Time Lost: A Time Travel Novel, page 15
“Are you close to him?”
“We care for each other, but he doesn’t like to show his feelings. He didn’t pull his hand away, though.”
“So tell me what you told him, Ayita. My right brain could use some exercise.”
“I told him that a person or a team, known as the ‘sender,’ selects a ‘target,’ which could be a specific location, object, or event, even an event that happened in the past. The target is kept hidden from the remote viewer. Then, the viewer attempts to describe the target, based on the impressions, thoughts, or mental images they perceive. They can draw sketches or use other means to record their impressions.”
Kara’s eyebrows raised in query. “Did he make any comments?”
“Oh, yes. He asked if I made any money from it.”
“Does he know you often work for the CIA?”
“No. Only Mom and Dad know about that.”
Kara stared into the star-filled night. “Look at all those glimmering stars, Ayita. Some of them are hundreds of thousands of light years away. And that’s just in our galaxy. It makes one feel small, doesn’t it?”
Ayita’s serene eyes took in the magical night sky. “And yet, we can see the endless sky and all those stars, and, with our minds, we can embrace them and we can breathe into the space. So maybe we’re not so small after all.”
Kara looked at Ayita, her warm human magic in the air. “You’re much too New Age and poetic for me, Ayita, but then, I can’t talk to extraterrestrials, can I?”
“Who knows, maybe StrallVoss will talk to you, too.”
“So, tell me, Ayita. The target was Sally Mason’s 1951 Chevy Belair on a dark and quiet Indiana road on October 5, 1953. What did you experience?”
“I saw light and I felt fear. Not my fear. I saw the shapes of things. A car. A hovering thing. It was large. Quite large. I had the impression of a Being standing close by. It wasn’t human, at least not the way we think of human, but it also wasn’t so different from, well, a human being. It’s difficult to explain. I probed the Being’s mind. It was a clear and intelligent mind, but I sensed conflict, as if it had done something… something it shouldn’t have done.”
“What about Sally Mason?”
Ayita shut her eyes for a moment as if to bring back the memory. “I had the impression that someone was in a car, but that… How do I say this? That the car was blinking in and out, or off and on, like flipping a light switch. When I put my focus on the car, it was gone. There was nothing there but the hovering craft and the Being. On reflection, and in my debriefing, I described the extraterrestrial as being a Nordic. Tall, radiant, and highly intelligent.”
Kara nodded. “Anything more on Sally?”
Ayita opened her eyes. “One thing. As I was coming out, gently bringing my focus back to this world and time, I saw a woman slumped in her car, the same car I’d seen with the alien and the hovering craft. I saw a patrol car, with its blue sweeping light. I saw traffic passing, and I zoomed in on one of the car’s license plates as it passed. It was a 2023 plate.”
Kara’s cellphone vibrated, and she glanced at it. “Morgan’s here, waiting for us in the conference room.”
Dressed in his customary dark suit and tie, Morgan Compton sat behind a round conference room table under artificial lights, his hands chattering across a laptop keyboard. He glanced up when Kara and Ayita entered the room, nodded, and continued to type. They joined him at the table, sitting in high-quality, ergonomic chairs, both women placing their cellphones before them on the table.
Neatly tucked away in a corner, a small refreshment station offered water, coffee, and tea, and a side table held stationery, notepads, pens, and markers. The walls were bare, the carpet was a bluish gray, and there were no windows.
A minute later, Morgan removed his glasses, set them aside and pushed the laptop forward, his gaze shifting from Ayita to Kara, and them back to Ayita.
“I made coffee, so it’s fresh.”
Both women shook their heads.
Morgan said, “I read your remote view report, Ayita. Thank you. Impressive as usual.”
He looked at Kara. “Anything new on Sally Mason?”
Kara shook her head.
Morgan reached for his white mug of coffee. “I was just emailing General Felson, and I attached your report, Ayita.”
“When did he get involved?” Kara asked, her eyes showing displeasure.
“Since somebody leaked. He called me. He asked me. I told him.”
“Who leaked?” Kara asked.
“He said Dr. Megan Stanley made some enquiries. She demanded to know how Mrs. Sally Anne Mason was being treated. The doctor said more than she should have, and I’m sure you can imagine the rest. She demanded to see Mrs. Mason and threatened to go to the police and the press if she was not granted her request. She mentioned your name, Kara.”
Kara stared down at the table, and then shook her head and crossed her arms. “I thought she was smarter than that.”
“We need to find Mrs. Mason, Kara,” Morgan stressed.
Kara kinked her neck. “Dr. Stanley can go to the cops, but they won’t know anything more than she does. She was in the room when we all heard about the orderly sneaking Sally out of the hospital. The Rosemont police will brush her off. Chief Kennie Gosser is done with Sally Mason. And I can’t believe she’d really go to the press because she knows what will happen if she does, and she cares about Sally too much to put her through it.”
“So, what do we know right now?” Morgan asked.
“Sally Mason is long gone from that town.”
“How do you know, Kara?”
“Because she wants to see her kids.”
Morgan rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. “I don’t care about Dr. Stanley, but I don’t want General Felson sticking his nose in this. He’ll go to his congressional friends. They have big mouths and want more clicks on social media so they can raise money. Long story short, I don’t want to be called to testify behind closed doors before some ridiculous subcommittee.”
Kara lifted a helpless hand. “Sally Mason is off the grid, Morgan. I mean, she was never on the grid, was she? She has no cellphone, no ID, no credit cards, and no Social Security number. Years ago, it was flagged as ‘deceased’ and has been purged.”
They fell into silence. Morgan sipped his coffee and tapped his fingers on the table. “Somebody in that town knows where Sally is. When she left that hospital orderly’s car, someone must have picked her up and helped her, and they’re probably still helping her.”
Kara gave Morgan a focused stare. “I have a photo of Sally when she was in the hospital. Chief Gosser sent it to me, and we have two agents, one male, one female, passing it around to restaurants and businesses in Rosemont.”
Morgan smiled with pleased satisfaction. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kara shrugged. “I was about to.”
“I like it, Kara. Old school.”
“It’s the only school we’ve got, Morgan.”
“Obviously, no luck so far?” Morgan asked.
“It’s slow work.”
“Put another agent on it.”
“Happy to.”
Morgan turned his full attention to Ayita. “Any communication with StrallVoss?”
“Yes.”
Morgan and Kara sat up and put their full attention on her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kara asked.
Ayita excused herself, went to the refreshment station, reached for a bottle of water, screwed off the cap and took a swallow. She replaced the cap and turned to them.
“Pardon the pause, but my throat was dry, and what I’m about to say is somewhat… well, let me say it this way. It was something I didn’t expect.” She turned to Kara. “That’s why I waited to tell you until I could include Morgan.”
Morgan and Kara remained still and waiting.
“I contacted StrallVoss last night. It took several attempts. He was, as he put it, ‘far from you, and very much occupied.’”
Morgan slid the laptop to his right side, leaned back in his chair, and laced his hands behind his head. “Please do tell, Ayita. I’ve never seen you be so dramatic.”
Again, Ayita removed the bottle cap and took a drink. Her energetic, adventurous eyes blinked twice. “StrallVoss wants to meet face to face. He said it is important that we meet, and he has proposed tomorrow night, here inside the hangar.”
Morgan gave her a concentrated stare.
Kara’s face was eager with the unasked question. “Did you mention Sally Mason?”
“No… StrallVoss did. That is, he didn’t mention her by name. He called her ‘the female traveler,’ but he knew what had happened—that she had been, as he put it, ‘moved in time.’”
Morgan pursed his lips as he gazed up at the ceiling. A moment later, he lowered his eyes on Ayita. “Well, well. What have we here?”
Ayita continued. “He knows about Sally Mason, which probably means it was one of his own spacecraft that transported her ahead in time.”
“Did he say why?” Kara asked.
“No. He just stressed that it was important we talk.”
Kara’s eyes seemed to go inward as she imagined herself at the meeting. It would be her first encounter with StrallVoss. “Did he say who could be present at the meeting?”
“Yes. Only you and me, Kara. No one else.”
Kara smiled. Morgan inclined forward, his forehead wrinkled in disappointment. “Did you mention me to him, Ayita?”
“I didn’t mention anyone. He spoke the names twice: Ayita Wells and Kara Gonne.”
Morgan spread his hands with finality. “Well, all right, then, ladies. I guess StrallVoss is a ladies’ man, so you will meet the enigmatic alien, and I will sit here, waiting with bated breath for your full report.”
CHAPTER 31
The lone airplane hangar stood in the heart of a secluded desert facility, its metallic walls reflecting the moon’s soft glow. One single runway stretched out into the fading night, where all seemed dead and quiet.
Inside the expansive hangar, Kara’s restless footsteps echoed against the cold concrete floor as she anxiously awaited StrallVoss. Ayita remained composed near the open front doors, peering out into the moonlit night, her eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
At the rear of the hangar loomed a solitary B-21 Raider, a formidable long-range stealth bomber capable of delivering devastating payloads. It was nuclear-capable and designed to accommodate manned or unmanned operations. Its dark silhouette gave it a mythical quality, as if it were a slumbering beast awaiting the moment to unleash its power upon the world. Kara had not wanted it there, but Morgan couldn’t do anything about it. Making any request would have involved more brass and explanations than he was willing to reveal.
Kara approached Ayita and glanced at her watch. “Five minutes, if he’s on time.”
“He’ll be on time,” Ayita said. “He said he might be early.”
“Are you nervous?” Kara asked. “You look so damned calm. Let’s face it, one doesn’t get to meet an extraterrestrial every day.”
“No, I’m not nervous. StrallVoss is powerful, I feel that, but he also has a humility about him.”
Kara looked at her warily. “Ayita, do you consider yourself in any way naïve?”
“It’s possible.”
“Evil does exist, Ayita. I have seen it and I have had to deal with it. And we all have a bit of badness in us, don’t you think?”
Ayita smiled.
“What’s that smile for?” Kara asked, crossing her arms.
“I often find that when most people are confronted with death, either their own or that of someone they love, they get philosophical. I have never known you to be philosophical, Kara. For some reason, now that you are about to meet StrallVoss, you have become philosophical.”
Kara screwed up her lips. “I would say I’m being cautious and skeptical. We know nothing about StrallVoss, where he comes from or what he wants. I want to know what he wants. Fear and desire are powerful motivators. What does he fear, and what does he want? And what does he need to get what he wants?”
Ayita turned back to the night, and a dry desert breeze washed across her face. “He’ll be here soon, and you can ask him.”
As soon as Ayita’s words died away in the breeze, the air hummed with electricity. Kara’s eyes darted to her wristwatch. Both women heard a crackling sound behind them, and they whirled about. They saw a subtle blue ripple dance through the air. The atmosphere shifted, as if time and space were bending around a glowing celestial presence.
Ayita’s gaze locked onto the foggy radiance. Kara held her breath, her instincts on high alert.
A figure began to materialize, flickering into form before their eyes. StrallVoss stood tall, straight, and luminous, his shimmering essence casting a gentle blue and golden glow around him. His alien form seemed ethereal, translucent, lit from within. The intelligence in his soft, ruby-red eyes sparkled, and when he looked at the women, his gaze sent shivers rippling up Kara’s spine to the crown of her head.
StrallVoss inclined his head in a bow of courtesy, his presence exuding a blend of profound serenity and vibrant energy that filled the hangar with a blue, misty aura.
“I am here, and I am happy to see you two are also present. I am StrallVoss.”
Remarkably, Kara heard his voice in her head, a rich mechanical voice that held warmth. His thin line of lips didn’t move. His eyes did not blink. And then Kara also heard Ayita’s voice in her head, and she shot her a startled glance. Her lips also didn’t move. It was obvious that Ayita and StrallVoss were speaking to each other telepathically, and Kara could hear what she would describe as “digital sound packets.” And she saw “images of words” that were as clear as any 3D movie.
“StrallVoss, welcome. I am Ayita Wells and this is Kara Gonne. Thank you for agreeing to meet us.”
“The request was mine, and your agreement is appreciated.”
Kara swallowed, opened her mouth to speak, then she stopped. Her voice got swallowed in her breath and she could only make a raspy wheezing sound. She tried to speak again, but the words froze on her lips.
“Kara Gonne,” StrallVoss said, again the words sounding in Kara’s head, “you can speak without sound, and you can hear without ears. It is natural, and how the true meaning of communication is not misinterpreted. Words can be lies, or they can be truth. Thoughts reveal intention. Please think your thoughts to me. I will hear them, and I will see them, just as you will hear and see mine.”
Kara struggled to form a thought. One single thought, but her brain locked up.
Kara heard Ayita break through the static of her brain as she spoke.
“StrallVoss, why did you want to meet us? Are you truly here or are you projecting an image of yourself? It seems to me that you shimmer, and although your image is clear, it does not appear to be solidly formed.”
For a moment, StrallVoss’s form became wavy, then steady. “Part of me is here, and part of me is projected. I will try to be clear to you. Think of me as one of your movie actors who is currently being interviewed on a TV or an internet program. During the interview, behind me are two separate TV screens where I am also being projected. I can be in more than one place. Is that clear for you both?”
Ayita nodded. “Somewhat. So, you are here at the same time you can appear in other worlds?”
“Think of me as an avatar, who can take form in three separate video games simultaneously. I’ll conclude by saying we are all entities of many parts. You will know this truth from your dreams, which is a separate world from your so-called ‘waking’ world. But that dream world is real to you at the time you are dreaming. Is this not so? If you are consciously aware in those dreams—something you call lucid dreaming—then you can be actively aware in those two worlds at once. Is that clear?”
“Where are you from?” Kara blurted out in her mind, her voice quiet, her lips not moving.
“Your thought question is clear, Kara Gonne. For our purpose here, it is not important for you to know where I am from.”
“Was it one of your spacecraft who captured Sally Mason and sent her into the future?” Kara asked, mentally.
Ayita had wanted to lead the conversation and not ask direct questions, but somehow StrallVoss allowed Kara’s mind to communicate telepathically.
StrallVoss’s aura shifted from blue to a mint green. “Your question will be answered.”
CHAPTER 32
Kara lacked the experience to control her swirling thoughts, so words and images burst out of her head with no finesse. “StrallVoss, if part of you is projected, then why do you need a spacecraft? And how do those spacecraft travel such long distances?”
Ayita broke in. “StrallVoss, please pardon us for asking so many questions at once.”
“I will answer Kara Gonne,” StrallVoss said calmly. “And then I will speak about why I have come and why we are here. First, Kara Gonne, we, my ‘species,’ do not limit ourselves. We are an exploring race. We have spacecraft, as you call them, but some of us can also project. Our race does not exist all at the same level, just as your species does not. Not all ‘people,’ as you might say, are as advanced as others. Just as on your planet, in our world, there are also levels of skill, education, and knowledge. We explore in whatever mode, and at whatever level, we can explore. Some use craft, some do not. As to your second question, at your current level of knowledge, you will not understand the mechanics of our interstellar flight. Simply put, our flightcraft use contraction and expansion to travel the vast distances of what you call the universe.”
“StrallVoss, why was Sally Mason transported from 1953 to 2023?” Kara asked.
Ayita said, “Was it one of your craft that sent Sally Mason into the future?”
With a graceful motion of his ethereal hand, StrallVoss indicated toward the ceiling of the hangar, and it suddenly melted away and, in its place, was the sky, glittering with billions of stars.
“In your year 1953, we had three flightcraft exploring your world for over a five-month period. Our craft have been to Earth many times, spanning thousands of years. Ayita Wells, you are not the first of your kind we have communicated with. We made friends thousands of years ago and have lived among tribes on two separate continents. In the past, we have offered advice to your kind, and your kind has offered advice to us. It is the best way to live, that is, to live in cooperation. It is evolution.”
“We care for each other, but he doesn’t like to show his feelings. He didn’t pull his hand away, though.”
“So tell me what you told him, Ayita. My right brain could use some exercise.”
“I told him that a person or a team, known as the ‘sender,’ selects a ‘target,’ which could be a specific location, object, or event, even an event that happened in the past. The target is kept hidden from the remote viewer. Then, the viewer attempts to describe the target, based on the impressions, thoughts, or mental images they perceive. They can draw sketches or use other means to record their impressions.”
Kara’s eyebrows raised in query. “Did he make any comments?”
“Oh, yes. He asked if I made any money from it.”
“Does he know you often work for the CIA?”
“No. Only Mom and Dad know about that.”
Kara stared into the star-filled night. “Look at all those glimmering stars, Ayita. Some of them are hundreds of thousands of light years away. And that’s just in our galaxy. It makes one feel small, doesn’t it?”
Ayita’s serene eyes took in the magical night sky. “And yet, we can see the endless sky and all those stars, and, with our minds, we can embrace them and we can breathe into the space. So maybe we’re not so small after all.”
Kara looked at Ayita, her warm human magic in the air. “You’re much too New Age and poetic for me, Ayita, but then, I can’t talk to extraterrestrials, can I?”
“Who knows, maybe StrallVoss will talk to you, too.”
“So, tell me, Ayita. The target was Sally Mason’s 1951 Chevy Belair on a dark and quiet Indiana road on October 5, 1953. What did you experience?”
“I saw light and I felt fear. Not my fear. I saw the shapes of things. A car. A hovering thing. It was large. Quite large. I had the impression of a Being standing close by. It wasn’t human, at least not the way we think of human, but it also wasn’t so different from, well, a human being. It’s difficult to explain. I probed the Being’s mind. It was a clear and intelligent mind, but I sensed conflict, as if it had done something… something it shouldn’t have done.”
“What about Sally Mason?”
Ayita shut her eyes for a moment as if to bring back the memory. “I had the impression that someone was in a car, but that… How do I say this? That the car was blinking in and out, or off and on, like flipping a light switch. When I put my focus on the car, it was gone. There was nothing there but the hovering craft and the Being. On reflection, and in my debriefing, I described the extraterrestrial as being a Nordic. Tall, radiant, and highly intelligent.”
Kara nodded. “Anything more on Sally?”
Ayita opened her eyes. “One thing. As I was coming out, gently bringing my focus back to this world and time, I saw a woman slumped in her car, the same car I’d seen with the alien and the hovering craft. I saw a patrol car, with its blue sweeping light. I saw traffic passing, and I zoomed in on one of the car’s license plates as it passed. It was a 2023 plate.”
Kara’s cellphone vibrated, and she glanced at it. “Morgan’s here, waiting for us in the conference room.”
Dressed in his customary dark suit and tie, Morgan Compton sat behind a round conference room table under artificial lights, his hands chattering across a laptop keyboard. He glanced up when Kara and Ayita entered the room, nodded, and continued to type. They joined him at the table, sitting in high-quality, ergonomic chairs, both women placing their cellphones before them on the table.
Neatly tucked away in a corner, a small refreshment station offered water, coffee, and tea, and a side table held stationery, notepads, pens, and markers. The walls were bare, the carpet was a bluish gray, and there were no windows.
A minute later, Morgan removed his glasses, set them aside and pushed the laptop forward, his gaze shifting from Ayita to Kara, and them back to Ayita.
“I made coffee, so it’s fresh.”
Both women shook their heads.
Morgan said, “I read your remote view report, Ayita. Thank you. Impressive as usual.”
He looked at Kara. “Anything new on Sally Mason?”
Kara shook her head.
Morgan reached for his white mug of coffee. “I was just emailing General Felson, and I attached your report, Ayita.”
“When did he get involved?” Kara asked, her eyes showing displeasure.
“Since somebody leaked. He called me. He asked me. I told him.”
“Who leaked?” Kara asked.
“He said Dr. Megan Stanley made some enquiries. She demanded to know how Mrs. Sally Anne Mason was being treated. The doctor said more than she should have, and I’m sure you can imagine the rest. She demanded to see Mrs. Mason and threatened to go to the police and the press if she was not granted her request. She mentioned your name, Kara.”
Kara stared down at the table, and then shook her head and crossed her arms. “I thought she was smarter than that.”
“We need to find Mrs. Mason, Kara,” Morgan stressed.
Kara kinked her neck. “Dr. Stanley can go to the cops, but they won’t know anything more than she does. She was in the room when we all heard about the orderly sneaking Sally out of the hospital. The Rosemont police will brush her off. Chief Kennie Gosser is done with Sally Mason. And I can’t believe she’d really go to the press because she knows what will happen if she does, and she cares about Sally too much to put her through it.”
“So, what do we know right now?” Morgan asked.
“Sally Mason is long gone from that town.”
“How do you know, Kara?”
“Because she wants to see her kids.”
Morgan rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. “I don’t care about Dr. Stanley, but I don’t want General Felson sticking his nose in this. He’ll go to his congressional friends. They have big mouths and want more clicks on social media so they can raise money. Long story short, I don’t want to be called to testify behind closed doors before some ridiculous subcommittee.”
Kara lifted a helpless hand. “Sally Mason is off the grid, Morgan. I mean, she was never on the grid, was she? She has no cellphone, no ID, no credit cards, and no Social Security number. Years ago, it was flagged as ‘deceased’ and has been purged.”
They fell into silence. Morgan sipped his coffee and tapped his fingers on the table. “Somebody in that town knows where Sally is. When she left that hospital orderly’s car, someone must have picked her up and helped her, and they’re probably still helping her.”
Kara gave Morgan a focused stare. “I have a photo of Sally when she was in the hospital. Chief Gosser sent it to me, and we have two agents, one male, one female, passing it around to restaurants and businesses in Rosemont.”
Morgan smiled with pleased satisfaction. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kara shrugged. “I was about to.”
“I like it, Kara. Old school.”
“It’s the only school we’ve got, Morgan.”
“Obviously, no luck so far?” Morgan asked.
“It’s slow work.”
“Put another agent on it.”
“Happy to.”
Morgan turned his full attention to Ayita. “Any communication with StrallVoss?”
“Yes.”
Morgan and Kara sat up and put their full attention on her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kara asked.
Ayita excused herself, went to the refreshment station, reached for a bottle of water, screwed off the cap and took a swallow. She replaced the cap and turned to them.
“Pardon the pause, but my throat was dry, and what I’m about to say is somewhat… well, let me say it this way. It was something I didn’t expect.” She turned to Kara. “That’s why I waited to tell you until I could include Morgan.”
Morgan and Kara remained still and waiting.
“I contacted StrallVoss last night. It took several attempts. He was, as he put it, ‘far from you, and very much occupied.’”
Morgan slid the laptop to his right side, leaned back in his chair, and laced his hands behind his head. “Please do tell, Ayita. I’ve never seen you be so dramatic.”
Again, Ayita removed the bottle cap and took a drink. Her energetic, adventurous eyes blinked twice. “StrallVoss wants to meet face to face. He said it is important that we meet, and he has proposed tomorrow night, here inside the hangar.”
Morgan gave her a concentrated stare.
Kara’s face was eager with the unasked question. “Did you mention Sally Mason?”
“No… StrallVoss did. That is, he didn’t mention her by name. He called her ‘the female traveler,’ but he knew what had happened—that she had been, as he put it, ‘moved in time.’”
Morgan pursed his lips as he gazed up at the ceiling. A moment later, he lowered his eyes on Ayita. “Well, well. What have we here?”
Ayita continued. “He knows about Sally Mason, which probably means it was one of his own spacecraft that transported her ahead in time.”
“Did he say why?” Kara asked.
“No. He just stressed that it was important we talk.”
Kara’s eyes seemed to go inward as she imagined herself at the meeting. It would be her first encounter with StrallVoss. “Did he say who could be present at the meeting?”
“Yes. Only you and me, Kara. No one else.”
Kara smiled. Morgan inclined forward, his forehead wrinkled in disappointment. “Did you mention me to him, Ayita?”
“I didn’t mention anyone. He spoke the names twice: Ayita Wells and Kara Gonne.”
Morgan spread his hands with finality. “Well, all right, then, ladies. I guess StrallVoss is a ladies’ man, so you will meet the enigmatic alien, and I will sit here, waiting with bated breath for your full report.”
CHAPTER 31
The lone airplane hangar stood in the heart of a secluded desert facility, its metallic walls reflecting the moon’s soft glow. One single runway stretched out into the fading night, where all seemed dead and quiet.
Inside the expansive hangar, Kara’s restless footsteps echoed against the cold concrete floor as she anxiously awaited StrallVoss. Ayita remained composed near the open front doors, peering out into the moonlit night, her eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
At the rear of the hangar loomed a solitary B-21 Raider, a formidable long-range stealth bomber capable of delivering devastating payloads. It was nuclear-capable and designed to accommodate manned or unmanned operations. Its dark silhouette gave it a mythical quality, as if it were a slumbering beast awaiting the moment to unleash its power upon the world. Kara had not wanted it there, but Morgan couldn’t do anything about it. Making any request would have involved more brass and explanations than he was willing to reveal.
Kara approached Ayita and glanced at her watch. “Five minutes, if he’s on time.”
“He’ll be on time,” Ayita said. “He said he might be early.”
“Are you nervous?” Kara asked. “You look so damned calm. Let’s face it, one doesn’t get to meet an extraterrestrial every day.”
“No, I’m not nervous. StrallVoss is powerful, I feel that, but he also has a humility about him.”
Kara looked at her warily. “Ayita, do you consider yourself in any way naïve?”
“It’s possible.”
“Evil does exist, Ayita. I have seen it and I have had to deal with it. And we all have a bit of badness in us, don’t you think?”
Ayita smiled.
“What’s that smile for?” Kara asked, crossing her arms.
“I often find that when most people are confronted with death, either their own or that of someone they love, they get philosophical. I have never known you to be philosophical, Kara. For some reason, now that you are about to meet StrallVoss, you have become philosophical.”
Kara screwed up her lips. “I would say I’m being cautious and skeptical. We know nothing about StrallVoss, where he comes from or what he wants. I want to know what he wants. Fear and desire are powerful motivators. What does he fear, and what does he want? And what does he need to get what he wants?”
Ayita turned back to the night, and a dry desert breeze washed across her face. “He’ll be here soon, and you can ask him.”
As soon as Ayita’s words died away in the breeze, the air hummed with electricity. Kara’s eyes darted to her wristwatch. Both women heard a crackling sound behind them, and they whirled about. They saw a subtle blue ripple dance through the air. The atmosphere shifted, as if time and space were bending around a glowing celestial presence.
Ayita’s gaze locked onto the foggy radiance. Kara held her breath, her instincts on high alert.
A figure began to materialize, flickering into form before their eyes. StrallVoss stood tall, straight, and luminous, his shimmering essence casting a gentle blue and golden glow around him. His alien form seemed ethereal, translucent, lit from within. The intelligence in his soft, ruby-red eyes sparkled, and when he looked at the women, his gaze sent shivers rippling up Kara’s spine to the crown of her head.
StrallVoss inclined his head in a bow of courtesy, his presence exuding a blend of profound serenity and vibrant energy that filled the hangar with a blue, misty aura.
“I am here, and I am happy to see you two are also present. I am StrallVoss.”
Remarkably, Kara heard his voice in her head, a rich mechanical voice that held warmth. His thin line of lips didn’t move. His eyes did not blink. And then Kara also heard Ayita’s voice in her head, and she shot her a startled glance. Her lips also didn’t move. It was obvious that Ayita and StrallVoss were speaking to each other telepathically, and Kara could hear what she would describe as “digital sound packets.” And she saw “images of words” that were as clear as any 3D movie.
“StrallVoss, welcome. I am Ayita Wells and this is Kara Gonne. Thank you for agreeing to meet us.”
“The request was mine, and your agreement is appreciated.”
Kara swallowed, opened her mouth to speak, then she stopped. Her voice got swallowed in her breath and she could only make a raspy wheezing sound. She tried to speak again, but the words froze on her lips.
“Kara Gonne,” StrallVoss said, again the words sounding in Kara’s head, “you can speak without sound, and you can hear without ears. It is natural, and how the true meaning of communication is not misinterpreted. Words can be lies, or they can be truth. Thoughts reveal intention. Please think your thoughts to me. I will hear them, and I will see them, just as you will hear and see mine.”
Kara struggled to form a thought. One single thought, but her brain locked up.
Kara heard Ayita break through the static of her brain as she spoke.
“StrallVoss, why did you want to meet us? Are you truly here or are you projecting an image of yourself? It seems to me that you shimmer, and although your image is clear, it does not appear to be solidly formed.”
For a moment, StrallVoss’s form became wavy, then steady. “Part of me is here, and part of me is projected. I will try to be clear to you. Think of me as one of your movie actors who is currently being interviewed on a TV or an internet program. During the interview, behind me are two separate TV screens where I am also being projected. I can be in more than one place. Is that clear for you both?”
Ayita nodded. “Somewhat. So, you are here at the same time you can appear in other worlds?”
“Think of me as an avatar, who can take form in three separate video games simultaneously. I’ll conclude by saying we are all entities of many parts. You will know this truth from your dreams, which is a separate world from your so-called ‘waking’ world. But that dream world is real to you at the time you are dreaming. Is this not so? If you are consciously aware in those dreams—something you call lucid dreaming—then you can be actively aware in those two worlds at once. Is that clear?”
“Where are you from?” Kara blurted out in her mind, her voice quiet, her lips not moving.
“Your thought question is clear, Kara Gonne. For our purpose here, it is not important for you to know where I am from.”
“Was it one of your spacecraft who captured Sally Mason and sent her into the future?” Kara asked, mentally.
Ayita had wanted to lead the conversation and not ask direct questions, but somehow StrallVoss allowed Kara’s mind to communicate telepathically.
StrallVoss’s aura shifted from blue to a mint green. “Your question will be answered.”
CHAPTER 32
Kara lacked the experience to control her swirling thoughts, so words and images burst out of her head with no finesse. “StrallVoss, if part of you is projected, then why do you need a spacecraft? And how do those spacecraft travel such long distances?”
Ayita broke in. “StrallVoss, please pardon us for asking so many questions at once.”
“I will answer Kara Gonne,” StrallVoss said calmly. “And then I will speak about why I have come and why we are here. First, Kara Gonne, we, my ‘species,’ do not limit ourselves. We are an exploring race. We have spacecraft, as you call them, but some of us can also project. Our race does not exist all at the same level, just as your species does not. Not all ‘people,’ as you might say, are as advanced as others. Just as on your planet, in our world, there are also levels of skill, education, and knowledge. We explore in whatever mode, and at whatever level, we can explore. Some use craft, some do not. As to your second question, at your current level of knowledge, you will not understand the mechanics of our interstellar flight. Simply put, our flightcraft use contraction and expansion to travel the vast distances of what you call the universe.”
“StrallVoss, why was Sally Mason transported from 1953 to 2023?” Kara asked.
Ayita said, “Was it one of your craft that sent Sally Mason into the future?”
With a graceful motion of his ethereal hand, StrallVoss indicated toward the ceiling of the hangar, and it suddenly melted away and, in its place, was the sky, glittering with billions of stars.
“In your year 1953, we had three flightcraft exploring your world for over a five-month period. Our craft have been to Earth many times, spanning thousands of years. Ayita Wells, you are not the first of your kind we have communicated with. We made friends thousands of years ago and have lived among tribes on two separate continents. In the past, we have offered advice to your kind, and your kind has offered advice to us. It is the best way to live, that is, to live in cooperation. It is evolution.”
