Here Comes Earth: Emergence (16 page)

“What
about the rest of the week?” Toni asked.

“Nope,
he’d spend all day Tuesday smoking and slow cooking his meets and only served
lunch over the next two days. There weren’t more than half a dozen mismatched
tables in the whole place but he’d have a line of suits wrapped all the way
around the building waiting for him to open.

“I
consider myself lucky that he let me hang around most Tuesdays and judging by
the comments I get on my brisket I think it’s fair to say he taught me some
secrets!”

“No
offense Mathew – hey, can I call you Mathew?” asked Julie.

“Actually
it’s Matt,” he responded.

“Ok,
no offense Major Matt but you don’t seem the most outgoing type. How exactly
did you befriend this BBQ guru?”

“What?
You don’t believe that I’m immediately able to win the confidence of an
aficionado of secret recipes using only my good looks, charm, and great sense
of humor?”

When
no one responded he sighed and continued, “Well, there was this vandalism thing
that kept plaguing the old man. I guess he was grateful that someone was able
to discourage the local gang from continuing that activity.”

“So
the big strong military man broke some heads, huh.” Julie said in a suddenly
flat voice.

“Well
maybe a little, at first,” Major Reagan explained. “But all it really took was
for the gang leader to get his To-Go order every Thursday like clockwork. Last
time I’d checked there hadn’t been a robbery or vandalism since.”

Toni
laughed and Julie felt somewhat chastised for possibly underestimating this man,
and with that sobering thought she realized that she did have a big day
tomorrow and that this was an important mission and that… well, it was time to
turn in, say a prayer, and face tomorrow with every confidence she could
muster.

∆∆∆

The
first thing she did the next morning was to seek out the Reverend Dr. Charles
Rohn. While she was waiting for Dr. Sullivan to contact her she might as well
head back over to the HQ Hub; and besides, there were some questions she wanted
to bounce off of the reverend anyway.

Julie’s
friends were sometimes surprised to learn that she was religious. She’d never
tried to hide it but she probably didn’t fit the stereotype because she wasn’t
all that fond of organized religion. She enjoyed attending the Catholic
Midnight Mass every year on Christmas Eve and there were few things as
uplifting as the full choir on Easter Sunday Service at the local Methodist
church but she had always had trouble fitting in or feeling comfortable in
groups and this was no different.

Her
belief was strong that there was one God and that a part of Him, his son, had walked
the earth and sacrificed Himself to give each individual’s essence or spirit
the right or belief to go on existing after corporal death. This clearly put
her in the camp of the Christians and she was comfortable with that label; it
was all the other relatively small details of the differing denominations that
she had a hard time with. The idea that dancing was ungodly, that contraception
was evil or that praying to the Saints was a requirement to experience an
afterlife were examples of concepts that Julie strongly suspected were added by
man; not created by God.

It’s
not that she thought badly of those that embraced a certain denomination or
Christian belief system; most church members she had ever met were basically
very good, kind people and this hard cold world could use a lot more of them.
As a matter of fact, she was more likely to discuss her detailed personal
beliefs with an agnostic than a fellow Christian because she didn’t want to
take a chance on discouraging a Believer. For herself, however, Julie figured
that she trusted her relationship with God and didn’t always need the man
behind the pulpit to interpret every nuance or dictate every detail of His
policy.

The
other people that she avoided discussing her beliefs with were the dedicated
atheists. Being a Medical Doctor and scientist herself Julie had spent a lot of
time around this type of crusader and could never really understand their
insistence that the idea of God and science couldn’t coexist. To Julie,
evolution and mathematics helped explain the mechanics of God’s miracles and the
revelations of quantum physics were giving new insight into His creation. Who’s
to say that the very act of truly believing you won’t perish after physical
death isn’t the quantum requirement to accomplish it? Perhaps believing in a
certain way, Christianity for example, is what would unite those spiritual
beings in that afterlife. The mysteries of quantum physics are surprisingly
compatible with this idea and if it were true then the penalty for non-belief
could be nonexistence, or at best a lonely lost soul wondering the cosmos
eternally alone – and wouldn’t that be a kind of Hell? Every revelation, every
new scientific discovery gave Julie new respect, admiration, and sometimes awe
for the Creator.

She
found the Reverend Dr. Charles Rohn in his quarters. He invited her in and bade
her to sit down while he poured coffee for them both.

Rev.
Rohn was a quiet unassuming man who had risen near the top of his relatively
small Neo Christian denomination not because of any maneuvering on his part but
because he was honest, dedicated, and had no political ambitions. Therefore he
was politically safe to all factions inside the church. He suspected, rightly
so, that this was also the main reason he’d been selected for this mission and
assigned to General Nesbit’s HQ group. He’d been very surprised when the
government agents first knocked on his door, and totally unsurprised that since
then, with the possible exception of General Nesbit himself, he had been
totally ignored by the mission leadership.

Having
said that, he was a sincere man in his beliefs and potential consequences aside
he was excited to be on this journey of discovery.

Julie
wasn’t sure what the doctrine of the Neo Christian church was other than it was
listed as nondenominational, but she had some thoughts she wanted to give voice
to and it would be nice to do it with someone that could at least follow along
and hopefully offer insight.

“Rev.
Rohn, do you think the Christian churches back on earth will accept that the
Noridians and others we share a genetic ancestry with are human?”

“I
don’t know, but I hope so.

“Dr.
Schein, you have identified what I consider to be my mission imperative – to
find an answer for that question and return to Earth with it… are the Noridians
also the Children of God?

“The
Noridians,” he continued. “Have given me access to their theological history
and although they are dogmatically atheist I think there is enough information
about other societies to piece together a galactic spiritual history of sorts.”

“They’ve
given you that much access?” a surprised Julie asked.

“I
don’t think they feel it is an area of importance,” he responded with a grin.

“At
any rate I’ve barely begun and I have a tremendous amount of research ahead of
me, but I am hopeful to find enough common ground to put forth that doctrine. I
can only hope and pray that others see it the same way. I suspect,
unfortunately, that it may well depend on the nature of our relationship with
the Noridians. If it goes the way many here at HQ are suggesting and we welcome
them as friends of earth then I don’t expect it to be much of a problem.”

“What
about the Creation stories in the Bible; Adam and Eve?”

“There
will definitely be some that resist any new ideas and they’ll be the ones I
suspect that will have the most difficulty. My experience Julie is that most
people simply adapt. I don’t claim to know all the faces of God and I certainly
can’t claim to know His plan. I don’t think however that this will spell doom
for Christianity. If anything I hope it opens us up a new era of belief.”

”Reverend,”
Julie said carefully. “If the Chextigans really did tamper with our DNA and
create Homo sapiens that doesn’t seem to me to be a small matter of
interpretation. It seems like a direct conflict with The Bible.”

“The
thing is Julie,” he replied after a moment. “We’ve gone through this before.”

Julie
couldn’t help her questioning look.

With
a smile he continued, “For decades science has pointed to the Book of Genesis
to ‘prove’ that science and God cannot coexist. Many Christians were content to
accept the six day creation story as an allegory while a smaller subset
insisted that science was wrong and that it literally took six days to create
the heavens and the Earth. It looks like a direct conflict but it turns out that
both opinions were correct.

“It’s
all about frames of reference and gets into Einstein’s Laws of Relativity but
basically we Christians believe that God created the heavens and the earth.
Therefore God’s frame of reference is from outside of the Big Bang – that
initial explosion that created the universe. Man’s reference by definition must
be from ‘inside’ the event itself. How long it took depends upon where you were
standing, so to speak. Looking at the event from the ‘outside’ it only took six
days for the universe to form into the state of matter and energy that we see
today. From the ‘inside’ however time was moving at a much more accelerated
rate and took close to a half billion years.

“Most
people are comfortable with the idea that if you were travelling at the speed
of light time is different for those on the spaceship than for those back on
Earth, but Einstein showed us that not only speed but gravity and the expansion
of space itself also affect time.

“There
are a relatively large number of physicists, some of them very prominent, whom
have done the calculation using the speed of light as a standard for measure.
They all essentially agree on the timelines; even to the point of calculating
that when God said ‘Let there be light’ it matches up with the point at which
the Big Bang’s matter and energy had cooled and expanded enough for light to
escape the gravity of the Big Bang itself.”

Julie
was surprised; she’d never heard this before.

“Why
don’t more people know about this?” she asked.

The
Reverend replied with a sigh, “It’s not for me to say. I think the explanation
is very technical but I also believe that there will always be those that
oppose Christianity. I’ve always found it ironic that while some scientists scoff
at the idea of having faith they expect others to believe in scientific and mathematical
principals that are over their heads. So I guess it’s ok for people to have
faith in science they can’t understand but it’s not ok for them to have faith
in a Creator we can’t understand.

“My
point is,” he continued. “That conflicts like how long it took God to make the
Heavens and the Earth only seem to be conflicts because of our lack of
understanding. Who’s to say that the Chextigans weren’t part of God’s plan and
who’s to say that time won’t bear that out?”

“Rev.
Rohn, what I need to be most concerned with right now is the amount of
religious violence this whole mission could spawn. I’m worried that globally
there could be many churches that don’t want to be flexible in their dogma for
fear of shaking the Faithfull’s vision of God.”

After
a moment Rev. Rohn thoughtfully responded, “I understand your fear Julie but
think about this; everyone assumes that what we discover among the stars will
further test our belief, but what if it’s just the opposite? What if we
discover reasons to strengthen our faith? I personally believe that the harder
and farther we look the more reasons we’ll find to believe in Him.”

It
was at that moment Dr. Sullivan contacted Julie and asked her to assist him in
the HQ Hub.

“Reverend,
find a way to get that message out. I’m afraid that you have a terrible burden
on your shoulders – when we return to earth you may be giving the most
important sermons of your life.”

Rev.
Dr. Charles Rohn accepted Julie’s words with a smile and as she left his
quarters she was thinking that on purpose or not Earth’s governments had
selected the right person for the job.

Dr. Mark Spencer

“You’re
just using me for sex,” I said as I watched Hiromi dress.

“Does
this truth bother you?” she asked.

The
truth was it didn’t bother me at all. She wasn’t trying to claim me, own me, or
control me. I know she enjoyed me and liked me just as I liked and respected
her. It was also kind of fun; never knowing if someone was going to end up in
my bed when I turned off the lights each night.

It
was very early morning and as usual she was leaving before anybody else awoke.

Many
years ago I had learned that unless a woman had decided that
YOU’RE THE ONE
they usually appreciated a man being discrete. Even back in college while all
my buddies were busy bragging about their conquests I think I actually had some
relationships just because women knew I’d be discrete – at least one female
friend had admitted as much.

“You
know,” I said. “Only a beautiful ninja, samurai, SDF warrior could make scars
look sexy. I think it must be something about the danger of you losing control
during an orgasm and tearing me limb from limb that excites me.”

Hiromi
suddenly sat down on the edge of my bed and placed her hand softly on my chest.

“Mark,
for such a smart guy you’re pretty stupid when it comes to figuring yourself
out. You’re fun to be with and we don’t want an emotional attachment but I
don’t think you’d recognize your soul mate if you worked with her every day.”

Not
exactly sure where she was heading with the conversation, I felt an urge to
explain myself.

 “Look
Hiromi, with me it’s real simple. I love women.”

When
her expression didn’t change I went on. “I love everything about women; from
their nurturing and empathetic nature to their aggressiveness to be taken
seriously. I especially love the female form; the curves on the back of your
calf, the shape of your butt, even the lines of a woman’s shoulders and neck.
And the really best part is that no two women are the same – or at least
they’re usually not.” I said wistfully.

“Some
women have breasts that are pert and strong that I love massaging and kissing
while others are heavy enough that I can put my hands underneath and cradle the
weight. Some women can arch their back in an unbelievable way and did I ever
tell you how sexy a woman’s feet can be?” I said seriously.

I’m
not sure why but I really wanted her to understand.

“What
I like most though is being inside a woman. That sense of filling her with
pleasure. That faint little gasp when I first slip inside her. Watching you
squirm and writhe as I make love to you is important to me. And then the
tensing of muscles and curling of toes when a woman just can’t take it anymore
and gets overwhelmed with pleasure.”

“Call
me a dog if you want Hiromi but the truth is I just love women.”

“I
don’t curl my toes,” Hiromi laughed.

“Yes
you do. I’ve seen you.”

Hiromi
kissed me on the forehead and stood to leave. “All the things you just said are
things I know and love about you Mark but there is going to come a day when you
find a woman you don’t want to share or let go of; someone that without trying
will demand your true love. I just hope that you’ll be able to recognize those
feelings inside yourself in time to make it work.”

As
she started to leave she paused and said over her shoulder, “Also, you should
know me well enough by now to know that I don’t lie; I don’t curl my toes.”

∆∆∆

General
Nesbit was dead.

We
found out from Captain Silva about three hours before Colonel Memphis made an
evening statement on our smartpads.

At
about the same time that Silva was giving his report Julie had also learned the
news from Dr. Sullivan. We had gathered in Major Reagan’s quarters along with Anzio,
Toni, Dr. Decker, and Captain Hiromi. I don’t think anyone really trusted
Decker and no one was talking out of school but he’d been with me when an
obviously upset Julie found me.

“According
to Dr. Sullivan,” Julie was explaining. “The general has suffered from arterial
bleeding in the brain; it was a massive cerebral hemorrhage. It goes along with
the reasons the Noridians were giving for his slow recovery.”

“Why
couldn’t they prevent it?” Dr. Decker asked. “With their technology I would
have thought they could have caught it immediately and at least mitigated the
damage.”

Several
of us looked at each other, unsure if we should voice our real fear.

Finally
Major Reagan spoke up, “We may never know the reason for that but we have to move
on and ask ourselves how this affects the mission.”

I
made a mental note that Dr. Decker seemed truly effected by the general’s
death; which was in a weird way relieving considering all of the conspiracy
theories I was juggling in my head.

Captain
Silva took up the thread, “In practical terms it doesn’t change much. Colonel
Memphis has been in charge since the general first fell ill so not much changes
there, and we still have our excursion tomorrow that could be very informative.”

Our
3
^rd
Platoon had been notified this morning that we would be visiting
a planet that Noridia had befriended thousands of years ago and that we would
be free to talk to its people about what it was like to work with them and to
become a part of the Noridian culture.

Captain
Silva continued, “I think we should be more concerned about the psychological effect”.

“There
are also the political ramifications,” I interjected. “General Nesbit was by
nature a cautious man but Colonel Memphis already seems to be gung-ho on trusting
the Noridian’s completely.

“At
least it seems that way to me. What is your take on it Dr. Decker?”

Yes,
I know I was pushing him but I wanted to get a better feel for what he was
thinking. Judging from how everybody shifted their attention to him and awaited
his answer I don’t think I was the only one.

“I…
I think that’s a fair statement,” he responded. “I understand Colonel Memphis’
and Dr. Helmer’s excitement about what the Noridians can give to us but I know
that I have a lot of questions that no one seems to have answers to.”

“Like
what?” I asked.

“I’m
not sure this is the right place to go into it,” he said while looking around
at all of us.

Without
hesitation Major Reagan spoke up and said, “Dr. Decker, this is exactly the
right place. What are your concerns?”

After
a very long pause Dr. Tony Decker took a breath and said, “Ok, I don’t think
the Noridian’s are leveling with us, at least not completely.”

When
we didn’t say anything he went on.

“Look,
why are we on this mission; or more precisely, why do the Noridian’s want to
take us on this tour? We’ve been so anxious to see the big wide universe that
nobody’s stopped to ask why the Noridians would want to play tour guide.

“Everything
we’ve seen, everything we’ve learned could have been done on earth – probably a
lot faster and with far less resources involved than building a ship.

“Another
thing… Why can’t we communicate with earth? I know they tell us that in our
mode of travel instant communications like that are not possible, but there had
to have been opportunities when we slowed down or stopped to launch the
excursion. Maybe there’s a good explanation for it but it doesn’t make sense to
me.”

He
took a deep breath and continued. “The only thing that does make sense is if
they wanted us isolated. They’re making a giant sales pitch and they want time
alone with us so that Earth’s best and brightest will return totally sold and singing
their message.”

In
a quieter voice he added, “I’m just not sure yet what that message is.”

Well,
who’d have thunk it? The arrogant scientist that seemed to make a point of
being a pain in the rear had seen the obvious that all of us had missed and by
himself put the pieces together to reach a similar conclusion as we did
collectively.

Like
usual, Major Reagan knew how to best handle the situation. “Dr. Decker,” he
said as he stuck his hand out. “Welcome to a group of like-minded people.”

In
a shallow way I think everyone felt relieved to have our fears validated by a
third party. If other people were just as paranoid it might very well mean that
we weren’t crazy. Of course, that’s totally ignoring the fact that it just
validated that our whole species was in a lot of danger.

Julie
and I though had all the confirmation we needed with the announcement of
General Nesbit’s death. Earlier that morning after the breakfast announcement
of our Platoon’s excursion we had taken a walk and she had paused in that
uncomfortable dead-zone where the hallways connect with the hubs. I realized it
was a brilliant precaution and I listened closely as she outlined her concern.

She
explained her theory that the Noridians were purposely staging paradigm shifts
to shape our groups opinions and mindset; something dramatic shakes us up, then
we get the soothing sales pitch. She explained that unlike the last excursion
tomorrow’s outing would be the proselytizing half of the equation and that if
she was right…

“Something
very bad is going to happen today.”

∆∆∆

Jaki
had an insatiable sexual appetite.

We
were in her quarters again, or at least it was the quarters she was using;
there were no photos, trinkets, or personal effects whatsoever but it was the
same room we always met in. I’m not even sure what floor it was on; per her
instructions I simply stepped into an elevator and said, “Jaki’s room.” I had
experimented with whispering it and once I even just mouthed the words. It
didn’t seem to make any difference; I always ended up in this hall with loud
Rock ‘n’ Roll blaring from the same open doorway.

Today’s
lovemaking seemed a little more frantic; perhaps a little more desperate than
usual. It could have been my imagination but I really had the feeling that she
was making one last effort at convincing me of… something.

“Mark,”
she said once we’d caught our breath. “I want you to be our spokesperson to the
leadership of earth.”

This
definitely caught me by surprise.

“Jaki,
I’m honored but don’t I seem like a strange choice? You’ve got the leadership
of our mission that probably carries more weight than I do and they seem to be
gung-ho on accepting Noridia with open arms.”

We
were still lying on her bed and she reached-up to touch my face. “You should
know by now that titles don’t mean anything to us and if I was speaking through
you we would be able to spend a lot of time together – and you’d like that
wouldn’t you Mark?”

Actually
I wouldn’t like that at all. Jaki had one of the most perfect bodies that a man
could imagine and her response to my touch and the ease I could bring her to
orgasm would feed the ego of any man; yet there was a huge void in our
relationship that just soured everything. I think it had something to do with sincerity,
trust, honesty, and respect but that was just a quick guess.

“Of
course I would,” I lied. “But I’m not really sure what it is you want from us
or what the cost is going to be for your help. I can’t agree to anything until
you tell me more, Jaki – I’m just not wired that way. Besides, we have a lot of
mission left before we have to make those kinds of decisions, right?”

She
paused for a long moment and then said, “Earth is going to have to make a
decision sooner than you think, Mark. We have detected a sharp increase in
Coridian activity in your sector. You can’t expect us to protect you and expose
ourselves to danger if you won’t commit to us in return; surely that’s
reasonable?”