Wooden Ships (3 page)

“Yeah that was pretty funny, he laughed, but you have to admit she looked pretty good, didn’t she?”

“Yes she did. She gave me her number, maybe I’ll call sometime...,” said Adam.

After talking to Scott, Adam realized he was too wound-up to go straight to bed so he decided to listen to some music hoping this would help him unwind. Sitting on the floor in front of his stereo Adam flipped though his record collection trying to decide what he would like to listen to, he had many favorite albums, however, classical music would definitely help him fall asleep; he plugged in his headphones, lay down on his bed, and listened, after awhile he began to relax. When the music finished playing Adam slipped his headphones off and dropped them on the floor. He hated falling asleep with his headphones on, because his ears would hurt the next day from the bulkiness pressing against his head. He was going to turn off his bedroom lights, but being so tired he never did and fell into a deep sleep.

After a few minutes, there appeared a shimmering outline of two Entities at one end of his bedroom. The shimmering looked similar to heat waves coming off a hot desert. Adam often saw shimmers in his peripheral vision, but when he turned to look, there was never anything there.

These Entities had been monitoring Adam since he was a child and tonight they arrived to complete Adam’s brain implant; they had patiently waited years for this moment.

“It’s time!” E-1 thought.

“The subject is asleep, we will begin the procedure now.” thought E-2.

“Our Orbotic probe will execute the insertion,” thought E-1.

While Adam slept, the Orbotic probe, which resembled a glowing white orb the size of a basketball silently floated through his bedroom window without disturbing the curtains or breaking the glass and hovered at the foot of his bed. After about four seconds, the orb slowly floated to the left side of his head, dimmed its glow and stopped about 12 inches from it. The orb began the preparation for the insertion procedure. Both Entities observed the procedure hidden in their shimmering bubble. To E-1 and E-2 it was similar to watching a split screen monitor where two different events occurred simultaneously, however, this observation occurred in their brains.

The Orbotic probe, created by the Entities from a collection of plasmatic energy, has no mass and is capable of shrinking to the size of an atom, or expanding to the size of a large bus. It can penetrate any solid surface without damaging it. At the atomic level of solid matter, there’s space between the atoms that make up its composition. Since plasmatic energy doesn’t have mass it can squeeze between atoms of any solid object. The Entities created the Orbotic probe to be autonomous, capable of making split decisions on its own without the need of additional instructions from the Entities. The probe will complete any given task with efficiency and accuracy. It can create instruments and tools for any procedure instantly by rearranging atoms, and then quickly disassembles the atoms and neatly storing them away for their next assignment.

A quick green flash from the Orb rendered Adam completely paralyzed – this was to ensure he would not wake up during the procedure. The green flash was effective even when the subjects were already asleep or had their eyes closed. The energy from the flash penetrated the subjects’ craniums, affecting their brains. To human beings the green flash would be the equivalent of a very powerful anesthesia.

As the Orb quietly hovered next to Adam’s head it began to extend a thin silvery light beam; slowly the light beam extended longer and longer until it made contact and penetrated the temple area of Adam’s head. Sliding between the atoms of brain tissue, the thin silvery light beam quickly navigated to the correct spot in his brain, where it deposited the microscopic crystal, which it created. Immediately after the insertion, the crystal began to grow roots that attached to the appropriate areas of his brain; the crystal would allow more advanced monitoring and communications with Adam. The Orb completed the procedure flawlessly and quickly. Normally, when a subject wakes up, the Orb and Entities would be gone, and the subject would be oblivious to any brain procedure; however, for some reason unknown to the Entities Adam slowly opened his eyes.

“He opened his eyes.” E-2 urgently thought, “Shall we
flash
again?” Having never experienced this before, the Entities were concerned; they didn’t want Adam to be shocked at what was happening to him. “Let’s wait. He may close his eyes again. Besides he should be paralyzed,” E-1 thought.

Oblivious to the Orb and the procedure it was performing, Adam was only aware that the light in his room was still on. Wanting to turn the light off he tried to get out of bed but he realized he was unable to move and paralyzed from his neck down. Not understanding why, he began to panic and with all his strength, he tried to wiggle and move his arms and legs. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he thought. He continued to struggle but still was unable to move. He felt as if everything from his neck down was gone. “I know I am awake, or am I still asleep?” He began to panic and tried to scream for help, “ah – ah - ah,” was the only sound audible, it was hardly a whimper.

His eyes frantically darted around the room as he kept thinking, “I must be having a bad dream. ‘WAKE-UP!’” he thought as he tried to shake his head back and forth in an effort to snap out of his paralysis. In his peripheral vision, Adam noticed a glowing object that hovered next to his head. The object was circular about 10 inches in diameter and it didn’t appear to have a solid surface. It had a strange shimmer and looked as if it was melting. He had the distinct sensation there was some sort of skinny silver tentacle extending from it and somehow connected to the left side of his head. Adam tried to scream, “Ahaaaaaaa!” A faint whimper was the only sound heard. His mind was freaking out. “What the hell is this thing?” He thought as he struggled to move. “What’s it doing to my head?”

He must have struggled for about 30 seconds when the orb instantly flashed from the side of his head to the foot of his bed. Whatever it was, it scared the hell out of him so much that he stopped struggling and watched the thing. It moved so quickly that for a split second he wasn’t sure if the orb had always been at the foot of his bed. Poor Adam was terrified, confused, and still unable to move or utter a word. He watched the orb silently float there. Petrified the orb might harm him, he decided to lie as still as possible hoping it would disappear. As he kept watching, he had the strangest feeling that it was watching him.

After about 10 seconds the orb changed color from a whitish gold to a brilliant red that lit up his room, it was so bright he squinted his eyes, then as quick as a bullet it shot straight through the window without breaking it. At first, Adam just laid there frozen with fear, but after awhile he took several deep breaths and slowly regained feeling in his body. To test his voice he muttered, “ah, umm...” He was able to move his arms and legs now but his whole body tingled the way a foot feels when it falls asleep and you try walking on it. After the tingling subsided, he finally sat up. Curious to see where this orb might have gone, he quickly ran to the window and looked out searching for the object. As he looked around, he noticed it was hovering over his neighbor’s house. It hovered there as if it was waiting for him to look for it, but then it instantly shot away. He slowly started to examine his window by running his hand over the surface of the glass. He expected to find it broken, however, he found nothing wrong with the window, it wasn’t even cracked.

Taking a step back and standing in front of the window in shock, he kept wondering, “Did this really happen to me?” Feeling slightly incoherent and a little weak after this episode, he thought splashing some cold water on his face might help clear his head. He quietly walked to the bathroom, trying not to wake his parents up. In the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror, he looked pale and very scared, that’s when he noticed a tiny red dot near his temple. As he leaned closer to get a better look, suddenly, his mother’s voice made him jump with fear and his heart started racing, “Adam! Are you okay?” She called from her bedroom, “It’s late you should be in bed.” Still shaken from his experience Adam responded as calmly as he could, “Yes! I’m fine.”

Adam splashed more cold water on his face, which seemed to help, and then he slowly walked back to his bedroom. He kept looking around expecting to see something unexplainable but he saw nothing. Standing at the doorway to his bedroom he carefully looked around but there was nothing out of place; tonight he decided not to turn the lights off. He slowly walked to his bed and climbed in, still extremely bothered by what had happened. He pulled the covers up over his head and as he lay there, he kept thinking, “What was that thing? It wasn’t anything like a UFO, this was different.” How could he ever tell anybody what happened? No one would ever believe him; they would think he was crazy. Lying very still with the covers over his head, Adam slowly fell asleep.

In the corner of Adam’s room, hidden in their invisible bubble, E-1 and E-2 watched for a moment then instantly they transferred to a new location and their shimmer slowly faded away.

Chapter – Three

T
he end of the 1970s marked a pivotal time in the world - the era of the hippie culture, spanning from the middle 1960s slowly diminished and now replaced with the “disco” era. The United States, considered the most powerful nation in the world had successfully landed men on the moon and returned them safely, not only once, but six times. After the moon missions were completed, a new spacecraft was built; a re-usable space vehicle that was launched piggy-backed on booster rockets to outer space where it would separate and orbit earth. After its mission was completed, it would glide like an airplane back to earth and be used again.

This period also marked an explosion of new technologies - personal computers, video games, microwave ovens, fiber optics, to name a few. Many conspiracy theorists believed these new technologies were reverse-engineered from alien artifacts, which gave humans a jump in their technological evolution. How these new technologies came about is a topic for another story; the fact that technology was exponentially increasing year after year would remain a mystery.

After Adam finished high school, he went away to college. He studied electrical engineering; electronic technology was a childhood passion of his. As a kid, he would go to Navy electronic surplus warehouses and buy old electronic circuit boards then painstakingly remove all the components. He would look through old electronic hobby magazines to find simple electronic projects that he could build from these spare parts.

Once he made a small amplifier from the parts he harvested from the old circuit boards, it was so sensitive that he used it to eavesdrop on his older sister while she talked to her girlfriends in her bedroom. He actually discovered a lot of juicy information on her, which he used to blackmail her, like getting her to wash the dinner dishes on his night, and to do some of his homework.

One of the biggest projects Adam embarked on was when he and Scott soldered many strands of wires together to make one continuous strand. Each strand was about ten feet long and they had about 200 strands. One night when the neighbors weren’t watching they climbed the telephone poles on both sides of the street, strung the wire up, and unrolled it until it reached both houses. Then, Adam connected crystal microphones to both ends. Coming off the crystal microphones were two connections. He connected the wire that ran the distance between Scott’s house and his house to one of the connections and grounded the second connection. (A crystal microphone is about two inches in diameter and used on old tape recorders for recording sound. When a person speaks into the microphone, sound waves vibrate the crystal; this vibration generates small amounts of electricity that fluctuate with the sound of the person’s voice. This electrical sound wave flows through the wire and the sound wave of the person’s voice comes out the crystal microphone like a speaker. That was the beauty of the crystal microphone: It was both a microphone and a speaker. They used the same technology for record players. As the needle drags in the groove of a vinyl record it picks up tiny vibrations that convert to music.) Adam and Scott talked back and forth for hours without any source of electricity, until one day the utilities company cut the wire down, ending their point-to-point telephone.

After completing college, Adam spent time thinking about his future. He wanted to have one last adventure before he settled down and contemplated his career options. Loving the great outdoors, he thought he would backpack through Yosemite, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. What a wonderful place to help decide what to do with the rest of his life. To accompany Adam on his backpacking trip he took his girlfriend, Jennifer.

Adam met Jen while going to college; they shared a class together and quickly became study partners, and then lovers. Jen wasn’t very tall, but slim and attractive with brown hair and eyes. Adam fell in love with her, but he always thought that after they graduated from college they would go their separate ways. Surprisingly, though, she followed Adam back to his hometown to be with him, and in his heart, he was glad – he thought she was amazing.

They began their journey in Tuolumne Meadows, a gentle, dome-studded section next to the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. The first part of the hike was easy going, and Adam was glad because Jen wasn’t much of a hiker. Still, he was sure that when they finished this adventure, she would be fit and ready to try another more challenging park.

They got an early start. The first leg of their hike was going to be 7
½
miles long and their first stop was Sunrise Lake. There, they would set up a campsite, then explore the area, and do some fishing and swimming.

“Are you ready to go?” asked Adam.

With a big smile on her face, she said, “Yes.”

During the hike, Adam said, “Did you know there are bears in the area?”

“Yes, I read that in the hiking map, they won’t bother us will they?” she said with a little concern in her voice.

“They only want food; they usually try and steal it during the night when people are asleep.”

“Wow, that’s going to be scary, I hope they won’t bother us.”

They hiked for about an hour when they came to a ridge. Then the trail started to descend southwest towards Clouds Rest. From there, they had a panoramic view of the valley before them. The natural beauty of the place astounded them. Jen wanted to stop often to take
pictures, but Adam kept reminding her it was going to take longer to get to their destination.

When they finally arrived at Sunrise Lake, they noticed there were other couples camped out along the shore of the lake. They hiked further along the shore until they found a private area.

They set up the campsite and then did a little exploring of the area. Both slipped into bathing suits and took a dip.

“Geez, the water is freezing,” said Adam.

“No kidding.”

They played in the water for a while then relaxed and had lunch, then took a nap.

That night after their dinner, they spent hours just staring at the starry night sky and talked about the possibility of other civilizations on other planets.

“How could there not be other civilizations out there?” Adam would say, “The cosmos is so incredibly big there’s no way humans are the only living beings in the entire universe.”

Lying in their sleeping bags looking up at the night sky Adam would point out particular stars and identify them to Jen, “Do you see that star? That’s the North Star, and over there is the Big Dipper.”

Jen already knew most of the stars Adam was pointing out to her but she acted as if she didn’t, and let him believe he was teaching her.

“And my all-time favorite constellation is Orion’s belt.” Pointing at a star, Adam said, “See the star on the top; compare it to the star on the bottom.”

Jen looked at both stars and then said, “Ok, what am I supposed to see?”

“The star on the top is named Betelgeuse, a red supergiant. If it were our Sun, its size would extend all the way out to Jupiter! And the bottom star is named Rigel, a blue-white star.”

“Wow, Betelgeuse is huge! It’s hard to imagine a Sun that big.”

“Yeah, most astronomers believe it is very unstable and on the verge of exploding, or what they refer to as Supernova. Here’s something for you to think about – if it exploded right now, we would never know that it exploded, it would take over 600 years before light from that explosion reached Earth,” explained Adam.

She tried to understand what the speed of light meant and the distance this star was from Earth during their star gazing time together, but she didn’t fully understand these concepts, and she didn’t want Adam to think she wasn’t interested so she would just agree with him.

After awhile Adam started talking about some of the strange events that happened to him when he was younger.

“See this scar over my left eye? You want to know how I got it?” he asked.

“Ok”

“My mother told me I fell and hit my head when I was about one year old. She was hanging laundry and something weird happened that she couldn’t explain. Everything she looked at was vibrating and then she fell and couldn’t move or speak.”

“Really, and she didn’t know what had happened?” asked Jen.

“No, but when she was finally able to get up, she ran and found me with a gash over my eye and blood everywhere,” said Adam. “Wow that is really strange,” said Jen.

She didn’t know what to think or say about his stories; she just thought this was something benign that happens during a person’s childhood. People tend to make these things bigger than they really are. He also told her about his bizarre dreams. She was all too aware of his dreaming episodes while living together. She would wake up in the middle of the night with Adam either screaming or talking aloud, and it seemed he was having a serious conversation with someone in those dreams.

Unfortunately, their backpacking adventures ended when Jen suddenly came down with the flu. They packed all their camping gear in their car and headed back home.

Jen lay down on the back seat of the car and slept most of the drive home. When they finally got home, Adam helped Jen into the house and she immediately went to bed.

“You need anything Jen?” he asked. She looked at him with her sad eyes and said “No! I’m very tired, I just want to sleep.”

As he tip-toed out of the bedroom, the telephone rang and he quickly ran to answer it; he didn’t want the ringing to disturb her.

Adam picked up the phone and said, “Hello!”

“Hi Adam,”

It was Jim, his good friend. “Hey, Jim how is it going? Jen and I just got home from our backpacking trip. She got sick so we came home early.” Adam’s smile slowly faded from his face as he listened.

“I have some sad news Adam, Scott died.” This caught Adam completely off guard. It was as if someone knocked the wind out of him. He just stood there holding the phone in shock not knowing what to say. Slowly he sat down, still not believing what he had just heard and asked “What? When? How?”

“Well, Scott was vacationing with his wife Susan in Hawaii and they were swimming. His wife said she swam to shore and when she looked around for Scott he was nowhere in sight.” Jim told Adam that the lifeguards and the rescue team searched the area for several hours until his body finally washed up on shore. This didn’t make any sense to Adam because Scott was a strong ocean swimmer.

Adam and Scott met in elementary school, grew up together and were inseparable in high school. He was best man at Scott’s wedding. He was devastated over Scott’s death, he spent a lot of time thinking about him and all the things they did together. Scott was Adam’s oldest friend, and he always considered Scott his brother.

It was cloudy and drizzling the day they buried Scott. As they lowered his casket, a tear rolled down Adam’s cheek and he said in a soft voice, “I’ll never forget you my friend!” Right after the services, he approached Scott’s wife, Susan to offer her some comfort. Without saying anything, he gave her a big hug. Susan whispered into Adam’s ear, “Adam, the morning Scott and I were out swimming he told me he had a dream about you.”

“Did he tell you what the dream was about?”

She shook her head no, “He said he would tell me after we got back from swimming.” Susan started to sob uncontrollably so Adam continued to hug her.

In the weeks that followed Scott’s funeral, Jen fully recovered from her illness and within the year, Adam and Jen were married with family and close friends in attendance. For their honeymoon, they went to Mexico for a week. When they came home, they looked for a house to buy and found a very nice one in a good neighborhood. They did a few DIY projects to spruce up the house like painting walls, building fences, and planting gardens.

Adam accepted a job with an electronics firm and life began to settle down into a comfortable routine.

One evening when he came home from work, Jen told him that she got a job offer and was seriously thinking about accepting it.

“That great Jen!” said Adam. Jen studied General Finance in college and looked forward to working for an accounting firm that had offered her a job. She looked forward to starting a career and a family; however, Adam didn’t seem that interested in a family quite yet.

One night while lying in bed together with the lights off, Adam told Jen silly stories about nothing, making her laugh, until eventually, they both fell asleep. An hour after they were asleep there appeared in the corner of their bedroom a faint shimmer of light. In their invisible bubble were E-1 and E-2, hidden, making one of their periodic visits to observe Adam and now, Jen.