Quantum Times (23 page)

     “I guess I don’t really know what that means,” David admitted.

     Captain Ragnar considered how best to respond. He was coming to believe that this particular Earth offered huge potential for him to finally accomplish what he had been looking for. It was much like the last Earth he had just been visiting but things there had deteriorated too far and he had lost control of it. He needed to more carefully calibrate the results of the action he would take. Even this interview was a part of his plan and he needed to manage these early communications with a clear vision of how things should proceed.

     “David, I think your world will quickly come to understand that mental energy is the true source of all power. But mankind has evolved for thousands of years without ever truly understanding that. On every Earth that is true. But once that veil of ignorance is lifted, change comes quite rapidly. And in that time of change there is great opportunity to bring prosperity to all peoples. The universe can be very bountiful. That is why we are here.” He did not add that his objective and that of his crew was to steal as much of that prosperity as possible.

     David still didn’t really understand why The Freya had come, but he realized that Captain Ragnar was not going to tell him.

     The Captain looked at David and saw David still did not understand. He wasn’t surprised. He knew his answer was impossibly vague; but it was quite adequate for his purpose. He had no intention of telling the world what his true intentions were. He also knew that the description of their world that Lieutenant Benson had just given David, though true in its historical beginnings, told nothing about their world’s actual present state. It was now a world that people wanted to leave. Like the early Vikings who left their cold, dark brutal country for richer lands, the crew of The Freya was looking for a better place to live. A place of their own that they could control. And Captain Ragnar liked the quaint old idea of being a king.

     As David left The Freya on the shuttle and returned to his car to go back to the city, his mind kept turning over what the Captain had said. It sounded reasonable. But David had trouble with the juxtaposition of the trade of intellectual property with the rigorous militaristic discipline he had seen on The Freya. And there was also Lieutenant Benson’s comment that all of his people were warriors. In retrospect, David thought the Captain had told him the truth – just not all of it. And the part that was left out was the important part. He also had to admit he was glad to get off The Freya.

     While driving home David listened to the news. Turmoil in the Middle East seemed to be increasing. Iran now that everyone knew it had nuclear weapons, was promoting its support of terrorism more openly. China and Japan were tussling over some islands of disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea. Russia was bullying smaller countries that used to be part of The Soviet Union. There was a new civil war in a central African country where prisoners’ hands were being chopped off and their women were raped. Radioactive winds from the Korea disaster were blowing over Asian farmlands threatening mass famine for a generation. Then the news stopped for a moment its usual litany of global alarm and issued an emergency bulletin. A third Object had just been observed in the Sky.

     Kahlil stayed seated at the outdoor café in the Beirut suburb after his visitor had arisen from the table and left. It had been their second meeting and Khalil’s mind was spinning no less this time than it had after the first meeting. An opportunity to do something momentous was strangely coming to him, an opportunity so important to his cause, to his religion, and to his people that it both thrilled him and scared him.

     Senior leaders of his cause had passed the word to be prepared to take advantage of the new circumstances created by these visitors from other Earths – a concept so strange that it had at first shaken his beliefs. Was Islam even a part of these other worlds? Was The Prophet Mohammad The Prophet there too? And it had not occurred to him that he would be the one to be involved with any of these visitors. Though it was true that he had risen to be a group leader because of things he had accomplished. He personally had orchestrated suicide bombings that had killed more than 150 people and several were dramatic enough to gain world-wide press coverage. And he and his group had done bombings across all the borders, even within the hated Israel. Among those who knew such things, he was a man to be taken seriously.

     At the first meeting with the strange visitor it had been as if his prayers had been answered – and the faith that had been shaken by the arrival of the Objects in the sky, had been fully restored. The truth was more glorious than he had imagined! That meeting had seemed to be an accident, which Kahlil soon realized had been planned. He had bumped into the Visitor who identified himself just as Hasan on a street corner. Hasan had apologized and he had called Khalil by his full name. And then he said he was to be called Hasan and that he needed to speak to him. Khalil had looked him over but had seen nothing unusual. He was dressed as everyone dressed; he was average height and looked like he was a son of the desert, as they all did. His Arabic had a strange accent but that was all that distinguished him.

     He was of course reluctant to meet with him but then Hasan had said he was from one of the Objects in the sky and all he suggested was that they talk at a little café there on the street. So Khalil went with him to the café but there he said he wanted some proof that Hasan was from where he said. And that was when Khalil’s faith was so restored! Hasan’s proof was majestic.

     After they had ordered their coffee, Hasan brought out of his briefcase what looked at first like an iPad that was a little larger than usual. But Hasan showed how it could do things no iPad could do. Hasan showed images of what he said was a different Earth and these images were in 3D and holographic, so realistic that they were like a miniaturized reality. And he showed cities with mosques everywhere and people everywhere praying to Mecca. In this world Hasan told him, Islam ruled. There was no Israel. Europe was Muslim. There were no powerful Christian countries. Khalil was astounded. How could that be, he questioned?

     Hasan’s answer was the answer Khalil had always feared would be true. Hasan said that he was from that Earth and he had been shocked to see how weak Islam was here. Weak because Muslims here had been afraid to fight for their faith, to die for their faith. When Khalil tried to argue that he was a fighter and that people he knew had died for their faith, Hasan had pointed around the café and said simply, “Where is the evidence of jihad? You have a puny faith here!” Hasan had made Khalil feel ashamed. The Earth Hasan came from was the proof of what Hasan said.

     That had been the first meeting. Then Hasan had arranged the second meeting which had just concluded. Sitting there at the café, Khalil’s hands shook a little as he contemplated a different future than he could have imagined just a few days ago. Hasan had promised him a gift that would be a killing blow against both Israel and the Americans.

     Khalil contemplated how to use this new technology weapon that Hasan had promised him. A weapon no larger than a big rifle that could shoot a missile that could destroy a fortified compound. Hasan had suggested it should be deployed against the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. What a dramatic moment in history that would be for his cause! And he would survive it for he could shoot the weapon from blocks away. Though he told himself he would be a martyr if it was necessary, he preferred that others make that sacrifice.

     Hasan had shown him again the wonder of the other Earth where Islam ruled all. Hasan had never felt his faith welling so strong within him. Here was a destiny to fight for. For this he had lived his life and suffered its ignominies. And Hasan had said this weapon would be his soon, but that it must be used quickly. It would be dangerous for them all if this weapon was known by too many people to exist. There were spies and traitors everywhere. It needed to be a surprise to everyone. Hasan had made Khalil swear to keep it secret from even his superiors. Afterward he could tell all. 

Illusions or Reality

By David Randall

Like everyone, I am stunned by recent events. The aliens of The Object turn out to be humans from another Earth. Their Leader Plato warned us that more Other Earthers would be coming. And now two other spaceships have arrived. One of them we still know nothing of while the other new arrival comes from an Earth with a Viking culture. The United States does not even exist on that Earth. I’ve met the captain of the Viking spaceship and he seems to be like us. At least I want to think so. But his cultural history has to be very different from ours. So are he and his crew really like us? Should we think of these humans from Other Earths as cosmic cousins or are they really aliens who happen to look like us? What actually makes an alien an alien?

So are we to be the Indians of the New World greeting Columbus in 1492? Plato says his Earth has a different history than ours and has a technological lead on us of hundreds of years. What does that even mean? Actually Columbus and the explorers and settlers that followed had that kind of advantage over the Indians – and how did that work out for the Indians?

Now I’m not suggesting that Plato is a modern day Cortes or that these Other Earths mean us harm, but it needs to be remembered that these Other Earthers coming are men and women just like us, they have our same DNA. On every Earth it seems that Man always rises to the top of the food chain. We are voracious survivors who seek to dominate our environment. And these new visitors to our Earth have power we can’t imagine. Historically – whether ours or theirs, I’ll bet, – mankind is unkind to those of his neighbors who have less power than they do. With good intentions or not, things tend to go badly for those who are without power. That’s just how man is.

Coincidentally (or not, more on that later), we are now learning thanks to Ben Planck and his work, that our understanding of the laws of the universe needs some amending. Something called ‘Consciousness’ is the foundation of the Universe and what we call reality is a consequence of that consciousness – and is malleable to it. I think that means we are what we think we are. The Universe appears as we want it to appear. It works the way we want it to work. That’s pretty cool. But then I wonder, ‘who is WE?’ Whose consciousness is it? And where did it come from? And when? Is my consciousness part of it? Is yours? If so, how big a part? Is it human consciousness aggregated together? (Which now I guess includes the consciousness of all those Other Earthers.) And what about animals and trees? What about rocks? Does a rock have consciousness – even if only just a scintilla?

Now this sort of speculation may seem pretty sophomoric, but when Planck tells us that theoretically a single human being can alter the physical reality of an object, then it seems to me that what was once the discussion topic for physics majors having coffee at Starbucks is now an important subject for all of us. It means that we all have far more power than we ever imagined! And Plato tells us that some of the visitors from Other Earths understand how to use this power. For instance, Plato does. So it seems to me, we better figure out how to use it too!

     General Greene sat at a poolside table at Planck’s Retreat and watched a very pretty young woman with short dark brown hair wearing a competitive swimmer’s bathing suit dive into the pool and start doing freestyle laps. Her strokes were long and fluid and her somersault turns effortless. His daughters had both been competitive swimmers and he had watched them at many of their high school swim meets. Though obviously older, this girl reminded him of them. But General Greene knew there was a huge difference between the young woman he was now watching and his daughters. This woman had grown up on a different world. A world that was somehow Earth, but not this Earth. Then he laughed as he said to himself, “It makes my head swim.”

     Plato then came up and sat down across from him. As usual Plato was the picture of health with his Greek god good looks, yet his eyes looked even older than their usual hundred years.

     Greene greeted him and then said, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how is it that all of your people and you yourself are all so good looking?”

     Plato laughed, “Because we choose to be – it is a simple transformation. From childhood we learn how to think ourselves to good health. And if one or another of our genetically endowed features is not quite what we’d like, we envision what it should be like and that look comes to be. One’s mind can always control one’s own body.”

     “I need to learn how to do that.” He thought about how much harder it was to stay in shape now that he was in his fifties. Yet he doubted that he would try to rethink his body. He would just work harder in the gym.

     “You will.”

     “Well anyway…thank you for agreeing to meet with me again. Things are coming to pass as you said. We now have other Objects circling above. The Freya seems to have arrived first and now one that identifies itself as The Lucky Dragon. Do you know of them?”

     “I know of them both…or rather I should say, I know the worlds from whence they came.”