Button in the Fabric of Time (6 page)

“We thought we were running out of space,” I
replied.

“In your time, less than ten percent of the
earth’s surface was populated. Oceans cover approximately
seventy-five percent. Polar Regions were uninhabited because they
were too cold. Deserts were uninhabited because of lack of water.
The coastal areas in temperate zones were populated, but the
central parts of most continents were only sparsely inhabited. You
didn’t lack space—you lacked imagination,” Roc-2 smiled. “Please
forgive me if I seem critical.”

“It does sound a bit harsh when stated
flatly, but everything you said is true.” Turning to Jan-3, I
asked, “How long did it take those of my time to realize our
mistakes?”

“You didn’t realize your mistakes, or if you
did, you didn’t act on your knowledge and, because of that, you
almost destroyed the planet. After the Great War, the world went
into a second Dark Ages, and it took 700 years to clean up the
radioactive mess. Our records show that before the Great War, even
in the more developed countries, of which yours was one, the
inequities were enormous. Ninety-seven percent of your nation’s
wealth was in the hands of less than one percent of your people.
And that one percent consisted of greedy men with insatiable
appetites for wealth and power. Fifteen percent of your people
lived below what was called the poverty level. That means they
didn’t have even the basic necessities. Billions lived in homes
without running water. They couldn’t even take showers or flush
their toilets. Billions in the under-developed countries couldn’t
even afford adequate health care, and millions died of disease or
starvation. The diseases could have been treated and food was
plentiful. Your problems were greed and religious fanaticism.”

“Looking at our problems with the benefit of
hindsight, what did we do wrong?”

“It seems to me,” Jan-3 said, “that the
people of the twenty-first century were violating the basic rules
of proper human conduct. Their leaders were men of wealth,
motivated by greed, and they used the military to gain more and
more wealth until they owned and controlled everything. Then they
placed people under what we would consider economic slavery.”

“Do your history books tell you how the
people overcame that problem?”

“They overcame the problem the same way
people have always overcome problems. When a few own everything,
and put everyone else in a position of servitude, the people rebel.
The ones who had nothing stripped the economic dominance from those
who had everything. It was terrible, and it created the chaos that
almost destroyed the planet. Radioactivity from atomic fallout made
much of the earth uninhabitable.

“A few reasoning men from many countries who
had always in the past tried to ignore the greed of the tyrannical
leaders and the ravages of the religious madmen, realized that if
humans, as a species, were going to survive, some drastic changes
had to be made. People saw no way to regain control of their lives,
so they turned to God.”

“Was that a solution?”

“It probably would have been helpful if
everyone had worshiped the same God, but they didn’t—they worshiped
different Gods.”

“I can see how that might have been
troublesome.”

Jan-3 nodded and continued, “After
capitalistic theocracy failed, and those who tried to gain control
failed, religious fanatics took over, and that brought about what
seemed to be an endless war. People had to do something, so they
passed a law making it a crime to state anything as a fact that
could not be proven. That law prevented religious leaders from
making claims that they could not substantiate. For instance, they
couldn’t promise people that they would go to heaven, unless the
ones promising could prove that heaven existed. As an example, when
the people asked the religious leaders about the location of
heaven, the leaders pointed up. It was explained to these leaders
that
up
is a very ambiguous place when you are standing on a
planet that is round, and the planet is turning at a thousand
kilometers per hour, while hurdling through space at more than a
million kilometers per hour. Pointing up, is pointing everywhere,
or it is pointing nowhere.”

“Did that do away with faith in God?”

“No, it didn’t do away with faith; it
improved it. People didn’t abandon their belief in God, but it did
prevent religious leaders from coercing others to believe as they
believed. Most people still believe in God.”

“Have those who believe found evidence to
prove that God exists?”

“No, of course not,” Roc-2 replied, “but the
fact that they cannot prove that God exists does not prove that God
does
not
exist. Our men of science have confirmed that the
universe is comprised of energy, but they don’t know where the
energy comes from. Those who study theology have concluded that
there will always be people looking for the source of that energy,
and we hope they’ll find it. We believe that paradise can be
established and maintained right here on earth.”

“My Geiger counter shows only minimal atomic
radiation. How did you get rid of the deadly radiation caused by
the atomic bombs?”

“Men of science worked franticly and, in
time, produced a material that absorbed radiation like a sponge
absorbs water. Slowly, over time, all harmful radiation was
absorbed and contained.”

“How did you dispose of the containers of
radiation?”

“We used rockets and propelled the
radioactive material into the sun. The sun used the material to
produce more solar energy. Comparatively, the amount was so small
that it didn’t even make enough difference to be recorded.”

* * * * *

Chapter 9

I sat quietly, trying to allow my mind to
consume all of the information. We were rapidly approaching the
first city when Roc-2 asked, “Would you like to go around the city
and see what it looks like from the outside, or would you rather go
through it?”

“Let’s go through it,” I replied.

Our keri entered a large open passageway. The
city was laid out grid fashion, and keri
s
moved through the
passageways, both vertically and horizontally. Shops, restaurants,
and places of entertainment lined this section of the city. I saw
no vehicles on the surface, and there were no streets or sidewalks.
Wide pathways decorated with plants and fountains meandered through
the city. People wandered the pathways, smiling and talking. Many
carried packages and looked as though they were shopping. Some
hurried, some strolled, but none looked tired or haggard. A few
children accompanied them, but there were no old people. The adults
all appeared to be in their mid-twenties. Women dressed in soft,
flowing garments of every color. Some dressed provocatively, others
conservatively. Men wore clothes less flowing but equally colorful
garments. It was obvious that they wore clothing as adornments.
They didn’t need to wear anything for comfort; the temperature was
perfect.

“How do you maintain a comfortable
environment, with so many people in an enclosed area?” I asked.

“All surfaces are cleaned daily,” Roc-2 said,
“and the air is continually circulating through purifying chambers
where humidity and temperature are carefully controlled.”

“Oxygen levels are constantly monitored,”
Jan-3 added.

Children were running and playing with no
apparent concern about getting lost.

“How do the mothers keep track of their
children in such crowds?” I asked.

Jan-3 smiled. “Each child wears a miniature
transmitter that emits a silent signal. The mothers carry receivers
that enable them to see and hear their children at all times.”

“Aren’t they worried that harm will come to
them?”

“Everyone watches out for children; no one
would harm a child,” Jan-3 continued. “After our security people
have cleared you, I’ll take you on a tour and show you how our
cities work.”

“I’ll look forward to that.” I was quietly
evaluating what I saw. The city was clean and gleamed with glorious
colors. The people appeared to be healthy and happy; it seemed to
be a paradise in every way.
This is too good to be true. There’s
a fly in the ointment somewhere
. I could see that we were
approaching the other side of the city, and I was getting
hungry.

“Could we stop at a restaurant?” I asked
Roc-2.

“There are many restaurants,” Roc 2 replied,
“but you’ll have to go through the purification chambers before we
can allow you to mingle with the people. Your body and clothing
contain harmful microbes and viruses. Jan-3 and I will have to go
through the chamber also, since we’ve been in close contact with
you. The cleansing process isn’t unpleasant, and it doesn’t take
long. You’ll benefit because the cleansing will eliminate all of
the things that are preventing your body from replenishing itself
perfectly, and that will allow you to live long into the
future.”

“Will I feel differently?”

“At first, the only thing you’ll notice is
that you’ll feel invigorated, but after your body has rejuvenated
each cell, you’ll have more strength and stamina than you would
have believed possible,” Roc-2 pointed out. “The rest of our
journey is over the open ocean, and since Jan-3 is going to show
you the things you want to see, I recommend that we complete our
journey at maximum speed.”

“I would like to experience maximum speed as
well,” I grinned.

* * *

After leaving the city, we ascended rapidly
and traveled over the ocean at an incredible speed. Floating cities
glowed like jewels on blue velvet. I could tell by the cloud
formations that we were entering the earth’s tropical region.

In the distance, I saw a city much larger
that the rest.

“Is that Alpha-1?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s our capital city. It’s the
largest city on earth, and its home to more than a billion people.
Everything that the city needs we take from the air, the ocean, and
the earth beneath the ocean. It would take many years to see all
the wonders of the city.” Roc-2 moved a lever and the compartment
began a rapid decent.

I wondered about my status. They were
treating me like a guest, but I wasn’t sure that, in reality, I
wasn’t a hostage. I took a good look at Roc-2, wanting to know what
I would face, if a disagreement arose. He was about six foot one; I
guessed his weight to be about 180 pounds. His facial features were
sharp and clean cut, his eyes were deep blue. He had the look of a
man with exceptional intelligence. His hair was nearly black and
shined without any apparent hair dressing. Everything about him was
masculine. He appeared to be about twenty five, but there was
something about the set of his jaw and his unblinking eyes, that
told me that he was much older. I was bigger and more muscular, but
Roc-2 was lean and sinewy. His movements were quick and graceful.
Should a physical confrontation occur, he would be a worthy
opponent.

We approached Alpha-1 and proceeded to a
glass chamber near the center of the top floor. In seconds, we
stopped in the chamber. The door of our keri opened and we stepped
out.

“This is as far as we can go until we are
purified,” Roc-2 stated. “We’ll have to leave our clothing and
everything we have with us in this chamber. We’ll lie on that
moving conveyor, and it will move us through the purifying tunnel.
By the time we reach the next chamber, the machines will have
decontaminated our bodies in every way. In the next chamber, we’ll
be provided with everything we need.”

I was concerned about losing the time travel
button so I asked, “What happens to the things we leave here?”

“They won’t be harmed. They’ll be cleaned and
decontaminated in another way, and returned to us in the next
chamber.”

Patting the leather pouch that held the
button, I said with finality, “I can’t leave this behind.”

“If you take it with you, it may be
irreparably damaged,” Roc-2 explained. “If you have in that pouch
what I think you have, then the lives of a hundred billion people
may depend on our obtaining the information that device can
provide. We don’t want to take a chance that it might be damaged.
We’ll return it to you as soon as we’ve examined it.”

“How did you know what I have in this pouch?”
I asked.

“We have what in your time would have been
called X-ray vision. That is only one of the many things we can
teach you, but we need your cooperation. Will you help us?”

“I told you I would, and I meant it, but that
button is the only way I have to return to my time. Can you assure
me that it will be returned to me unharmed?”

“We’ll return the button to you after we’ve
examined it, but I can’t guarantee it will be unharmed. It’s no
good to either you or us unless it’s in working order, but we’ll
have to take it apart to find out how it works. I understand that
if we destroy it, you’ll be stuck here,” Roc-2 smiled reassuringly.
“This isn’t a bad place to live, and we’ll treat you with the
utmost respect. As you go through the purifier, it will cleanse you
of every disease, every harmful microbe, and every virus. It will
render you immune to all harmful fungus, mold, and allergens.
You’ll be free from every known ailment and, if you should return
to the twenty-first century, you’ll be a superhuman.”

“Thank you for the purification,” I said with
apprehension, “but I still don’t want to part with my button.”

“We can’t allow you to become a part of our
society until you are purified, and you can’t take the device you
call a button with you through the purifier.” Roc-2’s eyes examined
me intently. “Our law prevents us from taking your property without
your approval, so you must decide.”

After considering, I replied, “It seems I
have no choice.”