Not alone at all

By

Roy Marshall

 

 

 

The murmuring of the crowd lessened as one man, Jason Anders, doctor of many studies, walked over to the microphone center stage. Tapping the mike, all became quiet. He leaned over and simply said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s Doctor Dennis Steiner.”

The brevity of the introduction sort of took all in attendance by surprise, there was a smattering of clapping, half hearted and trailing off to nothing within seconds. The entire building was silent as the tall ungainly man walked toward the microphone.

It was a packed house.

Reporters filled the hallway. Most of the seating in the front of the assembly hall, sort of the orchestra pit area, was filled with all the various tech crowd with their computers. The largest part of the auditorium was filled with dignitaries, plus the senators and congresspeople that approved the three billion in funding. That left just sixty seats for the press in back. Those were prime real estate for media. There were teams of them in the parking lot as well. All eyes that could possibly be fixed upon the giant screen behind the stage watched as Dr Steiner came and stood before them.

He had to bend quite a bit to get close to the mike, then started with, “Well, that was short.”

Jason, walking off to the side yelled loud enough for everyone to hear, “Everyone knows who you are Denny.”

Laughter escaped about half those there, the other half were just uninterested and their presence was an expectation of their position, rather than a desire.

Dr. Steiner smiled at the crowd, then raised the mike a foot and a half to a more appropriate level. “Perhaps, it’s just not something I ever anticipated. I was just a kid from Phoenix who looked up at the stars and wondered. Telescopes fascinated me. My first was tiny, and yet it opened a whole new world for me.”

Pausing to look around the auditorium, he smiled. “Surely some of you here felt that same wonder at the skies above us.”

Most of the techs in front applauded then. As the silence returned, Dr. Steiner began again. “The Hubble was a peek into a new, a vibrant and exciting world for us all. Then when the bigger, more powerful James Webb came on line, those that study the stars above us were in awe. As was I, even though in my life, I followed a different path. Computers became my life’s work, but my heart, my love, has always been with those that look toward the stars and study the universe about us.”

The pause was effective, even those that didn’t care all that much, gave the appearance of paying attention. “And that as they say, was when the ideas came. It’s also when I met the usually incredibly verbose Jason Anders. The man with the vision to bring the idea of one backyard astronomer into the limelight and get us to where we are today.”

Jason jogged to the center of the stage before pulling the mike stand over so he could speak into it. “Thanks Denny, but the concept was all you.”

Releasing the mike, Denny took over. “I think now we should talk about the telescope itself. Back about eight years ago I came up with the concept. My first attempt was just a simple parabolic contraption I cobbled together with some aluminized Kevlar. It was simple, just big five meter long triangles that I attached to each other. There were little balloons I put in between the triangles and when inflated, they formed this nice eight meter parabolic reflector. Actually, it looked like an umbrella.”

Jason now grabbed the mike again and pulled it over to his height, “That’s when he came to see me. Let’s face it, it didn’t work, did it?”

Taking back the mike, “No, no it didn’t. but that’s where my aptitude for software became paramount. Even though to us, the inside of the reflector looked smooth and it easily could focus sunlight onto a two by four to make it explode, it wasn’t any good for looking at the heavens.”

There was quite a bit of laughter at the thought of the childish antics. As the laughter died away, he continued, “To me, it’s simply a software problem. If we digitize the reflected light then it simply is a matter of filtering the manufacturing flaws and giving me a nice clear picture. Guys, can you put the pictures up?”

The giant auditorium screen was filled with a picture of Dr. Steiner standing next to his upside down umbrella that dwarfed the computer whiz. “As you can see, the thing was pretty fair sized. The possibilities of such a device were readily apparent to people like Jason here. And pretty much everyone that heard about it.”

Jason then grabbed the mike again, “Most of you know how much telescopes cost, they aren’t cheap. We spent over a hundred eighty million dollars on the Gemini eight meter telescopes. Denny, how much did you spend making that giant thing?” As he handed the mike back, he pointed up at the screen.

“Yeah, well, it was a hobby. A simple experiment to see if I could get it to work. But I spent about three grand. That included the motor driven equatorial mount.”

Jason took over, “Yeah, three grand. Can you put up the next slide please?” It took a moment then a picture that most would recognize, the car driven by Apollo astronauts. “And that is just pretty amazing, the Lunar Rover as seen through old Denny’s eight meter umbrella reflector. The possibilities were now proven.”

Applause again, this time quite a bit more enthusiastic. As it always does, the level faded. Denny took the mike back. “So, there was little else to do except go around and ask people, mostly those sitting out in the audience here, well, for money.” Another smattering of applause as everyone acknowledged the only function of a large part of the audience. “I guess we need to thank all that helped fund this project, science can only move ahead when it’s well funded. Jason keeps telling me that. He’s probably right, I mean, we’re all here waiting on the big reveal.”

Jason now takes back the mike, and he’s sort of talking to a couple of the techs in the pit. Nodding his head he’s suddenly all smiles. “Well everyone, we had a truly truly boring presentation, lots of pictures of the new telescope. I’ve sort of nicknamed the thing, the ‘Deniscope” which he doesn’t particularly care for. We had lots of pictures, the making of the actual reflector itself. Plus just some cool cool photos of how Denny figured out how to attach the secondary mirror as well as the camera, the sun shields protecting the electronics, and the launch as well. Let’s face it, a kilometer in diameter telescope is pretty big.”

Pausing again for effect, he drew in a deep audible breath, “But screw all that, it’s almost time. Ladies and gentlemen, we have determined that Arcus 22-45B which is about twenty or so light years from us, is an Earth sized planet in the habitable zone around its sun, Arcus. We also have determined that the planet has a fair sized moon orbiting it as well.”

The screen behind the pair went blank, then a blurry picture of a round object appeared. Jason continued his recitation, “As we fine tune the image from the Deniscope, let me remind everyone that this image is twenty light years away. No telescope up until now, has had the capability to gather enough light to make an image even this detailed from that distance. Old Dennis had a pretty brilliant idea with his kilometer sized concept telescope. And I think,” Jason looked down into the pit with the techs as one gave him some sort of sign. “Okay, just a little fine tuning with the software, and our image should clear up quite a bit.”

Just then, the image came into focus. Still, not a complete perfect image, but it was pretty spectacular. An exoplanet some hundred and ninety trillion kilometers away. And in the left corner of the screen, another smaller round dark object appeared and was moving ever closer to the planet.

As the focus became ever sharper, the right side of the planetary disc was seen in the daylight of the sun, Arcus. Just a crescent of light and the entire left part was in darkness. Except, it wasn’t completely dark. There spread out across the darkened landscape, were patches of light. Big ones, small ones, tiny dots. Denny grabbed the mike away from Jason and exclaimed, “Oh my god, are we really seeing this?”

There was a general murmuring from the crowd as the realization of the enormity spread throughout the audience. The brighter ones telling the dignitaries and they then explaining the significance to the politicians and hangers on that accompanied them.

Jason now takes over. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a lot greater unveiling than we ever thought would happen. If you look to the left side of the screen, we can see the moon moving right and it’s about to make a transit of the Earth like planet. But as we can see, the planet is considerably more Earth like than we expected with all the lights spread out over the night side of the planet. That’s I think something that we call proof of life. I’m unaware that any natural phenomena can create lighting like that.”

Both Denny and Jason turned away from the screen and looked over the murmuring crowd before them. Smiling big, knowing that they did something no one else had ever done. Then there was a scream from the audience, “Look, what’s that?”

The pair turned, and every eye in the building watched as a huge brilliant flash lit up a portion of the landscape nearly dead center of the disk. Then, a moment later, another brilliant flash, then another, and another. Within two minutes, the entire disk was lit up with brilliant flashes of light.

Another few minutes passed and the landscape was dark, with only the red lit dullness of flames hidden slightly as the moon transited across the planet. The final moments of the original event that had been planned for the celebration. Where once there was proof of life, now there was but destructive remnants of the end of a civilization that had technology, had cities and developed a culture that we, humans,  living in a different solar system, had viewed using the largest telescope ever conceived of by one small representative of our own distant culture.

After the lights faded to nothing but flames, Jason turned and faced the audience. “I’m at a loss for words. It would seem we discovered another civilization, only to watch as they destroyed themselves. There can’t be any doubt that those were nuclear explosions going off. My god, what a waste.”

And then one senator stood in the audience and expressed his opinion, “Well you can bet the best and brightest are still alive out there getting’ ready to take over that’s left!”

The end

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kid, the wizard

By

Roy Marshall

 

 

 

“Dad, dad. Wake up!” Came the plaintiff cry in my ear. It accompanied a bouncing up and down as both hands shoved me mercilessly and repeatedly onto the bed where I was sleeping off a decent drunk. Bouncing up only to be shoved downward again with brute force and me meeting the springs in the tired old bed.

“Stop, stop, Matt, I’m awake.” I cry out, mostly to stop the motion causing incredible pain in my brain.

“Get up and get dressed. NOW!” The last, screamed at me.

Awake now, I might as well find out what this intrusion into my life is. Looking up at my only child, he’s wearing this weird purple and yellow robe with long baggy sleeves. “What the fuck are you wearing?”

“We don’t have time for this dad. Get up, we have to get out of here before they come. Your life is in danger. As is mine.” And he yanked on my arm pulling me upright. “Jeez dad, you stink. Get dressed.”

“Hey, I don’t criticize your obviously weird lifestyle. What are you wearing?”

My son thrust a shirt and jeans at me and grabbed my arm pulling me out of the bedroom and into the hall. “Dad, mom died three years ago. You can’t keep getting drunk every night. Come on, our lives will be forfeit if we stay.”

Dragging me along toward the back door, he stopped suddenly. The front door creaked, as it always has. “Hey.” That creak stopped me as well. I never have fixed that creak, my late wife nagged me about it for a couple years and now, well, I just don’t care anymore.

A finger on my lips to shush any further sounds, my son pulled a stick from inside his cloak and crept down the hall toward the front room. Crouching a bit, I followed a few steps behind. Glancing slowly around the corner, he then did this jump and roll landing on his knees in the living room.

With a swish and thunderous clap, lightening bolts came from his stick blinding me as they blasted into whatever he was aiming at. Well, hangover was scared out of me now. So was a nightful of piss. Sidestepping the puddle, I looked around the corner to see two figures, mostly human looking, contorted and smoldering a bit as they lay on the floor.

Matt was sort of picking through the scorched remnants, some bits falling off their cloaks with a line of flame around the edges, smoke drifting upward. Weird, a gentle scent of fried pork chops wafted toward me. That was it, I ran to the bathroom and removed what little was left in my stomach from last evening’s excesses. Matt looked in on me, “Wash up quick, we still have to leave in a hurry.”

“Aren’t they dead? Why do we have to go now if you took care of them?” I really wanted to ask more, like what the heck shoots out of a stick, but thought better than such.

“Those are lesser Mordocks, They were once human, but their new master absconded with their souls, perhaps decades ago. No, those two were just the advance attack force. We need to leave if we want to live.”

This pronouncement carried a bit more weight than earlier. A wipedown with a wet cloth and some cleanish boxershorts. Pants, shirt, shoes, well, one got doused with some pee in the hallway. Probably own just the one pair anymore. So I carried the two out to the garage.

Sniffing, Matt looked at me with distaste. “Criminy, put the shoes on the ground.”

Once I did that, he waved his stick over them and the wet one glowed a bit and was instantly dry, and the smell left.  

“Shit!” Was all I could say.

“Get in the car, over there,” pointing to the passenger side, “I’ll drive.” With that he hopped in and started the engine.

Feeling in my pants pocket, the keys were there. I looked over as I got in and saw that there was no key in the ignition. “How did you do that?” I asked as I pulled the pants up and fastened them.

An audible sigh escaped his lips as we drove out through the garage door. Not through the open door, we went right through it as if it was a mirage or something. Just poof, and we were on the driveway and then traveling down the street. “You probably noticed my robes.”

“Well yeah Matt, kinda hard to miss. Never seen you wear purple before, nor robes even. What the Hells going on?”

Matt drove for a few moments before saying anything. “Look dad, I don’t think that you really understood mom very well. I don’t even understand why the two of you got together. But, such as it is, your union produced me. An anomaly indeed.”

Yeah, that didn’t explain anything. I waited, he drove, finally turning onto the US 60 and we were heading out to the desert. Once out a ways into less urban areas, my son visibly relaxed. It was then he began talking again. “Dad, you know mom was pretty special, right?”

“I always thought so. Yeah, she was special indeed.”

“Yeah, in ways you wouldn’t ever surmise. Mom was Wardeness of the Furies. And as such, that task passed to me once she died. It’s been something for which she has trained me all my life. The role of Thaumaturgist, Wizard and Warden both.”

“The Furies?” I said, a little worried about my son’s sanity.

“The Furies dad. The Kindly Ones in ancient Greek, well, mythology. Turns out that a lot of the myths of the ancient world were based on pretty specific real things. This is but one such tale. The Ladies of Vengeance get out and about now and again and mom used to be the one to corral them back into their lair to stop so much of the hate anger and war going on.”

“Is that what did her in, I mean, caused her death?”

“No dad, she was diabetic and her kidneys failed. She may have been descended from a long line of witches, but she still inhabited a human form. Then I came along and the luck of genetics, am a wizard. Actually as I said, a Thaumaturgist, the top tier of wizard so to speak.”

“And these Furies, they want you dead then?”

“No, a rival wizard wants you dead. Some wannabe master race type thing. I don’t even know his name but he claims to be a descendant of Aegisthus, and wants his rightful place as leader of humanity.”

Matt slowed the car and began furiously looking about. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“We’ve been discovered. There are Moredocks ahead. We need to get off the road and out of sight of mortals.” With that he pulled off the road onto a dirt trail that looked more appropriate for four wheel drive vehicles and not my old Pontiac Grand Am. Julie had insisted I buy it, I think often it was a prelude to her death a couple years later. Something she thought would help me catch another woman.

I saw a huge rut in the track ahead and braced for the destruction of my suspension but it never came. Looking behind at the ditch, I didn’t see any dust that should have been blasted into the air as we drove at over fifty on this dirt path.

“Matt, there’s no dust trail. In fact, no bumps either. What’s going on?”

He looked over at me for a moment, then sighed once again. “I’m a high ranking wizard dad, there are many things you might be shocked at. I couldn’t leave a visible trail for them to follow.”

“That didn’t really explain anything.”

“No, probably not. There’s a massive rock outcrop ahead. Not the best position for defense, but beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll explain more when we stop there.”

There was some bouncing as my car moved over toward the rocks Matt had indicated. Not like actually driving over the rough terrain, but just sort of moving slightly above it. We crashed through some creosote brush and parked around behind the prominence that now, up close, wasn’t as large as I had thought. The roof of my car was just barely lower and could be seen from a high four wheel drive vehicle.

Getting out, Matt ran around looking for boulders to hide behind. I stayed by the car. When he found ones suitable, he waved me over. I shouted at him, “Nope, not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“All right, come over here and I’ll try to explain things.”

Thinking about the two dead creatures in my living room, I felt perhaps it might be best if I sought the cover he beckoned me towards. Once there he had me sit in the corner between two boulders.

Sighing again, he started, “This world is inhabited with many beings dad, not just your standard ordinary mortal humans. There are some that live amicably amongst the people, and some that want to dominate their little version of life. My task is to prevent such.”

“And you’re a witch, or warlock I presume.”

“Well yeah. Actually a Thaumaturgist, the highest level of witch. I believe in the sanctity of all life forms and do my best to contain the disruptions to this world by those that want to cause, well, I guess interruptions in the flow of time for life.”

“So, bad guys then.”

“Yes, exactly. Most of the wars and insurrections and the like have been instigated by these bad people. So far, it’s been a losing battle for me and some others like me. But we’ve had our successes. Today is a magical day dad, a very powerful day. When the sun is at the zenith, this particular bad witch has the ability to do something unheard of. Something very bad.”

“Why is killing me as you said, a bad thing?”

“The alignment of the planets, the moon and the universe will allow him to kill not you, not here and now, but to kill you back in time. Back before you married mom and before I was conceived. I would cease to exist.”

“And me as well then.”

“Yes, you see why this is so important. I’ve been a thorn in his side as he strives for world domination of his puppet humans that sadly, are world leaders. Without me around then there’ll be some nasty wars beginning here and there. Then eventually, some massive ones. You know, Armageddon type stuff. I kinda don’t want that to happen.”

“Plus not existing anymore is a big one.”

“Exactly. Now stay put, I feel them approach along the path we took.”

Matt then jumped up and ran westward just as those bolts of whatever crackled and burst against the rocks above me, filling the air with the stench of ozone and burning dust. In and of itself, that was a good thing as I recalled my hungover experience of the burning flesh of my son’s victims earlier.

I think that will be something that will remain with me forever, which I hoped would be a long time.

“Dad, keep your head down!” came the imperative cry from behind me. As if I needed to be reminded of such. Bolts of energy/lightening or whatever flew above me, a few would occasionally burst against the rocks with debris raining upon me.

Flash, boom, boom, and yet another flash and then, a scream of agony. It couldn’t have been Matt as the battle raged on above me. Then a hideous cackle unlike any sound made by effects men for horror movies split the air with the intensity of hate and evil unimaginable to mankind. A beast, pointed ears and a tail waving about leaped upon the rock just above me and cackled out that hideous shriek once again. As I watched, a bolt came from the east and cut through the thing. More powerful than the blasts at the house, Moredock guts flew about with some landing on me.

Then I heard a normal human voice cry out in pain. Matt’s voice came out over the rocks, “Keep your wits about you dad.”

Then silence.

Three of those icky creatures, the Moredocks, jumped up onto the rocks above me. They did look human. Well, humanish. Ugly things, like they have really bad smallpox. And none to pretty to begin before being infected. A loud voice then calmly spoke, deep, resonant, commanding. “Mr. Marshall, don’t make my send the beasts down there to drag you out. That would be so undignified.”

Well, facing my fate now was up to me. Death, certain, or so it seemed, I took my son’s advice to heart. I stood and called out to the wizard that wanted my son to cease to exist. “Well, can’t have that, can we. I’m coming.”

A short climb up the rock and down to where Matt was on his knees, each arm held not by the Moredocks, but by one of those ugly things with the tail that Matt had exploded above me and the bits of its guts were kind of stinky as they now slid off my shirt onto the sand below my feet. Looking up at me was a man I suppose, he wore his robes with the  hood over his head and it concealed his face. Black with stars and some geometric designs on it in silver and gold. A couple of them in red, of well. His had big puffy sleeves like Matt’s.

A fashion statement for wizards I guess.

I slid down the rock and stood in front of the wizard that wanted to end my existence. “Thank you,” he spoke with a soft British accent, “we must all accept our fate. Your son doesn’t understand that his kind are but a diminishing memory of the good that was dreamt of, while I and my friends are the ones that control the world.”

Man, but I just hate people that are that arrogant. Wizard or not, he needed a lesson. “So Mr. Wizard, ruler of the world. Are you as ugly as your creatures you need to do your dirty work for you?”

“Dad, don’t piss him off.” My son hissed at me. I suppose he was still hopeful he could get the upper hand even down on his knees with his hands held firmly.

“Matty, come on. Arrogance is its own curse. What say you ugly man?”

And just like that, it worked. The wizard before me reached up and pulled his hood backward to reveal his face to me. Not exactly handsome, but certainly not ugly like his minions. His hands clasping the hood, that was all I needed. With a quick flick of my wrists, I let fly the handfuls of sand I had scooped up while sitting behind the rocks.

With a terrible scream of agony as the sand blinded him, he bent forward involuntarily trying to let the sand fall from his eyes. I simply brought my knee upward and smashed his nose with it. The Moredocks all screamed with sympathetic agony and let Matt’s hands go.

It was all over in a few seconds. Beast guts strewn about, the wizard of Arrogance was no longer a threat as he wandered about the cactus and scrub, blinded and screaming as needles from some cholla stuck to his magical robes. Matt and I sat on some rocks and viewed the carnage before us. “How’d you know that such a distraction would cause him to lose control of the Moredocks?”

 I leaned back and thought about it a moment. A grackle landed off to the west of us and was picking at the entrails of one of the beasts. Yuck. Looking directly at my son I told him, “Well, you said he controlled the things, I just assumed. You know, a guess I suppose.”

“The sand though, great idea.”

I smiled, my son, of whom I truly knew little about his life, gave me a reason to live now and wonder about his mother, and why indeed, she chose me.

“Well Matt, it’s an old James Mason trick to deal with those whose egotism was more than is morally necessary.”

Matt looked about, stood and pointed toward the car. “I suppose we should head back, the sun is past high noon and we are out of danger. I’d kinda like to learn about this James Mason thing dad.”

Ah, once again, the father teaches the son.

 

The End