Messengers from the Past

CHAPTER 4

BJORKEN



AnnaMoore is sleeping soundly in her king-size bed. Sven Bjorken islying on his back next to her. As he awoke he looked up at theceiling and formulated plans for the day. Then he looked to hisright and intently watched her. Her face is still beautiful, thoughshe just turned sixty. She is sleeping so peacefully and she looksrelaxed. A small stream of saliva is dripping from the corner of hermouth. Sven took his handkerchief and wiped Anna’s mouth. Whilehe did that, the sheet slid down to her waist, exposing Anna'sbreasts. Sven looked at her and he admitted to himself that her bodyis still well proportioned and her muscles are well defined. Shenever had children. She opened her eyes and she appearedembarrassed, "Thank you Sven. I love you, even after all theseyears."

"Ilove you too." Anna moved her hand up and down Sven’s largechest. Then she explored Sven’s groin area, hoping for a replaywith this beautiful specimen. Sven found Anna’s hand, brought itto his mouth, and kissed it. Then he rose and said, "I am latefor work, Anna. I have a meeting scheduled for nine."

"Iunderstand." Sven showered, stepped into the drying chamber anddressed. He parked his glider with a mooring beam off the balcony onthe second floor of Anna Moore’s home. He stepped into the gliderand programmed it for the APSI building in Bremen, CSE. It is only ashort distance from Anna Moore's home. He parked the glider, settingit on the tripod, on the second floor of the building. One year ago,he ordered a parking slot for the glider. It is an opening in thebuilding, between floors, 16 by 16 and 10 feet high. Sven stepped onthe elevator platform and it dropped eight feet, in line with thefloor. Then he stepped into his office and reviewed the notes, whichhe prepared last night on the laptop, just before he went home. Hechecked his watch. It is nine in the morning.

Avoice from the speaker reminded him, "Mr. Bjorken everyone ispresent for the nine a.m. meeting."

"Thankyou Jane. I will need you at the meeting." Jane is Sven’snew secretary. She has been with him for four months and she isworking out well. Sven stepped into the conference room and as heglanced across the table, he saw that everyone is present; theproduction manager, the engineering manager, the manager for advancedengineering projects, the quality control manager, the accountant andhis secretary.

"Iknow that you are all very busy. Let’s try to keep the meetingshort and let’s go in our regular order and use Jane’s format. Hans would you like to start?"



ProductionManager

Finally,we have stopped producing of all fossil fuel vehicles. Turboproduction is up 30 percent. Glider production is also up 28percent. The new improvements on the glider design will allow it totravel near the present speed of light. We have to thank Aramu fromSumer City for this technological embellishment. I have submittedthe savings to our accountant.

EngineeringManager

Ihave two men working on new ideas for the Tybium propulsion engines. They will be much superior over the existing design. Also, I talkedto our accountant about two additional offices that we will need. And I replaced all our computers with voice recognition models.

AdvancedEngineering Manager

Thenew advanced Engineering science plant on the south end of Bremen, isalmost complete. We are working with Aramu and Damitu as well as ourmetallurgists developing the new lightweight material and theassociated chemical shape manipulation. When we are ready tomanipulate mass, based on pressure differentials, it willconsiderably simplify our spaceship designs from mechanical tochemical streamlining at high travel speeds. As soon as the scienceplant is complete, we will transfer all advanced engineering projectsfrom the production plant to the new building. I hired one Urianchemist to develop further the chemical, molecular changes ofTilunium 1107 metal.

Ihave one one item; Aramu, from Sumer City, said that he would like totake a trip to Titan to check out the devices that the Warfs use. The devices are highly advanced and according to Aramu they are over480,000 years old.

SvenBjorken, CEO

Interesting.

ProductionManager

Whoare the Dwarfs? Or what do you call them anyway?

AdvancedEngineering Manager

Theyare called Warfs,Hans. They are short, part humanoid and they are friendly toward us. We believe that the early Anunnakis or Igitans must have mated witha species, unknown to us. The result was this freak of nature, whichwe call the Warfs. They originated on Titan and they have never leftit.

ProductionManager

Waita minute. Now who are the Igitans?

AdvancedEngineering Manager

TheIgitans are also Sumerians, they look very similar to us, but theyare warlike.

ProductionManager

Thisis getting too complicated.

QualityControl Manager

Ihave nothing new to report. I can only say that the quality of thegliders and all the turbo vehicles is excellent. Now we are shippingthem all over the world. The return rate is 0.3%. Next week I willbe sending the accountant my quarterly quality reports and he willsend them to you.

Accountant

Iam going to make a small change in our reporting format. I will beseparating vendor costs, because they are getting too high. We mayhave to isolate certain vendors, based on our next quarterly reports. If they are, in fact too high, we might have to set up an internaloperation, providing the costs would be lower.

SvenBjorken, CEO

Therelationship between the CNAS and the CSE is excellent. Unfortunately, Dr. Emily Woodlock is stepping down from her supremechancellor’s position. They will hold elections in the nearfuture. We are moving into a new phase of operations. BenNeidermeier and I will be closely involved with the Urians from SumerCity. I am hoping that I will be able to break away sometime nextweek to check out their new technology; desalination of water andchemical shape manipulation of metals. And also….

Jane

Mr.Bjorken there is a scrambled emergency message on your communicator. It seems to be of great urgency.

SvenBjorken

Excuseme, gentlemen.

"YesBen, what is it? I am right in the middle of my weekly meeting."

"Sven,the scanners detected an Igitan by the Gulf of California, where weare relocating a desalination plant from Burak to the Gulf ofCalifornia. We need to team up again. I am already on my way toSumer City. I am traveling on the ACTS. Can you meet me there,ASAP?"

"Inabout three hours. I will take the glider."

"Iwill be waiting." Sven disconnected.

SvenBjorken

Wellgentlemen, plans have changed. I won’t be waiting until next week. I will fly to New Mexico within the hour. While I leave, Jane willtalk to Anna Moore, but I will update her during my trip to SumerCity. She will have to run the business of her company by herselfagain; at least, for a while longer. Jane, please transcribe thecontent of the meeting and pass out copies for everyone.

“Yes,Mr. Bjorken.”



***



Svenpacked essential clothing in his grip, went to the roof of the APSIbuilding, and boarded the glider. Franz Bauer is Sven’s gliderboss. He started the turbo, AG engines, rose to 60,000 feet and setthe course for Sumer City.

"Whatspeed Mr. Bjorken?"

"Mach12 is OK. I need time to relax and think."

SvenBjorken turned off his communicator. He just finished briefing AnnaMoore. Sven sat back in his ergonomically designed seat. He couldfold it back and lay down. But, there would not be enough time forthat. At Mach 12, it will take him less than one hour to travel fromBremen to Sumer City. He watched Franz. He is one of the newgeneration space jockeys. He trained with a group of Urians andEarthling in Sumer City for two years. They have mastered flightconditions, interplanetary space travel, traveling near the speed oflight and they know how to use the improved discharge guns. And thenew space suits that they are wearing are extremely functional.



Sven thought back of the days when hewas a part of the new generation. That is when he met Ben. In thoseancient days, they were deadly enemies. Ben worked for the CNAS andSven worked for Jack Moore. He was the owner and CEO of APSI, inBremen, CSE. Then it was an energy company. Moore was in theprocess to build a secret warehouse in Iceland and he needed a man torun the complex for him. During an energy meeting in the CSE,Bjorken met Moore and his lovely wife Anna. When he talked to him,Bjorken impressed him so much with his knowledge of forensic scienceand energy that he hired him on the spot. He became the securitychief and on occasion, he did specialty jobs for Moore. The leadersof both countries attempted to control Tybium, the fuel of thefuture, and both Ben and Sven worked occasionally for the leaders ofboth countries. Their responsibilities to protect mining rights ofboth countries were so intense that they ended up in a personalstruggle. It was so extreme, that Ben and Sven ended up in aphysical, martial arts engagement. Both were experts in it, and theywere the proud owners of black belts. Their struggle lasted morethan one hour, in the backyard of Ben’s home. Both inflicted laserwounds on the other, despite that they were going to fight honorably. Both ended up in a hospital for treatment. They healed and laterbecame friends, calling the fight a draw. They remained friends andsince then, they have been on various missions, fighting the Igitans,and they still go fly fishing once a year in the State ofPennsylvania.

"Mr.Bjorken, we will arrive in five minutes. I will park on top of thegovernment building."

“Already. Did you exceed our speed agreement?”

“No,I didn’t.” Sven disembarked the glider and took the externalelevator to the ground floor. He walked into the office and foundboth, Aramu and Damitu.

"Hellofellows, are you still monitoring the Igitan?"

"YesSven, he is still standing in the same area. During the last hour, asecond Igitan met him there."

"Howare they traveling?" Sven asked.

"Weare not sure."

"Ithink that Ben and I should fly to the Gulf, park our glider and findout what they are up to. We could use our portable scanners to getnear them. Though it may not be wise, I would love to talk to one ofthem, because I have never had an opportunity to do so," saidSven, smiling. Aramu looked out the front window, "Ah, Lord Benarrived." Ben extended his greetings, he slapped Sven with ahigh five, and he kept looking at the image on his portablecommunicator. Then he walked over to the computer terminals andcompared his image with the image of the computer screens.

"Yea,this is the same image," said Ben. He was delighted that he hada match and he showed it to Sven. Sven shook his head and said, "Iam so proud of you Ben. You have the same image as Aramu has on hisscreens." Ben realized that Sven was kidding him and playfullypunched him in his shoulder. Sven assumed his favorite karate stanceand exclaimed, "Haahii." With that, they hugged and Svensaid, "My glider is moored on top of the building. Shall we paythem a visit?"

"Thisis exactly what I was thinking. Aramu do you want to come along?"

"Ohyes, I definitely do." The three men took the lift up to theroof of the building. Franz Bauer walked on top of the roof andlooked in amazement at the horizon of Sumer City. This is the firsttime that he saw it. It is arranged in deliberate order and plannedout well. Twelve avenues are extending from the center of the cityin the shape of a wagon wheel. In the center of the city, peopletook leisurely strolls and stopped by the water fountain. About onemile from the center, Ensabar placed another twelve avenues inbetween the original ones. All buildings are twenty-four storiestall and each story is ten feet high. Glider traffic is flowingquietly and smoothly and there is no pollution. On even levels,traffic is leaving the city and on odd levels, traffic is movingtoward the center of the city, well orchestrated. Farther out,builders built private homes in between. Ensabar has done anoutstanding, futuristic job in designing the city layout. There areno wires or ugly telephone poles visible. All services areunderground. Franz was curious why he started the city design withtwelve avenues. Why didn’t he use ten, based on the decimalsystem, or fourteen? Sven walked toward Franz and he never had thetime to pursue his line of reasoning. He saw Sven first, "Whatare we doing?"

"Seta course for the Gulf of California, Franz. Fly in low over thewater from the south and land on the beach south of the area wherethe desalination plant will be installed," said Sven, lookingquestioningly at Ben.

“Iagree, my old friend.”

Ben,Sven and Aramu boarded the glider and Franz flew toward the Gulf ofCalifornia at 10,000 feet and Mach 6. Ben checked his stealth laserpistol. It is in perfect operating order. He set it for stun. Sventurned on his communicator and checked for the aura of the Igitans. Both of them are still in the same area. Obviously, they arewatching the sections of the desalination plant while an operatorguided them in the right direction. In about one hour, the operatorswill drop the three parts in place on a cement platform. Then theassembly work will begin. AG trench diggers are already working,digging trenches from the Gulf to Sumer City. Ben looked over toSven and checked the auras, "I am curious what their realintentions are? Are they waiting to attack it? Or are they justcurious what the Urians are doing?"

"Idon’t know Ben. Let’s land first. Should we walk up to them andask them?"

"Iam game, if you are." Ben leaned back and he has a concernedlook on his face.

"Areyou changing your mind?" asked Sven.

"No,no. I am not changing my mind." Ben touched Aramu’s arm andasked him,

"Didyou ever scan the aura of an Urian, Aramu?"

"Yes,I did."

"Couldyou tell us what you found?"

"Yes. The aura of the Urians is not as sporadic as that of the Igitans. It has a distinct pattern but entirely different from Earthlings. The pattern of the Earthlings is circular but the pattern of theUrians is hyperbolic. Also, there is no problem to distinguishbetween Urians and Igitans."

"Whywouldn’t the Urian and the Igitan auras be the same?"

"Isuppose, about 450,000 years ago, they were the same. They dispersedin an arranged fashion. But, since the Igitans have been on thewarpath, for more than 300,000 years, their character has influencedtheir auras. After all, that is what auras are; a result of one’sstate of being."

“Thatmakes sense.”

"Iam landing the glider one-half mile south of the building site. Isthat all right?" inquired Franz, concerned.

"Yes,that’s fine." Franz parked the glider and Aramu, Ben and Svendisembarked.

“Franz,stay on alert. We don’t know what we are going to get into.”

“Yes,boss,” said Franz, as he stayed with the glider. The three menstarted walking in the direction of the Igitans. Sven has hiscommunicator activated and fine-tuned it to the auras of the Igitans. He took the lead, while he followed the signal. Aramu and Benfollowed. It was difficult for Aramu to follow Sven, because Aramuusually takes longer strides. Sven on the other hand, being anEarthling has shorter strides. To watch Aramu walking behind Svenpresents a comical picture; almost like father and child, where thechild has difficulty keeping ahead. Though Aramu is wearing theclothes of an Earthling today, there is no doubt that he is a specialbreed of Homosapien. Being 6 feet 6 inches tall bronzed face andwith his sophisticated stride an innocent bystander will always takea second look and wonder who he might be. Many Earthlings in thecenter part of the New Mexico area are slowly getting used to seeingUrians. They move around freely, going to school, do some of theirshopping or simply walking to enjoy the surface of this wonderfulearth. In a town near Sumer City, a new clothing store opened. Theyare targeting the Urian population. The inscription on the facaderead:



Fine Clothes and Shoes for Tall and Extra Tall



"Ithink that we are getting close to the Igitans," warned Sven. Ben leaped forward and checked Sven’s communicator.

"Theymust be right in front of us," said Ben, raising his brows.

"Isee them. They are in front of us; ten feet up and to the right,"said Aramu, exited, an emotion rarely exhibited by an Urian. Thethreesome stopped.

"Howare we going to do this?" asked Aramu.

"Iwill go to their left and Sven will stop next to their right, saidBen. “Aramu, you block the rear, just in case that they decide togo back."

"Whatshall we do if they go forward?" asked Aramu, obviously askingfor direction. From this question, it is quite evident that theUrians still have not learned to be aggressive. That will beAropad’s job to teach them. Sven looked at Ben, shook his head andhe rolled his eyes in disbelieve.

"Wewill follow them, Aramu."

"Yes,of course. That is what we should do."

"Let’sget the show started." The three men slowly walked up to thetwo Igitans—Ben on the left and Sven on the right. Aramu blockedthe rear. When the Igitans saw that they have company, they turnedand proceeded to walk backwards. They saw Aramu standing behindthem. They immediately realized that Aramu is an Urian. They turnedand looked at each other. One said to the other, <now what will we do >

Andthe other replied, < here we will stay >



Benimmediately realized that they talk just as the Urians conversedyears ago. He turned toward Sven and spoke across the Igitans toSven,

"Theystill haven’t learned to speak proper English." Ben evaluatedthe situation. He placed his left hand on the butt of his laserpistol, inside his jacket. By the reaction of the Igitans, Bendecided that a frontal attack would be the best way to handle thesituation, "What the hell are you bastards doing here?"

Oneof the Igitans answered, < watching we are>

"Yea,I bet you are planning another attack." Ben was waiting for ananswer, but they did not respond.

"Didyou hear me? What the hell are you doing here?"

<talk to you we will not >

"Oh,yes you will. We want some answers." The Igitans looked ateach other and one of them said in their dialect, <ati me peta babka >

Benhas heard this phrase before. It means ‘Gatekeeper open your gatefor me’. The Igitan on the right grabbed his partner andsimultaneously he produced a small, elongated instrument. Hesqueezed it in the middle and immediately, the two Igitans vanishedin front of them, as they are mounting and traveling the light beam. Aramu quickly interjected, "They took the light beam to theirspace glider. We must track them to see where they are going." Sven looked at his communicator and he showed it to Aramu.

"Assoon as the glider will rise we should be able to see them,"said Aramu. About two minutes later, and five miles south, they sawthe glider rising at the maximum speed allowed in the thick earth’satmosphere. Another two minutes later, slowly the glider approachedthe speed of light and disappeared in the western sky, leaving awhite, dense trail behind them. Aramu activated his instrument thathe is wearing on his left wrist and he is able to determine thedirection that the Igitan’s glider is taking.

"Theyare flying in the direction of Saturn. Most likely to the planetTitan, its largest moon," said Aramu.

Svenlooked at Ben and they both responded, "Then this is where wemust go."