Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure Read online

  Intervention

  by

  J.W. Huemme

  Copyright © 2015 by J.W. Huemme

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Discovery

  Chapter Two: Hidden Seed

  Chapter Three: Masquerade

  Chapter Four: Conception

  Chapter Five: Magical Beginning

  Chapter Six: Made in the Shade

  Chapter Seven: Love in the Loop

  Chapter Eight: Deaf Ears

  Chapter Nine: Into the Stone

  Chapter Ten: Alien Knight

  Chapter Eleven: Computer Eyes

  Chapter Twelve: Thinning the Herd

  Chapter Thirteen: The Big Dog Barks

  Chapter Fourteen: Read His Lips

  Dedicated to the memory of

  Sheba and Cleo

  May you rest in peace and love

  Always and forever and ever

  Chapter One

  Discovery

  Since the dawn of mankind, people have looked up at the sky with awe and wonder. There were so many things that early man could not explain. Things like comets, meteors, and eclipses remained a mystery until more recent times. Many early religious beliefs were based upon what people could see. Although we now understand most of what we see through scientific study, we continue to look up, searching the skies for something yet to be understood. To this day, we have yet to see more than a glimpse of anything we can’t explain. There exists not one shred of evidence that could offer undeniable proof that other races have visited our world. This, however, does not mean that it hasn’t happened.

  Several thousand years ago, a craft that today we would consider a miracle of technology, seemed to appear out of nothingness in the outer edge of our solar system. This craft was the product of a race of beings millions of years more advanced than modern man could even imagine. They are the Agosei, an ancient and highly advanced race, far more so than any of the many races they have encountered.

  The Agosei are a race that long ago matured beyond war and aggression—a race that lives in total harmony with not only each other but the universe they explore as well. These are a people that no longer have need of economics or currency, no desire for power. This is a race that only wishes to better themselves as individuals, to expand their knowledge of the universe in which they live, wanting now only to answer the age-old question: What’s out there?

  Their missions are always peaceful, involving exploration and information gathering. The Agosei are able to traverse the great distances necessary for such missions by shifting into another dimension—a dimension not governed by the same laws of physics as this one and instead filled with wormholes connecting all parts of the universe. When they arrive at a destination, they seem to appear out of nowhere as they shift back into their current dimension. Traveling from one solar system to another, they scan, map, and learn everything there is to know about each solar system they encounter. This is accomplished by the craft while the Agosei remain in a form of stasis. When deemed necessary, the craft, controlled by a highly advanced form of artificial intelligence, brings them out of stasis.

  The mission they are currently on started about seventy of our years ago; it will continue for another hundred or so years. Upon the mission’s completion, the craft’s occupants will have aged only a few years.

  The craft is a marvel of technology by any standard. It is composed almost entirely of what could best be described as a programmable liquid metal the Agosei call kelvinite, and it is able to take any shape desired. The craft is able to increase or decrease its size by increasing or decreasing the thickness of its outer shell. The only part of the craft not made from the liquid metal is the control crystal—an artificial intelligence which acts as an interface between its occupants and the craft. The material, this programmable liquid metal, is capable of doing most anything. It is the basis of their technology. It is able to multitask on an atomic level, serving several purposes simultaneously and can be made to be a source of propulsion. It can gather energy from a variety of sources, compute, and, if necessary, be a weapon. There is very little it cannot do. If one of the beings wants to sit, he only has to picture a chair and the computer will create a seat from the liquid metal. It would be as real as any chair, right down to the touch, feel, and color of the fabric, emerging out of the floor as if rising out of water.

  The craft is controlled entirely by the craft’s computer and can be directed by any of the occupants by thought alone, even if they are not physically in the craft.

  Compared to us, the Agosei are small creatures, measuring about four feet in height. Their skin is pale and almost light grey in color. Their head would seem to us somewhat large for their bodies. Their face is made up of two rather large eyes, dark and almond-shaped; a very small nose with two small holes; and a mere horizontal slit for a mouth with no noticeable lips. Two small holes, one on each side of their head, act as ears. Their bodies are completely void of any hair, and on the end of their long slender arms are hands with only three long fingers and a single thumb. They are a race we might refer to today as “little grays.”

  Like so many others, this was a typical solar system until, as the craft left the fourth planet and turned its sensors to the fast-approaching third planet, it detected life. Immediately, the process of releasing the three Agosei occupants from stasis began. Once fully revived, the Agosei started monitoring the craft’s sensors. Indeed this was a planet teaming with life. They detected thousands of species and even primitive structures indicating intelligent life on the planet.

  As their craft entered the atmosphere, it shifted into another dimension, a dimension of nothing, a dimension void of even light. This allowed the craft to remain undetected, even at close range, yet still able to observe its surroundings.

  A planet with intelligent life is a special find. It is the most precious of all things in the universe. The Agosei realized, in the blink of an eye, that this primitive race would evolve and one day reach out to the stars, just as they did eons ago.

  It was during this time that, what would one day become a ray of hope for all of humanity, that the Agosei’s craft found its way to our world completely unnoticed, like a thief in the night. Not to take, but rather to give the gift of hope for all mankind.

  It was a savage time, with loosely organized groups, individual nomad tribes, and just a few somewhat organized civilizations like the early ancestors of the Mayans and Egyptians. These were civilizations overseen by rulers who enslaved and brutalized their peoples. Truly a time when just surviving day to day was a major accomplishment.

  The first area examined by the Agosei was what we now refer to as North America. They hovered low over a group of beings riding on the backs of more primitive four-legged animals engaged in the pursuit of a large fur-covered creature. The natives, using a very basic, yet well-organized strategy, hurled primitive spears into the beast until, with one final gasp for breath, it fell to the ground.

  Nearby, the craft hovered over a small and primitive encampment where small children were laughing and playing. The Agosei observed the Natives disassembling the remai
ns of a similar animal. The beings fashioned clothing and shelter from the animal hide and cooked the meat over an open fire to feed their families. They then fashioned tools from its remaining bones. Nothing was left to waste.

  The primitives engaged in a ceremony giving thanks and praise to the gods for the abundance of food and water and for their paradise world they had been given to live in and raise their young.

  In a short period of time, the Agosei determined these were a peaceful people living in harmony with not only each other, but the world around them. These were the ancestors of the Native American Indians. The Agosei were very pleased with what they saw, and holding high hopes for this newly discovered race, they moved south, continuing their information gathering.

  They found a civilization, the early ancestors of what we know of today as the Mayans. The craft hovered over a large crowd of beings, and they watched as two others forcefully drug one of the Natives up a set of steps of a stone pyramid. Once at the top, the Native who was dragged up the steps was held in a prone position on a table-like platform and approached by another being dressed in ceremonial clothing and wielding a large sword. This being, showing absolutely no emotion in his cold and lifeless eyes, first cut deep into the chest of the one lying on the table-like object; then with his bare hand, he reached into the chest and removed the heart. He held this heart high above his head in the air while yelling to the crowd below, then brought his sword down with a crushing blow to the victim’s neck, severing the head from its body, allowing the head to roll down the steps from which it came.

  While the Agosei were not pleased with what they had just witnessed, they will not interfere with a planet’s natural development except under special circumstances. What they had seen, although extremely brutal, did not qualify as a special circumstance. So, they continued with their examination of this new planet with its primitive culture. The next several races they observed were far more primitive than the ones seen so far. The craft hovered over a small group of primitives, observing a culture we call hunter-gatherers. Loosely organized, very primitive, and with only the most basic technology, they seemed barely able to survive. Traveling in loosely organized groups, they picked fruits and berries and caught the occasional wild animal unfortunate enough to be in their path. The Agosei, however, continued to gather every detail possible about every race they encountered, no matter how small or insignificant, for this was life—the rarest and most precious of all things. All of this data gathered by the craft’s sensors was being stored for later examination.

  As the examination of this world neared its conclusion, the “little grays” had seen nothing, so far, that would keep this planets inhabitants from evolving naturally into a race that would one day be welcomed into the stars. For at this stage of development, a certain amount of barbarism is natural, until such time as technology is developed sufficiently to remove the need for such behavior.

  The craft moved into an orbit over one of the last areas to be examined—an area we now know as Egypt. Here, the Agosei found something of great concern: brutality surpassing that of the Mayans, coupled with a level of technology unseen anywhere else on the planet. As the craft hovered over one of their cities, the Agosei observed the leaders of this race oppressing and enslaving their own people beyond anything else seen anywhere on the planet. This oppression was only to support their own lavish and opulent lifestyle. The separation between the common people and their leaders was far greater than anything else they had—the leaders attempted to live as gods. They had also achieved a level of technology far beyond anything else the Agosei had seen anywhere on the planet. This oppression coupled with their level of technology was seen as a very dangerous combination. As soon as the remaining data was gathered, the three Agosei examined and discussed what they had witnessed.

  All three of the Agosei conferred seated in a circle to sift through the gathered data. One after another, they projected a 3-D holographic image over the round table-like object in the center of the circle. Each of these images represented each individual’s projection of what the future might hold if Earth was left on its own without outside interference. None of the images depicted a very bright future for the planet. Most of the images indicated the inhabitants of this planet developing interplanetary space flight capabilities long before they had developed the necessary level of intelligence and maturity to even solve the problems they would undoubtedly create in the process. This could represent a serious threat to other civilizations throughout the universe.

  Unfortunately, at the time they predicted that space travel might begin, the Agosei would be back on their home world in a distant galaxy and unable to do anything to rectify the situation. Another means of dealing with the situation must be found.

  It was agreed that in order to ensure success, the course of action must take place only after the early beginnings of space flight had been achieved. This task could be easily detected by the computer in a craft. In order to achieve any form of spaceflight, they must first develop radio communications. By monitoring these communications, the computer would be able to learn all of the languages and many of the customs and cultures of that time as well. However, since the computer would not be able to understand all of the complexities and subtle nuances of the advancing race, it was agreed that there must also be a human input to ensure the success of their effort.

  The first idea to be examined was to abduct a human male from the planet and bring him aboard the mother ship. There he could be genetically altered and educated as to what he must do. He would then be placed into a stasis chamber aboard a smaller craft made using a portion of the craft’s liquid metal, which would then be hidden on the planet. Then at the appropriate time, to be determined by the scout craft’s computer, he would be brought out of stasis. Using the communications of the time, he could become current with the times, how to dress, how to speak with the common dialect, social interactions, and so on. This idea, however, felt as though it contained much too high of a risk factor. There would be far too many variables—too many things that could go wrong. This task was far too important to leave anything to chance. A better way of solving this situation was needed, a means with far less of a risk factor.

  Chapter Two

  Hidden Seed

  White Bird sat alone in front of her teepee, faithfully working the crude bone needle through the hide of the buffalo, pulling with it the coarse rawhide thread with each stitch as she secured the torn pieces together to repair her garment. With each stitch, she paused to glance up at her husband, Running Horse, sitting by the fire in the middle of their small camp telling his story of bravery and courage once again. His fellow braves had heard it before, but still they listened to every word. It had only been three weeks since her garment was torn by an attacking wolf pack while she was filling an animal skin with water by the river.

  Although White Bird was not seriously injured, the sharp teeth and the dogged persistence of the small, but vicious pack of wolves tore her garment into many pieces. Even though White Bird worked diligently to repair her torn garment as best she could, it would never look as it once did, having been fashioned with such loving care.

  Running Horse was a brave and noble Indian, as well as the son of the chief of this small tribe, and he had just taken White Bird as his wife only three months earlier. He loved her dearly, and would not see her, the wife of the son of the chief, wearing a torn and ragged garment. White Bird had become his reason for living, the reason for every beat of his heart. He knew he must somehow, on his own, provide her with a fresh hide with which she could fashion herself a new garment and, at the same time, prove himself to be the bravest of the brave within his tribe. So with every opportunity, he would go out alone to find and kill a buffalo so White Bird might have the necessary hide to fashion a new garment for herself.

  Every night he would set out on his own to claim his prize. The buffalo were many, yet they were very careful to conceal themselves at night while they rested
. This made Running Horse’s task of finding them more difficult than he had at first suspected. He was used to hunting the great buffalo during the day with many of his fellow braves, working together as a team. Now he was learning it was altogether different at night, all alone, with only the light of the moon to see by. This turned what was normally a difficult task into a nearly impossible one. Running Horse would not give up though, and every night after the evening meal, he would take up his spear and head off into the night as White Bird wished him luck.

  On several nights, Running Horse was able to locate a herd of buffalo. He would move slowly toward them, remembering all the things he had learned. When he got as close as he dared, he would rise up to throw his spear, but the odd twig would snap or dried up leaves crush under his weight and alert the herd, sending them instantly into a stampede. This would send Running Horse back to his bride empty-handed and sad.

  After eight nights of searching, he found a small herd of buffalo resting for the night in an open grassy meadow. Like so many nights before, he crawled inch by inch, silently, through the brush with cat-like movements, being extra careful not to make even the slightest sound. Finally, he found himself with just one bush between him and the open meadow, as close as he dared get to his prey without once again startling the herd into a stampede. As he carefully looked over the small herd, he singled out the smaller adult buffalo closest to him. He waited for the moment to be just right. When he felt the gods were with him, he took a deep breath. Then as if in slow motion, Running Horse rose up from the brush, slowly took his aim, and with a burst of energy as strong as his love for White Bird, he hurled his pointed spear at his prey. Alas, his spear found its mark. A sudden rush of pride and joy surged through Running Horse’s body. The wooly beast reeled up on his hind legs, his front legs kicking wielding in the night air in shock and pain as the blood began to spurt from the severed artery. Using every ounce of its strength, the wounded beast ran as fast as it could, starting a stampede of all the others in the herd. The sound of so many hooves pounding the ground sounded like thunder as the herd began to disappear into a cloud of their own dust. His task had only just begun, for lost in this stampede and quickly disappearing into the night was Running Horse’s prey.