Intelligent Design: Revelations to Apocalypse (32 page)

Reich contained a laugh. She turned to see that Lux and her team were watching the room and preparing for evacuation. The sound of a low-flying helicopter came in from the east.

“Bring Pierce for adjudication. There are a whole lot of US federal laws he broke in addition to Massachusetts’s, I bet,” General Farrell said.

“That’s the least of his problems,” Middleton added.

Farrell looked for his hat, then realized he must have lost it when he was attacked earlier. Reich made the motion to move out. Lux took point, with Middleton hoisting Pierce up and pushing him along. Pax and Vespere flanked Perez and Farrell. They moved swiftly and with little sound. By the time they were at the house’s front door, a large black helicopter was just landing. Without further hesitation, the team boarded the vehicle, closed the doors, and was airborne.

“So, General, what’s your plan?” Perez said above the muffled engine and rotor noise.

“I’m going to tell the president what we know about Terra and Jupiter. And then I will await orders,” he said.

“And you will leave us out of your tale?” Perez said as he pointed to Reich and the others.

“Absolutely. Mr. Middleton’s stealth and Scotland Yard’s investigatory acumen saved me—and the day,” the general said. Middleton looked on, confused at first, but then he appeared to understand.

“For queen and country,” he said.

“Long live the queen,” Farrell said.

“And will you leave me and my team alone? I’ve got things to do,” Reich said.

“I think you and Mr. Perez have done enough for our country, and the human race,” Farrell said.

His tone was matter-of-fact, but he appeared suddenly tired. Reich concluded that the ordeal of being kidnapped must have taken its toll.

“So, General, with the mystery planet that you’ve been looking for for more than two decades coming to light and the end of days upon us, what’s your plan? You don’t seem to be the kind of guy to wait around looking for his next command. You know there was an Atlantis. If it wasn’t for the Jupiter situation, I’d help you find that, too,” Perez said in all seriousness.

Reich looked on and realized that Perez had nailed it. While all the burdens of command and next steps might have weighed on the general, his real passion had been searching for a mystery planet for more than twenty years. And now with the focus shifting to telling the world about it, the likely civil unrest that would follow, and preparation for a possible extinction-level event, it had to be anticlimactic to have all the answers just handed to him.

What’s the adventure in that? Where’s the exploration? Death?

“I don’t know,” he said. He looked off for just a moment, then gave a faint smile.

“Well, General, should you have any interest, my daughter Andrea has been working on a project you might be interested in…” Perez started.

“Oh? Andrea Perez? How is she doing?”

“Well, as far as I know. She has a way of getting into trouble. But you might be interested in hearing about what she’s looking for,” Perez said with parental pride.

“You mean in addition to working with an advanced civilization on a hidden world on the other side of the sun? You mean something like that?” the general chuckled.

“Yup. Something a little bigger,” Perez said in all seriousness.

General Farrell’s chuckle stopped quickly as he looked at how serious Perez was, and wondered what mystery could be even bigger. He shook his head and sat back. “Shit,” was all he said. He closed his eyes as if to take a nap.

The hum of engines and the rotors did have a calming effect, in a way. Reich always associated them with a completed mission and a moment to relax.

Reich looked at Perez, who smiled at her. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. He was surprised, but kissed her back. Once they separated, she said one thing: “Don’t do that shit again.” She felt her eyes narrow as she said it.

He picked up on her meaning.

“Affirmative,” he said.

Reich’s headpiece came to life unexpectedly, which startled her for a moment. She had forgotten she had it in still. Lux’s voice was clear, and there was a touch of both seriousness and excitement in it at the same time. She pointed to her earpiece and smiled at him. He picked up on the nonverbal explanation and leaned back.

“Reich?”

After she got over the initial surprise and waited a second for a follow-up or wise crack that didn’t come, Reich responded. “Go, Lux,” she said. She covered her other ear so she could hear better.

“Reich, I just got an after-action summary report from Terran Command. It’s been authenticated by our ships
Adventus
and
Red Dawn Rising.
They are confirming reports that are still coming in…Perez the Younger is all right. She has received wounds, but her discovery changes everything…”

Reich felt her jaw clench and her brows knit. She looked up at Anthony Perez and saw that, like the general, he was sleeping. His bruised, battered appearance made him look worn and yet somehow vigorous, even in sleep.

“Clarify, Lux.”

There was a brief moment of silence, but it was followed by excitement.

“Reich—Perez the Younger has discovered something amazing. Our Immunes Perez’s research of an undiscovered world has proven to be true. His daughter and Dimitra, leader of the House of Ferris, have claimed this amazing discovery. Perez the Younger is now
Praetor Perez
. Can you believe it! She is a
Praetor?
That title has been used just one time in the past one hundred cycles! And it has never been held by an off-worlder! Only by the Originators!”

“Okay, Lux, you lost me. Tie me in to the master computer to help me understand,” Reich said. The wild enthusiasm and the need for extensive authentication was clearly an indication of something big.
Bigger than the “discovery” of Terra or Jupiter’s impending conversion?

“Immunes Reich. Are you sitting down?” she heard her master computer say. While her calm, computer-driven voice was the same as usual, using a question as an introduction was unusual for her.

“Ah, yes? Computer? What the hell is going on? What is Lux saying?” Reich asked as quietly as possible so as not to be heard by her sleeping companions. She looked over at Middleton, who was keeping a close eye on the bound Sir Pierce.

“Immunes Lux’s hyperbole is not without merit and her excitement is well warranted. Further, the irony of your choice of using ‘hell’ will become apparent in eight Earth minutes. Please sit back while I give you the historical data and myths, and the ramifications of this significant discovery,” the computer said.

Oh boy. It’s something really big. Crap…

Whatever living beings there may be—feeble or strong, long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large, those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born as well as those yet to be born—may all beings have happy minds.
—The Buddha

“It is very much like old times,” Master Architect Janus said. Standing in the middle of another highly detailed holographic representation, he focused on the new sun that had just formed in the once one-star Sol System. Rather than projections and simulations, this representation was real. Hard data showed the existence of a real second sun.

“Are you referencing your repeated visits to this program and computer analysis, or are you referencing the last time we witnessed a massive astronomical event—the Gemini planetoid collision?” the Master Keeper asked.

Janus nodded at the need for clarification. With both hands cradling a very young Martian infant, he relied on giving all instructions verbally—his access to his array of tablets was momentarily limited. The long torso and limbs of the sleeping female were a beautiful sight. Large, closed eyes and a tiny nose and mouth. Janus wondered how he and Athena had created such a creature. Holding her made the loss of handling his instruments and tablets bearable. But that meant more clarifications about everything he said and asked. Janus knew his answer would raise a larger question, a question that was sure to yield interesting results from his sapient master computer.

“I was speaking of the Gemini event. Alpha and Beta dwarf planets traveled in their orbits without incident until some force pushed them out of sync. I begin to believe the Originators were involved in that event, just as they are involved in this. Would you not agree that the most recent revelations are inexplicable according to all our known science, Keeper?”

There was the expected silence. Janus was sure that the Keeper would highlight the most relevant data in an effort to keep the conversation smooth and manageable while making her points clear. Even as he waited, multiple series of calculations and formulas appeared all throughout the holographic representation. The majority were in red, indicating inconclusive or unknown or undeterminable equations.

“Yes. Inexplicable,” she said simply. A moment passed.

Janus was surprised.
Well. This is unusual.
He waited and finally asked a question he was sure he had never asked his master computer before.
Well. This is unusual
“Please elaborate?”

The hologram of dual suns shifted back to its original single-sun Sol System, with the planet Jupiter in its preignition state, and the asteroid belt and remains of the former dwarf planets in their habitual places. More silence followed until the Keeper finally spoke. As she did, various symbols, formulas, and computations appeared in midair.

“The appearance of an infinitesimal black hole in an unlikely location never before detected, and with a volume perfect for creating the critical mass and energy needed to push a planet into a solar state cannot happen by chance. This followed by beams of accurately titrated elements for ignition, all timed in a specific sequence. Again, the probabilities of this occurring randomly are inconceivable. Both of these events occurring at the same time, in the right amounts, in a perfect place, can only be explained by some…organized…plan. Some form of prearranged design is the most likely answer.”

To highlight her point, a series of numeric representations flooded each point where the probabilities of all of those events occurring naturally were impossible. An entirely new set of possible solutions appeared and were rapidly highlighted in red—meaning that it could not have been a naturally occurring event. Janus looked at the flowing numbers and the system’s visual displays. Jupiter began to shrink and collapse in on itself. For a mere moment, it was gone. Suddenly, a series of flashes flickered to life in its place and a small sun erupted where the red, Jovian giant, gaseous planet had just been. As soon as it came to life, the hologram shifted perspectives to show the asteroid fields, Mars, Earth, Terra, and Venus.

“If we were to…ignore…or to not consider the first series of unlikely events, the next series would still seem just as puzzling,” the master computer continued.

Janus found himself near the point of pure joy. With his sleeping offspring in his arms, in itself an unexpected pleasure, he was sure he was witnessing his closest artificially intelligent friend make a religious leap of faith. Janus held his breath and wished that at least Olympia, if not both of his companions, could be present to see this. She was assisting Athena with their other three infants.
She would appreciate this
. Janus focused on a specifically marked series of multiple-sized asteroids.

“The ignition of a new sun should have had a profound effect on nearby objects, but not to such a degree witnessed,” the computer said.

The animated simulation displayed a series of asteroids rapidly accelerating out of their orbits—in all directions. The smaller objects accelerated to several stages below light speed, but were nonetheless going faster than could ever have been predicted. They should have taken several annual cycles to reach the inner planets, but it appeared as if it had only taken mere planetary cycles.

In Earth time, a distance that should have taken asteroids years of travel took the smaller ones mere months to cover
.

To demonstrate the point, the Mars and Earth holograms displayed each planet’s bombardment. For Mars, with less atmosphere, the impact triggered volcanic activity and melted the polar ice caps and permafrost. This was expected, based on earlier simulations. Good for Mars—if their underground shelter held. The red planet’s time lapse display revealed a browner, greener planet with thin clouds on the bright side, while electrical storms and rain occurred on the less bright side. In the plains and valleys, the presence of waterways was evident.

Janus smiled.
Just like old times.

Images of Earth’s atmosphere destroying most of the incoming meteors flashed by, but there were three massive asteroids that made impact. While smaller than those that had wiped out the dinosaurs, they were still devastating. The simulations showed each impact at different points of the globe, raising massive dust clouds and shifting tectonic plates that triggered tsunamis and volcanic activity. A time-lapse demonstration showed the planet shift from blue, white, brown, and green to mostly white, with a little brown and blue near the equator. Janus looked down at his little girl. It was hard to see the Earth change so drastically. A series of formulas and data points were highlighted in green, accurately indicating probable devastation for the planet’s biospheres.

“Each of our planets’ axes has already started to shift. This is unprecedented. Earth and Terra have already experienced tectonic shifts in some places near fault lines, and volcanic activity. This was not supposed to occur until much later. Earth will spiral into a new ice age while our home might develop a more viable atmosphere and new life. Terra, on the other side of the old sun, once again may have passed unscathed by the massive meteor showers. The irony is that their underground existence and minimalist way of life would have made them the more likely to survive a bombardment anyway if they were in the line of fire.”