Lovers of Babel (3 page)

              When he was five his father used to read him nursery rhymes and old fables before bed. Sometimes his father would add to the stories to make them more interesting and the little astronomer would help. This was a scene from the story of
Tarzan: King of the Jungle
where Tarzan first encounters the talking toucan that would become his friend and guardian. The young astronomer loved this embellishment more than all the other stories, because of the idea that Tarzan – although strong and mighty – needed a guardian to watch over him just in case he needed help. He also was fascinated by toucans and how colorful they were; and also an animal that talks is always a favorite among children. The astronomer stood in the middle of the pastel forest looking up at the bird and realized that this was a figment of his imagination brought to life. What was more is that he, himself, made it appear. He watched the toucan as it slowly descended toward him. It lowered itself until it was hovering eye-to-eye with the astronomer. He waited in silent anticipation as the toucan opened its beak when suddenly a beastly groan sounded in the distance through the painted trees. He looked back to see what it was and when there was nothing he looked back toward the toucan and it was gone.

As he walked ahead deeper into the forest he could hear the mammoth pacing back and forth. He got to the edge of the forest where his creation stopped and saw the beast there waiting for the astronomer to leave his haven so that he could feast. It was then that the astronomer realized that what he had created was something from only his imagination and that is was real.
And what’s more is that I did this out of a conscious need to protect myself. On the brink of pure desperation I willed my mind to create something that would shield me from the beast!
His hypothesis had already proven true with the way the earth’s atmosphere and structure had changed. Now, he had discovered something that made his predictions look pathetic.

The mammoth was eyeing his dinner. It was relentless. The astronomer wanted to turn away and escape, but he knew that the only way out was down through the elevator he came from. He had to pass the mammoth to get there. He thought of creating another shield, but the mammoth would still be alive and waiting to kill him again. Then he thought that maybe with his new-found power he could control the mammoth and make him stop. The astronomer stepped slowly toward the animal in a futile attempt to tame the beast. With his hand out he stepped closer and closer to the mammoth while the mammoth watched calmly. The astronomer was standing just under the beast’s gigantic tusks when the animal stomped its hoof and started at the terrified astronomer. He immediately fell back and cracked the glass in his oxygen helmet. Frantically, he ran toward the forest hoping by some miracle he would continue to breathe. He tried to cover the crack with his hand to keep in some oxygen, but the crack was too large. He finally decided to take in one last breath in hopes he could hold it until he reached the elevator. He hurled the helmet towards the charging mammoth. The beast chomped at his shoe, just missing his foot. The astronomer hurled his body in the forest and the mammoth roared in frustration. Then, in a reflex reaction, the astronomer gasped, but there was sparse air to take in. He was panicked trying to breathe in, but his breaths were short. He began to get light-headed and dizzy.
This is it.
His mind was in distress, but his body was quickly adapting to the shortage of oxygen. Then he realized that despite the thin air, he could breathe.  The astronomer regained his strength and realized that he was missing a shoe. He needed a new plan. He realized that trying to escape was probably not the safest idea. He needed a way out; one that didn’t involve running away from a fifteen foot twenty ton hairy elephant. He needed to do something that would ensure his safety. He needed to kill the beast.

             
The astronomer knew he needed to imagine something that would be able to kill such an enormous creature. He searched his imagination and thought of a shot gun like the one his father kept in a case by the front door of his childhood home. He thought of it, but nothing happened. He closed his eyes and imagined it, but it didn’t appear. Meanwhile the forest was beginning to fade and the mammoth was getting closer.
Common’ brain! Create the shotgun, now!
Still nothing. The beast was now one foot into the forest that had once kept him safe.  The astronomer kept trying and the mammoth was gaining on him. The beast knocked down a tree with his tusk and the astronomer began to panic.
Think! Think!
Suddenly a shot gun appeared in his hands and he aimed at the beast and shot him square between the eyes. This only startled the mammoth and made him angrier. Now the beast was picking up speed amidst the astronomer’s collapsing forest. The man threw away the shotgun and thought of a machine gun he’d read about in war books. Miraculously, one appeared in his hands and he began shooting at the charging animal until it stopped. The beast’s fur was painted red with fresh blood. It was wounded, but not dead. The beast started for the man again with more force and anger. The astronomer was searching his mind for weapons to create, but they all seemed useless against the beast. It was difficult to think clearly in the face of danger. All of his natural instincts and compulsions were telling him to run away, but he knew that he could never outrun a beast that size. He fumbled through his memory files and remembered explosions.
Hand
grenades!
Immediately a grenade plopped in his hand, he pulled the safety lever and threw it at the mammoth. BOOM! It hit the beast in his massive chest, but it kept moving. The man threw another one. BOOM! This time it tore off a tusk and the mammoth howled in pain. One more grenade went into the beast’s mouth. The mammoth swallowed and in an instant was mutated into a huge pile of prehistoric elephant guts. Unfortunately, the astronomer was under the pile.

             
He frantically dug his way out from under the heavy carcass. He dug as if he had been buried alive and only had a few minutes before suffocating to death. The thought of dying under a heaping pile of mammoth insides made him dig faster. Finally, an arm appeared under the pile; then two arms, a head and a torso. It looked like the mammoth had given birth to a lanky astronomer, but he was alive. He climbed off of the pile and looked at the mess he had made.
Who’s gonna clean this up?

The Birth of Powers

George Duncan had discovered the link that would change human existence forever; the ability to create something organically. He was about to usher in a new world where human beings could create things using only their minds. The environment had also undergone tremendous changes. The plant life was self-sustaining and vibrant. The air was thinner than before since the earth changed its place in the solar system.  It was now amongst the other planets and there were three moons that dotted the celestial sky at a perfect angle.  There was a shortage of animal life after the apocalypse, but the ones that survived had rapidly adapted to the radical change in the environment. Along with his change in human consciousness hypothesis, George had also predicted that there would be an ice age unlike any in recorded history. The shifting of the earth caused continental drifts and snow began to fall upon the earth for ten years. Eventually the continental drifts stopped and some of the ice melted, but the climate on earth was still colder than before. The animals that were accustomed to warmer climates, but survived through the ice age, rapidly adapted to the change in climate and produced a new species of polar animals. The sun had also changed its place in the solar system and was now like a distant star. It was still visible, however, but Gorge predicted that the earth would never see summer again.

George was still reeling from his adventure as he closed the elevator door and prepared for his two-hour long descent into the Underground. The blonde woman on the LCD screen was advising him to
put on his pressure safety helmet and lap bars. The cabin was the size of a small airplane that seated twenty people. There were five seats to a row and in front of each seat were a pressure safety helmet, oxygen mask, nausea mask, LCD screen and digiphone. The elevator rapidly descended at a rate of 400 miles per hour and Duncan was thankful for his pressure helmet. A few years back when he made his first trip above ground for some testing with Will Baker, a colleague of his, he thought he could travel without the bulky headwear. After Will insisted he put the helmet on, George refused and the pressure hit him so quickly that he felt like a crushed coke can. He had a migraine for three days because of that and vowed never to choose macho behavior over safety again. Will Baker said he was lucky that his eyes didn’t bulge out of his head.

“You want me to cut to the chase?
The
chase?
Do you even know what it’s like to be
chased
by a twenty ton woolly mammoth!?”

The scientists were rightfully confused.

“Up there, you know, up on the surface of earth,” he pointed overhead, “things aren’t the way some of us remember them. There are some of us youngsters in this room who haven’t the slightest idea of what the surface looks like.  We probably wouldn’t flinch if we saw that there were now three moons in the sky instead of one. Or that there were purple trees instead of green ones. Or that elephants have hair again! But if you’ve read a book or seen a picture of the surface you know that these things are beyond strange.”

“George! What on earth are you talking about!?” The beefy Australian scientist exclaimed.

“
What on
earth am I talking about?
I’m telling you
what on earth
! Where do you think this goo came from? If you think I’m making this up I advise you to go up there yourself and find out. Listen, things have drastically changed just like I thought they would, but only much, much more than I predicted. The stars are closer, the ground looks radioactive-“

“We never said that the environment would stay the same after the apocalypse George,” the annoyed Australian interrupted. “What we said is that there would never be a change in ‘human consciousness’ because that sort of thing is outside the realm of science. It just isn’t logical.”

He walked up to George.

“Look, I’m glad you got to see that at least half of your hypothesis was correct, but now it’s time to throw in the towel. Focus on what you’re good at; space study.”

“You wouldn’t patronize me if you knew what I could do now,” George stated matter-of-factly.

“What!?”
The scientist looked incredulous.

“Should I repeat myself or should I show you?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Look man, you serious nee-“

“You need to stand back!” George interrupted.

He closed his eyes and clinched his boney fists. The veins in his head were bulging and his jaw was locked. His friend Sally walked up to him and placed her pale hand on his shoulder.

“George please just let it go. You did
good. You really did.”

“Hold on. J-just give me a minute.” He said through clenched teeth.

The scientists started gathering their things to leave. The Australian gave George a stern slap on the back.

“Well, maybe next time you can show me what you can do,” he said mockingly.

Suddenly, there was a great commotion in the town square right outside the lab. Everyone ran outside to see what was happening. There, coming towards them in the bay, was a fifteen foot tall woolly mammoth.  Everybody frantically ran for cover, except for George who was smiling at his new creation. The Australian ran over to him in disbelief.

“Is this some kind of trick you conjured up? Huh? This must be some kind of illusion that you created.”