|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
THE TIME VECTOR FIELD CHRONICLES
“Ridgeback Retribution”
as told to Jesse Errol Stewart by Thomas Robert Lancaster
I sat on the steps of the verandah looking into the sunset while petting Hottentot. The last rays of light gently danced off the waters of the Limpopo River as the sun slowly sank into the horizon. Funny how reality sometimes seems a couple of hundred light years away. Only yesterday, Col. Stuart, Dr. Savage and Hottentot transgressed the time fabric in the Qabala while I impatiently waited for them in the present and experienced no less than death and resurrection in one day. I looked at Hottentot wondering if like me, he felt any different from his experience. His smiling face and wagging tail told me that he was just happy to be by my side, but somehow I knew that already.
This was a time of deep reflection for me. Images of my experience with the Being of Light flashed through my mind. I had felt so humbled by his Presence and what He told me concerning my future destiny. Those powerful words spoken in Hebrew were like waves of explosive energy. As each unit of meaning hit me it seemed to multiply a hundredfold and my wisdom grew at an exponential rate. My heart had literally become a well of compassion for my fellow man. Suddenly, I could look at people and know their thoughts as well as the pain and sorrow they often carried with themselves throughout their lives.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Col. Stuart walking towards me from across the courtyard. I could sense his excitement about traveling through the time fabric and his need to chat with Pete and me on certain technical issues. But I could also feel his pain, that side of the Colonel that he keeps hidden to himself: the burden he still carries on shoulders for the men once under his command that died in the heat of battle and the sheer pain he felt in the past at having to kill or be killed, the loss of his beloved Jenny to cancer early in their marriage and later his only daughter, Natalie to leukemia had left an indelible mark on the man. But above all of this, I could sense his strengths as a born leader. Bright, decisive and eminently courageous, he was the kind of man who could turn the tide of battle by his sheer inner will and strength.
“Good evening, Thomas, are you and Hottentot doing your best to attract every mosquito within five miles?” quipped Col. Stuart. “I say, let me give you directions back to Christiaan Fourie’s farm so that we can retrieve Pete as well as the Qabala.”
“That won’t be necessary, Colonel,” I answered automatically. “Fortunately, I do remember how to get there and it will take us several hours if I'm not mistaken. Just out of curiosity, how did you come to know Christiaan Fourie and why do you trust him with the Qabala?”
“Some of my mother’s family live in South Africa,” responded Col. Stuart. “They have known Christiaan’s family for generations. Actually, before the Boer War in the late 1890’s, if I’m not mistaken. I meet Christiaan at my nephew’s wedding about twenty-five years ago. We both have strong lapidary interests and have been over many parts of Africa together looking for precious and semi-precious stones. Once near Tanzania we found a small deposit of emeralds. We were in the process of heading into a local village with our prize when we were jumped by three unsavory characters who wanted to rob us. While I was handling one of the robbers, I saw Christiaan, who is a large stocky man, dispatch the remaining two thieves in about thirty seconds by first somehow grabbing their knives and then wrestling both of them to the ground and bashing their heads together. We took all three thieves into Mbeya and turned them over to the local authorities. Needless to say, this became a great tavern tale and we’ve been good friends ever since. I would trust the man with my life.
After about a three hour drive on almost impassable dirt roads we finally got to Christiaan Fourie’s farm. Under a moonlit sky, I could see that it was located on a high veldt and had a magnificent view of the surrounding country side. Although the constellations in the night sky were distinctly different, there was something about the scene that was very reminiscent to me of the Scottish Highlands. Perhaps it was the lay of the land or the meandering paths that reminded me of my homeland.
As we approached the farmhouse, I saw Pete Savage and a large framed man who was obviously Christiaan Fourie standing in the lighted porch area. As both men began heading towards us I could sense their feeling of excitement. Apparently, so could Hottentot as he began to whine and carry on in an almost uncontrollable fashion. Col. Stuart appeared somewhat apprehensive, asking Pete and Christiaan if anything was wrong.
"Thank goodness you and Thomas are here," said Pete. "Someone or rather something tried to steal the Qabala. If it hadn't been for Christiaan's two Ridgebacks, Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond, it probably would have been gone by now. They both began barking and raising all kinds of a ruckus just after it got dark. Christiaan and I heard the dogs scuffling with something in the barn and ran out there only to find Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond rendered unconscious. Both dogs look like they were dragged ten or fifteen feet. Fortunately, both of them survived their experience and now appear to be doing reasonably well. The whole floor of the barn is covered with these strange footprints.”
"My god, Colonel!" exclaimed Christiaan. "What kind of creature could throw two raging Ridgeback hounds that weigh about 40 kilos apiece around like they were toys? These dogs have been bred and trained to track lions through the brush and hold them at bay. What could have caught them so quickly and dragged them that distance?"
“I don’t know,” replied Col. Stuart, “Pete, why don’t you and Thomas check out the Qabala to see if anything was taken or damaged. I’ll get with you after Hottentot and I have had a chance to check on the condition of Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond.
Pete and I removed the rest of the tattered cover that remained on the Qabala since it had apparently been cut with a sharp knife. The portal door was partially opened and the control panel had been turned on. While Pete checked the exterior of the machine, I entered the cabin area and looked around for damage. I knew it would be very hard for someone to steal the entire ship but taking or damaging an essential component would be a much easier task. My suspicions were confirmed when I found that the Qabala’s navigational device, the Time Reference Indicator had been removed from the control panel. Someone had hastily cut the wires leading to the unit and removed it. Just as I was about to get out and inform everyone, Pete stuck his head in the cabin.
“Thomas, I think you better get out here and see this,” he said frantically. “Looks like someone removed the front tripod cowling cover and did some damage.”
I leaped out from the cabin and swung around to look at the front tripod. Not only had someone removed the entire cowling, probably to get a better look at the coil structure, but they had cut through the cooling jacket and coil wires in one area obviously to disable it. Fearing the worse, I leaped back into the cabin and looked at the coil positioned in the overhead compartment. Fortunately, it had not been touched. Hearing a sniffing sound accompanied with growls, I turned around and saw Col. Stuart, Pete and Hottentot peering at me through the portal. Hottentot was obviously in a very agitated state from the evening’s events and Col. Stuart kept him on a tight leash.
“What do you make of all this Thomas?” asked Col. Stuart. “It certainly looks like someone is trying their best to sabotage our efforts. Not only does it appear they want to know more about our technology but it seems like they want to make sure we can’t time travel for a while either. We need to come up with a plan of action to reduce the likelihood of a repeat occurrence. The aggressiveness our adversary showed in obtaining our technology as well as their overall wanton destructiveness of one of the Qabala’s coils, would lead me to believe that there is a high probability that they would hurt or kill anyone who got in their way. As a result, I feel it is necessary that we take appropriate precautionary measures.”
“I would agree with you, Colonel,” I replied. “If someone would have been in the barn when this person or thing was present, chances are their life would have been in great danger. What do you recommend?”
‘For starters,” began Col. Stuart, “despite Christiaan’s kind offer of hospitality to stay at the main house, I think we should stay in the barn and immediately start standing watch over the Qabala until we return to Pretoria day after tomorrow. We’ll work in four hour shifts starting at midnight. Thomas, you’ll take the first shift, Pete, the second shift and I’ll take the third shift, then we’ll repeat. Since I have trained both of you extensively in the use of firearms I will issue each of you a pistol to be returned when we are back in Pretoria. Hottentot will remain in the barn and Christiaan is willing to let both of his ridgebacks come back tomorrow. Now, since we have two hours left until midnight, let’s discuss the extent of the damage to the Qabala. The first thing I would like to know is what’s involved in getting our time ship back to fully operational status?”
“Colonel, I have some good news for you,” said Pete. “Although, the coil located in the front tripod was extensively damaged as was the coil’s cooling jacket, we have two spares available for each. It will take me about five hours to install the replacement components and recharge the coil cooling system plus another two hours to make the necessary harmonic adjustments.” Fortunately, the other three coils were not touched. We’ll still have one additional coil and cooling jacket available for another emergency repair, if the need should ever arise.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Col. Stuart. “What do you have to tell us Thomas?”
“Colonel, I’m afraid I have some rather unfortunate news,” I said unhappily. “You see, the Qabala’s Time Reference Indicator was stolen. This means of course that we have no way of traveling to specific vector points in time nor do we have any means to enter the “Inter- dimensional Time Vector Matrix.” To put it succinctly, we’re like a ship without a rudder. We have no way to navigate the Qabala through the time fabric. We only have spare components for the Time Reference Indicator, we don’t actually have a complete spare unit. I would have to fabricate a mounting frame out of aluminum and to get the appropriate materials and tools here in South Africa would probably take me one to two weeks minimum."
Col. Stuart had a very disappointed look on his face. Gritting his teeth before he spoke, he said, “Being down for two weeks could create a major problem for us in terms of being able to take advantage of the strong power flow emanating from the Transvaal grid point. Thomas, didn’t you tell me earlier today that your recent grid point measurements seem to indicate an exceptionally strong increase in the power flow?”
“Yes, that’s quite true,” I said. “It would appear that the grid point power flow has increased by almost seven percent since yesterday. This is the strongest measurement I’ve ever taken of this particular grid point. What has become apparent is that the power flow of the Transvaal grid point, like the one located on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas can fluctuate wildly over a period of several weeks or even months. However, since we’ve been here in South Africa, the power flow of this particular grid point has been on the rise. With the accumulation of more data over the next week or two, Pete and I should be able to come up with a fairly accurate prediction equation concerning the power flow.”
“Excellent!” replied Col. Stuart. “However, from what your saying there seems to be no assurance that the power flow of the Transvaal grid point will be near a high point in a week or two when the Qabala is fully operational.”
“No, Colonel, it doesn’t,” I said. “Until we have some actual data to predict from, it’s just a gamble. All I can say right now is that grid point energy flow for tonight seems to be at a maximum compared to earlier readings.”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t do us much good since the Qabala is non-operational.” said Col. Stuart. “ If we only had another Time Reference Indicator along as a spare to take advantage of the high grid point energy tonight.”
“Well as far as I’m concerned, I’m glad the Time Reference Indicator is gone,” said Pete excitedly. “I’m afraid if it was still around, we would rely on it to heavily and risk the possibility of getting lost in the time fabric. I’m afraid Thomas, that it did not perform as well as you and I anticipated and quite frankly, it almost cost you your life. Back to the drawing board on this one. Don’t forget how much trouble Col. Stuart and I had trying to reprogram that thing so that the Qabala could get back to specific vector points in order to save your life. Fortunately, because we designed it, I was very familiar with it and was able to get the Qabala to limp back to the present. Allah be praised for protecting us!”
“I would agree with you Pete,” I said. “ I personally didn’t care for the analog attributes of the device nor the excessively high voltages and screen grid vacuum tubes used in the initial design. It's was very obvious to me that the current design simply does not have the precision required to accurately navigate through the “Inter-dimensional Time Vector Matrix.” I would recommend we redesign the Time Reference Indicator using field effect transistor based technology since we would benefit from a more stable design and would also probably experience more gain throughout the entire circuit.”
“Save the technical concerns for later, gentlemen,” said Col. Stuart glaring at Pete and me. “I take it that neither one of you are especially concerned that the Time Reference Indicator has been stolen and that two of Christiaan’s best lion hounds were almost killed?”
“No, it’s not that at all, Colonel,” Pete said quietly. “ It’s just that whoever stole the Time Reference Indicator got a lemon. It was a poor initial design and Thomas and I can do a better job when we redesign it. If someone tries to use it in its current state there is a high probability that they would get lost in the time fabric. We’re rather lucky that situation did not happen to us.”
“Yes, we are indeed fortunate,” replied Col. Stuart. “However, right now, I want to know more about the person or thing that damaged one of the Qabala's coils and stole the Time Reference Indicator. Just exactly what were their motives?”
“I’ll bet you anything that reason has to do with the high energy level emanating from the Transvaal Grid point at this particular time," speculated Pete.
“Of course, that’s exactly it!” I exclaimed. “Someone surmised that we would try and take advantage of the exceptionally high energy levels currently emanating from the grid point to send the Qabala back through the time fabric. Colonel, I would suspect that if we go back to the Transvaal Grid point we will find our saboteur and thief.”
“Or at least get a clue as to who or what did this!” blurted Pete.
I could tell Col. Stuart was giving considerable thought to what Pete and I had just told him and he did not speak for several minutes. Finally, he said, “Gentlemen, I’m inclined to agree with your conclusions. Tomorrow, after all of us have had a chance to get some sleep, we’ll hitch up the Qabala to the Land Rover and head back to the Transvaal. I’ll inform Christiaan tonight of our intentions.”
After a hardy breakfast and further discussion, we were winding our way back to the Transvaal power grid location. Christiaan was insistent that he accompany us along with his two Ridgebacks, Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond, who by their actions appeared just fine despite their unfortunate encounter last evening. Pete also rode with Christiaan while Hottentot and I rode together with Col. Stuart.
It was just about dusk when we arrived at our destination. Instead of setting up camp in the usual fashion near the grid point, Col. Stuart decided that we should park the vehicles and the Qabala a couple of hundred yards away and camouflage them. Afterwards, we had some K rations since Col. Stuart did not want to start a fire, and we also changed into darker clothing to better blend in with our night surroundings. Christiaan would stay undercover at the camouflaged campsite with his two Ridgebacks and act as backup if necessary, while the rest of us would move out to an observation area near the grid point.
Col. Stuart led us to a grouping of large boulders located about fifty yards from the grid point location. He explained that these surroundings would be useful in partially blocking out our infrared profiles if anyone was viewing the surrounding area with any heat sensitive devices. Under the light of a partial moon, we had a panoramic view of the whole grid point area and the surrounding veldt. It was a hot, humid night with little wind.
After about four hours of silence, I heard Pete and Col. Stuart quietly talking about something they had just observed in the distance. Pete prodded me and pointed to the horizon. Five pulsating lights in a delta formation were moving quickly towards us. As I looked up I could see five huge disk like objects breaking the formation and forming into a single column. While the other four disks remained motionless about 200 yards off the ground, the lead disk, emitting a deep pulsating sound, descended to a position located about twenty feet over the grid point. All of us had been astounded by the speed of events and were mesmerized by what we were observing at the grid point. I knew that Christiaan, back at our campsite was probably aware of this situation too, since I could hear his Ridgebacks barking in the distance.
As we watched the lead disk shaped craft hover over the grid point, the deep pulsating sound went up several octaves until it became a shrill buzz. As the surrounding atmosphere became a translucent yellow-green hue, the craft began to slowly dematerialize just like the Qabala did two nights ago. The same acrid smell of ozone permeated the night air. As soon as the first craft had gone, the second craft dropped down to take its place and the process was repeated. Each craft in turn followed suite, until the last one had finally disappeared. The time span for this entire sequence of bizarre events was only about fifteen minutes.
Col. Stuart stood up and was the first to speak. Looking at us tongue in cheek, he said. “Well gentlemen, we always suspected someone else was using the grid point structure for inter-dimensional travel. What we just witnessed here tonight is actual proof that our theory is correct. Be it “little green men” or one of the world’s military powers or perhaps some subversive force, we’re obviously not alone in our endeavors.”
Just as the Colonel was about to say something else, we again heard a shrill buzzing sound coming from the direction of the grid point. Amidst the yellow-green mist which had become very thick, I could just see something starting to materialize. All of us immediately crouched down behind the rocks to avoid detection. Peering out, I saw a large, dark, delta shaped craft slowly lifting away from the grid point. With its machinery emanating a deep pulsating, throaty sound, it continued its ascent until it was about a hundred yards off the ground and then began to slowly move in an easterly direction towards the campsite where Christiaan and his Ridgebacks were guarding the Qabala.
The craft appeared to hover for a moment and I saw an instantaneous flash of light emanate from it downward towards the encampment. Almost immediately, Col. Stuart pulled a flair gun from his coat pocket and fired it in the direction of the craft which then took off at high velocity towards the horizon. Amidst the confusion, we could hear Christiaan’s Ridgeback hounds howling frantically in the distance.
Hottentot began barking loudly and was pulling strongly against his leash which had been looped around a small tree among the rocks. Col. Stuart immediately set him loose and in a rage, he took off at high speed towards the campsite.
“Let’s go!” yelled Col. Stuart. “Christiaan and his dogs could be in serious trouble.”
After running through the veldt and some heavy underbrush, we reached the encampment in about five minutes and continued to follow the barking commotion of the Ridgebacks. We came upon Christiaan who was laying on the ground in a semi-conscious state. Next to him lay a strange looking pistol or tool, our stolen Time Reference Indicator and a pale blue liquid that appeared to be smeared on these items as well as the ground.
Drawing his pistol and motioning for Pete and I to do the same, Col. Stuart cautiously looked around a tree and then sped off towards the Qabala. We followed him as he approached the Qabala whereupon he stopped dead in his tracks. Peering out the portal of our time ship was the strangest creature I’ve ever seen: with a large head and eyes, it had translucent greenish-gray skin and a humanoid shape. It couldn’t have been over four feet tall and it was wearing something that resembled a light gray jump suit. The three Ridgebacks, Leeu Jagter, Duiwel Hond and Hottentot had obviously cornered and trapped it. I noticed the creature was favoring its right hand which was hurt and bleeding the pale blue substance I had observed earlier on the ground.”
“Well do my eyes deceive me or do we have a real live alien on our hands?” commented Col. Stuart while putting his pistol away. “Looks like we’ve caught the culprit who damaged the front tripod coil on the Qabala and also stole the Time reference Indicator, not to mention what he did to Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond yesterday and to Christiaan today.”
Pete staring in amazement said, “Yes Colonel, but what are we going to do with it? I’m not sure how we can communicate with this creature, much less come to some sort of understanding or rather comprehension about things. Should we really put our pistols away? Is that pale bluish goo oozing from its hand some sort of blood?”
“Affirmative to both your questions,” replied Col. Stewart. “This creature dropped its weapon earlier and has since been cornered by the Ridgebacks. It’s obviously hurt and bleeding, and probably very frightened of the dogs as well as us.”
Looking at the alien, I realized that my ability yesterday to know what Col. Stuart was thinking and the pain that he felt was not a unique experience. Observing the huge orbs which were its eyes, I knew exactly what was going through this creature’s mind. This left me with a somewhat uncanny feeling, knowing that I had the ability to link up with an alien presence. Unlike Col. Stuart’s thought pattern however, this alien’s thought pattern was entirely different and somewhat bizarre which required me to change my mode of perception. Yesterday, with Col. Stuart, I felt I was detecting the linear thought pattern of a human being. With this creature however, I did not feel that its thoughts were as much its own as that of some guiding intelligence. There was an overwhelming presence in its mind that seemed to take precedence over its individual will as it processed information from many sensory inputs, probably other aliens. I knew that our actions were being observed by the creature and being transmitted to this guiding intelligence through a kind of mental telepathy. Its information gathering response pattern was obviously being controlled by this guiding intelligence, although underneath this facade I could sense its fear, especially of the Ridgebacks which had cornered and hurt it. The images I began to detect from the creature seemed strange to me until I realized that its orbs probably operated in a different range of the light spectrum than my human eyes.
"Let's leash up the Ridgebacks and get a closer look at this alien," said Col. Stuart with excitement in his voice. "Any suggestions on how we can communicate with it?"
"It obviously comes from a civilization with technology vastly superior to ours," said Pete. "I would think we could probably begin to communicate with it very quickly. Perhaps we should start with some mathematical sequencing algorithms."
“That’s a very insightful statement, Doctor, but it won't be necessary," I replied. “I know the alien's thoughts or rather the thoughts of the guiding intelligence that controls it."
"What are you talking about, Thomas?" yelled Col. Stuart. "Are you saying that you can communicate with this creature? Do you have some sort of telepathic linkup to this alien?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!" I exclaimed. "I know it seems unbelievable, but ever since my experience yesterday with the Being of Light, I've had an incredible ability to know what others are thinking. Even to the point where I know someone's innermost thoughts as well as the sorrow and pain they carry with them.
"And I guess this applies to aliens too?" asked Pete somewhat sarcastically.
"Yes, believe it or not, it applies to at least this alien and the guiding intelligence behind it," I commented.
“Well then, ask it or rather them, why they stole our Time Reference Indicator,” blurted Pete.
“The Time Reference Indicator was taken for apparently two reasons,” I replied. “The first reason, as we guessed earlier, was because the aliens had planned for some heavy traffic through the grid point tonight and our presence here would have required that they modify their departure plans, which they did not want to do. The second reason has to do with some sort of error or contamination inherent in the design of our Time Reference Indicator which was corrected by these aliens. Apparently, the analog circuit in the Time Reference Indicator was subject to a serious malfunction which occasionally allowed the magnetic field vectors to merge together rather than separate out in an orthogonal pattern. This is the major reason why both of you had a problem yesterday locking the Qabala’s Time Reference Indicator into a specific date. This distortion also had the effect of creating the intense magnetic fields the Qabala experienced anytime it entered or left the time fabric. As I’m sure you noticed tonight, none of the alien ships going through the grid point exhibited any intense magnetic anomalies like the Qabala did yesterday. Furthermore, the aliens were afraid that if this distortion of the magnetic fields was not corrected immediately it could have a disastrous effect on the grid point making it useless. Since this grid point has served as one of the aliens’ main entry points into this world as well as others for thousands of years, they could not allow this to happen. This is why they stole the Time Reference Indicator yesterday in order to modify it and then to return it tonight. Understand that this was primarily done for their benefit rather than ours.”
“Well this all sounds well and good!” yelled Pete. "But if it hadn’t been for those magnetic anomalies the Qabala experienced you wouldn’t be here today, Thomas. It was the strong magnetic force fields that Col. Stuart and I had to manipulate in order to come back and save your life. Besides look what the aliens did yesterday to Christiaan’s two Ridgebacks, Leeu Jagter and Duiwel Hond, and what they did just twenty minutes ago to Christiaan. All three were knocked unconscious and could have been killed!”
Thinking back on how we found the two Ridgeback hounds yesterday as well as Christiaan today, I formed the appropriate images in my mind, looked at the alien and again knew the answers to Pete concerns almost immediately.
“Fortunately, they were never in any real danger,” I said. “The alien used a mild stun force to render all three unconscious in their respective situations. In fact that strange looking tool we found next to Christian was used for that specific purpose. The alien dropped it and the Time Reference Indicator when one of the Ridgebacks attacked it and bit its hand. The alien intended to gently stun Christiaan and the two Ridgebacks in order to return the modified Time Reference Indicator to the Qabala, but of course it never got that far. Although it succeeded in stunning Christian it had lost the element of surprise, and still had two angry Ridgeback hounds to confront with a third on its way. Unarmed and fearing even more retribution from the Ridgebacks, it ran to the Qabala, opened the portal and jumped inside the cabin. The Ridgebacks quickly followed the alien and surrounded the portal, holding it at bay and not allowing it to leave."
Since the aliens repaired our Time Reference Indicator and appear to be helpful, why would they want to destroy the Qabala's front tripod coil and cooling jacket?" asked Col. Stuart.
Focusing on the cut coil and broken cooling jacket in my mind, I again looked at the alien and received a mental response.
"Colonel, the aliens had nothing to do with the damage inflicted on the Qabala's coil and cooling jacket," I said in a surprised tone of voice. " Apparently this damage was inflicted after the aliens had departed with the Time Reference Indicator and while the two Ridgebacks hounds were still incapacitated.
Well, just who did it then!?" Col. Stuart asked loudly. "I want to know who is responsible for this act of sabotage and why."
"I don't know who did this damage," I said. "All I know now is that the aliens did not do it nor do they do appear to know who was responsible.
“That’s very interesting, Thomas,” replied Col. Stuart. “Should we believe the aliens?”
“Absolutely, because I sense the truth from their guiding intelligence,” I said confidently. “With my new gift, I know when someone or something is not reflecting actual events.”
“Well, since you have bridged through to this creature’s guiding intelligence you can tell us more about them,” commented Col. Stuart. “Just exactly why are they here?”
“And where do they came from!” interjected Pete.
“Amazingly, I know the answers to those questions!” I shouted. “All of those things became apparent to me when I was dealing with the alien’s guiding intelligence.”
“Well., I’m sure the Colonel and I are all ears,” commented Pete.
‘The first things you should know is that this group of aliens are here primarily for observation purposes,” I said. “They have no intention of interfering with the affairs of our planet unless we do something that could potentially impact the well being of our galaxy and other life forms. They look primarily for ‘critical incidents’ across the Earth which would alert them to this possibility. The detonation of the atomic and hydrogen bombs over the last two decades were considered recent ‘critical incidents’ for concern. If you will recall, sightings of UFO’s as well as aliens for that matter, picked up substantially after those events ushered in the nuclear age. Since that point in time, we have been monitored by several different alien life forms to determine if additional ‘critical incidents’ have occurred with any degree of regularity. The recent confrontation in October, 1962, between the President of the United States and the Premier of the Soviet Union concerning the placement of missiles in Cuba almost touched off a nuclear holocaust. The aliens were naturally, quite concerned about this incident which could have changed our world and possibly the universe forever. Fortunately, things now seem to be moving away from that critical point with all the current talk about a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty among nations soon taking place. The aliens view the current direction of world events as positive in nature.
"I'm pleased with what your telling us," commented Pete. "I'm glad that other creatures such as these aliens can be as concerned about the possible destruction of our world as some of us are. This is a significant step for mankind and its relationship to all living creatures."
"Thomas, I am especially interested in knowing where these creatures are from," said Col. Stuart. "Just how many different groups of aliens exist?"
"These particular aliens really don't know the total number of existing groups across the universe as they have encountered many different civilizations at various levels of technical and intellectual development and they are sure many more undiscovered civilizations exist. However, there appears to be three primary groups of aliens that visit earth on a fairly frequent basis. This alien belongs to a civilization that is based in the Zeta Reticulan Star System. The aliens have studied us for thousands of years and have been fascinated by our gradual development into more complex but not necessarily more intelligent creatures. They are amazed that our rapid growth in technology has not been accompanied by a commensurate growth in our cognitive development. What really puzzles them is that we have been able to make some major technological advances with the locus of control being primarily at the individual level. This is unique among most well developed civilizations that they have studied in the past. From the aliens’ perspective, the more primitive the civilization, the more the locus of control and the emotions are on an individual level. The more advanced the civilization, the more the locus of control is under the auspices of some sort of guiding intelligence which is the directing factor for all activity other than purely maintenance functions. In fact, the aliens’ guiding intelligence tends to look at the genetic composition of the human gene pool as the real intelligence behind mankind and prefers to communicate with it rather than us. However, how this is done is currently unclear to me.”
“What you’re telling us is absolutely fascinating, Thomas,” Pete commented. “But I’ll repeat my earlier question. What are we going to do with this creature?”
“Its companions will be back here shortly to pick it up and leave this star system,” I replied. “In fact, they should be here within about a minute. Apparently, another alien was to accompany this one down to our camp, but Col. Stuart startled the aliens when he fired his flare gun at their craft. Strangely, they thought they were under assault by another group of aliens and immediately left the area.”
“True to my prediction, off in the distance we could hear the deep pulsating sound of the large alien craft as it approached the camp. Hovering about a hundred feet above the camp floor, a streak of light shot down from the ship, startling us and immediately engulfing the alien causing it to disappear. The deep pulsating sound emanating from the alien craft started a crescendo in frequency until it became almost unbearable to our ears and then, as quickly as it came, it sped off in a northerly direction and was gone.”
“What an incredible experience,” said Col. Stuart. “It’s unfortunate that we did not have more time to spend with that alien so we could gain more insight into their technology.”
“Well, I for one intend to check out the Time Reference Indicator to see how they modified it,” yelled Pete as he started to turn around. Thomas, are you coming too?”
Following Pete down the pathway where we found the Time Reference Indicator earlier, we tore the top cover off the unit and peered inside. Much to our dismay we could detect no apparent change. Then Pete pulled the bottom cover off and we checked the wiring for evidence of tampering but could find none here either.
“I thought you said that the aliens had modified this unit,” snapped Pete loudly. “ I can’t see that they’ve done a thing!”
“They’ve modified it extensively,” I retorted. “Wait a minute Pete, I know where they made the modifications. Remember earlier when I said that the alien had informed me about changes to the Time Reference Indicator? It was at this point, that a vision of a vacuum tube formed in my mind. Let’s pull a couple of the tubes out of their sockets and look at them.”
“Amazing!” exclaimed Pete. “Each tube is a work of art, look at the detail. Apparently the aliens took each tube that was in the unit and made a far more elaborate duplicate. I bet that the electromagnetic distortion and light wave emissions for these tubes are far below normal.”
“I’m really puzzled by this,” interjected Col. Stuart, who had just joined us. “We all know that these type of analog components are not at the forefront of technology today. There’s a major move afoot throughout the entire electronics industry to move towards transistor based technology. I guess the aliens felt it was easier to redesign existing components rather than to share any new technology with us.”
“Well Colonel, they did tell me they were not here to interfere with our world,” I said. “The aliens felt using more advanced electronic circuitry in the Time Reference Indicator would be considered interference. In that respect they have been true to their word.”
“Looks like we got some answers to our questions tonight,” smiled Pete. “We even got our Time Reference Indicator fixed and approved by the ‘little green men.’ What more could we ask for?”
The first light of the dawn had finally broken the darkness of the vast savannah near the camp, silhouetting the strangely shaped Baobab trees against a vibrant red sky. The three Ridgeback hounds were fast asleep next to Christiaan who had laid down earlier to nurse a bad headache. Col. Stuart had started a fire to make some tea and prepare breakfast. Facing northeast towards Mecca, Pete laid out his prayer mat and kneeled down to began his morning prayers. Pouring myself some tea, I walked to a small clearing about fifty feet away from the camp. Here I thought about the sequence of events that occurred earlier and recalled something very profound which I had not yet had an opportunity to share with my associates.
Ever more frightening than the actual alien encounter is what the aliens’ guiding intelligence told me telepathically about the future. Apparently, there is a great fear among the aliens that in about fifty years, there will occur a ‘critical incident’ of such magnitude that it could change the entire structure of the known universe. The aliens have visited and studied many primitive as well as highly developed civilizations across the galaxy for thousands of years. They are struck by the fact that oracular predictions in these civilizations allude to the time period we know as 2010 - 2015 AD as one of great upheaval and change for all of us...