Noah

Avalon 9.8 The Wild West, part 4 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

As they headed out the next morning, Katie rode with Sukki between her and Elder Stow. Lockhart had some questions for Captain Barnes.  “So, when did this alien ship crash in the Potomac?”

“March fourth, 1865, in the evening after President Lincoln spoke. We have spent the last ten years tracking alien prisoners all across the country, in Canada, and Mexico.”

“And you have had no help from the Kargill police—the what-you-call-them.” Lockhart was unsure of the name.

Captain Barnes nodded.  “Ahluzarians. Yes actually.  We have an Ahluzarian with us.  Commander Roker.  He went with Marshal Casidy, Rodrigo the Apache, Mini Taggert, she is a sharpshooter and real cowgirl from Missouri, and a fur trapper and Indian guide out of Western Canada named Gordon Smythe.  Gordon was a great help in Oregon.  Interesting.  Marshal Casidy has taken to calling the seven of us the Magnificent Seven, but he has not explained what he means by that.”  Captain Barnes stopped talking and leaned over, assuming Lockhart knew what that meant.  Lockhart chose not to explain the reference.

“Go on,” Lockhart said.

“Well.  According to Commander Roker’s records of the prisoner manifest, we have neutralized all but one.  This last one, though is especially difficult.  It is a shape shifter, and having been on this planet for ten years, it has become expert in appearing human.”

“I don’t get it,” Lockhart admitted.  “I was there when the Kairos told the Kargill directly that this planet was off limits to visitors, and the Kargill agreed.  Any Kargill ships had to avoid this solar system altogether.”

“By the Kairos you mean Marshal Casidy?  The Marshal has not explained that well, though I have met Doctor Mishka, the Princess, and others.”

“Yes,” Lockhart confirmed and thought for a second.  “Two time zones before this one.  He was living as a woman, Lady Elizabeth…Stewart something…she was Scottish, during the English civil war.”

“Two hundred years before our own civil war,” Captain Barnes said, but he did not sound certain.

“Yes,” Lockhart said.  “But what was a Kargill ship doing so close to Earth?  Go on.”

“Ah,” Captain Barnes mouthed.  “As I understand it, there was an altercation on the normal route.  Something with the Reichgo, and the prisoner ship and escort got diverted in this direction.”

“You say prison ship, not a penal ship?”

“No,” Captain Barnes shook his head.  “They were not taking one or more difficult populations to resettle elsewhere.  This ship carried individuals that for whatever reason refused to settle down or were criminals of some sort.  They were being escorted to a prison planet—a nasty place with no atmosphere on the surface, and no way off.  A few have been recaptured and are in holding cells.  We have had to kill most of them, sorry to say.”

“Holding cells on the escort ship?”

“No, on a newly called ship,” Captain Barnes said.  “The original escort ship was destroyed in the crash, though Marshal Casidy was able to save, shrink, and time-lock the main gun from the ship.  He hid it in President Lincoln’s office where no one could get it without the time key.”

“I’ve seen it,” Lockhart said.  “We borrow it in the future.  Go on.”

“Well.  He won’t even tell the Kargill the time technology involved.”

“What destroyed the escort ship?” Lockhart asked.

“Uncertain,” Captain Barnes said honestly, but in a way that suggested he had some thoughts.  “I talked to Mister Smith.  He is a Zalanid and the Kargill’s liaison with us and others around the globe.  Have you met him?”  Lockhart nodded.  “Well, he said circumstantial evidence points to the Gott-Druk, a people who began on this planet and who have a technology superior to the Kargill, though I cannot imagine such a thing.”

Lockhart looked back at Elder Stow.  He rode on Sukki’s other side so Katie and Elder Stow had the girl well boxed in.  Lockhart nearly said something, but changed his word to, “Neanderthals.  It is what we call them in the future.  Apparently, this planet has produced a lot of intelligent species—people over the last four or five billion years.  That is why this is a Genesis planet, because conditions are right—or maybe I should say God has used this earth as one of a dozen planets in the whole Milky Way to create intelligent life.”

“Genesis, as in God created the heavens and the earth?”

“Yes.  But I have been told that story, our human story as written for us, started somewhere between 14,000 and 16,000 B. C. when a moon bumped into the artic and the last ice age melted suddenly.  The whole earth got flooded and the atmosphere got enough dust, ash, and debris in it to blot out the sun.”

“The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”

“That is very good. I can’t quote that.”

“My name is Jacob Barnes,” Captain Barnes said. “My mother was Jewish.”

Lockhart smiled and continued.  “Anyway, the Neanderthals were one of several human-like groups that got taken off planet at that time or before that time.  They were given a different world around a different sun somewhere out there in the night sky.  There were a few small pockets of us humans who were protected in the catastrophe, and once the earth settled down, they, I should say we were allowed to replant the planet.”

“Noah,” Captain Barnes guessed.

“No,” Lockhart said.  “That came later.  Once the earth got reestablished, some of the ice returned and there was another sudden meltdown. Katie calls it the Dry-us, or Dry-adds, or something.  Then, lesser meltdowns continued for some time, on and off.  The earth was pretty unstable, wobbling less and less but continuing for about ten thousand years or so.  Exposed land got flooded in various places.  Us humans had a hard time of it.”

“But God promised not to wipe out the human race again.  He made the rainbow covenant with Noah.”

“He did, but then that man, Nimrod, gathered lots of survivors and built a tower to human glory.”

“Babel.”  Captain Barnes understood.

“The tower fell.  People got scattered.  Languages got confused with people in their little groups all over the globe.  But the earth by that time was more like we know it today.”

“When was that?”

“About 4,500 B. C.  That was when the Kairos was first born as cute twins, one male and one female.”

“Twins?”

“Two bodies, one person.  I still don’t understand how that worked, but that was where we came into the story and started our journey home.”

Captain Barnes whistled to think of what these travelers may have seen.

“So, you are Jewish?”

“What?”  Captain Barnes had to focus.  “Mostly.  My father is Church of God.  He got caught up in all that Millerite madness when he was young in the 1840s.”

“Whatever that is—was,” Lockhart shook his head.  “But, so now, the Neanderthals or Gott-Druk have had thousands of years to advance themselves.  Counting from the time of Babel, we are some ten thousand years behind them in the technology department, and not having the same language and culture among us has not helped in some ways.”  Lockhart looked back again and decided he would not single out Elder Stow at that time.

Captain Barnes rode quietly for a time before he spoke again.  “Maybe the Gott-Druk shot down the prison ship and the escort ship.  But why would they do that?”

Lockhart shook his head, but then talked freely knowing this information would eventually enter the Men in Black records if it was not there already.  “Since being taken to new home planets, most species—people have settled into a good life.  The Gott-Druk, for some reason, have always had a small minority that want to return here, to earth, and retake what they consider their ancestral homeland.  That has been a real headache at times.”

“I can imagine.”

Lockhart continued.  “I would guess the Gott-Druk hoped so many alien criminals would badly disrupt and maybe cause the death of millions, thereby paving the way for their return.  I am a bit surprised they crashed here, though.  I would have thought Europe.”

“Europe?” Captain Barnes asked with the single word.

“I’ve been told Europe, the Middle East, and western and some Central Asia is the extent of their homeland.  The Far East, India and Southeast Asia belonged to the Elenar.  There were others, but those two were using soft metals and the Elenar may have discovered bronze when the Agdaline first came looking to trade for grain.  That might have been around 18,000 B. C.  It was an Agdaline moon that careened off the earth and brought about the destruction.  They were experimenting with anti-gravity, trying to develop faster-than-light travel, when they tore the atmosphere off their own planet.  They had to search for a new home.  It was all a big mess.”

“Agdaline?”

“A long story,” Lockhart said.  He realized he had questions but ended up talking most of the time.  That was the way it sometimes worked.  He decided maybe Katie could do some of the talking.  “What say we stop for lunch?” Captain Barnes agreed.

Lockhart went to kiss his wife and hug his new daughter, then they had a good lunch and Katie did plenty of talking, with Tony and Lincoln interjecting thoughts now and then.  Nanette and Sukki said little, both showing their shyness in front of three relative strangers.  Decker only made a couple of side comments to Sergeant Reynolds, who laughed.  Elder Stow said practically nothing, even when the discussion turned briefly to the Gott-Druk shooting down the prison ship and the escort ship, but that did not surprise the travelers.  He appeared to have things on his mind, and the travelers politely left him to his thoughts.

Avalon 9.5 Men in Black, part 4 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Elizabeth and her Men in Black ended up staying three days in Glasgow.  Elizabeth spoiled her children.  Erin and the children’s nursemaid did their fair share of spoiling as well.  Sir Leslie was very generous.  Jack Horner said something about sparing the rod and spoiling the child.  MacDonald and Campbell argued most of the time about stupid things, like which clan made the best haggis.  O’Neil, the Irishman laughed a lot.  Duchamp and DeWindt made peace with David, and found they had many things about which they could relate, not the least their all being from the continent and wanting nothing to do with haggis.  James and John watched over the women and children, but then, everyone had questions. In the evenings, Elizabeth did her best to answer the question she could.

Our Earth was formed about four and a half billion years ago.  The creation of the universe was more than twice that many years ago.  There are star-suns that have planets that are twice as old as Earth.  Some planets are just now forming around some star-suns.”

“What is a billion?” David asked what many wondered.  Elizabeth went through the numbers.

“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand.  One thousand, ten thousand one hundred thousand, one million.  One million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion.  One billion, four and a half billion when the earth was formed.  She showed with her hands and arms.  The universe was created more than ten billion years ago.”

“Good Lord,” Jack spouted at the incomprehensible number.  “But look.  The Holy Book tells us the age of the earth is six thousand years old.”

“The age of modern humans.  There were many ages before that.  In the beginning, in our beginning, a darkness was on the face of the earth and the Spirit of God moved across the waters.  The whole earth had been flooded.”

“Noah?” DeWindt asked.

“Not yet,” Elizabeth said and struggled to find the best way to explain it all.  “The Earth entered a cold spell and much of the land became covered with ice.  The seabed lowered.  It is a long story, but basically, the ice all melted at once.  A moon, not our moon and not Venus, bumped the earth roughly on the north pole and set it to wobbling.  The Earth cracked and erupted if you know what a volcano is.  The ice all melted at once and the sky filled with steam, ash, dust, and smoke, so the world fell into darkness.  I mean dark as night, not an evil darkness, though it may have been that as well.”

“Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light,” Jack recited.

“The sky cleared,” Elizabeth continued with a nod.  “And some men were saved through that flood, though I am not at liberty to say how.  The other people who were made on this world were taken off world to planets of their own.”

“Wait…” Sir Leslie wanted to object but Elizabeth held up her hand.

“This is a Genesis planet, one of only half a dozen in this galaxy—in this area of space.  You know what Genesis means.  I should not have to explain that.  But in four and a half billion years, many people have been made here.  After the meltdown, flood, and let there be light, only humans remained, mostly.  People built a world-wide culture, all speaking the same language.  It was a garden-like existence, for sure, but the people screwed it up.  You know, like Adam and Eve.   The earth began to freeze over again until the asteroids, some comets trailing after the little moon that hit and glanced off the north pole, caught up with us and smashed into several places, notably Greenland.  Everything melted suddenly again.  That was Noah.”

“But the age of the earth…”  Jack was not for giving up.

“Six thousand years ago, or a little more, there was another change event.  Nimrod the moron built a tower.  In Scripture it is called the Tower of Babel, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  And God said he would never again destroy the Earth by waters of a flood for as long as the Earth abides.  Let me say, the ages represented in the Bible are correct, only there is some missing information not meant for the general public in this day and age.  Basically, after Noah, people stopped living for eight hundred years and eventually started living eighty.  But that was gradual, and there are scientific reasons for that which I am not prepared to go into.  A narrowed population will do that.  But consider this, all the men mentioned in the Book of Hebrews trusted God, though they never witnessed the promise when the Messiah walked among us.  They lived faithfully, though they did not know the whole story.  So, let me just say the languages became confused after Babel, marking the beginning of modern man, and I was first born under that doomed tower to try and keep track of it all.”  She paused to let them digest that bit of information and was not disappointed by Jack.

“Good Lord.”

###

The travelers reached Perth on one of the few sunny days.  The road to Sterling would be a push if the weather turned, but they figured they might make it in a day.  It would be another day after that to reach Glasgow, which appeared to be where the Kairos settled.  Lincoln read about the alien encounters and the Men in Black that began in 1649, but as usual, he was not sure what it was safe to say until certain events played out.  He understood both Katie and Tony were past their era of expertise.  They would not necessarily know more than the others.  He wondered if it was safe to mention that Charles I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland would be beheaded at the end of the month.  He would have to think about that.

Katie and Nanette noticed and confirmed a familiar face among the patrons in the inn.  The man sat with friends at a nearby table.  They confronted the man over supper in the big room, and Katie named the man.  “Bishop Pierre Cauchon.”

The man looked up from his seat.  They saw his face and imagined his mind raced through a hundred ways to deny what they called him, but in the end, he smiled and said, “You got me.”

“Lord Peter?” one of the men seated with him wondered what these women were talking about.

“It is Lord Peter Cameron, actually, and being a good covenanter, we will leave the bishop part in the past.”

Nanette remembered Joan of Arc, that lovely young girl they met so briefly in that day, and she spoke.  “Condemn any innocent young women for witchery lately?”  Her voice sounded hard and full of anger.

“Not lately,” the man said in a voice that suggested he may have used the charge of witchcraft at some point or other.  “I have been busy with my assignment, helping Scotland shatter to pieces.  We have Montrose, royalists, covenanters, engagers, clans fighting clans, and Argyll the stubborn fighting everyone.  I’ll admit, the battle of Sterling did not turn out the way I wanted.  I was hoping for all-out war, but we take what we can get.”

Lockhart and Decker came up to fetch the women to their table, and Katie spoke.  “Why would you want Scotland divided?  Though I assume the Masters would not want peace in general.”

Lord Peter smiled some more.  “Invasion,” he answered.  “Most of Scotland will stay home when the invasion comes.  They will not take up arms to fight alongside people who they count as enemies and traitors.  Scotland will fall to a military dictatorship, and it will happen centuries before Hitler.  And the Scottish will not rebel, so there will be no reason the greatly improved army should not invade the continent.  Soon enough, the army on the continent will make a pact with the Vassas and the Hapsburgs to fight the Ottomans, and we will have the First World War two hundred years ahead of time.  Of course, the Masters hope they beat each other senseless, but one can only hope.”

“Cromwell is not that kind of man,” Katie said, as Lord Peter stood and got his men up from their meal.

“A push here.  A whisper there.  Men are malleable,” he said, and marched for the door, his men following.

“What was that about?” Decker asked.

“Why did that man look familiar?” Lockhart asked.

“Bishop Pierre Cauchon who killed Joan of Arc.  Now, Lord Peter Cameron planning to turn Oliver Cromwell into Adolph Hitler and bring war to the entire continent and beyond.”

Lockhart looked at the door and reached for his handgun.  Decker ran to the door, but the man was not to be found.  He cursed when he returned.

“You should have killed him on the spot,” he said.

“Decker?” Nanette asked what he meant by that and only partly protested.

“Servant of the Masters and a repeat face that is not one of the good guys.  That is an enemy combatant.  You should have shot him immediately.”

“Decker?” Nanette asked again, not knowing what to ask, but Katie spoke.

“Yes.  I should have.”

###

Elizabeth said goodbye to her children in the morning and sent them on the way to Gray Havens.  In the afternoon, Sir Leslie and Jack Horner came up with another question.  Jack quoted the scriptures.

“It is appointed a man once to die and after this the judgment.”

Sir Leslie added, “I assume that goes for women, too.”

Elizabeth nodded.  “But that is just it.  God won’t let me die.  Oh, I feel all the pain and loss of death.  It is hard every time.  I get right up to the point of going over to the Heavenly shores, and my spirit gets stuck in another womb, like it or not.  I have no say in the matter, and nine months later, I get born somewhere new on the planet.  As a baby, I have no idea I ever lived before.  Those thoughts don’t occur to me until I am twelve…  Ten?  Thirteen or fourteen?  It varies.  But then I discover things are happening that will throw all of history off track unless I act.  So, we are acting.”

“That must be hard,” Sir Leslie said in his most sympathetic voice.  “To die again and again and never be allowed to go to heaven.”

“Who?” Jack asked, but she knew what he was asking.

“I call them friends in the future.  They may be angels deciding where I need to go.  In any case, they could only do such a thing under God’s watchful eye.”

“Assuredly,” Jack said.

Elizabeth stopped the group in front of a big house in the country.  She pulled a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes, before she got down and said, “The home of Bram Buchanan.  His son, Clyde evidently set the Wolv free.”