Intelligent Design: Revelations to Apocalypse (36 page)

Perez was still smiling when she caught a less-than-cheerful Terran holding on to a tablet with a look of confusion on her face. Perez immediately recognized the younger woman as Liliana, the runner who had brought the troops to save her and her team. Cleaned up and dressed in a research tunic, her crest displayed insignia of the library service caste. And while she also wore an explorer crest, Perez saw that she had opted to not take a warrior crest.

She certainly is the smart one
, Perez thought.

“So, Liliana the runner. What brings you down here? Of all people, I thought you would be the last to be here. I am happy to see you’ve left the library for once. How does your research go?” Perez asked. She was genuinely happy to see the younger woman.

A nervous smile came over Liliana’s face and she hesitated to talk at first. “Perez the Younger? May we speak?” she asked. Her voice was timid though it lacked fear. Fortunately, Farrell was a good reader of social cues.

“I’ll be top-side, ma’am,” he said with a smile. Both Perez and Liliana watched him walk by the armed guards. Liliana took Perez by her arm and led her out of earshot.

“I hate this place,” Liliana said. They had walked twenty feet before she came to a sudden stop halfway between the guards and the launching and return ports.

“Praetor, your father’s research…This place, this subterranean world is one of
three
,” she said bluntly. The drums and sounds of hominids echoed as a more sustained warm wind came through, carrying the scent of mint and moss.

Perez was at a loss and could only find one word: “What?”

Liliana looked at her directly, with one hand holding her arm and the other grasping a tablet. What the young woman lacked in confronting evil creatures, she made up for in reason and words.

“Your father found this world, which leads to two other ancient manuscripts of earlier experiments that Architect Hades conducted before creating this world and our world above. There are two deeper chambers of unknown size and location in this crust. Smaller for sure and with no clear openings or marks designating location, they will be hard to locate,” Liliana said.

Perez found herself staring dumbly at the woman. She was speechless. The wind continued and her short hair felt suddenly soaked. Her hands tightened on her weapons.

“Perez? I think those two places were considered ‘failed’ experiments. I think our architect made test runs in the finest tradition of science. He did experiments and trial attempts until he came up with this cavern and the above.”

The gravity of the new information weighed heavily on Perez. Two new places that were not yet even discovered seemed just too overwhelming. Suddenly, the scientific explorer in her came out with a question: “In your searches, did you find any mentions of life in these places?” she asked.

Liliana slowly shook her head and then illuminated her darkened tablet. At first she flipped through a number of old charts, maps, and zoological categories of Terra above and the caverns outstretched beneath them. Then, Perez saw Liliana take a deep breath. She flipped to another section that showed still darker places with bipedal creatures that had fine hair, very pale skin underneath, large eyes, and fine features. The creature’s eyes looked slanted and their evil slit-like pupils reminded Perez of goats. The creatures looked smaller than she and even the Terrans, but they displayed razor-like teeth and long, sharp claws attached to their long limbs. Instinctively, her hands clutched at her weapons. She was glad she had an Earther automatic weapon with plenty of ammunition. More images followed as Liliana spoke.

“Where these things are exactly, I have no idea. The library and Keeper are old, and both records and memories are weak—but there is more evidence. These networks of caverns are massive, interconnected probably throughout the planet. But these other chambers, the two referenced, I think are small.”

“And I’d guess difficult to find…” Perez said.

“Also, Praetor, if these two chambers were failed experiments or biospheres, I would guess they are locked down with no obvious entrance,” Liliana said.

More distant rumbling and drums echoed throughout the cavern as Perez sat with her thoughts.

“What are we to do?” Liliana asked when Perez remained silent.

Perez took her time listing out in her head what she would do. Her right hand remained on her sidearm as the other felt her necklace. Methodically, the list of what to do came to her. She pulled Liliana with her to leave Hades.

“First, we get the word out to our leaders—although they will likely tell all Terrans about this discovery. I would also have them contact the master architect on Mars and its keeper on this new development…” Perez started. By now she was walking to the underworld’s exit with Liliana by her side.

“But even the Old Ones did not know of this place. Architect Hades made worlds and kept secrets,” Liliana interrupted.

“He sure did. But maybe those on Mars can identify what these creatures might be. Maybe they weren’t created by an architect—maybe they are from elsewhere,” Perez said.

Liliana walked silently, processing the information. Once they were out of Hades, beyond the guards, sentries, and walking up to the habitats, it became clear that she had been thinking herself.

“Praetor? If we Terrans originate from Venusian hominids, and the Earthers from another Venusian hominid species as well, is it possible that these images, diagrams, and pictures show the originating hominid species of Terra? Could we have found the original Terrans?” Liliana asked quietly.

Perez marched with a mission.
Maybe it wasn’t an experiment. Maybe Hades created a specific habitat for the Terran hominid species
. They had been dying out, she remembered from the stories about the early origins of Terra. It was a time when Venus was teeming with new life and Earth was dominated by dinosaurs. She felt the power generators’ vibration picking up the closer she got to the surface.

“You know, Liliana? It looks like Earthers and Terrans are just starting a new era of discovery,” Perez said.

“Yes, Praetor…even I am excited,” Liliana said. Perez smiled when she saw the young woman’s usual serious, frightened countenance change to portray intellectual curiosity and fervor. Even in that touching moment, Perez felt for her weapons. The additional assault rifle and ammunition were comforting. She never left her quarters without them.

See them, floundering in their sense of mine, like fish in the puddles of a dried-up stream—and, seeing this, live with no mine, not forming attachment for states of becoming.
—The Buddha

“They do not act as one. They are our past when we were individuals, rather than us now,” one of many voices said.

“See the Old Ones on the red planet? They know of us. Why do they stay when others of their kind joined us? They could still follow,” another voice asked.

More voices came. Many more than expected.

“They are connected to the younger species. They are caretakers,” the first voice said.

“Why?”

“Compassion. Connection. Similar to us in the most rudimentary of ways—they
feel
for them. Hope for them. They experience calm knowing they exist. They feel sadness when their existence in their plane is threatened. They desire to be of the whole, as we are now. Everything. Everywhere. All at once.”

Silence. Two faint suns flicker in a remote speck of the universe. The curvature of space shifts as dark matter moves. All at the hands of the Originators.

“You continue to change the natural course of events. You are altering tenants’ existence and altering the means by which they come to understand the nature of their universe. Why?” This voice was far different from the others—it was one voice that held many voices at once.

“When confronted with destruction, they evolve. When they embrace others, they survive. They are our past. While they need reason to evolve, we evolve to learn more. They want answers while we need questions,” the first voice said. It was strong but alone. The other voices were silent.

“Why focus on this remote section of our plane?” The voice of many questions was filled with curiosity.

“Their quest to survive and surmount challenges within their short life span creates questions we cannot answer. We are not them. We were once, but we have lost the answers. We explore other regions and find answers. We observe these corporeal creatures and they inspire still more questions. The more they confront, the more questions they create for us—” the sole voice said before it was interrupted. Yet another event that had not occurred in sixty-seven billion years.

“Questions. Not answers. They create more questions. Impressive,” the one voice of many said.

More events flared in the new dual-star system. Astronomical events set in motion to create still more anomalies emerged silently, just beyond the reach of the red planet’s species.

“Shall we watch together?” the sole voice said.

“Yes. We will all watch. They are perplexing; they give us yet another reason to move forward,” the voice of many said immediately.

“Yes,” the sole voice said. A chorus of other voices from all around joined in as well. Silence returned as the dual-star system in a remote section of the universe flickered and lived.

The highly detailed, four dimensional holographic images of Venus and her sister planets were exquisite in their textured looks and minute depictions. As Earth and Mars spun on their axes, the wispy clouds of the blue-white planet gently followed the computer generator pattern while the red plains of Mars' tornadoes and winds were perfectly captured by the master computer's projections. Ultimately, while Earth's strong magnetic fields and atmosphere shattered much of the asteroids hurtling at it from the new sun, there were only three sizable ones that were not totally obliterated. With no magnetic field and thin atmosphere to protect against the onslaught, Mars's surface plumed with debris from its own bombardment. The point of view shifted to the tidally locked planet of Terra which saw very little damage by way of impacts but an increase in storm activity with faster wind-driven storms and fantastic electrical discharges was clearly evident.

Fortune and the Originators protect that one
, the architect thought.

As swiftly as the computer-generated perspective moved onto Terra, it shifted next to the second planet of the Sol System, Venus. Similar to Earth and Mars, asteroids collided in Earth's well known sister planet. And while much of the smaller debris burned up in the sulfuric acid clouds and melted upon impacting the broiling surface, there were two massive asteroids projected to smash the planet. The effect for any other species would be an extinction level event.

Images of old records and transcription of the Gemini Alpha and Beta collision, and the mystery of their destruction came to mind as she witnessed the impossible.

Jupiter ignites into a second sun? Really? A subatomic black hole from another plane of existence appears in the center of the planet
and
there is bombardment of specific elements focused on it at the exact place and right time? Accident? Chance? If there ever were concrete evidence of the Originators, this would be it!

“Shall I run the projections again, Architect Aphrodite?” the master computer said in his deep resonating voice.

“No,” she said. “Discontinue model projections and pull up escape plans and transit routes based on debris trajectories,” the strong female voice said.

The holographic picture shifted from space to a planetary view. Once the elder sister of Earth, Venus's surface came into view. Fifty kilometers above a volcanic surface of lava rivers, flat plains of basalt and lava-filled craters were black and silver cities hovering in the reddish, hazy midday sky. While “midday” meant that Venus was halfway done with its revolution around the sun, the appearance of a second sun was hard to get used to even if its light was weak. At the base of the shiny floating cities were melted, black volcanic glass that converted the planet's surface heat into energy. This in turn powered the super-structures' anti-gravity lifts that suspended the massive Venusian cities above the dangerous surface right at the perfect biosphere for life. It was a remarkable narrow window for life to exist. The large diamond reflectors that provided canopies against the sulfuric layer above the cities also pulled in the dangerous chemicals to convert to energy as well. This power source was directed to maintaining the arboretums and waterways housed in the living habitats of each city. While the cities floated above Venus's suffocating surface and crushing atmospheric pressures, the air held a strong smell of both salt and rotten eggs that the natives had long since become accustomed to. The odors and year-long days and nights were as constant as the sun rising in the west and setting in the east. Power, food, light, air, science and art were all in place.
What more could you ask for?

As the images of the cities displayed, so did a series of equations, numbers and then transit lines showing trajectories of where each city was to engage in order to avoid the eventual collisions.

It has to be perfect. Twelve cities. One million silicate, salt and carbon-based lives hang in the balance.

“You have run this program one point three-two-five million times, Master Architect. Do you expect a change?” the master computer asked.

The office's walls converted into transparencies allowing the hazy sunlight to come in to obscure the holographic images. Master Architect Aphrodite looked up from her four handheld tablets and looked at the computer monitor. It was easy to see from her narrowed, small brown eyes and glaring reddish skin that she was annoyed.

“You know, computer, it would be nice if you waited for me to tell you when I am done before you open the transparencies,” she said. Not waiting for the usual sarcastic response, she looked back down at her tablets as she continued her pacing. The movement helped her think better.