2 Minutes to Midnight (24 page)

"Are you coming, or what?" She
laughed.

Shaun watched her disappear again, and
then knelt down, and in a leap of faith he fell forward as well. He
slid down a fifteen foot chute to the half lit tunnel below.
Amazingly, daylight was passing through the facade above their
heads, lighting the way. Madeline removed the cones she had been
storing in her cargo pockets. When she reached the rock wall, she
clanged them together. Shaun caught up and stood next to Madeline
as a series of crystals began to light along the top of the wall.
They were in the shapes of strange symbols that neither of them had
ever seen.

"What happens now?" Shaun
asked.

"I have no idea. This was the part
where I ran out of here, remember?"

Shaun nodded toward her stone cones
and she clanged them together once more while pointing them at the
wall. This time the entire wall lit up and the form of a man began
to appear. At first it was like a scrambled television
transmission, and then there was tall man standing before them
garbed in a long hooded robe. He was no ordinary man though, and
stood eight feet tall with a larger head than theirs and oval,
almost almond shaped black eyes. He gazed at them in silence for a
moment, blinking as Madeline and Shaun contemplated bolting for the
entrance. The silence was beginning to become awkward when the man
spoke.

"Welcome to Halania. My name is Enlil
and I know you have a lot of questions, but first you have to make
a decision that will be difficult, but necessary."

"What decision? What are you going to
do to us?" Shaun asked.

"Do? I am not going
to
do
anything to
you. But what I am offering is knowledge. The opportunity to
understand where you came from is what I offer. There is only one
stipulation: you have to come with me, and never return to your
previous life." Enlil explained.

"I'm not sure if we can do that,
Enlil. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but you live in a tunnel
in South Africa." Madeline said.

"Our world is vaster than you can
imagine. Before you make your decision, let me show you," said
Enlil.

They could feel his consciousness bind
with theirs and in an instant they saw Earth from long ago: a
planet filled with evolving ape-like creatures, dinosaurs, and
oceans teeming with schools of bizarre fish. Interplanetary
vehicles floated through the sky above entire civilizations living
in pyramid cities, with massive glass towers rising high above the
ground. There were many types of extraterrestrial beings living on
Earth then; all of them competing with each other for Earth's
resources.

"You all have been here a long time,"
whispered Madeline.

"Approximately two-hundred and seventy
million years. Your world above ground pales in comparison to ours.
You have to decide."

"What are the stone circles for? Can
you tell us that at least, before we make a decision?" Shaun
asked.

"Of course. They power our
civilization below ground through the use of the Earth's natural
magnetic field. We pull energy from other sources as well, but
those circles, as you call them, are like a backup power
supply."

"Well, that explains why my
electronics went nuts when I entered them," said
Madeline.

"Can we ever return to our old lives
once we join you?" Shaun asked.

"No, there is no possibility of
return. We had formed a delicate balance on this planet after a
great flood long ago, and humans are rapidly destroying that
balance with ignorance and misuse of technology. When we began to
tamper with your genetic code around thirty-five thousand years
ago, we enhanced your evolution. The unintended side effect was
that you all began to understand and grow in your technological
prowess, and at the same time you used it to destroy each other. A
great change is coming to this planet, and what I offer the both of
you is opportunity. You and others we have welcomed into our
society will be the next evolution of the human
species."

Shaun and Madeline gave each other one
final glance, and then turned toward Enlil. With a silent nod they
both accepted his offer. The rock wall behind them faded and what
they saw beyond it was more than imagination could describe. There
were many other humans in this underground world, as well as
various species of ET's. Lush trees and grasslands rolled out
beyond the horizon in a world within a world. With a final step
forward, Shaun and Madeline entered their new life together. As
they greeted the new day in Halania, neither of them regretted
their decision, or the amazing opportunity to become one with an
intergalactic community.

human trials

"We have to get off this planet within the
next ten years, doctor." Colonel Slaymore said.
"I know the next batch of trial subjects are on their way. One of
them has to be a fit!"

Tony Davis woke up on the cold, hard, steel floor of a speeding
van. His head hurt like hell, and he had cottonmouth so bad he felt
as if he had been walking in the desert for two days without water.
Tony remembered that he had been leaving the nightclub, when
someone wrapped their arm around his neck as he stuck the key in
his car door, and then, a rag over his nose and mouth with an odor
of cotton candy. After he was out they must have drugged him,
because he was hallucinating, and the left side of his neck stung
from an injection. The odor of exhaust, and gasoline permeated the
air as Tony attempted to roll over and see where he was. They had
bound his hands and feet behind his back and had ball gagged him,
so he nearly choked in the effort, but Tony could see there were
three other people in the van with him as it bumped and shook down
the road. Highway lights flashed by two rear windows giving him
some light, and he could see that the others were either still
unconscious or playing dead. He was frightened and disoriented, but
mostly sore from the beating he had taken while being thrown into
the van. The van slowed to a stop and Tony could hear the driver
talking to someone outside, and then they were moving again.
When the driver stopped again the rear doors were thrown open and
everyone inside the van was tossed onto rolling stretchers by men
in black jumpsuits wearing nondescript facial masks that resembled
department store mannequins. Tony could see that they were in a
huge industrial plant with large buildings and round silos rising
high into the night. Bright lights were flashing in Tony's eyes,
further disorientating him. The black jump suited men seemed to be
armed henchmen for the people dressed in blue medical scrubs with
white protective masks covering their mouths and noses. They
strapped Tony down hard, and rolled him and the others through
sterile white hallways illuminated by bright LED bulbs. One of the
men pushing his stretcher had his crotch directly in front of
Tony’s face, and due to the restraints he could not move his head,
or budge an inch. His head was frozen to the left, using his
peripherals as they passed by an open room and he could see people
milling about, some of them holding their arms above their heads
like strange human scarecrows. Others sat catatonic in wheel
chairs, drooling, their eyes rolled back in heads drooping to the
side. It was terrifying, and he felt his heartbeat quicken as his
respiration increased making the ball gag choke him even more. The
freak show was gone from view as Tony’s captors zoomed down the
hallway. They stopped at a tall with door with a sliding window in
the middle, opened it with a biometric thumb scanner, and began to
unstrap Tony.
"Take the gag off, he won’t need that anymore." A woman said.
He could breathe without feeling as if a boa constrictor were
squeezing his chest for the first time in hours, but his jaw felt
like it had been pried apart with pliers. They untied his arms and
legs and stood him up before pushing him into a tiny room with
rubberized walls. A man built like Arnold Schwarzenegger entered
with him and forcibly removed his shoes, pants, and shirt, down to
his underwear, and took them with him before closing the locked
door.
"What is this? Why am I here, and who are you people?" He
asked.
He walked toward the door hugging his arms close, shivering with
fear. Tony saw a pair of cold blue eyes from the other side looking
back at him, and then they were gone. He sank to the ground and
began to cry out in frustration. The entire room, from walls to
floor, was lined with the same kind of textured rubber that was
used to make exercise mats, and he assumed the material might have
been recycled truck tires. It seemed to him that whoever ran this
place didn’t want their inmates harming themselves. The LED light
in his cell was day glow bright, making him wince whenever he
looked up; he felt like he had been transported to a sadistic
mental asylum. Somewhere on the other side of his door, in the
strange unknown, he heard someone shrieking and screaming bloody
murder. The effect was blood curdling. Tony scooted back against
the wall and grabbed his hair as he rocked back and forth, waiting
for his turn to scream. Once the screaming stopped the silence was
deafening in his cell.
Hours passed and nothing happened. Shock, fear, and exhaustion
after coming off an adrenaline rush made his eyelids very heavy,
and Tony fell into a light sleep. He was huddled in the corner of
the room with his arms drooping to his side, and face pointed
skyward. Sometime later he was awakened by a large black combat
boot to the ribs, and when he looked up there was a man in scrubs
wearing one of the nondescript masks, he was looking down at Tony
as if he were an insect.
"Get on your feet!" He screamed.
Tony tried to move quickly, but as he bent over something was
injected into his shoulder with the needle gun the man was
holding.
"What the fu… "Tony mumbled.
He began to get woozy, and then reality took on a fuzzy haze as he
was thrust into a wheel chair.
"Latest in modern chemistry. We use it to subdue
"
terrorists
" in
black site, secret prisons. What do you think? Works pretty good,
huh?" The man said. He laughed at Tony.
"I don’t think he’s going to answer you Wilson. Shit! Dumbass! You
injected the whole thing into him! It’s going to be hours before
the doctor can work on him now." Another man said.
Tony began to see dragonflies and fairies fluttering before him as
his legs turned to jelly and he drooled down his naked chest. A
frog hopped by his chair and he waved at it as a rainbow appeared
in the hallway. The color pattern swirled and waved while one of
the strange masked people pushed him from behind.
"Are they going to start on the new trials this week?" One man
said.
"Don’t know. The last batch caused a bout of insanity in the test
group, and later they started literally eating each other in the
day room." The other one said.
Tony started laughing as he imagined, in his drugged up, incoherent
state, that the test group his captors were speaking of were giant
chocolate rabbits, the kind kids get at Easter. All of the rabbits
were bouncing around the room, aluminum foil covered and delicious.
The men behind him had thick Jersey accents, like guys from a mob
movie.
"We can take his vitals, and get some DNA while he comes down a
little. Doc’s gonna’ want em’ for the records. We’ve got to make
sure these bums ain’t gonna’ be missed. There have been slip ups in
the past, and it causes problems with production." One man
said.
"OK. No sweat, Tyler." Wilson replied.
"Oh, and if you hit another patient with that much juice again I’m
sticking one in
your
neck. You got me? You could have killed this guy, and he
might be the answer." Tyler said.
"He’s going anyway, once they’re done. What’s the big deal?" Wilson
said.
"Will you please shut up? He’s drugged up, not deaf. I know you’re
new here, but you ain’t gonna’ make like this." Tyler said.
"Sheesh! You’re testy." Wilson said.
"I’m just edgy after that last batch of Wolzaprine went bad
yesterday, and caused three people’s faces to M-E-L-T off." Tyler
said. Tyler spelled out the word one letter at a time.
"Ha ha ha, who’s the idiot now? You think this guy can’t spell?"
Wilson said.
Tony was off in wonderland by this time though. He no longer saw or
heard either man. The effects of the drugs administered to him sent
his mind to a green pasture where the clouds were hotdogs, and
licorice birds soared through the air. Tony sat in passive wonder
as fields of green grass formed three-dimensional creatures and
began to walk around. A tyrannosaur, a cow, and three little pigs
began to dance around with each other, and then the dinosaur ate
them in one large chomp. Tony could smell cotton candy wafting to
him from somewhere far away, and The Mamas & The Papas were
singing Monday Monday as he swam back into consciousness. Hours
passed as he floated, and then Tony's dinosaur evaporated, the hot
dog clouds disappeared, and his fields of green grass became a
large operating room with strange metallic machines, and tables,
set with various syringes upon them. From a speaker in the wall
Monday Monday continued to play as Tony struggled to
understand.
"..
.
Monday
mornin´, it was all I hoped it would be. Oh Monday mornin´, Monday
mornin´ couldn´t guarantee. That Monday evenin´ you would still be
here with me...
"
Someone strapped Tony into a
dentist chair and beside him on a small rectangular table was a
scalpel, a pair of surgical scissors, and pieces of plastic tubing.
A mirrored lamp was directly in front of him and Tony could see
that there was a plastic tube jutting out of his neck just behind
the collarbone. Horror froze his mind as he wondered where the rest
of that line was inside his body. Just then a woman in scrubs with
a surgical mask over her face walked in with a cart, and as she got
closer Tony could see that there were bags with brown liquid in
them.
"Oh good, you're awake. We were afraid we'd lost you to the
psychotropics," she said.
"Where am I? Why is there a tube sticking out of my neck?"
"You're in an underground experimental research facility. We
conduct human trials for drugs that are either brand new, or are on
their way to being approved by the FDA." She said.
"And the tube?" Tony asked.
"You're been unconscious for three days, and these tubes are
standard issue when processes come in. We feed you through them."
She said.
Tony began to struggle against his restraints, but the straps were
thick leather, and neither they, nor his chair budged an
inch.
"Now, hold still." She laughed.
The masked woman plugged one of the bags into his feeding tube, and
hung it on a hook behind his chair.
"What are you going to do to me? You've got the wrong guy. I'm
telling you!" Tony screamed.
"You know, everyone says that. I've heard that same thing thousands
of times, and you're always the
right
guy." She said. Her callous
tone sent a chill up Tony's spine. Thousands of times?
The cotton candy smell was back and he began to feel like he was
floating above his chair.
"Yep, you're almost ready for the doctor. That euphoria you're
feeling is the drugs in your food. You sir, are in luck because
today we're testing out a mind expansion formula. It's designed to
allow communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, without the
use of modern deep space vehicles, of course." She said.
On the far left side of the room a garage door slid up and a masked
man in a white coat walked into the room. In a warehouse behind him
were thousands of stacked oil drums, and Tony could just make out
an image on one of the barrels. It had a stick figure on the side
and the words ORGANIC MATERIAL stenciled in black spray paint
above. Tony was comfortably numb as a Pink Floyd's Shine on You
Crazy Diamond began to play.
"What's that? The barrels? One duck, twoooo chickens, a roller
cooooaster! Aliens? Game over man! Game over! Ha ha ha!" Tony said.
The drugs had scrambled his mind and he was now speaking in almost
incoherent tongues.
"Wudyu gimme? Stranquilzers?" He asked.
The man in the white coat approached and shook the part of Tony's
hand that was not strapped to a rail.
"Good morning, sir! Doctor Lazarus, don't poke fun though. No one
raised me from the dead, yet! Ha, ha. I'm pleased to meet you, and
this is a historic day for sure. I read your vitals, and blood work
and you're a perfect candidate for the trial." He said.
The doctor gave Tony a thumbs up.
"As for those poor sons o' bitches, well, you can't make an omelet
without... you know the saying. Anyway, those are failed
experiments where the test subjects expired or overstayed their
usefulness. So, we liquefy them and their remains are used in
manufacturing processes around the world." The doctor said.
"Thazzz nize. Liquid..." Tony replied.
"I've got high hopes for you my friend. Tony Davis, right? Anyway,
you should only be here a few more days and then we'll return you
to the herd after wiping your memory. I don't want you thinking any
more about those barrels, you're not going in there. Well, that's
not the plan anyway!" Lazarus laughed.
He clapped Tony on the shoulder and winked at the woman who was
standing silently beside the dentist's chair. She rolled her eyes
and shook her head.
"Gwen, could you get me a syringe, and some of the serum, please? I
think Mr. Davis here is doped up enough not to feel anything when
we administer." Dr. Lazarus said.
"Right away." She replied.
A few moments later Gwen returned, and placed the requested objects
on the rectangular table.
"You people are monzterz..." Tony said.
"Not at all, Mr. Davis. We're scientists. How do you think medical
science got where it is today? Did you know that a lot of what we
know about the human body in our time is because of work done by
Nazi scientists during the Second World War? You won't see it
publicized, because, my God who would want to think that Hitler's
‘monsters’ actually benefited society with their horror show, but
we're carrying on their work. Hell, we've got the cure for AIDS
down here."
Gwen shined a light into Tony's eyes.
"He's ready, doctor. Do you want me to hook up the brain monitor
and video screen this time?" Gwen asked.
"Yes, please do. I've got a good feeling about this one. I think
he'll get us all the way there." Dr. Lazarus replied.
Gwen did as asked and in a few minutes Tony was looking into a
blank black monitor with a wire taped to his left index finger.
There was a small desktop computer connected to the monitor via one
HDMI cable as well, and in a split screen Tony could see both his
heartbeat, and on another a black, empty zone. When Dr. Lazarus
administered the shot Tony felt nothing, but within less than a
minute he was deep in a trance, his mind exploring the vastness of
space. The blank half of the monitor began to display Tony's mental
journey. Stars flew by him in a blur, planets spun wildly in their
celestial orbit, and Tony's mind blew past them at lightning speed.
Like a super hero he blasted through black holes, and gaseous
multi-colored clouds, and spectators could see him passing through
unseen galaxies, until he approached a large blue planet orbiting
twin suns far, far from home. Tony focused on the blue planet and
began to drift toward it, and then through the atmosphere like a
bird. Below him were sparkling blue-green waters, lush forests, and
mountains so large he had never seen their like. Then, he saw
people moving about across a grassy plain and got closer. There
were three of them and they looked like werewolves from a horror
movie. These beings were at least nine feet tall, garbed in leather
armor, and carried an assortment of medieval weapons. One of them
wielded a crossbow, and another a two-handed sword that must have
been four feet long. The third was wearing an ornate robe and
strapped across his back was a long wooden staff with an odd
looking animal skull stuck on top. The skulls eye sockets were
adorned with maroon gem inlays, giving it a demonic and menacing
appearance. Tony was so close now that he could see the whiskers on
their maws.
The robed figure paused, held up his hand and the other two
stopped, sniffing the air for trouble.
"Gregor, what is it? Centaurs?" One asked.
"No Dante, I believe the prophecy is about to be fulfilled. Humans
are coming to Eritria. We should prepare for war." Gregor
said.
Tony was whisked away back through space and into his body once
more. His head felt like a freight train had gone through the back
of it and had slammed into his frontal lobe. On the monitor was a
map of several solar systems and in the top right corner was the
blinking blue dot where Tony had just been in his mind.
"We've found it! Thanks to your ability to withstand the drug.
Unfortunately, Mr. Davis, your brain is in the process of becoming
Swiss cheese, and you won't be around to see us colonize your
discovery."
Tony passed out without another word. Later on that day another
barrel was filled with a reddish brown gelatinous liquid that had
been Tony Davis. The drug was a success and now mankind could map
the new star system using the power of test subject’s minds.
"Gwen, call the Colonel and let him know." Dr. Lazarus said.
Across the industrial complex was a hangar and inside, hidden from
prying eyes was a fleet of miraculous hovering disk shaped
spacecraft. The Deep Space Exploration Consortium, DSEC, had funded
research and development of these wonders, after recovering several
downed alien craft and reverse engineering their technology in the
nineteen fifties. The planet Earth was falling into decay, and
although life could return to habitable conditions it would take
another millennia to do so after man's destructive influence. The
industrial revolution was over, but humanity would still pay a high
price for the ignorance of their ancestors. So, with the help of
earth’s greatest minds, and the richest business men and women, a
plan was formed to find another habitable planet to colonize. Only
the elite, and other select people from earth would be invited for
the trip, and all those deemed unworthy would be left behind to
deal with the coming tide.
The elite's saving grace came one day when a mind control
experiment had gone wrong and accidentally revealed the existence
of an earth-like planet within range of the DSEC advanced space
ships. Only that it existed was all DSEC had known until Tony Davis
revealed the exact location with his mental journey through the
cosmos. Now their plans for colonization could move forward. But,
before thousands of people were transported across space, a
scientific team was going to go ahead and scout the planet to
ensure that the journey would be worth the price paid.
Colonel Derrick Slaymore was just completing a test flight on one
of these secret ships when he received Gwen's call
"Colonel Slaymore, we've found Planet Z. Whenever you're ready with
the mission team, we've got your coordinates." Gwen said.
"That's excellent news! I'll assemble them now and we can leave as
early as a week from today. Thank you very much. I know our backers
are going to be excited. You've done well."
The colonel hung up and turned toward the largest of his
fleet,