The Gravity of Anti-Gravity (37 page)

Brenda asked the next question, “Will we ever get back to earth and will it be the same time as we left. It was pretty dangerous then.”

“Good question Brenda. “We have the ability to return to earth at any time period we choose. It’s difficult to understand but if we go back to an earlier time than when we left, anything we change will affect events going forward from that point. If we go into the future, time will be forced to catch up with us which in our experience should be avoided. Our goal is to create a strategy to deal with whatever the current situation may be and return to that exact time.”

Just then, the door in the center column opened and to our great joy, Jerry was sitting in an odd looking chair and an attendant pushed him out. The chair had no wheels and appeared to just float. We all crowded around Jerry and he sounded like nothing had changed. Joanna began crying.

“Back on Earth, I’d be in intensive care for the next month,” Jerry said. “Somehow my strange looking friend here has a way to speed up the healing process. Less than an hour ago, I was lying in Pops pasture figuring it was over for me. Now I’m somewhere in outer space feeling alive with my friends and Joanna. Give me a hug girl.”

“That chair is another application of anti gravity Bill,” Stella commented. And that strange looking man you see before you is what I used to look like before I took this assignment.”

“Stella, you looked like him?” Jerry hollered. “Forget anti-gravity, Bill. I say we get a group of Stella’s guys, and open up an office in Beverly Hills. We could make a fortune in Plastic Surgery and it would be a whole lot less dangerous.”

“And look at my ear lobe. It’s almost all grown back!” Jerry added.

“OK people,” Rolf announced. “Our jump is coming in ten seconds so brace yourselves.”

-45-

It was a bumpy ride coming through the jump zone; a little bumpier than driving down the freeway when every pothole seems to find you. When it ended it was as if the sky had opened up and sunlight beamed through the side windows of our craft.

I looked down at this new world. It was similar to Earth but the continents and oceans had different shapes and sizes. It had white areas at the poles like Earth and vast green sections that looked like forests. I was able to make out several mountain ranges scattered about the continents.

Rolf stood up and announced, “We have to remain up here while we all get reacclimatized to the atmosphere and gravity on Velador. You will feel an increase in your weight and a slight increase in your energy as we slowly increase the oxygen levels in the air. Velador has twelve percent more mass than Earth and our oxygen level is seventeen percent higher than Earth so the energy boost you will feel will partially offset your increase in weight.”

Stella again took over. “It will be about an hour before our bodies adjust and we can descend, so we might as well continue with our question and answer period.”

I jumped in because my curiosity was going wild. “What was that ‘click and whoosh’ gun Rolf used when he rescued us?”

Rolf decided to answer this question. “Bill even though I told the men on my team when I used it the first time that it was a state of the art invention from Earth, it is an adaptation of a device we invented here on Velador. It temporarily shuts down a person’s brain wave pattern and immobilizes them. It is a non-lethal way to subdue someone. Only our police have this device here and use it very infrequently. The only side effect is a major headache when the person who receives the wave wakes up.”

“Next question,” I asked. “How did we get to the jump zone?”

“That may be a question for our scientists,” Stella answered. “But the short version is that when we are inside solar systems or near large celestial objects we use our anti-gravity propulsion to in effect push off from these objects. When we are in deep space, we use a huge array of ion generators to create propulsion. The entire system is powered by a fusion reactor. For the rest of you, fusion is the process used by your sun and other stars to generate heat and light. Anti-gravity gives us an ability to contain the materials and use the reactor safely. It is quite small considering the power it produces.”

“Since our maximum speed is still the speed of light, and the distances are so great between systems, we then have to use the jump zone time concept we explained earlier to shorten the distances,” Stella added.

“How is Velador organized politically?” Joanna asked.

“Like Earth,” Stella answered, “we have self governing areas all over the planet we call States. There is a world organization that provides for two things; Planetary Defense and Space Exploration and a Planetary Supreme Court to decide disputes between the states. The States are independent and have their own laws, but have chosen to abide by our planetary principles.”

“And what are those principles?” Joanna asked.

“That is a very complicated question Joanna,” answered Stella. “Individual freedom is our most fundamental concept. We have discovered, and it is taught to us from a young age, that being independent, resourceful and hard working will provide the most joyful life and benefit to society.”

“We encourage our people to try to discover how they would like to live out their lives at an early age. For instance, Rolf and I chose to be in Alien Service as children. Others may go into our defense force or technical service or simply become writers or shop keepers. No occupation is considered better or worse than any other.”

“Another guiding principle on Velador concerns government. Their duties are primarily administrative. They are not allowed to pass laws, only to suggest them. The people must vote on and pass laws and we do that annually. That’s when we also eliminate old or obsolete laws. In a typical election, we will eliminate two laws for every one we pass. And one overriding concept is that people who work for the government, either elected or hired, are considered to be no smarter than the people who elect them and are not allowed to exert any kind of undue power over them,” Stella added.

“It appears that you are more advanced than us; have you solved all of society’s problems?” asked Pops.

“Mr. Burton, our society has made some compromises over the last few hundred years and unfortunately, in government, one size or style does not fit everyone perfectly. But as I’ve just explained, the overriding ideal we all live by is valuing the independence of the individual. You might call this freedom from overreaching government control. We have reduced our laws from tens of thousands to just a few simple rules by which people must abide. We are taught from a young age just how far we can stray from these rules which we call Guidelines.”

“Does everyone get the same pay? Pops asked.

“No, we are a free market society and if particular skills are required that are in short supply, remuneration is free to increase. If an entrepreneur opens a business and does well, his income is free to rise to any level as long as he abides by society’s Guidelines,” answered Stella.

“In our free economic environment, of course, jobs end and jobs are created. Our unemployment level if calculated similarly to the way it’s done on Earth has been below two percent for over one hundred years; and most of that we attribute to a very small and frugal government. People here keep almost all of what they earn and are free to save, invest, reinvest or donate. These decisions are made strictly by and for the benefit of the individual. This may sound selfish but on Velador everyone works first for their own benefit and second for the good of society. This approach has proven for us to create the most overall benefit for the most people on our planet.” Stella elaborated.

“We have determined that employment gives people a sense of purpose. And with a small government, our citizens tend to be happier and create fewer problems for society.”

“So you don’t have any police or prisons.” Pops asked.

“Yes we do,” Stella continued. “We don’t have as many police as there are on Earth and prisons are few but we do have them. Individual freedom with minimal governmental control is not without danger but with proper education we experience an extremely low level of criminal behavior.” Stella explained.

“Do you have religion on Velador?” Grandma asked.

“We do and it’s growing.” Stella said. “Since we have ventured out to other worlds, and we have found out how similar we all are, more of my people believe that some original power must have planted the seeds of life all over the universe. As with Earth, there is disagreement on the scope and details but it has become a healthy conversation among the people of Velador.”

“Before we have to land, I’ve got something important I need to tell you,” Stella said with a childlike excitement.

Oh boy, here it comes. The ‘we need to talk’ speech. I thought. These are never good.

“When we land,” Stella continued, “there will be thousands of people to greet you so don’t be frightened. You six people have the esteemed honor of being the first aliens to be brought back to Velador. The curiosity and desire to get a first hand look at you has generated an excitement on our world not seen in centuries.”

“Just wonderful,” Jerry bellowed. “After all we’ve been through, now we’ll be monkeys in a zoo. Don’t put Bill in the front cage Stella. He’d be the monkey who would save his poop and throw it at the gawking audience.”

That comment brought a hearty laugh from everyone including Rolf, a rare chuckle from a serious man.

“No, no it’s not like that!”
Stella said.

“Well then, how did all these people find out about us?” Jerry asked next.

Stella cleared her throat and told us the whole story. “First, our mission to help other worlds transition through all the dangers associated with the discovery of anti-gravity is a noble task that our world endorses. But it is expensive. So in conjunction with our individualistic, self sufficient society, some of our entrepreneurs created an organization to carry out that mission. To finance these endeavors, we continually provide our people almost live feeds and updates of our progress and we charge a small fee to those who choose to watch. I am pleased to announce that our operation on Earth has drawn by far, the largest worldwide audience in the history of Velador. All of you, Rolf and me are stars on a global scale here.”

“It is similar in concept to your reality shows on television, but this, as you know is the real thing with all the dangers, betrayals, lies, power struggles, romance and emotions common to life on Earth. There are no scripts, no directors and no retakes like the reality series that you are used to watching at home.” Stella said.

“The fact that our planet went through our own horrendous anti-gravity transition period, three hundred years ago, has made yours and Earth’s story even more riveting to our people.”

“How’d you get video of everything,” Jerry asked.

“With our technology, we have extremely small recording devices, Stella explained. “Even though we can’t record everything, we get more than enough to tell the story.”

“I’m curious,” Jerry said thoughtfully. “Did you record your personal bedroom encounters with Bill?”

“Yes, Jerry,” Stella answered and added, “Sex is as common on our planet as yours and my interaction with Bill added an element of passionate emotion. And it was critical in gaining Bill’s trust.”

“Great Bill, not only are we reality stars on a planet far, far away,” Jerry added with his typical humor, “You’re a porn star too!”

“So let’s go meet our adoring public!” Jerry bellowed.

-To Be Continued……

“The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II”

Follow the second
electrifying installment of the story of genius Bill Burton and his family and friends as they arrive on Velador and begin a brand new adventure in
“The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II”
,
The Fight for Velador!

The recent deception and deceit experienced by Bill has caused him to be more cautious and far less trusting. He and his friends and family are thrust into the middle of a new and unexpected war with Cromwell; a powerful world dedicated to securing the raw materials they need while slowly exterminating the Veladorian population!

The conflicts, treachery and betrayals continue unabated but the enemies are now more devious and far more powerful. Bill’s cleaver solutions to new and dangerous mysteries will thrust him into an unplanned leadership role; a role in which he will excel.

So how does Bill and his supporting cast of characters deal with the Cromwell Republic and are they the real culprit after all?

Join mild-mannered Bill in this thought-provoking thriller while he continues to sort though people who are not what they seem and conflicts that appear to have no solution! Will Bill, Brenda, Stella, Pops and Jerry find answer? Or is the conundrum in which they find themselves unsolvable?

Bill’s miraculous journey will captivate and challenge the reader’s sensibilities and cerebral puzzles run rampant from beginning ‘til end!

Read the first three chapters of “The Gravity of Anti-Gravity”