike said. ¡°Even you Rubin.¡±


    Rubin had never seen the runes before. He had Mike trace some of them out on his skin for him and was amazed. The runes on Rubin were generally larger, and in some cases overlapping. The outer ring of each rune had several blank areas in them. When Mike finished drawing the runes on Ruben¡¯s hands and arms, he got a puzzled look. He leaned back in his chair and examined them further. They had a common theme that made Rubin start to panic. He frantically scrolled through some blueprints on the computer until he found something that looked exactly like the runes on his hands. He held them up so that he could compare the runes to the blueprints, and they were an exact match. Sebastian recognized them as the runes carved on the bank columns in the waiting area.


    ¡°What are these blueprints of?¡± Sebastian asked.


    ¡°These are the drawings of the flux gravity drives that power the ship.¡± Rubin said softly. ¡°The spaces in the outside edges are where the fuel and coolant circulate to cause the flux-grav engines to pull the ship through space.¡± Rubin pointed at the monitor. ¡°See how the fuel types do not ever mix, and how the coolant circulates throughout the engine and in this outside envelope? The other drawings show how it is assembled as a 3D design.¡±


    Rubin held his hands up to the monitor again in disbelief. ¡°Do I have any other runes on me?¡± Rubin asked cautiously.


    Mike nodded. ¡°A lot.¡± Mike admitted. ¡°And they are getting more pronounced every minute.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they aren¡¯t changing, but your perception of them is.¡± Rebecca suggested.


    ¡°So, what do we do about it?¡± Todd asked. ¡°Is there anything that we can do about it?¡±


    ¡°I do not think so.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°Why do we want to do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°Why are we going to Jiirdrian anyway?¡± Todd asked. ¡°Inter planetary trade? What do Earthers have to offer to people who have the power and ability to move faster than light? It has to be something other than chickens.¡±


    ¡°It is in our charter. Every time we introduce Earthers to FTL technology we are to take them to Jiirdrian for examination.¡± Rubin said. ¡°This is the way it has been for hundreds of years.¡±


    ¡°And this is the first time that the passengers were awake for the journey?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Rubin answered.


    ¡°And Mike is the only Earther in history to see these runes appear on people''s bodies?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Yes. The only one ever.¡± Rubin answered. ¡°My people don¡¯t even have that ability.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t go there.¡± Todd said. ¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡±


    It took only moments for everyone to agree. Rubin began decelerating the ship at full power before sending a communication to the alien hideout. He briefed headquarters about the discovery that they had made and would be heading back as fast as possible to prepare. Mike and the other astronauts were under the impression that the aliens were hiding on Earth due to the time differential for communications, but they were hiding on another planet in the system where they had a hidden base. A moment after they sent their message, they got a response saying that Jiirdrian had already been notified that they were on their way.


    ¡°We need to go there even if it is a trap.¡± Paige said. ¡°We just need to be ready for it.¡± Her inner marine had kicked in and she started thinking of options.


    ¡°There are far too many variables.¡± Todd said. ¡°There will be no way to be prepared to confront an entire planet¡±


    Rubin agreed.


    ¡°Keep thrusting toward it anyway.¡± Mike said. ¡°We need to appear to not see that it is a trap. If they know we are coming, then we need to keep coming.¡±

 Chapter 9 Earthers can鈥檛 do that.

    Special Delivery sped toward Jiirdrian at incredible speeds. The occupants assumed that an attack was imminent and scrambled for an appropriate response that would not get them all killed. The trip to Jiirdrian was expected to take 70 Earth days. They were on day one when they became aware of the trap, but they slowed until they discovered that they would be discovered if they forwent the trip causing them to lose a day of travel. If the deceleration vector were corrected, they could still make it on time and there would be a chance that they would not get discovered.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Rebecca asked. ¡°We have about fifty days to come up with a plan.¡±


    ¡°We need to figure out what everybody¡¯s gifts are, and work from that.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°Well, how do we do that?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°I can map out runes, but I don¡¯t know what they do.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°I can figure out what they do if the powers are already manifesting.¡± Sebastian offered.


    ¡°How do you do that?¡± Rebecca asked.


    Sebastian looked at this right hand as he held it up. ¡°With this.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡± Mike said as he offered his hand to Sebastian.


    They grabbed each other''s hand as before with the thumb and forefinger pressing on the first knuckle. Mike noticed how the runes in those places lined up as the grip began. He was concentrating on the runes when the grip began transmitting to Sebastian, and this time he was not drawn into Sebastians history but watched the runes interacting with each other. When the grip was completed, it emitted a faint blue light that penetrated their hands and extended through the room passing through everything. He adjusted his grip in the handshake which altered the amount of light that the 8 runes involved in the grip, four on each person¡¯s hands. He adjusted Sebastians'' grip with his other hand while he was in his trance. When he had aligned the runes completely, the light intensified into a flash that caused Mike to pass out. Sebastian came out of his trance and caught Mike as he slumped, breaking his fall.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Rebecca asked.


    ¡°That was amazing.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°I have never had such clarity. How did he make everything so clear?¡±


    Paige gathered up Mike and set him in one of the chairs while he came back to his senses. She smoothed his hair out of his face in a motherly fashion. He opened his eyes and sat up strait. He looked over to Sebastian.


    ¡°You are going to be the key to our success.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°I saw your abilities.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°Right at the end. I saw them.¡±


    ¡°What are his abilities?¡± Rebecca asked.


    ¡°He is a prophet.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t his prophecy.¡± Lane said. ¡°Jonathan put that in the box a hundred years ago.¡±


    ¡°As true as that is, he is a prophet.¡± Sebastian repeated.


    ¡°Well then, start to profess.¡± Rebecca said.


    ¡°Um.¡± Mike stammered. ¡°This is news to me. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°The original prophecy was that you would come to lead the universe to salvation.¡± Rubin said. ¡°You are the reason we are looking at Earthers in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Lane said again as he shook his head in disbelief.


    ¡°How am I supposed to profess when I don¡¯t know anything.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°Do that alignment thing with our hands as we mind meld with Sebastian.¡± Rebecca suggested. ¡°Me first.¡±


    Paige gave them a concerned look as they sat down for the exchange. Mike helped them to get the runes on their hands aligned when they began the transfer. The light was faint like the previous time, but this time it was a light purple color. It was not as intense when it was brought to full power, but Mike figured it was because the runes on Rebecca¡¯s hand were not as well pronounced as the ones that were on his hand. They shared an intense look on their faces, but Sebastion¡¯s body was more relaxed. Rebecca¡¯s eyes were moving beneath her eyelids as if she were in REM sleep. The exchange lasted for at least 5 minutes before the two of them released it. Rebecca slumped in her chair exhausted. Sebastion stood up, looked at a smaller monitor and began searching for something on the computer.


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Rebecca has an affinity for electricity.¡± Sebastian said.


    ¡°What do you mean by an affinity?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°I have never felt such a strong bond in my life.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°I need to take a break before trying that again.¡±


    ¡°I can feel it.¡± Rebecca said. ¡°I can feel the electricity inside me. I just don¡¯t know what to do with it, or how to use it.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have the prophet show you how to tap into that while Sebastian rests?¡± Lane suggested sarcastically.


    Mike examined the runes on Rebecca¡¯s hand, and then the runes on her arm followed by her other arm and hand. The ones on her hand that she used for the link were unchanged, but the color of the others had changed from before the transfer.


    ¡°Is there a part of this ship that wouldn¡¯t be affected by a discharge of electricity?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Lane asked. ¡°Like a lightning bolt?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really a prophet Lane.¡± Mike said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen. I just don¡¯t think we can afford to take any chances while we hurtle through space at incredible speeds. We have little chance of being rescued if something goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°The cargo hold can handle anything.¡± Rubin suggested. ¡°It is separate of everything important on the ship when it gets disconnected. We can go down there and sever the connections to do a test.¡±


    Everybody on the ship wanted to see Rebecca use her power so they all followed along. It only took a minute to sever the connections to the cargo container portion of the ship.


    ¡°You are a prophet.¡± Rubin said. ¡°And the prophecy states that you will return to Earth.¡±


    ¡°What does the prophecy say about the rest of us?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Our fates are tied together, but not all of us make the return voyage.¡± Rubin said.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Who dies?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°The prophecy is full of holes.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°Just like every other prophecy it has holes in it so that the end result will be open for interpretation.¡±


    ¡°Of course, is does.¡± Lane said.


    Mike had Rebecca stand like a mannequin while he moved her arms and hands in slow circles and no real pattern. Rebecca had a concerned look on her face, but she followed along attentively.


    ¡°What are you trying to accomplish?¡± Todd asked as he watched.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if I ever mentioned this before, but I am not a prophet.¡± Mike said as he swiveled her arm close to her torso until he saw a flicker of violet light emanating from the alignment of a rune on her arm and one on her torso under the sweatshirt she was wearing.


    ¡°I felt that.¡± Rebecca said as the flash happened and then disappeared equally quickly.


    ¡°Are you wearing a bra?¡± Mike said as he looked at her face.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring a bunch of bras.¡± Rebecca said. ¡°I thought I was going to be spending most of my time floating around weightlessly.¡±


    ¡°Well did you bring one?¡± Mike asked. ¡°We were also going to be doing a lot of work on Mars.¡±


    ¡°I did, but they are on the rocket ship. I wasn¡¯t expecting to take a detour on my trip to another planet.¡±


    ¡°And yet, here we are.¡± Lane said shaking his head.


    ¡°Well, this will be a lot easier if I can see the runes.¡±


    ¡°I have one you can use.¡± Paige offered. ¡°I¡¯ll go get one from the barracks.¡±


    Rebecca lifted her shirt enough for Mike to see the rune that had triggered. Her torso was firm and tone. There was a shimmer around the rune. Mike examined it closely. He could envision the energy moving through the gaps in the pattern like the fuel in the engines. When he got the rune aligned with one on her elbow, it caused a beam of violet light to shine through the air, penetrating the room''s supports and probably the walls as well. He held it there for a moment while Rebecca sensed the power and supported her arm in that pose while he looked at the beam of light. She held still while Mike gave her an assessing look from many angles before noticing another rune on the other side of her elbow. He moved her arm to get them aligned but it threw them out of alignment with the one on her torso. It took several minutes to get them all aligned simultaneously, and it wasn¡¯t until after Paige had given her a bra to wear so that she could expose the runes on her torso for Mike to see.


    He held her arm in a position that had 3 of them aligned. The light changed angles in her elbow like it was traveling through a prism.


    ¡°Everybody needs to stay out from in front of Rebecca.¡± Mike said as he flexed her wrist. He moved her fingers to point at the wall in front of them and made a final correction to the angle of her wrist. Rebecca tensed up and let out a scream that started quiet but grew louder until she had a glow that only Mike could see. Then suddenly lightning flew from her hand and struck the far wall of the cargo container with an eardrum exploding crack.


    Rubin went to the wall and gave it an assessing look. It was blackened with smoke and oxidization. The room had the odor of ozone, and a thin line of smoke rose from Rebecca¡¯s hand. She lifted it and inspected it, but it seemed unaffected.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t even hurt.¡± Rebecca said in amazement.


    ¡°Your runes are gone.¡± Mike said. ¡°Well not gone, but very faint.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not something that Earthers do.¡± Rubin said. ¡°Earthers have powers that are benign.¡±


    ¡°Except the prophet?¡± Lane asked.


    Rubin nodded.


    Mike watched as the color filled the runes in Rebecca¡¯s arms and waist.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to circle these with a marker.¡± Mike said to Rebecca. ¡°Then you can practice the alignment on your own.¡±


    ¡°Are you ready to do that again Sebastian?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°I suppose.¡± Sebastian answered. ¡°Who should I check next?¡±


    ¡°Me.¡± everyone said simultaneously.


    The routine was the same each time Mike repeated it. Each of them took off their shirts and exposed their torsos to Mike while he looked at the markings on their bodies, arms, and hands. Todd went next. Mike had him stand like a mannequin while he looked at the runes that went along with what Sebastion suggested each power was. Sebastian had limited his exposure to the effects each time as he refined his own abilities. This gave him an opportunity to do them in closer succession. The actions were more taxing on Mike than he would have expected. He did not know how many more of these he could do before recharging his batteries so to speak.


    Todd had been in security for most of his adult life and was a natural at it. That was why he was the chief of security and brought on this mission. Mike did not think he was as immune to threats as Sebastian and Jonathan told him, and he wanted all the protection he could get. When Sebastian identified that Todd had the sworn protector attribute it confused him as to what that meant. It was difficult to know what to expect for an ability that was not as strait forward as the lightning one. Mike studied the runes to see if they had any similarities. He did not see any on his torso that worked with the ones on his hands or arms, but there were some that complimented each other on his left hand, and similar ones on his right hand. He moved them together in a spiral pattern until he saw a white flash from his left hand when his thumb was pressed on the palm of his pinky finger. Todd felt the flash of power and instinctively held it there while Mike looked for a connection. There seemed to be a shimmering that led up his arm to his shoulder. Mike scootched him down so he could see his shoulder better. There was a dim sparkle like a sequin on his collar bone. Mike moved Todd¡¯s elbow away from his torso while he held his hand in the same position that started the shimmering. When his elbow was strait out it grew bright. The rune on his shoulder became vivid, and a huge shield appeared out of nowhere. It was made of light and attached to Todd¡¯s arm rather than his hand. It had a look that was like the graphics in battle zone. Lines of light that were on the outside and the rib work of a forcefield shield.


    ¡°Cool.¡± Todd said. He held perfectly still as he admired the shield on his arm.


    ¡°Try moving it around.¡± Mike said. Don¡¯t worry about your thumb position any more. The shield will stay up until you will it, it expires, or you run out of flux.¡±


    Todd moved it around. He could see through it and walk forward like a riot shield. He could shield bash with it. He could block thrown shoes with it.


    ¡°Will it to go away so you don¡¯t run out of flux.¡± Mike said. ¡°I want to try something else too.¡±


    The shield vanished and Mike looked at his right hand. He moved his thumb to the pad on his palm next to his ring finger and it did the white light shimmer thing again. This time he moved Todd¡¯s hand out straight over his head. When his elbow was completely strait an impossibly huge sword outline appeared in his right hand. He could swing it effortlessly even though it had mass. He barely had a chance to swing it a few times before it disappeared with a pop. It caused pain in Todd¡¯s hand when it did. The runes were extremely dim.


    ¡°Did you feel it draining your power?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°I did. It hurt when it was depleted.¡±


    ¡°You need to learn to recognize when it is about to be depleted then.¡± Mike advised.


    ¡°Where did those armaments come from?¡± Rubin asked.


    ¡°These runes.¡± Mike pointed.


    ¡°Earthers cannot do these things.¡± Rubin stated again.


    ¡°Who can?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Only the divine can do any of these things that you are doing.¡± Rubin said. ¡°One or two worlds that I know of. Maybe a few dozen throughout the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°How did they get the power to do that?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Nobody knows.¡± Rubin answered. ¡°They have been able to do it for tens of thousands of years. Every planet that has people who can do that are at war. Combat is the only thing that they know.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that there might be people who would like to have this power for themselves?¡± Paige asked. ¡°People who might kill to get it for themselves?¡±


    Rubin nodded.


    ¡°Then we need to be ready for a confrontation when we get to Jiirdrian.¡± Todd said. ¡°We need to know everything that we can learn before we get there and have a plan for getting away.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°The seven of us against the galaxy?¡± Sebastian asked. ¡°I hate those odds.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do one more, and then I need to rest.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°Do me.¡± Paige said.


    Lane resisted making a comment. Paige was middle aged but well preserved. She had light brown hair in an easy to care for style, and hazel eyes. She was slender and fit. Sebastian had suggested that she was empathetic and an herbalist.


    The runes on her hands didn¡¯t have anything in common with the others on her body. She had three identical runes on her left hand. They were stretched out and distorted as they wrapped around the pad of her thumb, middle finger, and pinky finger on the second pad from the tip. She assumed the position with her posture holding where Mike positioned it. When he got her hand stretched out as wide as it would go there was a blue green sheen forming between her fingers. He straightened her elbow with her arm parallel to the floor.


    ¡°Todd.¡± Mike said. ¡°Get a meter in front of her hand.¡±


    Todd had a confused look on his face, but he did as he was told.


    ¡°Paige, can you feel that?¡± Mike asked.


    Paige nodded.


    ¡°Then let her rip.¡± Mike instructed.


    She narrowed her eyes and willed the action to take place. The sheen in her hand flew forward and struck Todd in the chest. When it did, she closed her grip and put her hand to her side. The runes on her skin were diminished slightly, but the ones on Todd had been rejuvenated, and they continued to get brighter each second for 6 seconds until his energy level was completely replenished.


    ¡°Earthers can¡¯t do that¡± Rubin said again.

 Chapter 10. A sight for sore eyes.

    ¡°Please proceed to the docking port at 33¡ã23¡ä39¡åN 104¡ã31¡ä22¡åW and prepare to be boarded.¡± Came the automated voice over the communication device.


    ¡°What now?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°Proceed as planned.¡± Mike said. The nervousness in his voice was clear. He was certain that they were going to be caught.


    ¡°We are going to get caught. They are going to take you and dissect you.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°The prophet will make it back to Earth.¡± Rubin said. ¡°It is written in the stars.¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t see it written anyplace.¡± Lane said. ¡°You don¡¯t have anything to lose, but we do.¡±


    Special Delivery slowed toward the loading dock at one hundred six G¡¯s deceleration. The ship was set up to do all the work automatically and would not need anyone working at the controls. All the astronauts had a handle on their abilities. Rubin did not want to participate in the meld with Sebastian to figure out what his ability was and was wary of his old friend checking to see what they were. Mike was unsure of what his title would be, but he seemed to have a little of everything albeit not particularly good. Sebastian was an investigator of sorts. He could read people by using the runes in their hands as they had a transfer of information through a telepathic link.


    Lane¡¯s ability was mysterious. It did not seem to do anything. Mike spent weeks trying to get a reaction by aligning the runes, but nothing seemed to happen. He got a pink light reaction one time that drew energy from him, but the only effect was that it made him thin and shorter, and lightened his skin tones. The flux draw was real, so Lane practiced using it over and over until his flux drew low. He would wait for it to replenish and do it again. He was adept at turning it on and off. His control was impressive. It reminded him of a time when he took karate classes. He spent two weeks working on blocking an imaginary strike at his face, and an imaginary strike at his abdomen. The blocking maneuver became reflexive. He never got good at karate. His parents got divorced, and there was not enough money for him to keep it up.


    ...


    Jiirdrian looked like Earth with the continents all mixed up. There was the same ocean/land ratio, the air was made of all the good air stuff like on Earth. There were plants growing everywhere, there was enough water like on Earth. There were gigantic cities like on Earth. There were people in charge of ports like on Earth.


    Special Delivery docked at the appointed location and awaited the quarantine wash and the people to come escort them to the holding area while the ship was inspected. Everything went as usual according to Rubin. He had made the trip hundreds of times. He was talking to his companions as the aliens in bio suits escorted them to a holding area. The landing procedures were going as planned, and Mike and the others pretended to listen to tour guide Rubin as they eavesdropped on the bio suit crew. They looked at where he pointed and nodded as needed. They did not get any intelligence on the walk, however. They were put into a comfortable looking barracks room with showers accessible for men, and another for women. They followed the procedures as directed and emerged on the other side of the showers in a light blue faded pair of coveralls with long sleeves and pin stripes.


    ¡°An engineer at last.¡± Rebecca said. ¡°My dad would be so proud.¡±


    Todd gave her a curious look, so she indicated the pin striped coveralls that reminded her of steam engine operators for the railroad. Todd nodded.


    ¡°How long do we wait in quarantine?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Sometimes it¡¯s quick.¡± Rubin said. ¡°Twenty minutes if the tests are okay. Sometimes much longer. I have been stuck here for up to eight days before.¡±


    ¡°Why so long?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°I am not certain. It was the trip with Madam Vadoma Roma.¡± Rubin said. ¡°She creeps me out.¡±


    Sebastion glanced over at him, but he was being legitimate.


    ...


    An hour later an administrator entered the quarantine area and looked around.


    ¡°I am Stanton Diego of Jiirdrian. Welcome to our corner of the galaxy. Rubin, introduce me to your friends.¡±


    Rubin introduced each of them. He stated which continent they came from. When he introduced Sebastian, he said that he was from Romania which caught Mike off guard, but he did not let it show. He also indicated that Sebastian was a return guest.


    Stanton gave him another assessing look before he began giving them a tour of the facilities.


    ¡°It is unusual for us to receive guests that had an opportunity to enjoy the journey. How did space travel suit you?¡± Stanton asked.


    ¡°I was surprised to find that it is possible to achieve FTL speeds.¡± Rebecca said. The rest nodded.


    ¡°Rubin, we are going to hook you up with another container full of fuel. We are starting to get concerned about payment.¡± Stanton said. ¡°It has been a long time since we have seen any progress. What are your plans for finding the chosen one?¡±


    Rubin stopped in his tracks. He was not good at lying. He was suspicious that Stanton understood that the chosen one was one of his guests on this trip. He decided to go with the truth.


    ¡°I brought him with me.¡± Rubin said. ¡°He has shown me some incredible things that I never thought possible.¡±


    ¡°One of these three men then?¡± Stanton asked.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Rubin said. ¡°But you already knew that. What game are you playing?¡±


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    ¡°Oh, I am not playing games.¡± Stanton said. ¡°I am simply happy that we can finally meet the prophet.¡±


    ¡°I am not a prophet.¡± Lane said. ¡°That whole prophecy thing was a ruse that Jonathan set up.¡±


    Stanton spun around and grabbed him in his enormous hand and picked him up into the air by the neck. Lane grabbed his wrist and relieved some of the stress on his neck.


    ¡°But the prophecy?¡± Rubin said. ¡°The prophet needs to come back with us. Can¡¯t you take another instead?¡±


    ¡°If we get what we need from this one then we will take Sebastian instead.¡± Stanton said as he set Lane back down.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea.¡± Sebastian said with exuberance. ¡°I can even help you to get what you need from him if you like.¡±


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± Lane asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything.¡±


    Stanton dragged Lane through a door and gave him a hard shove. Lane went sprawling out on the floor for an orderly to get into a holding cell. Stanton resumed the tour as if nothing had happened. Mike could see the runes flare up on Paige and Todd as the administrator grew aggressive with Lane, but they stuck to the plan. They continued the tour and pretended to be cowed by the experience of being abducted like they had seen in every abduction movie ever.


    They were introduced to the mining areas where they mined, milled, and refined the ore used to make the three kinds of fuel and coolant. Sebastian asked questions about the process, and watched as they loaded the cargo container. After speaking with Rubin during the trip he noted that this would be enough fuel and coolant to power a fleet of ships throughout the galaxy for a hundred years.


    ¡°Can we get some chickens too?¡± Rubin asked. ¡°Our chickens are inert.¡±


    Stanton ordered that they get a dozen chickens on board as well.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Stanton asked.


    Rubin shook his head.


    ¡°How long until we get the prophet back?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°After we run some tests, we will see.¡± Stanton said.


    ...


    Lane was strapped to a hospital bed made of stainless steel. The straps were made of hard, inflexible leather and steel buckles that were too tight to escape from. Lane tried to remain calm, but he was on a distant planet strapped to a stainless-steel hospital bed awaiting testing that would be done by aliens. His anxiety levels rose until he decided to use his rune powers to make himself smaller, thinner, and whiter. It was not enough to loosen the straps to facilitate his escape, but it did give him some relief. And it took his mind off his situation.


    Two aliens came in and flicked on a huge light that bathed him with a hot white glow. They drew it down from the ceiling and shone it right in his eyes. They had no masks or gloves on, which made Lane expect that he wasn¡¯t going to survive the procedure.


    One of them took a syringe with a long needle off a tray Lane had not noticed. Then the alien stuck him in the soft flesh that surrounded his eye. They sunk the needle in deep, and it hurt more than Lane would have imagined. His vision in that eye began to blur and the pair of aliens started poking the needle in the flesh around his other eye. He tried to concentrate on his runes and his abilities, but the pain was incredible. He screamed in pain and the aliens started talking in a language that he could not understand. He felt a needle penetrate his neck. The neck pain paled compared to the eye pain. He hoped that the neck jab was going to force him to become unconscious. He started counting backward from one hundred while he waited for it to take effect.


    ...


    Lane awoke in a comfortable bed. He was still strapped down but at least this time he had sheets and a pillow. His eyes hurt but they felt like they were still there. He cautiously opened them. He could see. Things were blurry at first, but after blinking a few times they cleared up. The bright light must have scorched his corneas though, or maybe it was the injections. Everything that he could see was slightly out of whack. He blinked a few more times to clear it up but it did not help. The vision of his eyes was misaligned so that the view was higher in one eye than the other. He looked around rapidly to see if it would correct itself, but it did not. He gave it a few more tries before giving up. He was still groggy and hoping it would clear up by the time he got back to the ship. He did not like being strapped down like this. It made him feel helpless. When he took another look around the room, he figured out what was different. He was colorblind.


    ...


    ¡°It has been three days.¡± Todd said. ¡°When are we getting our friend back?¡±


    ¡°Today.¡± Stanton said.


    ¡°Well good.¡± Todd continued. ¡°So, you can take Sebastion with you. Have you been feeding our chickens?¡±


    ¡°We have decided against keeping Sebastian.¡± Stanton said. ¡°And we have been taking great care of the chickens.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Rubin said. ¡°When can I inspect my cargo?¡±


    ¡°Any time you are ready.¡± the administrator said. ¡°Your prophet will be released within the hour.¡±


    Rubin and Mike examined the cargo and the chickens. The chickens were in decent shape, but the fuel and coolant were counterfeit. They did not show any indication that they were aware. Instead, Rubin completed his inspection and entered the information into his log. When he was going through his preflight check, he noticed that the amount of fuel that he had for the return trip to Earth had decreased. It was enough to make the trip but would make the ship unable to leave the Sol system unless other fuel could be found. The administrator was unaware of the shipment on Mars. If they did not have any other source for fuel, then Earth would be cut off from the rest of the galaxy upon their return.


    The crew was allowed to take the coveralls with them as well as their regular suits. When Lane was finally released to them, they crowded him into a group hug.


    ¡°Mike!¡± They shouted in unison as they rushed him. ¡°Did they treat you all right buddy?¡± Todd asked as he helped him onboard the Special Delivery.


    ¡°They treated me like I expected.¡± Lane said as he boarded the ship.


    The ship was cleared for departure, and they were off. Todd was curious about the gravity plating when the ship was being affected by a planet¡¯s gravity. They held one G as they cleared the atmosphere of Jiirdrian and started back toward Earth. Rubin and Sebastian worked on the fuel mix controls to adjust for mass. It went quicker this time since Rubin had help. The flow mix color had changed due to the increase of mass and the additional strain that it would put on the engines. The variables were accounted for, and the flight computer was set up into cascade. It should not need any more adjustments to get to Earth.


    ...


    ¡°Lane, could you come look at my eyes?¡± Lane said to Mike. ¡°They don¡¯t feel right since those butchers messed with them.¡±


    Mike grabbed Paige and took her over with him to look into Lane¡¯s eyes. He was reminded of the way that Jonathan¡¯s lock scanned his eye, and he was afraid that Lane¡¯s replacement eyes might be set up to do the same thing. Paige looked into Lanes eyes with an ophthalmoscope but did not see anything that was not supposed to be there.


    ¡°Do they hurt?¡± Paige asked.


    ¡°Not like they used to, but yeah. They still hurt.¡±


    ¡°Can you look into my eyes Paige?¡± Mike said. ¡°After you get done with Mike.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± She said as she used the device on Mikes eyes one at a time. ¡°Perfectly normal.¡±


    ¡°May I see that for a second?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± she said, and she handed it off to him.


    Mike took the device into another room that had a mirror and tried to use it on himself. It was no use. Whenever he put it in between his eye and the mirror it got in the way of itself and blocked his view. He went into the medical supplies area and found a strong magnifying glass. When he looked at his eye in the mirror, he noticed that there were runes mixed in with the rods and cones on his retina. A realization dawned on him. He realized why he could see the runes. Why he could see the flux materials. He realized how he opened that lock in Jonathan''s strongbox. How the transmitter was able to send the message that enabled the prophecy to happen. He was not a chosen one. He was bioengineered.

 Chapter 11 Fate will not be denied.

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 Chapter 12. Whose side are you on anyway?

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 Chapter 13. Where is the door?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have an accounting of your own ships?¡± Sebastian asked. ¡°How could he hide a ship on Earth for half a century without anybody noticing that one was missing?¡±


    ¡°It may have been an unidentified one.¡± Rubin said. ¡°There are citizens that have them, just not very many.¡±


    ¡°Are you in orbit of Mars?¡± Sebastian asked. ¡°How can you communicate with this little lag?¡±


    ¡°I am at my home on Uranus. I can do an Earth run if you need me to.¡±


    ¡°Has there been any communications with Jonathan or anybody at Roswell?¡±


    ¡°Not through our government.¡± Rubin said. ¡°Communications with Roswell have not been established since just after we left for Jiirdrian.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please do an Earth run.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°We need to have an investigation to see what happened.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get some help then.¡± Rubin said. ¡°I will get back to you when I know more.¡±


    ...


    Mars Or Bust IV was adjusting its orbit for separation and landing when another communication came over the radio. It was Rubin. He had a tone in his voice that made it sound urgent.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to wait for you to do everything on Mars.¡± Rubin said. ¡°We will land on Mars with you and help you to assess the cargo, and then a small compliment of people will do your work there while you come to Uranus with us. The timetable has been changed.¡±


    ¡°What about the prophecy?¡± Lane asked indignantly. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°This is commander Boshard.¡± came a voice over the radio device. ¡°Jonathan has taken the Roswell personnel and disappeared. We have learned that he has had a team of conspirators on a secret base on Uranus for some time.¡±


    ¡°Well go get him and punish him or whatever.¡± Todd said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy.¡± Boshard said. ¡°He has help. He is illusive.¡±


    ¡°What did he do? Just kidnap some people who wanted to go into space anyway?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°He thinks that he is the prophet, or at least that he is A prophet.¡± Rubin said. ¡°He has taken some technology and used it in at least one location hidden on the surface of Uranus.¡±


    ¡°To do what?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°To make clones, or at the very least, to clone something.¡± Commander Boshard said.


    ¡°Me?¡± Mike asked. ¡°Is he cloning me? How many clones could he have made of me by now?¡±


    ¡°He is cloning your eyes.¡± Rubin said. ¡°He has had enough time to make at least a few dozen copies of them. And if he has facilities enough, He could have hundreds.¡±


    ¡°And then replaced his with mine.¡± Mike said. ¡°Now he can do what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit.¡± Lane said. ¡°Can¡¯t you just scan the surface and find him that way?¡±


    ¡°You have been watching too much television.¡± Rubin said. ¡°We need to find him the old-fashioned way. And Uranus is big.¡±


    The seriousness of the situation did little to stifle the young men from giggling.


    ¡°How can we help?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°We will come and get you from Mars once you land and get in the habitats and inspect your cargo.¡± Boshard said.


    ¡°Why do I need to inspect the cargo if you guys sent it to me?¡± Mike asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you know what¡¯s in it?¡±


    ¡°We suspect that we know, but we didn¡¯t send it.¡± Boshard said.


    ¡°I thought that you guys sent it from Uranus or something.¡± Mike said. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you said Rubin?¡±


    ¡°I said that.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t say that they sent it from Uranus.¡±


    ¡°Where did it come from then?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°That shipment has been in orbit for tens of thousands of years waiting for the return of the prophet.¡± Rubin said. ¡°When you keyed the runes it automated the shipment, and it came in and landed.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just look at it while it was in orbit then?¡± Sebastian asked.


    ¡°We did.¡± Boshard admitted. ¡°And so did the factions that have broken off from our government.¡±


    ¡°Like the ones that are working with Jonathan?¡± Lane asked. ¡°The same guy who cloned Mikes eyes and thought that he was the prophet?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that he thinks that he is the prophet, but I do think that he intends to fulfill the prophecy with your eyes.¡± Boshard said.


    ¡°That dirty bastard.¡± Lane said. ¡°He has to be stopped.¡±


    ¡°I want a look at the prophecy.¡± Mike said. ¡°Get me a copy of the prophecy when we land on Mars.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t just...¡±


    ¡°BRING IT TO ME!!!¡± Mike shouted before regaining some composure. ¡°I need to see what he is planning. He has had access to this information for an exceedingly long time. We need to be playing with the same set of rules.¡±


    ...


    Mars or Bust IV landed on the surface without incident. They landed just as the sun had risen in the east to maximize exposure to the natural light of the sun and increase the time that they could work before enveloped in darkness. The crew broke up into groups as planned and checked out the equipment that landed before their arrival. Rubin and the other aliens didn¡¯t want to be on the surface of Mars at the same time as they could be witnessed from Earth.


    Gamers may not have designed the space suits that they wore, but they definitely had some influence on the design and function of the suit and the communications that the suits used. They were comfortable albeit bulky and heavy, but neither of those attributes made much difference on the low G surface of Mars. The rigid design of the torso section that housed the life support system also used electric actuators to assist if the occupant needed to do some very heavy lifting. The communications hub was able to be toggled with voice commands to determine who would hear what the occupant was saying from inside the suit. The coolest function was that in ¡°Proximity Mode¡± it would communicate to transponders of the other suits in accordance to how loud the operator was speaking. If they were talking normally it would communicate with people within a varying distance from the suit according to the parameters of the occupant. This gave the operator a quick method of communicating with their immediate surrounding suits, as well as quick long-range communications with everybody on the planet when they would raise their voice. It was easy to understand, and worked on the same principles that people already use to communicate. It also had a heads-up display reflected on the front visor that would map out the area with a zoom function, and display color coded dots that indicated the position of the other suits.


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    All the landers were stationed near a slope on the west foothills of Olympus Mons. It was a short walk from Mars or Bust IV to the nearest of them. The early morning light on the mountain''s west side left the crew in the shadow of the mountain for a long time. The thin atmosphere didn¡¯t reflect and refract light like Earth which gave it an ominous darkness to the morning that was compounded by the longer distance from the sun. Mars days were just slightly longer than one on Earth. About 39.5 minutes different. Huston was told they were to cater to Mars time for the crew''s duration. There were plenty of satellites on earth to relay radio, but they were limited by line of sight on Mars¡¯ end.


    Lane and Sebastian accompanied Mike to the first of the containers. Lane said he was always assuming they were the size of cargo containers on Earth, but they were all surprised by their enormous size as they approached.


    The first container that they came upon was the smallest one. It was round and domed like a pressure vessel. It was just shy of 100 meters across. It appeared to have struck the bedrock hard judging from the ejecta that it produced. They separated and walked in different directions around the base to see if they could find the door but found none.


    They found a portion of the container that was partially covered with rubble and rock that gave access to the gentle slope of the top of the container. The men clambered up and started walking across the sloped surface. Sebastian moved toward the top of the dome while the other men started in each direction in a helical search pattern for any indication of a door or access point. They avoided loose materials around the edges so that they wouldn¡¯t lose footing and slide off the edge. Sebastian reached the top but was out of view of the others due to the shape of the dome.


    ¡°There is a reinforced port hole up here.¡± he said. ¡°I am going to look in it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the access that will get us in.¡± Lane said. ¡°Should we continue examining the exterior in our search pattern?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Mike said. ¡°I am as anxious as anybody to look inside this thing, but let''s complete the survey of the outside first.¡±


    Sebastian looked inside the port hole and saw some discs laid out like pancakes of increasing size. They were about 4 inches diameter on the top and about 2 feet at the bottom. There were 7 total discs stacked this way. There were twelve thin rectangular rods that seemed to be used as supports for the stack connected to all the discs. Sebastian saw some shimmering flux colors that must be a list of instructions on the bottom 3 discs but nothing on the other 4. He noticed that there were some indications of scoring and abrasive grinding on the metal surrounding the port hole, but none on the transparent, glass type materials, that made up the window. He examined the window further and noticed that it was neither protruding nor recessed. When he ran his gloved hand over the surface, he did not feel any blemishes of any kind even where the scoring had taken place. He looked at the HUD on his helmet and saw that the other 2 men were nearly complete in their survey of the surface of the dome.


    ¡°It¡¯s a flying saucer.¡± Lane said as he reached the top. ¡°It¡¯s a flying saucer.¡± he repeated loudly to communicate what they had found to the others.


    ¡°Holy shit it is.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°How could I have not noticed that before?¡±


    ¡°The others are more than half buried in ejecta from crashing into the surface.¡± Lane said loudly again. ¡°This one must have struck last.¡±


    They took a minute to get a better look at the 4 cargo containers while the scuttlebutt over the radio became an overlapping jumble of voices. They would have to sort out the information that they were going to send to Huston.


    ¡°There are a lot of indications that someone or something has been trying to get access to this saucer.¡± Sebastian said. ¡°Probably for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Jonathan knew about this ship.¡± Mike said. ¡°And he has had access to it for 161 days while we took our detour.¡±


    ¡°Well, he didn¡¯t get in.¡± Lane said. ¡°If he did then it wouldn¡¯t be here.¡±


    Mike was reminiscent of opening the armored chest in Jonathan''s contest. The image that his DNA had created on his retina was a rune that the lock on the device recognized and unlocked it. Mike had a strange feeling that this port hole device was going to scan his eye in the same way and open. When he peered into the port hole, he could see the phased writing on the discs. Unlike Sebastian he could see writings on all 7 of the discs. He moved his position around the window as he read the text. When the angle of his iris was aligned with the runes of the discs it caused light to emanate from the outline of a door that opened automatically to admit the 3 men to enter the ship. When it was fully opened Mike, and the others went inside.


    ¡°We are in.¡± Lane said as Mike entered and Sebastian followed. When Lane looked over to the others preparing the habitats, he noticed that none of them were working inside. Instead, they were all headed to the small saucer.


    ...


    All 6 astronauts were roaming the inside of the small ship searching for any indication of where it was controlled from. It was a shiny metal that may have been stainless steel except even harder material than that would be. There were no seams or expansion joints like Lane would have thought it would need to have if it were to be used in varying environments and temperatures. There were living compartments spaced evenly around the outer edges of the craft next to the engines. There were 12 of them spaced around the perimeter of the craft at the widest portion of the ship when viewed from the side. There did not seem to be a front or back. The bridge of the ship was inside the center mass of the craft with 4 doorways for egress. The controls were similar to those of the Special Delivery that they took to Jiirdrian except there were more of them. There were pilot stations strewn about around the perimeter of the bridge. There was a curious number of them as if it would be necessary to have many people to operate the ship. Everything that was not done with a single set of controls was grouped into 2, 3, 4, 6, or 12.


    ¡°Have you guys noticed that everything is set up in numbers that factor into 12?¡± Paige asked through the intercom.


    ¡°There are 12 engines on this craft.¡± Sebastian noted.


    ¡°Rubin has twelve fingers.¡± Mike observed. ¡°Maybe they don¡¯t use the decimal system because they have twelve fingers. Or maybe it is set up like a clock.¡±


    Mike sat at one of the control stations on the bridge. A console lit up in front of him and the saucer started emitting a hum. Text came over the console that he sat at and asked if he would like to power up.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Mike said to no one. But nothing happened. It was then that he noticed a small lens at each consol. He put his eye closer to the lens and the ship began to power up. The first thing that happened was the ship suddenly had gravity that was 1 G. The occupants were suddenly burdened by the heavy suits that were not too heavy on the surface of Mars, but much heavier at 1 G.


    Monitors that were hidden lit up and became visible. Air recirculation systems started. Temperature and humidity controls began to circulate the air and adjust values to match Earth specifications albeit slightly more oxygen and carbon dioxide to nitrogen ratios. Star maps lit up the inside of the bridge like a heads-up display.


    Mike asked to see the cargo, and a green powder appeared on several HUD displays. They looked like the same cargo as viewed from different angles.


    ¡°Show me the drawings of the ship.¡± Mike said, and it was instantly displayed for him. The shiny metallic surface would alter itself to provide whatever he asked for.


    ¡°Show me the path to the cargo hold.¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Access denied.¡± Came a female voice from nowhere and everywhere as the text that read Access Denied appeared on the viewscreens.


    ¡°Show me a path to the cargo hold.¡± Mike asked, and the graphic changed, and the path was drawn out in bold lines on the viewer.


    Todd gave him a crusty look.


    ¡®Grant access to everyone onboard.¡± Mike said.


    ¡°Please provide retinal scans.¡± the computer said.


    Everyone complied.

 Chapter 14 Igneous Rock

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 Chapter 15 Power to them asses.

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 Chapter 16 Earthers cannot do that.

    Within the first year of Flux-Grav power production, Mike and the engineers had the design altered so that it was lying on its side, and buried deep beneath the surface to protect it from those who might want to disrupt this clean power supply. Recruits trained quickly, and the number of power plants was on track to increase exponentially, expanding from first world countries into second, and eventually all the third world countries. The biggest limitations included getting materials to produce the Flux-Grav engines, and the fuel and coolant to make them run. The engines were manufactured using precise contours in tolerances that took a great deal of time to perfect. They had tapped into the supply of fuel and coolant delivered to Mars, but did not really make a dent in it. It was a limited resource though, so care needed to be taken to assure a constant supply of power to the people on the three worlds, Earth, Uranus, and Mars.


    Mars was using three of the Flux-Grav drives for a combination of producing power and ejecting mined materials like overburden from the equator of Mars.


    ¡­


    ¡°There is an intense gravity well in the big red eye.¡± Mike said as the smallest of the four saucer shaped ships scanned the surface of Jupiter as it sailed past.


    Mike had named the small ship Pluto after the small object formerly known as a planet. He had created a simulator chair like he always wanted as a gamer, and plugged in an interface with the ship that had every safety protocol of which he could think. It was comprised of the same alloy as the saucer ships, and it could morph into any position on his demand. He had configured it to detect gravity wells like the ones created with Flux-Grav drives, but it would track any that came within sensor range.


    Todd began to intensify the scans in the area as Rebecca reversed the pull from the engines to slow the ship and adjust to a synchronous orbit.


    ¡°Slowing for sync.¡± Rebecca responded calmly and automatically as she worked the controls.


    ¡°Lane, get up here.¡± Todd said into the automatic communication system.


    ¡°On my way.¡± Lane responded.


    Mike zoomed in on the gravity well and put the computer in auto scan mode where it would analyze anomalous readings from the instruments.


    ¡°That¡¯s been there for centuries.¡± Lane offered as he plopped himself in one of the seats that automatically appeared in the intuitive ship bridge.


    ¡°It¡¯s artificial.¡± Mike observed as he zoomed in, and the computer put a grid type of lattice overlay on the big red spot.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to loop around.¡± Rebecca stated as she altered the trajectory of the ship from reverse to a hard turn. She quickly projected the new path before continuing. ¡°And orbit twice. We have too much steam to stick the landing in one pass.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t planning to land, are we?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a figure of speech Einstein.¡± Rebecca said.


    ¡°We could.¡± Mike said. ¡°But I fear doing that without having Rubin here. Let¡¯s just see what we find but put in a call to Rubin. See if him and the minions can join us.¡±


    Rebecca put some heavy G force on the engines pulling the smallest of saucers low enough into the atmosphere of Jupiter that it obscured their vision. Her piloting skills had risen since their first trip to Mars. Everyone in the program was sporting a Mike clone eye except Mike, and any aliens. They were shooting through the high atmosphere of Jupiter when they got the communication from Rubin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go there.¡± Rubin said over subspace.


    ¡°We are there.¡± Rebecca said in response.


    ¡°Abort.¡± Rubin requested urgently.


    ¡°Why?¡± Mike and Rebecca said simultaneously.


    It took several long moments before his response came back.


    ¡°Meet me at the pad on Jordan¡¯s Spire.¡± Rubin suggested. ¡°You can pick us up there.¡±


    Rebecca was adjusting their course adeptly as Mike responded. ¡°BRT.¡±


    She used the gravitational pull of the planet to sling them toward Uranus. The effect of the gravitational pull did little to affect the occupants of the ship, but it sped further beneath the cloud cap momentarily as it accelerated.


    ¡­


    Jordan¡¯s Spire had three large antennae set one hundred twenty degrees apart on the perimeter of the city. It was climate controlled and covered with a forcefield that kept the atmosphere of Uranus from coming in and killing all the inhabitants. The city had been given its name when it had initially had only one antenna used to communicate with subspace. Having three of the antennae could be used like an array when boosted with the Flux-Grav fields that made the communications nearly instantaneous across the cosmos. The dense particles from the frozen surface were suspended by the intense winds that perpetually blew them around. This was a trait that all the gas giants shared. Knowing what caused it did not diminish the experience of seeing the clouds from underneath the huge domes. Pluto picked up the three new passengers before making its way through the portal through the force field.


    ¡­


    ¡°There is a gigantic city there.¡± Rubin said.


    ¡°City where?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°The spot?¡± Rebecca asked.


    Rubin and the minions nodded.


    ¡°How gigantic?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°About ten thousand miles.¡± Rubin said.


    Lane gulped and turned to face Rubin.


    ¡°Ten thousand square miles?¡± Lane asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s bigger than Maryland.¡± Todd said. Rubin and the minions shook their heads.


    ¡°Sure, it is.¡± Todd repeated.


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    ¡°Across.¡± Rubin said. ¡°The area is Eighty million square miles.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Lane said.


    ¡°And we can¡¯t fly straight there.¡± One of the minions said. ¡°We need to sneak in and out so that no one can see us enter or leave. Above the clouds.¡±


    Everyone stared at the minion. Mike had thought that both were mute until this moment.


    Rebecca moved from her console and motioned for the minion to pilot the ship. He took control and put them in a slow, wide orbit to keep Earth and Mars out of view as they approached the large planet.


    ¡°Will we be able to withstand the atmosphere and gravity?¡± Todd asked.


    ¡°Easily.¡± Rubin said. ¡°This ship could enter the atmosphere of the sun if it needed to.¡±


    ¡°Baby steps to the bus Bob.¡± Rachael said half-jokingly.


    The elongated approach seemed to take forever. Lane went back down below deck to work on his camouflage and disguise abilities. Mike had attuned the alloy surface of the training room to light up when more than two runes were aligned. It gave him a boost in training and focus. The invisible lines of force that were generated in his face were usually at angles that made them invisible to him as he trained so he had several parabolic mirrors that would give him a wider perspective. Lane had discovered that he could go invisible, or at least camouflage himself like the predator in the predator movies. He could also change his appearance to look like someone of similar height or smaller.


    ¡­


    ¡°Pluto is approaching Phydeaux.¡± Rubin said over subspace when they had entered the atmosphere at the northern pole of Jupiter.


    ¡°Fido?¡± Rebecca asked.


    The minions nodded, but Rubin answered. ¡°It is Phydeaux.¡± He spoke. ¡°It means faithful.¡±


    Mike started to laugh. ¡°Because it¡¯s a spot?¡±


    It was hours until the ship had navigated the cloud to the great spot. The atmosphere was thick. Impossibly thick. And full of flying rocks, dirt, and dust. They skimmed the surface near the north entrance to the city. There was a gigantic airlock to fly through followed by another and another. The passengers could feel the slight changes in the gravitational pull as the ships Flux-Grav generators compensated for the changes in gravity and pressure. They waited in the void for several minutes as the air cleared and then another air lock opened in front of them, and then another, and another. There were five doors in all before they gained passage to the city. It had compartments that were separated by force fields. It was continually nighttime under the dense clouds, but the city was illuminated from every angle it seemed. When they continued forward to the inspection pad, they could see several huge guns trained on them.


    Huge dark pipes crisscrossed across the landscape. It gave the appearance of the screen saver that was popular with Windows 98 other than the color of all the pipes were black. Steam bellowed from several areas, and there were several flare towers burning off some waste gases. Lane wondered why they didn¡¯t exhaust the exhaust out into the environment.


    ¡°The solution to pollution is dilution.¡± He heard himself say. Nobody seemed to notice.


    When they were coming through the entryway there were many bright lights focused on them.


    Mike asked for an escort, and a moment later they had a small warship escorting them to their landing area. Rebecca put the guidance system in auto follow and they just sat back and tried to relax.


    The ship eventually set down on a pad after they went through several more air locks.


    The inside of the big city was gigantic. There were skyscrapers, lodgings, restaurants, industry, and everything that you might expect.


    ¡°This is the biggest city in the system.¡± Tour guide Frita told them.


    She was a stunning dark haired alien woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She was tall and slender. She wore a tight white miniskirt that accentuated her thin tone waist. She had a red sweater on top that clung to her upper torso that matched her heels and clutch. She finished her look with a white flower in her short glossy hair. Only her twelve long slender fingers set her apart from any other human woman.


    ¡°Why is this place such a secret?¡± Todd asked.


    Frita stopped and turned to look at him. She scrutinized him. One of her eyes glinted and Todd blinked.


    ¡°Fuel.¡± Frita said flatly. ¡°All the giants have it, but Jupiter has more than anyplace in the system.¡±


    ¡°Like the fuel for the spaceships and stuff?¡± Lane asked.


    Frita nodded. ¡°And coolant, but that is rare, deep, and hard to identify.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Rebecca asked.


    Frita did not know what to think of these stupid questions.


    ¡°No one can see it.¡± The minion that spoke earlier said.


    Lane about let a cat out of the bag, but he got kicked in the ancle just before he said it. Rubin was also in on the secret, but he was a stone.


    ¡°How is the coolant supply?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°Frighteningly low.¡± Frita said. ¡°We aren¡¯t going to be able to produce many more Flux-Grav engines if we don¡¯t replenish our supply.¡±


    ¡°Can we see it?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°Probably not.¡± Frita said. ¡°Why do you want to?¡±


    ¡°I have some that I could give you.¡± Mike said.


    A speeder was approaching fast as Frita spoke next.


    ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Frita asked. ¡°It may be the most valuable commodity in the galaxy.¡±


    The speeder stopped near them and the Lambo type doors opened and four alien women got out. These ones were well dressed but large. Their facial features were delicate as well as their wrists and fingers, but they looked to have adequate strength to knock the crap out of any of the visitors.


    ¡°Is the coolant on your ship?¡± the one who was sitting in the front passenger seat asked.


    The mega metropolis grew suddenly silent as they awaited a response.


    ¡°This is Michael Bennett.¡± Rubin said as he indicated Mike.


    The posture of the security women changed from tense to really tense. They exchanged glances with the visitors. Lane disappeared as if he had teleported away. Todd was instantly covered in a grid of force field line patterns, and Rabecca tapped her fingers a couple of times followed by holding a softball sized lightning ball in each hand that crackled and popped.


    ¡°I¡¯m the prophet.¡± Mike said as he stood there unmoving.


    ¡°It¡¯s in the ship.¡± Frita said.


    The leader of the security detail moved toward the ship accompanied by the largest of the other security guards.


    ¡°If you touch that ship, I will make it inaccessible to you.¡± Mike said as he turned to watch them approach his ship.


    They kept approaching as if they had not heard what he said. Todd moved to intercept them and conjured his sword and shield as he approached. He blocked them but they moved to go around. As they moved past him, he shield bashed one of them down, and the other went flying backward and fell on the pavement. Lane had only appeared for a moment as the bolt of force hit the unsuspecting victim.


    ¡°Should I light them up?¡± Rebecca asked calmly.


    Frita turned to look at Mike again. Maybe she was awaiting the answer as well.


    ¡°I was going to give you that coolant.¡± Mike said. ¡°Now I don¡¯t know whether to make you pay for it, or make you pay for it.¡±


    The two guards regained their footing and looked to Frita for an indication of what they should do.


    ¡°Do you think that you could fight your way out of this city?¡± Frita asked.


    ¡°Do you want me to try?¡± Mike asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to get back on my ship. Have you read the prophecy?¡±


    ¡°I have.¡± Frita said. ¡°And I don¡¯t care if you are a prophet.¡±


    ¡°THE prophet.¡± Rubin said. ¡°Are you familiar with the prophecy, or do you require a miracle?¡±


    ¡°A miracle?¡± Frita asked. The two guards near her looked wary of Mike but did not move from where they were rooted.


    Mike bowed his head slightly and narrowed his eyes at the two aliens near his ship. When they saw him, they went rigid and fell to the cobbles. They bent backward and clenched their teeth and tightened their grips like they were suddenly overcome with lockjaws.


    Mike then turned his gaze to the two that were close to him. He went through the same motions, and the other two women suffered the same fate as the first. One of them hit hard on her face and there was blood leaking from her mouth where her lip had been busted on a cobble. Mike moved to her and rolled her onto her side where she could be more comfortable. Their breathing had become labored as if they had to concentrate to breathe. When she was rolled to her side it exposed her teeth. Several were developing cracks from the extreme pressure from her jaw muscles.


    ¡°Make them comfortable if you can.¡± Mike instructed his crew, and he turned to Frita.


    Lane popped back into existence and rolled one of the women over as Todd got the other.


    Rebecca unloaded her lightning on the dome and helped the other woman to lay on her side. She was in bad shape too. The ones close to Mike got the worst of it, and the ones far away didn¡¯t get it so bad.


    Several speeders approached. Rubin and the minions hurried to the ship and waited for Mike to open the door. Everyone was waiting for Mike, but he was not in a hurry. He opened the door when he arrived, and they clamored on board and the door closed behind them.


    The aliens that had been incapacitated were starting to loosen up as help arrived.


    ¡°Earthers cannot do that.¡± Frita said.