Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (32 page)

“Do not be impatient, my friend; think; be clear; keep trying.”

“Cities, many cities; who are they? What am I looking at?”

“All of what you see, my dear Brock, are the Ever-Life colonies. Relax, sit; and finish the food.”

Brock stared, mesmerized; and, then, he heard Buddy bark. He snapped to his senses and sat back down, as a clear, paper-thin, oval monitor appeared above the table, in front of him. He began to watch and listen to everything the voice projected onto the screen.

“Now Mr. Brock, we begin.

Chapter 2

The Event

Same Event/Two Locations:

June 3,
2:00 A.M. USA West Coast Time

In the Northwestern United States, south of Seattle, Washington, a night guard sat in a small, third floor, tower office. Four such towers marked the castle perimeter of O.P.A.S.-Oregon Particle Accelerator Sciences Inc. The guard was dozing, off and on, with his feet on a desk. Suddenly, he awoke hearing several loud dings from the shiny cylinder lying on its side, on a corner table across from his desk. The display on the top blinked out one holographic word,
‘Sidron’
. Then, from the bottom of the container, a single page printed out. The guard walked over talking to himself, “I’ve been here two years. This thing has never done anything.”

He read the paper; and, as protocol dictated, he dialed a phone number, pushing the pads on the side of the cylinder.

The paper read: 
Success! Notes retrieved indicate more than expected. Copy ready to send...This is Priority Intel…Original copy returned to source…Awaiting instructions.

Then the guard felt a tremor and the whole room shook violently.

“Holy Shit; an earthquake!”

But that would have been good news. It only lasted five seconds. He grabbed at the wall; and, when it was over, he turned around facing his desk. Something impossible had happened. Half his desk had vanished. It was cut perfectly; vertically in half. The half remaining had no marks of any kind as a clue to how, or what just happened. He stared frozen, watching the remaining half desk clunk onto the floor and papers pour out all over the floor.

When his senses kicked in, he quickly took his communicator out and pushed a preset emergency number.

“Station two tower reporting. Sam, are you there? Sam; Christ; come in! Sam?”

“Yes, keep your pants on! I’m here. What’s the problem?”

“Didn’t you feel that? Half my desk is gone. It disappeared…I mean; the whole half is gone.”

“Christ, Marky; get a grip!”

“It was an earthquake, or something. You had to feel it. You are right under me.”

“What the hell are you saying? Are you smoking that crap again? Calm down. Nothing happened here.”

The phone reception cut out for several seconds; and then, the tower guard heard a voice.

“Hello, Mr. Adams? Is this Sergeant Mark Adams?”

“Hello, hello; who is this? Yes this is Adams. Sam, what happened?”

“Mr. Adams, it’s not Sam; this is Mr. Stevens, from the T.T.I. lab.”

“Mr. Stevens? Yes, Sir; but, how did you cut into this secure line.”

“Mark, it is very late. I understand that; but I need you to exit the tower and report to me here, immediately.”

As the guard listened to Stevens, the door to his office opened and two armed men walked in.

“Mark, listen to me; please accompany the two men. They will bring you here to me. There is no cause for alarm.”

**********

Same Event/Two Locations

June 3, Across the Globe; 11:15 A.M. Egypt Time

A main Ever-Life facility, Time Trust, was almost directly on the other side of the globe, deep below the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. Within one of its security rooms, two men sat talking. There were several objects on the table between them. One man picked up a small rectangular item, studied it and said, “This is my old flash drive.”

The other man smirked.

“Hardly; that term is ancient to us. Let me show you. It attaches to this, like that.”

“What do you mean ancient?”

“Actually, it is organic, in nature. Few knew that, at the time, by the way…First, a few basic pertinent facts…”

“Okay?”

“You are from North America, correct?”

“Yes.”

“While Calendars, up there, record history well into the year 2999 A.D., it is our year 9999.6. In other words, it’s June. I suppose you could say, we have adopted many of the same terms; but, we live by different numbers”

“2999?  That’s impossible.”

“Yes; quite so, to you; I am sure. Now, regarding this little jewel, the likes of which I haven’t seen in over ten years; we used it for containing important records. It is organic nature, which guarantees security. Some of these little buggers have information that dates back, more than 700,000 years. I will have to use an old protocol to retrieve inputs. These things were quite reliable, in their day. At that time, they were considered; how would you put it, cutting edge. They contained records of all memories from every human here, within Ever-Life; everything from proofs of man’s true genetic origin, to the secrets of what you would call time travel. Of most interest to me, though; they had interactive programming for activities and interfaces with all surface creatures. We kept all information regarding every aspect of life within these special little vaults. Of course, we have upgraded now, using much more sophisticated software. But, no; this is not your old flash drive.”

“Slow down; there, Mr.; I am still trying to absorb the date, 2999?”

The two heard the room door open, and a guard interrupted their conversation.

“Mr. Wheeler, Sir; pardon me. We need you a moment.”

Wheeler smiled at the man across from him and politely excused himself, “I will be right back.”

He got up, turned to leave; and, then, turned back again. “I realize this all may be quite unnerving. But, try to be patient. You are among friends; and quite safe.”

“What friends; where am I?”

“You are ten miles below the bottom of the Great River Nile. We are part of the Ever-Life Colonies. Please; I will be right back.”

As Wheeler walked out the door, into the hallway, he saw orderlies running by, in both directions.

“Sir, Sir; Mr. Wheeler,” one said. “Come with me. Please hurry!”

“What’s going on, son?”

“You know, Sir; we never really expected anything…”

“What? Spit it out.”

“The readings; the monitors, Sir; there has been a breach in the Sidron highway.”

“Christ!”

The two men ran down the hall, into a lab room, just as it exploded. They were thrown backward against the rock wall. The orderly was blown apart, instantly. Wheeler lay bloody and broken, lifeless.

Chapter 3

The Question

Ever-Life’s transport station 606 was located almost a mile beneath Andrews Hospital, which was on the Brock/Swanson Campus in the city limits of Arden, New Mexico. Out from the station, various tunnels branched in all directions. The boarding platforms reminded one of a New York subway station, with the exception that they were pristine and antiseptic. All platforms were constructed at the angle of that particular tunnel. Some tunnels pitched as steep 45 to 90 degrees up or down. However; passengers could walk from one platform to another, even if they were perpendicular to one another without fear of falling, because the magnetic field surrounding any individual platform was more powerful than the Earth’s gravitational pull.

The network of tunnels branched outward into Earth, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel extend from its axis; and, they extended hundreds of miles below the Campus. Some tunnels leading into the Post 3were a mile wide, and the major cavern was ten miles below the surface. From that point, the main vertical chasm disappeared straight down, branching out like an upside-down Christmas tree deep into the bowels of Earth. Strangely, though, there had never been any recorded sign of magma or volcanic activity around any inhabited tunnel throughout the Ever-Life colonies.

On the sides of the main cavern, several semicircle ledges protruded, suggestive of mushroom caps growing out from tree trunks. The biggest one was the size of four to five football fields. It had a large open amphitheatre, reminiscent of old Greece. Between and around the circumference of the chasm, were huge quartz-like structures. They were many and varied buildings, including
business units, malls, hotels, restaurants, healthcare research facilities and countless living quarters.

Looking out, over the main ledge’s field, from a hotel balcony suite, Dr. Jack Sheldon stood, surveying the sights. In the center of the field were several fountains, squirting colored waters, from unfamiliar statuesque shapes, and beautiful transparent moving walkways, weaving in, out, and around flowers and topiaries. Large flexible paper-thin monitors, of all shapes and sizes, floated above the people. Some had video playing. Others reflected beautiful artful designs, while playing captivating music. Still others displayed ads, regarding the latest in healthcare research. After a time, the monitors would roll up, invisible to any viewer.

Jack watched mesmerized.

“Look at it; strange and wonderful; moving sidewalks; people movers; my, my; how do those things go around corners. What happened to good old-fashioned one foot after the other? And, what the hell are those things? People are getting into bubbles-floating vehicles. They do look like bubbles…Quite an idea for public transportation; no buses, trains, cars or bikes; just bubbles; noiseless bubbles…‘Fascinating’, to say the least.”

He and Rachel had rested and rejuvenated, after the opening festivities, some ten hours earlier, celebrating the transfer of power from GGM Gordon Swanson to Mathew Bellos. Jack stared spellbound.

“What a party…It’s all too wild. No one would believe it, up there…Why don’t those things crash into each other? They just slide off, change shape…”

He turned around, and raised his voice, “Rachel! Rachel! You know; I just cannot get my head around the fact that, all this has been here for thousands of years, not to mention the light. Where does all the damn light come from? How do those, whatever they are, fly around and not crash into anything. Look, there goes one disappearing right into the side of the rock wall…Shit!
Honey; Rachel!
What time does the serious ceremony begin, anyway? God, I have no idea what to say…Should we even ask ‘what time it is’ down here?”

Rachel Sheldon walked out of the bath area and down the hall toward Jack. She was dressed and ready to go.

“Silly, look at your watch, we have about an hour.”

“Well; it’s disconcerting, to say the least.”

“Stop it. We should be honored; and you know it. Mathew and Gordon have broken all their rules, just so we can be here.”

“Rules? Obviously, there are no rules. Look at us. We were dead, for God’s sake. Don’t you ever wonder?”

Rachel froze, wide eyed, and walked to the window.

“Jack, do you remember anything? I mean, anything during the time you were…dead?”

Jack walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

“I remember you, Honey. I remember you.”

Rachel caressed his hand. “Mmm…”

Then she turned and faced him.

“…No; I don’t mean in a romantic sense. I mean, did you have an after death experience; like going into a light; you know, anything at all?”

Jack sighed and walked toward the middle of the room, away from Rachel.

“I don’t want to remember.”

“Jack Sheldon, look at me! I never asked you, because I thought it would come out naturally. But you haven’t said one word to me in all these months?”

Jack bowed his head and spoke to her softly, “It was nothing like a dream, no light to walk to, no pearly gate. For me, it was something I never expected or could have imagined. Please Rach, I don’t want to say anymore, not right now. Frankly, I don’t know if I ever will…Babe, what is really bothering you? What happened to you?”

Rachel turned, and slowly walked toward the window.

“That night; it went so fast. I remember some things; the joy I felt, seeing you wake up in that casket. I was so thankful and excited. I remember the sound of the guns; the bullets; staring at you, as you jumped out to save us all; but it wasn’t really you, was it? I get so confused sometimes…I remember feeling the shots go through me, so fast; and then, quick as a blink, I felt limp, floating, falling down; tasting blood. For a second, I remember seeing you next to me. I reached for you. I couldn’t blink anymore. I was staring at you, when everything went…black.”

“Oh Darlin; come here…”

They embraced. Then, Jack pushed Rachel, gently, off his chest, wiping her tears.

“Come on, Hon; tell me.”

“It’s just so unbelievable; bordering on silly. After all, I mean I do have four degrees, a Masters, and a PhD.”

Jack laughed, “Well that doesn’t mean we know a hill of beans about anything important, in this world, or any other.”

Rachel gathered herself.

“I saw everything. I know how this sounds; but, a guide whisked me up and out, faster than I can explain. It was instantaneous, but real. It wasn’t a feeling, as much as a knowing, a consciousness, of sorts. The guide, whatever
it was, brought me to a place. It was definitely a place…And, I wasn’t a body of flesh; obviously. I was more, like a body of knowledge and love. I’m not even sure if I should call it, love; but, that’s the only word I can think of, to describe it. I wasn’t what we would think of, as spirit, at all, though. It was something else.”