The Invitation-kindle (12 page)

There’s no doubt that whatever it is, it’s getting closer.  As it grows larger, it ominously starts to eclipse the full moon, and eventually completely blocks it from sight. A sense of apprehension begins to spread as people wonder if it will collide with the Earth. Could it be an asteroid? Its movement seems directed.

Vice President Scott Conner, along with others, watch as the object gets closer and closer, increasing in size until it finally stops, and astoundingly occupies a full quadrant, one quarter of the entire night sky. As more, and more people see something that no analogue in either their personal experience or collective history can describe or explain, a general sense of complete and overwhelming astonishment slowly grips all. Reaction to the presence of this enormous object varies from person to person. Some stare at it in rapt, incoherent amazement, some with tears flowing, some on their knees in earnest prayer, some with genuine fear, not knowing what might happen next. For others, what they see seems strangely beautiful, and powerfully compelling. A general tension in the air, as if waiting for a lightning strike, is palpably widespread. Just outside the stadium, several hundred feet away, a man proclaims he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, claiming his blood will cleanse the world then pulls out a hand gun and fatally shoots himself. Television crews that stopped what they were doing as they were swept up in the powerfully dramatic scene unfolding before them, now eagerly start filming again, feeding live images to a global audience. The object now being seen by over six hundred million human beings on four continents could be seen pulsing rhythmically, as if it were a living thing. Eventually most human activity comes to a complete stop, not only in and around the Olympic facilities, but throughout the city of Miami, most of the continental United States, South America, Europe, and Africa.

As unbelievable as it is, the President of the United States doesn’t bother to look at an object that now fully dominates a full quarter of the sky behind him. His words are reassuring, and at the same time completely inexplicable. His physical demeanor has not changed even slightly since he began speaking. As the President continues to speak, jet fighters can be seen rising in the sky. General Croft, still in contact with his base commanders, reluctantly interrupts his Commander in Chief, and urgently asks the President, “Mr. President, our commanders are asking for instruction.”

“They are to stand down, General Croft.”

“Stand down?”

“That’s right.”

“But Sir—”

“They are to stand down, General. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir. It is.”

Moments later the two Secret Service agents posted near the President nervously tell Ken Myers, “Sir we have to leave the area as soon as possible.”

“No, gentlemen, that’s not necessary.”

“I’m afraid we have to insist on that, Sir.”

“Sit down, gentlemen. We aren’t going anywhere.”

“Sir, we have to leave.”

“That is now impossible. What has begun must run its course. There’s no need to be concerned. I assure you. If you want to remain then sit down. If not, then leave, but you will do one or the other.”

With this, the President walks over to his chair and sits down beside his wife, Carol, still not having given as much as a casual glance to what almost everyone around him are intently staring at in amazement. Carol looks at her husband, and asks, “What’s happening, Ken?”

“It’s all right, Carol. Nothing’s going to happen that shouldn’t happen. It’s all for the good. Trust me.”

By now, millions of people have gotten out of their homes to see with their own eyes something so stunning that for most their only response is a muted, stupefying silence. Some who watch it on television initially think it might be some sort of special effect produced for the mass consumption of television audiences, but it slowly becomes clear that it’s something very different. What should have been immediately apparent was only now beginning to be understood. What they are seeing did not originate from anywhere on this planet. When data begins coming in about its size, and distance, the general reaction is disbelief. There has to be a mistake. It seems unimaginable. After checking, rechecking, and checking again, the numbers don’t change. The impossible conclusion is inescapable. An object of apparently extraterrestrial origin, approximately ten thousand miles across, larger than our own planet, is now in a stationary orbit two and a half thousand miles above the surface of the Earth. By now, more than one out of six human beings on Earth, over one billion people, were simultaneously looking at the same astonishing image.

In Miami, as elsewhere, throngs of people stand in amazement as they see the object begin to change its appearance. New patterns, shapes, and colors become discernible on its pulsing surface, the same vibrant colors seen in our flower gardens, but in forms and shapes of unthinkable complexity. Undulating patterns of fractal geometry spiraling in, and out of existence, in colors of every conceivable hue produce a visually hypnotic effect that is mesmerizing. Many find it so enthralling they have difficulty turning away. This incredible display continues for over an hour, and has a strangely calming effect on most who watch it. Then it stops. The collective gaze of more than a billion human beings suddenly hangs breathlessly in universal anticipation.

Then, in the center of the object, a tiny black dot appears. It gets closer, and closer, and begins to assume a definable shape as it approaches. A craft of some type, much smaller than the enormous object it emerged from, is coming in at high speed, and within a few seconds is in the air space over southern Florida. Moments later it hovers several hundred feet above Amelia Earhart Park and the Olympic Stadium. In its appearance, the circular craft is a dark shade of grey. It looks to be metallic, and is completely silent. This incredible sight leaves no doubt about what’s going to happen next.

The thousands gathered in Miami, and the countless millions around the world watching live images on television, all realize that this day, this moment, will be forever known as the point in human history when humans and beings from another world made initial contact with each other. Not measuring more than one hundred feet in diameter, the craft gradually moves to where the President is located, and slowly descends to the ground directly in front of him. As people move away, surprisingly little panic, if any, accompanies the remarkable event. Finally it stops, coming to rest no more than a hundred feet from where the President of the United States is standing. For a few minutes all who are closest to it, pull back, and stand aloof from what they are seeing. One man, perhaps knowing his place in history will be certain, or just out of basic human curiosity, tentatively starts walking toward the craft. Despite admonishments from people chaotically shouting their warnings to go no further, he continues his cautious approach. Seconds later he is less than ten feet from the craft. There he stops. With his heart in his throat he summons the courage to be the first human to physically touch an object produced by an alien, nonhuman intelligence. As he gets closer, shouts from the surrounding voices subside, until an absolute silence comes over the crowd.

Time itself seems to stop as his extended hand, now only inches from the objects surface, begins to tremble. Then, with his eyes closed, like a sky diver plunging for the first time, he commits himself. Opening his eyes, he feels a surface that is neither cold nor hot to his touch, but more surprisingly seems not to have a hard, solid surface. Touching it with some pressure, it yields, reacting similarly to tightly stretched cellophane, or an inflated balloon. Pulling back, he sees the imprint of his hand for a few seconds before the surface resumes its original shape. Then he touches again with the same result. More emboldened, he taps with his knuckles, and sees the surface shimmer slightly like Jell-O. He taps a little harder. It shimmers again. The surface appears to be extremely thin. Now, he touches it again, and with his open hand pushes harder, and harder, with all his strength, but the surface yields only very slightly. Then with no warning, it begins to change shape. Part of it seems to melt and reform, acting like a liquid, shaping itself at will, while at the same time having the structural rigidity of solid matter. It begins to form a frame-like structure looking like a large, square aquarium tank. This strange object resembles a large cube, around eight feet in height, width, and length. Connected to the craft by a thin beam of energy it rests on the ground, completely transparent. Then a strange clear liquid begins to fill the receptacle from the bottom, rising to a height of about five feet before it stops.

People witnessing these incredible events are so preoccupied, they stop looking at the enormous object still parked stupendously above them. Those who glanced upward are surprised to see that the dramatic scene transpiring on the ground before them is now visible in vivid detail stretched across one quarter of the night sky. What people see unfolding on the ground in Olympic Stadium in Miami, is also being seen by uncounted multitudes throughout the world. All are spellbound as they watch the fantastic scene unfold before them, all except one.

The President of the United States seems serenely detached through all of this. His wife, Carol, is not looking at the incredible events taking place no more than a hundred feet away. She is looking at her husband, and in a hushed, apprehensive tone asks him, “How did you know this was going to happen? Tell me Ken. I deserve to know.”

“I will tell you, Carol. I promise you. But first, I need to do something.”

“Tell me what’s happening.”

“Don’t worry, love, everything will be all right. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Seeing Congressman Kearns and his wife, the President walks over to them, and asks the triple amputee a question.

“Steve?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Uh, yes, Sir, of course.”

Then turning to Steve’s wife, he asks, “Rebecca, will you trust me?”

“Yes, I trust you.”

“I want both of you to come with me. I want to show you something. It won’t take long.”

“Whatever you say Mr. President,” Steve says.

Pushing Steve’s wheelchair from behind, and with Rebecca following, Ken Myers starts walking toward the odd-looking structure, and the peculiar liquid it contains. Having cowed his Secret Service agents, the President calmly walks the distance to the strange, transparent receptacle, coming within a few feet from it, and turns to Congressman Kearns.

“You’re not afraid are you, Steve?”

“No, I’m not afraid.”

“Good, I want you to watch this.”

Steve does watch. Rebecca watches as well, and also over two thousand million human beings seeing these events unfold on what is in effect a ten thousand mile wide movie screen several thousand miles above the Earth relaying images as vivid, and clear as the living reality it mirrors. The President moves in front of Steve, only inches away from the mysterious liquid, and extends his arm unhesitatingly into the breach, and then walks in, and out of the receptacle, and the liquid it holds with no ill effects, not even getting his garments wet. Getting behind the wheelchair, the President pushes Steve to the very edge of the enclosed liquid, and at that point Rebecca’s protective instinct pierces through her straining outward reserve.

“Wait! Steve, don’t do it. Please don’t do it,” she says.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I love you, Rebecca.”

“I love you.”

As the President gently rolls the wheelchair into the enclosed liquid, the expression on Steve Kearns’ face moves from trepidation to tranquility. Within the liquid, a strange, iridescent light appears, resembling the ghostly phosphorescence of tiny bioluminescent sea creatures. Submerged up to his shoulders, Steve sees the liquid becoming active, and seem to focus on the stump of his missing left arm. Driven to see why his left arm feels so peculiar, he peels away his shirt sleeve to see what no human has ever seen. The liquid is now roiling with activity at the tip of his severed arm. A bizarre, scintillating dance of some form of radiant light energy reaches a frenetic intensity as Steve looks down, and sees something impossible. Slowly, he sees emerging from the stump of his left arm, a bone, growing in length by the second as he watches. In a matter of seconds all the bones of his arm, wrist, and hand reform until they look like any normal skeletal appendage. He watches in astonishment as he sees in slow motion the complex tissue formation of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Staggered in muted amazement he sees in detail the incredible growth of nerves, and blood vessels.

He looks in bewilderment at his new fingers and sees the myriad endings of numberless capillaries, and finally he sees the epidermal layering of the skin’s integument as it seals and closes over his new appendage. Stupefied, he looks at his legs, and sees the same process taking place. He quickly moves to pull his pant legs up now using both arms, and suddenly stops seemingly stunned that his new arm is so deft, and quick. Pausing for only a moment he starts again to remove his pant legs that were already cut short. Exposing his severed limbs, he sees the miraculous process continue. In stunned amazement he sees the spontaneous generation of knees, legs, and feet, bone somehow growing from itself, the differentiation of tissues, the complex musculature of the thigh, leg, and foot, the intricate vascular patterns of blood vessels, and the living blood beginning to pulse within. After the last layer of skin is added, the strange liquid that achieved this miraculous effect gradually becomes quiescent, and eventually completely inactive. Steve’s new legs are complete. Elapsed time from the moment he entered the enclosed liquid totals less than nine minutes. He looks incredulously at his legs and arm. Still sitting, he touches his legs, then moves them, and then he does something he hasn’t done for more than five years. As his brain gives his body the signal to stand, he slowly rises. After standing, he remains stationary for a moment, utterly stunned, almost waiting to fall over. He takes a step, and then another, and then walks out of the receptacle, and looks at what is beneath his waist. He looks, and in each leg, sees a textbook example of flawless human anatomy. He moves his legs again, and starts jumping as a joyous frenzy comes over him. He starts running, and jumping completely indifferent to the fact that he is barefoot, and only wearing shorts. Openly weeping Rebecca falls to her knees in thankful prayer. Seeing his wife’s humility Steve succumbs to the dramatic emotional poignancy of the moment, and begins weeping. Embracing his wife they melt into each other in a tear soaked ecstasy of gratitude. Some in the crowd began cheering, but its tone is subdued by the still spellbinding anticipation of what will happen next.