3 Phaze
Mathew E C Bridle
Published by Mathew Bridle at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Mathew E C Bridle
© 2010 Mathew E C Bridle. All rights reserved.
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3 PHAZE
Earth, a fragile beauty that could be compared to no other; a world that had evolved to a point where it could go no further.
Earth, another world, a dying entity; killed by the greed and destructive influence of a single hostile species: Man.
For no other purpose than self gain man had sapped all of his earth's resources to their limits. He had polluted the seas, poisoned the land, burned all of the forests and finally destroyed the life-sustaining atmosphere. The time had come at last to end all of his wanton destruction; time had come for change, for sweet revenge.
3 PHAZE - A BRIEF HISTORY
My world today is very different from that in which my story begins: the greed and violence that were once the greatest attributes of mankind have no place in this world. Maybe then I should start at what was the beginning for me. After all it seems that that would be a logical choice.
The year is 3027, the place, Histus, as the great metropolis prepares for nightfall. Heavy palls of steam rise incessantly into the fading sky as Peecees; the giant airliners of tomorrow slip smoothly across the translucent dusky-pink skyline.
Far beneath my penthouse view the traffic hummed by floating on antigravity drives that were fuelled by the never ending g-force of earth.
The city, a vast sprawling monster, one mile down and over one thousand miles end to end, all built on the site of the old New York. The Statue of Liberty stood dwarfed by its surrounding neighbours, huge skyscrapers, their tops lost in the filthy dust-clouds that drifted on the ceaseless currents of the rising thermals from the stinking city far below. The only rain that fell never hit the sidewalks or the now preserved solitary acre of Central Park - the United States' last defiant patch of greenery, one final ecological gesture to a dying world.
The Park they called it, they even had the nerve to charge people to have a look at it - to have a look at what? A tree with a few blades of yellow-green grass and last but by no means least the last great relic of the old twentieth century litter - and plenty of it. Rubbish had its place in the thirty-first century, all rubbish however small was collected by ‘trash droids’ drop your litter and the trash droids came to whisk it away. Loiter anywhere for too long and the cops, mechanical cops, not that you could tell, would come to urge you along, life was never static for in the city. Synthetic people were the only ones that could survive outside the protective electro-dome of the city without any form of protection. The atmosphere outside of the city was too corrosive and 'active' for humans to tolerate.
Histus, the great sprawling monster ebbs into the howling darkness of the night. Far below my vantage point I watch the endless procession of the needle-points of light flying by on their airborne traffic lanes zipping along their predetermined routes; auto pilots taking the risk out of everyday life. A late night Peecee carrying thousands of people slips through the dust clouds, east bound to the United European Nations, or possibly even Ukay.
What a place this earth had become, dark and unwholesome.
Much of its protective ozone layer had gone long ago in 1997 during the sudden annihilation of the entire Middle East. After three short wars with Iraq, the United Nations, as it was then, imposed full trade sanctions after it was disclosed that the leaders of Iraq were in league with the other Arab nations in a bid to control the world's oil. Iraq kept the world busy while the other Middle Eastern nations bumped up the oil prices. The United Nations final response was to cease all connections with the region, and so began the last great industrial revolution, the quest for alternative energy.
Of course the Middle East protested its innocence but no one was prepared to listen, not until a solitary nuclear warhead landed on the Isle of Wight wiping out the entire population of the island and a large portion of the Hampshire and Dorset counties. World War III began on September 1st 1997, it ended on September the 2nd 1997 just twenty-three hours later when just about every nation that had a warhead pressed their buttons and launched it at the Middle East.
When the dust clouds had finally settled, two months later, Israel, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and most of Saudi Arabia had turned to glass. Millions of lives were lost in the blinking of an eye; nobody cared especially France who somehow caught a nuke smack in the centre of Paris. With the Middle East gone together with most of the ozone layer as well as half of the upper atmosphere - Iraq's last gift to the world, she had detonated all of her nuclear arsenal in space - the world calmed down and it seemed as though nobody wanted to fight anymore - they say that some good usually comes out of a war.
The sudden loss of the ozone layer opened the door to all manner of disease; cancer spread like the plague along with a whole host of new complaints. The hole in the ozone layer spread wide as it covered most of Africa and Europe; not only that, it was unstable, some days it would contract and draw itself in, then it would expand again pushing itself out in another direction making it mobile. The starving millions of Africa were dealt another cruel blow in their endless struggle for survival: the sun that had dried out their home land now blinded them and blistered their skin. It was more than their fragile existence could take. It seemed to them that the world just didn't want them, so they gave up trying to win and let the earth take them.
The centuries began to pass, there were no further atrocities, no wars and very little anger; it was as though man had finally come of age, but time would soon put that to the test. As man's desire to kill slowly left him he became docile and the world at last became a little more hospitable. Man could now set about righting the wrongs of the previous generations.
With his new found respect for mother earth man had set about finding new ways of creating energy. The last nuclear power station closed its doors late in the twenty-first century when the first air powered units were switched on for the first time. This was heralded as the best thing that man had ever done, the air units actually filtered the air as it passed through the system. The air units also brought about the demise of national power systems; electricity had become portable; light came to the darkest, coldest parts of the earth. Next came the anti-gravity drives, the industrial giants rubbed their hands with glee at the thought of no more energy bills. The world prospered, man grew rich but this time he shared his wealth with the poorer nations bringing the third world onto an even par.
The Middle Eastern war had been the catalyst for man to change, he had changed from a belligerent power crazed general into a more careful nurturing creature, it seemed that the cave man had at last come home.
Man had reached the final phase of his evolutionary course so once again his attention was turned to that last great unconquered unknown of space. Not without reason though this time was man drawn by the twinkling eyes of space, a voice, a long distant echo from man's past was calling from the void, a response to the invitation of Voyager, but the source of the response came as something of a surprise -Earth.
It has been surmised for countless millennia that we are not alone in this universe, it has also been suggested that when we die our spirit lives on to have another ride on life's great merry-go-round. Today we know this to be true, through the many recorded cases of `phazing'. It all started with flashbacks, of a life that could not have possibly been lived by the person having them. Most people get no further, but some do, some progress to the second phaze -the experience, but very few have ever been to the final phaze because no one was ever really sure what phaze three was. Nobody, that is, except for me, for I have seen it all and I have met the senders of that message to earth, and I have heard their story.
PHAZE ONE
THE OUTCAST
The dull thud of the wiper-blades beat incessantly through my confused senses. I could feel the warm touch of something moist on my left temple. My legs were broken and twisted but I could not tell exactly how. The bright glare of the lights from the approaching vehicle slowed to a halt in front of me. Dull voices echoed through the night, flashing lights and pulsing sirens began to fade with my consciousness. My body was lifted somewhat unceremoniously from the wreckage of my vehicle, covered with a white sheet and slid carefully into the back of a larger vehicle.
That was the first time that I phazed. After later phazings I awoke numbed and bruised, my limbs ached, I could remember the accident as clearly as though it were only yesterday. I could remember telling the doctors of my experiences - reports were made, tests were taken, and I was listed for 'observation'.
The thirty-first century loomed, only days away, yet amidst all of the improvements and advances made by man, an individual's rights could still be violated without any obligations or reasons why. After everything that man had done, after all he had been through, he had not forgotten how to lie and deceive. The world leaders still existed, as I was to later discover; the only difference now was they sat behind closed doors, concealing themselves behind huge super computers, giant semi-organic systems that had self-evolved along their own paths, these systems reigned supreme over man.
Months passed without any further flashbacks, so I was given my release from their studies, but I had been unknowingly tagged. I did not know at first or for quite some time that I was being constantly monitored from within my own body. Deep inside my pelvic cradle, safely positioned out of harm's way laid the transmitter, sending out a constant stream of data that told the listener everything from my biorhythmic status to my location. Four microscopic units had been implanted into my blood system, which could be controlled by the listener. They could travel anywhere within my body and report back their findings but there was nothing to report - was there?
The second flashback came during a routine physical examination with the local medical unit. Regular checks were made on all humans because of all of the disease that had decimated the world’s population; humans were a rare commodity in the thirtieth century.
I raised my arms and crossed them over my head to allow the doctors to attach their probes. It was then that I felt the warm rush of air as the crowd stood and applauded. I could feel my own temperature rising in the heat of the stage lighting, I caught a small bouquet of flowers as they flew by, I swung them in towards my face, the rich scent made me a little heady and I swooned slightly. The adulation, the warmth, the flowers all gone as swiftly as they had come. I had never seen flowers before, nothing much grew in this pallid world. I blinked momentarily, allowing reality to return. Doctors were diving in all directions checking their equipment for any possible faults. Just a glitch, they assured me, and sent me away, my transmitter would keep them informed.
I arrived home to an unusually still apartment. All the lights were off and they stayed that way even when commanded to respond. I felt a rough hand clasp over my mouth and pull me backwards towards the door. I struggled to free myself but I could already feel the effect of the anaesthetic gnawing at my consciousness.
The cool mountain air brought the smell of pine to my nostrils. My eyes scanned the horizon for any recognisable landmarks but all I could see were mountains, valleys and thousands upon thousands of beautiful quivering pine trees. I rose to my full height to take in my new surroundings. I looked from side to side, I spread out my arms, I could feel the wind filling my outstretched limbs with a lifting force. Without any further thought I leapt into the air and was soon soaring over the lush green forested mountains.
I swooped down over a sparkling lake before I climbed again twisting ecstatically into the clear crisp blue sky. Such a wondrous world was rushing beneath me as I sailed along the rising air currents. Below in a shallow basin by a small river I could see a thin column of pale smoke rising from what appeared to be a large knoll. I dipped to one side and tumbled down to investigate. I landed silently in the soft grass behind the knoll where I could hear the sound of stones tapping together as I rounded the knoll. The tapping slowed to a rhythmic click as the creature spotted me and watched me walk into view. I looked up at the creature as it sat on its haunches, quietly humming to itself.
The pale green glaze slid from its eyes revealing their almost bottle-green lenses. A bright pink tongue flicked out to taste the air, as a slender green hand reached out over me.
More doctors ushered around in silence. It appeared that none of them had noticed that I had awoken from my drug induced slumber. One doctor, I never knew her name, reminded me in some ways of the creature from the mountains. Her eyes were large and of the darkest green, her face was rounded and frog-like in appearance, and she always seemed to be smiling. This doctor, Lyne I called her, leaned over me and closed my eyes
“Be still,” she said softly in a whisper, removing her hand to look at me again, “we shall meet again soon.” She turned and left the room. Two other doctors came and loosened the straps that held my arms and feet. They sat me up and one passed me a cup with some sour tasting liquid in it. I winced as the bitter-sharp taste washed over my taste buds. My mind was slowly swimming back into focus as they lowered me into an awaiting hover chair. A voice said something to the chair and it carried me briskly along a maze of corridors to the next clutch of white coated doctors. The chair hummed an almost inaudible tone as it rotated, still hovering to face a wall of monitors that were busily displaying what must have been the outside world, but outside where?
Two of the monitors were showing a tragic accident involving a Peecee, which apparently just fell from the sky over the south western suburb of Histus, somewhere near Charlotte in what used to be called North Carolina. Twenty-eight thousand lives had been lost, mostly synthetic of course but lost all the same. Another screen was giving warnings of the ozone layer the hole was fast approaching the western seaboard of America and was showing no signs of stopping. Histus was only ten days away. Other screens were showing re-runs of the Middle Eastern war of 1997, just to remind us all of the bad things that men used to do to one another.
The last screen that I looked at was right in the centre of the wall and all it had on display was me. It was obvious to me now that I had been followed wherever I had gone in the year since my last encounter with the medics. One by one the screens all changed to form one single image of myself sitting staring coldly back at me. For one short instant I flashed back to the creature in the mountains, but why?
A dark enveloping shield closed behind me making my screen image appear more threatening and menacing. “Who is sending the signal to us?” a hollow synthetic voice questioned from beyond the screens. My mind replied before my voice, “What signal?” I could see my own puzzled expression looming over me.
“The signal from Voyager,” came the reply.
“What voyager?” I really did not know, not then.
“Don’t play games with us!” So there was more than one of them toying with my mind.
“Who is the Voyager?” I asked in my ignorance.
“The Voyager is a WHAT not a WHO.” The voice took on a more threatening tone. “Do you wish us to search you for the answer?” A small hiss preceded the appearance of a floating orb, no bigger than a large fist. A needle slid silently from its surface. “Who is trying to contact us?” The orb hissed again and moved closer to my temple, “and why?”
“I know nothing of what you ask,” I could feel the narrow point of the needle sinking slowly into my flesh.
“Tell us what we need to know and you may go,” offered the voice, now back to a more placid tone.
“I cannot tell you what I do not know.” The needle pushed deeper, I could see the orb on the monitors, I watched a single bead of blood run down my temple, “I know nothing of what you ask.” My eyes closed and the torture was no more.
The hillside passed slowly by as I sat perched on the shoulder of the creature as it walked along the gently flowing river following its course along the valley floor towards the distant shoreline.
“You may leave. You are of no further use to us.” The voice echoed in the now spacious room, the monitors were blackened as the chair took me from the room to an awaiting vehicle. I was taken in silence through the city, past the wreckage of the ill-fated Peecee, outwards towards the city limits. The driver parked the vehicle and tossed the control card at me. He gave me one quick passing glance and pointed out towards the open wastes that lie between Histus and the Appalachian Mountains.
“That way for you,” he said stiffly, turning back towards the seething city. I slid myself over into the driving seat and slipped the control card into place. I eased the vehicle slowly forward into me awaiting wilderness of America.
Much of the land was parched and dusty, not much survived out here, not since the last visit by the ozone-hole that and the acid rain. I past swiftly through the dried out town of Ashville and made my way from there as quickly as I could to the mountains, where the air was cleaner and clearer. There were no dust clouds hanging like the shadow of death overhead, no filthy city skyline to trap the airborne dirt. There was nothing, just nothing, but the barren wilderness. Tomorrow I would head south to the gulf.
The stillness of the night unnerved me a little. Having lived in Histus for as long as I could remember I was uncertain as what to expect. Out here nothing stirred, there was no life left to stir, except maybe a few resilient insects, but even they were avoiding me. Man had done enough to them already and the least contact they could get with man the better.
I watched from the comfort of my cruiser; Histus though distant remained visible as a twinkling display of lights that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction.
“Please acknowledge,” a voice requested from the main console of the cruiser. I turned and studied the glossy touch sensitive panel, “Please acknowledge,” repeated the voice.
“How?”
“Acknowledgement received.” Then silence, stony silence, but they were still watching me, weren't they?
A cold clear morning rose to fade away the still darkness of the night, “Please acknowledge,” the voice had returned, “Please acknowledge.”
“OK.”
“Acknowledgement received.”
The mountains shrank from view as I sped rapidly south across the empty landscape. The on-board scanner showed no signs of life of any shape or form. By early evening I was looking out on the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida coastline. I stopped to rest a while, pondering my next move. I drew a long, deep breath and closed my weary eyes.
The fresh smell of the lush meadows filled the late afternoon air. We were settled by a long coastline that edged the crystal blue ocean, light golden sand skimmed gently over the creature's feet. It raised its arm and pushed me up into the shifting sunset sky. I wheeled around enjoying my new found freedom of flight. I swooped and dived towards the creature, landing heavily on its wrist. It turned and looked at me, the smooth green skin of its mouth parting slightly to reveal its only two small fang-like teeth. It stroked me gently as it slowly turned to look back inland at a strange object that glistened in the light of the setting sun.
I opened my eyes on to the darkening sky, “Please acknowledge,” the voice had returned. Would there never be any peace from this voice would Histus never leave me alone?
“I'm here.”
“Acknowledgement received.” I watched a solitary figure as it walked towards me. At first I was unsure as to whether or not the figure was actually there. Its head was slightly bulbous for the size of its body on one arm it carried what appeared to be a small bird. As the figure approached it began to fade until it was no more than a memory.
THE DREAMING
A great plume of water vapour spread like a billowing sail as the rocket streaked across the clear blue sky. I watched in awe as Voyager was launched into the void of space. Thousands had gathered at the Kennedy Space Centre to watch the spectacle, millions more on world-wide TV. I shuddered as its signal echoed back from the infinite void of space, back to the receiving stations on earth. Yes, Voyager, I receive you, loud and clear.
The crowd was already beginning to disperse; there was nothing more to see so they headed for home, home? Now where could that be? I followed an ordinary looking couple back to their car, listening intently to their conversation. I stepped into the car and took a seat in the back. The scenery rolled by as we journeyed south along the coastal highway, heading towards the Keys. Tall gleaming glass monsters towered over the older building that lined the highways. Tall they may have been back in 1977, but in my day, the thirty-first century, they would have been mere infants, saplings in the jungle of Histus.
I left the couple at their apartment and drifted aimlessly towards the coast, the early evening was sky tinted a hard blue, making it difficult to tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Dolphins porpoised in the inner water line, shoals of silver-bellied fish darted around trying to avoid the playful creatures. Life was good here in the late '70's, fast maybe, but good. Voyager had left Earth for Jupiter and was already sending home a steady stream of data so I decided to stay a while and watch the years roll by.
The '80's came and swiftly passed, war seemed to be everywhere. I found it hard to believe that a man would travel half way around the globe just to kill someone. Nothing of any real worth came from the '80's. I had to be careful; for even though I was in my dream state I could still alter my environment and therefore alter the delicate structure of history and time. I wandered along the streets full of people in a way that would have been impossible in my own time.
Why was this happening to me? And why now, here?
The people of my dreams could neither see nor hear me, neither could they touch me, but some could sense my presence, and some were once me.
“You came,” a faint voice called me, “you have searched and now you have found me.” I turned slowly as though I were floating in water. A young girl about five feet four tall was standing about three feet from me. She was smiling, her bright green eyes shining with a natural luminescence,
“Lyne?” I enquired, curious.
“If that's what you want to call me,” she said, shrugging her slim shoulders, “Lyne's fine.” “You said that I came, I searched?” “You have, and here we are. What now?” I was stunned was she really trying to tell me that all this was of my own doing? How?
“You called me in the hospital; I have come to help you.” She backed away a little to lead me out towards the ocean. “You are important to us, you are able to receive our signal, and soon you will come to us yourself.” She paused briefly, “We are not of this world.”
“Please acknowledge.”
“Please acknowledge,” the voice repeated. I was back in my own, more familiar world, back in the Florida of today. I looked out at the angry sea, “Please acknowledge.” I wondered how long the voice had been calling, and whether there was actually anybody out there listening.
“I'm here,” I said, pushing the throttle and turning back towards Histus. I could not stop thinking about Lyne and what she had said about it being me that had called her, and they, whoever they were, were not of this world but we would meet soon.
I journeyed back as far as Jacksonville, the dry dust bowl of a ghost town. I was still about five hundred miles from the southern perimeter of Histus but I could already see the warm yellow glow of the electro-dome that shielded the city from the full rage of the sun. The ozone hole had reached the city and night time would not exist as long as the shield was in place. I sat and watched the yellow skyline while I waited for sleep to descend upon me.
This time things were different, I was not in the Florida that I was in last time, this time it was the Florida of 2116, the day the city of Jacksonville died.
The month of July 2116 went down in history as the day the world died, the day that death rose from the deep. Throughout most of the late twentieth century man had relied on the dangers of nuclear fuel to supply him with much of his needed energy. For over one hundred years he had dumped his toxic waste in landfills deep beneath the surface and also out at sea in large yellow canisters. It was this policy of, 'if I can't see it, it can't hurt me' that caused the disaster. Although man dumped his waste into the ocean he never thought to check on it and the ocean beds are not as stable as he thought. The deep ocean valleys are a hive of constant unpredictable volcanic activity. One such volcanic disturbance, deep beneath the surface of the ocean floor, cracked open the ground allowing some of those bright-yellow barrels to become wedged in the crevice. Further disturbances crushed and ruptured the barrels allowing the deadly toxins to escape in the surrounding waters poisoning the ocean.
As the years rolled by the barrels released more of their deadly cargo into the delicate balance of the lower food chain. Fish that swam in the polluted waters ate the crustaceans and plankton that had been infected by the radioactive waste, their bodies already hosts to new developments, mutations, however small. Small fish get eaten by larger fish which in turn get eaten by other creatures, including man.
The genetic mutations of the plankton were passed on through the food chain, passed on to the very top, to man. They had no affect however, that is not until July 2116. One bright sunny morning, much like any other, a bitter-sweet smell of decay wafted ashore, the smell hung in the air like a dark foreboding storm. The source of the smell was soon discovered - many thousands of sea creatures had been washed ashore, others had been driven up river estuaries by the incoming tide. Their bodies dried in the warming sun. Their soft scaly skins were covered in a multitude of blistered swellings like small mushrooms. As the day wore on the blisters dried and burst releasing the millions of trapped spores into the afternoon air. Warm favourable winds carried the spores into the city and beyond.
Jackson's Spore they called it as it was in Jacksonville that it first reared its ugly head the spores quickly spread their pestilence throughout the land bringing great fear and panic across the world. Not since the Dark Ages in medieval Europe had the world seen such an epidemic, such a vile and widespread suffering.
Those already stricken with AIDS were the first to go, their weakened immune systems giving them little hope against such a virulent disease. The sick and weak were easy pickings but the healthy were not much better off. No one that came into contact with the Spore survived. Once breathed in, the Spore began to irritate the respiratory system, nothing serious, a cough or two, possibly a slightly sore throat then nothing for a few days. As the infection developed, unusual visual disturbances would occur accompanied by violent muscular spasms. In its final stages large sores would spread across the body; some would form swellings like the heads of mushrooms which would then harden and burst scattering fresh spores into the air, back into the victim, further fuelling the disease. Death was slow and lingering, the visual disturbances increased to a point where reality became an illusion and the illusion a nightmare. White noise scrambled the victims’ mind, driving the last traces of sanity from them. Many millions died, many others committed suicide, others died at the hands of their loved ones, a merciful release.
The disease spread worldwide as fish and various other sea creatures were washed up on foreign shores; life would never be the same again. The medical world could find no cure, the disease was far too mutagenic; it could change its entire structure in a matter of days, alter its systemic effects almost as though it were conscious of man’s attempts to destroy it. The survivors of the great Plague of 2116 began to gather in the major cities of the world, New York became the favourite place in the United States, almost as though the people hoped that the city would hold the answer and in a way it did.
By mere coincidence the cure came from the skies themselves: the ozone hole. The high levels of ultra violet rays somehow neutralised the spore, bringing as swift an end to the plague as could be wished for. The news spread fast and people began to expose themselves to the harsh rays of the sun, only to replace one disease with a more lingering form of death.
America lay in ruins as did most of the civilised world. Those that had fallen foul of the Spore lay festering where they fell. There was nobody to pick them up and bury them, nobody to cart them away. Only a relative handful of the population had survived - less than four million remained in America and precious little more throughout the rest of the world. It was from this that Histus was born, a new name for a new people. The past was left behind, a new age was begun, an age of co-operation and a new understanding. But why was I seeing all this? What significance did it hold for me? If this is what my dreams were to be then I would rather stay awake.
That day I edged slowly towards Histus, the heat of the sun radiated from the surface of my vehicle in a thick wash of heat-waves, distorting my vision with their rippling life. All around the air quivered with the intense heat. My windscreen flickered, its outer surface changing to a perfect mirrored finish, reflecting back the deadly ultra-violet rays.
“Please acknowledge,” the familiar synthetic tone asked once more.
“Uh-huh,” was enough to satisfy the enquiry.
“Acknowledgement received.” It was an almost pointless exercise in communication; its only purpose was to silence that infernal voice.
I slid silently under a shield generator and journeyed back into the almost unreal world of the city. The constant throb of its life hit me like a hammer; how different this darkened world of half shadows was when compared to the effulgence of light that lay beyond the towering walls of the city. I swiftly joined a mainstream of traffic that almost seemed to ignore my intrusion, though the sensory systems in their craft would have informed them of the presence of a human and that they should give me right of way. Possibly the last measure of class in this so called free society, but why should the human population consider themselves as masters over the synthetics? After all they practically lived our lives for us, did that make us the superior life form?
“You are not permitted entry to this sector.” I looked out to my left at the source of the voice. A flying-eye remote camera whisked along beside me monitoring my every move.
“Please acknowledge,” that voice, the camera, “please acknowledge. “
“You must leave this sector.”
“OK!” I jerked the control to the right and pulled hard on the column sending my vehicle screaming upwards to a higher sector.
“Acknowledgement received.” The flying eye also appeased returned to its roost.
At this height the traffic was thinner and far swifter, six-hundred miles per hour was the norm at this altitude. Alexandria would not take long to reach at my present speed though I did not know what was waiting for me there, or why I was even going to Alex'. I just was and that was all that I knew. The city passed by in a constant blur, one building blending endlessly into the next, and so it continued for the next hour. Gradually I reduced my speed and eased my way out of the fast lane, losing altitude along the way. Eventually I came to a halt outside a dark and ominous apartment block. I stared silently at the blackened window almost willing some form of life to appear and make some sense out of everything that was happening to me. A dull light partially illuminated the expanse of the window, a solitary slender shadow skimmed through the light. The heavy whine of electric motors vibrated through me as a landing platform protruded from the building beneath my vehicle. I killed the drive and climbed out onto the platform into a cold cutting breeze. I looked down into the darkness of the street, three hundred floors below. I glanced up at the electro-shield sparkling under the challenging rays of the sun. The upper heights of the city glowed a putrid yellow under the cover of the shield, beside me a narrow doorway opened and beckoned me to enter.
Inside the room was warm, the moist air was being pushed around by some well-placed if not old fashioned rotary fans. The aroma of living plants was intoxicating and strangely pleasant. I had never seen any plants outside of the holographic museums. I ran my finger tips over the surface of some broad leafed plant enjoying the new and strange sensations that it gave me.
“That little fellow is a Leopard Lily, the sap is slightly poisonous but I would not let that worry you. It's really quite harmless,” a voice said from behind an opposing wall of fauna. “Please take a seat I'll be with you in a moment.”
I sat somewhat gingerly onto a large chair that rose from the floor behind me, two large arms spread from the sides of the chair wrapping me in their accommodating comfort. One of the arms opened allowing a slightly steaming aromatic beverage to rise from within it.
“What do you want of me?” I asked as I watched the wall of plants sway apart. A tall woman, slim with a shaven head, dressed only in a clinging vest and long shorts that fitted her like a second skin walked through the parted plants. She held out her hand in an open posture, I took it and shook it lightly, taking my time so as to allow me the opportunity to admire her, closely.
“You're not a synthetic, are you?” I said, factually.
“No, you are right in your assumption,” she smiled, “but then neither am I human.” She sat purposefully in front of me, her legs slightly parted. She leaned forwards and placing her hands on my knees said, “You called to us and we have come.” She sat back and looked directly at me.
“That's twice I've been told that in as many days,” I said looking straight back at her, “and I am still none the wiser as to what it means.”
“Voyager,” she said calmly, looking into me. “Since 1977 you have been calling to us, but until now your people have not had the ability to answer.” She smiled again.
“Forgive me my ignorance, but what exactly do you mean, I have not been alive that long!” I chuckled to myself. She tapped her fingers lightly on her legs, slowly and silently. I stared into her deep green eyes as she subtly blinked them, the room began to lose focus and I could feel my head slowly spin.
“My name is Caryle, and you are Tupelo. For centuries your race has been inviting other life forms to visit Earth in peace. A strange offer, considering that man has yet to find peace for himself, your people still have the tendency to kill first then ask questions.”
I pushed myself back into my chair, taking her last statement to be some kind of concealed threat. “Have you come to fight us, is that why you are here?” I asked anxiously.
“Fight?” She raised her eyebrows. “No, we have come to help you in the hope that you can help us.” She shifted her position so that she was slightly sideways to me. “We need you for we are at the limit of our evolutionary course and we cannot develop our potential without your kind. If this is not possible then we are afraid that our world may befall the same tragedies that have soured this Earth.” Great emphasis was placed on the 'this', but her meaning meant little to me.
“Tell me more about Voyager.” I tried to change the subject to something that seemed a little closer to home and to myself. “I have dreamed about it, its launch, and I have felt its signal, like a voice from the heavens, calling to me as though the message were intended for me.” I was calm, more calm than I could ever remember being. There was something about Caryle that was soothing to my senses, easing me into a controlled euphoria.
“I must go now, your people are coming. You carry a transmitter. It is dangerous for us to be with you for too long. Lose it for all of our sakes. Please,” she pleaded. Caryle rose almost magically from her chair and walked back into the fauna of the room, “Dream about us and we will show you..” She turned to look towards the sound of someone beating on the door behind my chair. “We shall meet again soon, Tupelo, we need you, you are special to us.”
Caryle gave me one last pleading glance before stepping into the shelter of the foliage; the plants swayed back together covering any trace of the woman.
The window dissolved, allowing me to escape to my vehicle, I dived into the central seat and looked back into the now deserted room. The drive unit hummed into life and lifted me clear of the now crumbling platform, two large cyber-cops burst through the doorway in time to see me wave them farewell. A flying eye zipped out of nowhere and flew alongside me.
“Pull over and shut down your drive unit!” A harsh warning barked out.
I turned and smiled at the flying eye as I swung my vehicle into it and into the oncoming traffic. All of the synthetic drivers switched off and fell to a lower lane, no humans out tonight. The flying-eye reappeared, “Pull over. This is your last warning.” I reached for the cut-out and pressed the button.
Almost immediately the vehicle began to pitch forward. “Engage your drive now. You are in violation of traffic safety.” That meant nothing to me; nothing did right then, I just acted on impulse.
The ground raced towards me as the craft entered a vertical dive I was protected from the increasing g-force by an inner seal within the vehicle. The lower levels of traffic scattered before me, running for their lives. A thousand feet below the pavement grew rapidly nearer.
“We are unable to assist your descent.” I chose to ignore me flying eye and finished my descent alone.
“Please acknowledge.”
Darkness and nothing more.
WHISPERS
In future years it is discovered that death is not the end, it is only the releasing of the life that is trapped within the earthbound, physical body. The knowledge is acquired as to how death works, what its purpose is and how to tell when you have finally died. This may all sound very pie in the sky to you now but soon it will all become as clear to you as it did to me.
I could not tell how long I had been asleep, if I was ever truly sleeping. I opened my eyes but I was still unsure as to where I was, if I was 'anywhere' at all. The darkness that surrounded me was total and encompassing, maybe even embracing, but it was certainly total, absolute, a heavy blanket swamping my subconscious. I began to see images moving against the blackness of the void were they really there or was my mind slipping?
I lay motionless and allowed the darkness to caress me, reassure me that there was nothing to fear, that I was not alone. I tried to sit up but a dull ache in my body convinced me to lie still. Each time that I closed my eyes even for just a short time I felt as though I was rotating upon whatever it was that was supporting me, a somewhat disturbing feeling to say the least. My mind began to wander, leaving my body to the mercy of whatever was out there. I began to see creatures of fantasy; dragons, elves, goblins and demons all became familiar to me, though I had never seen them before anywhere in my life. All things became known to me, great wondrous sights and smells, things from long forgotten times that could fire the imagination of nations. What significance did they hold for me or were they here just to re-kindle my own stagnating imagination? I guessed that I would never know as their images faded to mist as the whispers came. Nothing more than a faint hiss of escaping vapours whispering in a lost corner of my fragile mind.
Was this the afterlife? Had I died, was I being held in limbo, would the spirits come to claim me? I was soon to discover that all my fears were groundless. I closed my eyes once more and allowed the void to close in upon me and take me to whatever lay beyond. As gentle as the wings of a butterfly the darkness held me as we slowly rotated into a new realm of consciousness. Soft holographic images were forming within my head as my recent past was replayed in full detail.
The image zoomed in onto my vehicle from various acute angles, the image spun around as my vehicle rose from the platform outside of Caryle's apartment, the flying eye rushed up from the lower levels of the city and began its cautionary messages. But something was wrong, something was missing, something had changed and that something was me. I was no longer there, I had already left my body; long before the crash I had chosen to leave my physical form behind and move on to my new level of existence. I watched, knowing that I was not about to witness my own death. I watched the other vehicles dart away from my approaching craft as it raced towards them, their howling sirens passing in a violent instant as they flashed by. I smiled at my own calmness as I switched the power unit off, sending my craft into that once fateful dive. The same blanket of darkness passed over the playback, but only briefly. The emergency vehicles picked through every fibre of the wreckage hoping to find a clue as to my whereabouts; only the tiny transmitter implant remained, still pulsing.
Once again the crash was replayed to me, only this time backwards. I was unaware of the gradually increasing rotation of my body; as my body rotated faster, so time itself was replayed faster, slowing only to show me my meetings with both Caryle and Lyne, and that thing with the bird. The images halted, frozen in time, but whose time was it? Was it mine? Was it Caryle's, or was it one of the others? I concentrated hard on the image, pulling myself nearer to its static pose. The image belonged to no one, it was that of Earth, that of a world in its primeval youth, a world at the dawning of its day. I cautiously opened my eyes, not sure what lay waiting for me. I sat up, shielding my eyes from the bright light of the day that now surrounded me.
“This was your world,” a voice whispered to me. “The world that man came to dominate and destroy,” it stated, not merely accusing.
I stepped forward into the lush green fauna of this juvenile Earth, glancing back at the black platform that had been my bed for however long. The hot, moist air, clean, free from any pollutants filled my lungs. I breathed deep and hard savouring the air, as though it were some luxuriant narcotic. The heavy scent of ferns battered my senses, sending me off balance with their heady odours. What a world of contrast this was to the world it was to become.
Beside me a tree leapt skyward, torn from the soil in the maw of a great brontosaur, a gentle giant of the past. The main trunk of the tree fell crashing back to the ground; content with only the newest leaves, the great beast had discarded the rest. Far beyond the dinosaur a distant mountain exploded into a shower of heated rock. Hot molten lava spewed from the mountain's broken crown and flowed thickly down through the covering of lush vegetation. Fire leapt from the river of lava as the world burned with the passionate kiss of hell. The fire spread rapidly, trapping all manner of unknown creatures in its deadly grasp, ending their evolutionary tract before it had really begun, only the strong and the quick survived.
“What has this to do with me?” I asked aloud to whoever would listen.
“Your world is ours,” a whisper replied, “up to a point.”
“What point?” I was hungry for knowledge; I wanted to know it all. “What do you mean?” I was growing impatient.
“All of your questions will have their answers,” the calm feminine tone, comforting and restful, assured me. I pushed my way through the dense foliage as I made my way to the lake shore where the brontosaurus had been. Great clouds of steam were rising on the distant shore where the river of molten lava met the cool waters of the lake. All around the lake's perimeter the great lizards were browsing on the surrounding greenery, huge flying insects buzzing around the heads of the monsters, angry at their roosts being destroyed. Around my feet a strange green-brown newt-like creatures pulled themselves from the oozing mire and began to wipe the mud from their thick mucus coated skins. One of the small creatures clambered up onto my foot where it spread itself out to bask in the warmth of the day. I raised my foot to within reach of my hand and picked the creature up carefully so that I could get a better look at it. It blinked its bulging eyes, I could see the reflection of my own face in the dark surface of its protective membrane. The creature struggled to free its long spindly front legs. I turned the creature over and examined its thick stumpy tail, and the tail fell off allowing the creature to slip from my grasp and plop back into the lake. I watched the creature swim out a short way before it dived down out of sight. I took one last look around the prehistoric lakeside world, turned around and slowly made my way back through the thick growth of ferns to the black plinth that had brought me to this rapidly changing world. I sat for a while to watch this young Earth and its mesmerising array of ever evolving life spin on the endlessly replicating DNA. I lay reluctantly back upon the plinth and drew my last aromatic breath of this vibrant youthful world. The darkness folded around once more as the whispers told me of the worlds that lay ahead.
“Space holds the key that opens the lock that leads to the formation of your own world,” the whispers were becoming more solid and defined, “and closes the door upon ours.” At first I did not understand but everything was soon made dramatically clear.
From the distant reaches of space it came, tumbling slowly over and over, roaring along through the silent vacuum of space. Where it came from did not matter, it may just have been debris from a star gone nova or some timeless piece of flotsam roaming the galaxies looking for a home.
“This is the hand that shaped your world,” a meteor, many miles across. I knew then what the whispers had meant. They had not only warped us out into space but they had also taken us forward in time to the destruction of that wondrous world that I had just witnessed was about to unfold, implemented by the meteor.
“Do not fear, soon you shall know why it is you alone that can help us: soon you will become aware of the changes that are taking place within you now,” the voice instructed. “We are nearing the birth of man and that of your own destiny.”
“Must you always talk in riddles?” I was rapidly growing tired of the whispers’ constant mystery. Why could it not just tell me what it was that they wanted to say and just let me get on with my own life? Life? Wait a minute, I no longer had one! So I guessed they could do as they pleased with me.
“We are not controlling you, it was you who called to us and we have come in answer to your call. This is what you are wanting to know. “The Voice spoke in a very matter of fact way and I suppose it was right I did want to know, I wanted to know it all.
“The end of an era draws near,” the steady calmness had returned to the whispers’ tone, “the meteor has entered the orbit trajectory of your world watch closely with your mind, close your eyes to the visual world. Use your illusion, let your psychic ability unfold embrace your mind and allow yourself to truly see.”
I did as was instructed and allowed my mind to unravel this great mystery. I watched the great meteor as it raced along to its destiny with Earth. In my mind I could see the meteor tumbling and tumbling, over and over as it sped down onto its target. I could see the planet below most of its surface obscured by clouds and sulphurous vapours; I could see the myriad of creatures in their eternal struggle for life. Each one had a double, a second creature identical to the first, occupying the same place and yet also a different one.
The meteor rolled onto its final course and tilted down towards an unsuspecting world and then it appeared to split and divide whilst losing no mass or size. One meteor hurtled off toward a far flung comer of the universe where it would meet death at the hands of mighty Jupiter; the other sank into the thick blanket of swirling vapours.
Millions of tonnes of debris, a mixture of land, sea, animal and mineral were ripped from the surface of the fragile Earth and were flung into the upper atmosphere where they spread to form an impervious barrier to the life giving light of the sun. Shock waves rang out into space as they reverberated through the very fibre of the Earth, shattering the land masses, forming the breaks that would become the continents of my world. Mountainous tidal waves rose from the depths of the oceans and raced over the surface of the seas in search of land upon which to quell their anger. Many small islands disappeared beneath the raging torrents of water while other landlocked waters were formed. Life in many forms was destroyed, paving the way for new strains to fill their vacant links in the chain of evolution. After many days the Earth settled and began to tend her wounds beneath a new darkened sky. Without the life-giving light of the sun, the Earth grew cold and still, on the shores of a distant lake a small green-brown newt-like creature blinked at the chilling sky before returning to the crystallising water.
“This is how your world came to be, with the cooling of the world the bigger cold blooded animals died out leaving the world to the more adaptable creatures.” The voice paused. “This is where your world and ours parted their evolutionary courses. “
PHAZE TWO
ANOTHER WORLD
With my own world shrouded in darkness, a darkness that would forever alter the balance of life, I pondered as to what might have been had not the meteor came knocking on Earth's door. What difference would it have made to man's own evolution - would we still have been the masters? I lay silent upon the plinth slowly rotating in my darkness, alone with only my deepest thoughts to console me. I closed off my mind to all that I had ever seen and known. I began to imagine far off worlds with new and exotic life forms, strange new vegetation and whole new ways of life. Time meant nothing to me, time was nothing to the darkness and the darkness was everything to me. My senses were slowly awakening, bringing to me new forms of information that I had never known before; my life was already changing, thankfully for the better. I began to look back over the things that I had been shown: Voyager, Jacksonville and the world that now no longer existed, why? What significance did they all hold? I could not understand. Was I now just a mind forever voyaging?
When I awoke I could feel the warmth emanating from the golden glow of a small fire, over which a crudely crafted pottery bowl was slung. Steam rose from the pot, bringing to me the heady aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. Was I back in the future or was I still lost in some savage moment of Earth's history? I sat up and swung my feet off of the soft moss bed upon which I was lying. I rubbed my tired eyes and stared at the dancing flames of the flickering fire.
“Welcome, Tupelo,” a voice not a whisper, “I trust you slept well?”
I glanced feverishly around the room, the walls were lined with all manner of plants and what appeared to be insects, but I could not trace the source of the voice.
“Do not fear Tupelo, you are still a little disorientated, but you will get used to that as you gain experience at phazing.” The voice drew nearer.
“Who are you? Where are you?” I asked anxiously, for the first time in all of these strange new experiences I felt afraid.
“I am here,” a warm soft hand held mine as the being crouched next to me. “I am Lyne, we have met before.”
“In the hospital, yes I, I remember your voice. You came to me, briefly.” At least my mind was focusing if not my vision.
“Yes, to answer your call.” She moved a little closer, I could feel the warmth of her bare skin. “And now we have helped you to come to our world. Welcome to Earth.” She put her arm around my shoulders and hugged me lightly.
It took me a while to grasp what had happened but soon the penny dropped. “The meteor! This is what earth would have been.” I wanted to go outside and see this brave new world for myself, but my legs were too weary to carry me.
“There is plenty of time, you can leave as soon as you are able to if you wish.” Lyne's voice was gentle and reassuring. I turned to face her so that I could see what she looked like.
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