Intelligent Design: Revelations to Apocalypse (15 page)

Unless Latin originated here, on Terra. Maybe Mars?

“And what do the Earthers think of Mars?”

“There’s nothing there. There was a great civilization there once, a Martian Master Keeper’s on the surface even, but not today. Not on the surface, but underground there remain survivors of a great species called Architects and Master Keeper. I should have seen this. When you have stories of Martian invasions, hieroglyphics and ancient drawings that point to an older civilization on a red planet, you’d think we’d pick up on the clues. But anyway, I’m impressed with how the Keepers understood the dangerous nature of the universe and thought to colonize Earth, Venus and Terra. Almost prophetic when you think about it,” Perez mused.

“I have always come to believe that their motivations to avoid extinction via meteor impact made sense. With two dwarf planets’ orbits on a collision course between Mars and the Jovian planet, the Keepers must have known when the collision would happen and the likelihood of the ensuing planetary destruction. The asteroid belt put them in grave risk.”

“Too true. The foresight, though, and the engineering and compassion to set out and populate new worlds is truly inspirational.”

“Almost inspirational enough to write about it in a book? What the Bible called ‘The Great Flood,’ ‘End of Days’ and the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?’” Clematis said. While Terrans were not known for sarcasm, they still had the capacity for it.

Perez pinched her nose, ostensibly to relieve sinus pressure. Clematis’s jab at Earth’s religions didn’t surprise her.

“Don’t be mean. We got the stories right, for the most part. We just didn’t have the advantage of having a Keeper to fill in the context, and we left out the other books that explained key points of the Bible. Not bad for a species that had to do it all from memory.”

“Like I said, the Earthers do not do well with unanswered mysteries. I have always been impressed with how your species did get much of it down in a book, a series of books, without the assistance of a Keeper. But then that’s the tragedy of it all,” Clematis said with sadness.

“Yes … when the end came for Mars, it wiped out Earth’s Atlantis, home of the Keepers, and after millions of years—well into the era before the Egyptians—it finally sank into the sea. It is so sad and unfair ….”

“Yes. And Venus … such a lush, beautiful world the Keeper tells us, the gem of all the planets. I am amazed that much of Earth survived unscathed, with the exception of Atlantis. Almost as if it were deliberately destroyed. An experiment perchance.”

“Maybe. I wonder what things would have been like if we’d had a similar Keeper.”

“It is amazing that your kind managed to prosper without one. A great experiment! Meanwhile, the Sun protected Terra, a desolate planet with nothing but caverns. I have often wondered, if the Keepers had been able to finish terraforming this planet, might it have been as beautiful as Venus?”

“It would have been better, but I’m guessing that since Terra always has the same side facing the sun, it would’ve taken an additional tens of thousands years on top of the tens of thousands they had to finish the job. I think your subterranean world, the location along the terminus line, and an ocean filled with life, protected by miles of ice, has served you well. The Keeper’s regeneration of Terra’s magnetic field and reduction of methane and sulfur from the atmosphere is impressive,” Perez said.

Visions of massive, interconnecting machines that tied into a majority of the planet’s pyramids from the planet’s poles filled her head as she imagined what it would be like to switch the planetary machinery from holographic illusions and life supports to terraforming again. The noise, heat and energy would be tough and the power consumption huge.

Is there going to be enough power to keep the underground world going and keep the emitters online?
Perez wondered.
Maybe they’d planned to finish the project later and then seed the planet.
She guessed they’d run out of time and had decided to preserve an underground habitat rather than create one on the surface.

“I think hiding from Earth is a good idea. On top of the culture shock of your planet’s existence, Earth would colonize Terra if it was in prime condition. It wouldn’t be long before humans showed up, planted flags and took it all over. Bad enough that our presence will be discovered soon, at least Terra looks like a desolate, hostile and dead planet. Even then, you know us Earthers …”

Perez’s heart filled with anxiety at the thought of various Earth governments pooling resources and setting out to conquer a new world, just as Columbus did.

That didn’t turn out so well for the Native Americans now, did it?

If Earth was at a tipping point, the human race would be more desperate and see the Terrans as a primitive species and a problem to be eliminated.

“Absolutely! That’s where we once again share a lot in common. No matter how inhospitable the land is, we can live there. We can live anywhere. But tell me, Perez, would our existence if known to our Earth cousins be so bad?” Clematis asked.

Perez answered as if their very lives depended on how quickly she shared her concerns.

“I think it would be devastating for the nine billion people on Earth. If they were to take the same journey I did, the majority of them would understand and make changes to save their own world. But religious zealots would feel threatened if they found the Keeper’s knowledge and data. Humans don’t do well when fundamental aspects of their understanding changes. The basis of many religious and philosophical beliefs would become unhinged, emotions would run amok, and the knowledge that we Earthers are not alone and not unique would first shock and then anger us. Many would lose their fundamental belief in God and codes of ethics.”

“Like the Judea-Christian’s Ten Commandments and the Tenants of the Koran,” Clematis said.

Perez pressed on, feeling an urgent need to warn her friend and her adopted world of a waking giant.

“Yes. As incomplete as they both are, these codes of good behaviors might be tossed aside by those who come to believe that there is no God and that we are not unique.”

Anxiety and fear took hold of Perez. Her own belief that more existed after death suddenly left her, and she felt alone in the universe.

“That is all possible, Perez, but doesn’t our existence reinforce the presence of God or a Divine Creator?” Clematis asked.

Perez felt as if she’d hit a wall. The idea that good or reassurance might come from the discovery of aliens just across the solar system or that humans might embrace a newly discovered world with another similar species never occurred to her. Only Earth’s consistent history of conflict when one country saw opportunity with another came to mind—wars over politics, economics, and religion.

“Did the Keeper tell you where they came from?” Clematis asked.

Lightning reflected off the walls of the silent room.

“No. The Keeper reported that its earliest memories were the discovery of Mars and its teeming ecology and bio-systems of life.” A suddenly realization dawned.

“Life was there before they arrived.”

“So how was the circumstance for life created on Mars before the Keepers’ arrival?”

Perez smiled. Some of her unasked questions possibly had answers. “It looks like I have to ask more questions,” she said.

“Good, Perez. It may be time for you to join my journey as I have been searching for that answer. I would like to find it before my final journey so I can tell my kin and all the other Terrans.” Clematis stood, ostensibly to leave.

Perez, surprised by the invitation to join her on an important journey, followed her lead, though with some difficulty as her leg had stiffened.

“What questions have you been trying to answer?” she asked. Clematis’s eyes widened slightly.

Let me guess … it’s obvious.

“Just tell me, Clematis. I’m exhausted, hungry and thirsty.”

Perez took time to straighten and regain feeling in her leg. She rubbed her thin face, then ran her hands through her not-so- clean hair, avoiding the new growth near her scars. Fortunately, Clematis took pity on her and answered.

“I want to know who created the Architects and the Keepers. Where did they come from? They had to come from somewhere, right? We call our creators the Originators. Who are they?”

Perez stopped to consider the simple question. Her hands went to her knife hilts and her eyes narrowed. In the finest tradition of Earth humans, she hadn’t focused on the most important questions, the ones that could yield a more unifying answer. “Hmm.”

Clematis didn’t wait for an answer. Apparently, she had more immediate things on her mind.

“But before that journey, I hope your father brought bushels of chestnuts. We will know soon, as
Silent Falling Star
will be here in the next several hours.”

“What?” Perez’s voice rose. “You let me rant and rave all this time and forgot to let me know that my father will be here soon?”

“I did not forget, Perez. I chose the right time to tell you, which was now.”

“Hmm.” Perez rolled her shoulders. She could feel her leg again
,
and it had been good to talk about all this. “Lead the way, Clematis. I need to get clean and prepare for the drums and dance.”

“Excellent, Perez! Maybe you can take the lead in the dance?”

Clematis was already opening the hatch in the floor to the staircase below.

“Maybe I will.” Perez shook the stiffness out of her sore leg and prepared to follow.

Things that are done, it is needless to speak of…things that are past, it is needless to blame. -
Confucius

“Your father, Perez the Elder, continues to improve, Perez the Younger,” Centurion Dea Data said.

Perez stood close to the semi-transparent cryogenic tube where she could see him sleeping. Relieved that her father was all right, she was glad there was a simple solution to distinguish them since first names were nonexistent on Terra.

Oh Dad. What were you doing?

Perez paused at the thought that she looked very different as well in not just years but also in wear and tear.

Wait until he sees me…

Dea Data, or “Dee Dee” as she was called by Clematis, continued with her summary.

“We were able to remove the projectiles with ease and repair his lung. The swelling in his face has substantially subsided while he was in cryogenic stasis. To ensure his steady recovery and acclimate his body to Terran’s gravity and atmosphere, I made the decision to keep him in stasis while we adjusted his chamber during his return
.”

Perez nodded but remained focused on her father. He had more gray hair, but other than the bruising near his temple, he looked very healthy and even younger. Perez felt Clematis’s reassuring grip on her shoulder. Cloelius looked on.

“Thank you, Centurion. And thank you for taking care of him all these years back on Earth. He looks remarkable considering all he’s done and what he’s gone through.”

“He is a tough brute. Disciplined, focused, tenacious—I swear he is full Terran,” Dee Dee said.

Perez looked back at Dee Dee and was going to ask her a question, but Dee Dee was looking over her shoulder and smiling. Perez followed her gaze, as did the others. A large Terran male, tall and very broad, drew the women’s attention. His casual gait and beautiful smile made Perez feel safe. With Terran males in few numbers, seeing one was rare. The group watched him stretch out his arms and envelop Dee Dee in an embrace.

Perez looked away to be polite, but Clematis and Cloelius did just the opposite. They looked, vicariously experiencing the embrace. Not sure what to do, Perez opted to pull Clematis and Cloelius’s voyeuristic stare away and remind the couple they were still in the hangar with hundreds of staring women.

“I’ve seen very few males here, but he’s the first I’ve seen that is … I don’t know … muscular?”

“That is because he is one of the older ones, joined to several women for our procreation efforts. When he’s not involved with his tasks, he is teaching combat maneuvers, ethics and physics. He is quite the specimen,” Clematis said.

“And he’s quite a looker too; he has hair everywhere and his physical prowess is legendary,” Cloelius added. A hint of envy and admiration glittered in the woman’s eyes.

“And he wants to talk to you later, Perez. The story of your battle with the rattus horde intrigued him, and he wants to hear more about your tactics, about how you beat back four rattus; a first, by the way,” Clematis said.

“It was actually two on three; one rat stayed out of the fight and I caught one by surprise while the other was already engaged …”

The couple’s conversation drew Perez’s attention, and she moved to the other side of her father’s stasis chamber to listen in.

“Don’t ruin a good story with facts,” she heard one of them say.

“…Well, I am impressed that my sisters will let me have you for three whole weeks, undisturbed, after my absence for a decade. How kind,” Dee Dee said sarcastically.

The way the couple hugged and smiled at each other reminded Perez of her father and mother …
a lifetime ago
. She reached out and touched the transparency just above her father’s face.

“Now, Dee Dee, be kind. I tried to get more time, but your sisters are not as flexible or as generous as you. Still, forget about them and come home. I have prepared a return meal, and the family will join us in two hours,” he said.

His virile build and deep voice impressed Perez. It matched his persona.

“I must oversee the cargo manifest first and debrief on the mission.” Dee Dee’s expression grew sad.

Clematis took a step towards the couple.

“No, Centurion Dea Data. Dux Cloelius, Minor Perez and I are here for that task,” she said in a warm voice.

“You are to go home with your betrothed now.”

“We are?” Cloelius asked. Her expression matched Perez’s surprise.

“Yes, Centurion. We have this covered. Welcome home. We will find you should we have questions.” As if to finalize the act, Clematis produced a tablet and stylus and began to go through the ship’s manifest.