The Third Craft Read online

The two spent several hours there, finding all the elements and compounds in reference books and research journals. Surprisingly, most of the materials were available commercially and Hawk wrote down their retail names. A few of the materials were being used or developed in new and ongoing research. Two formulations were unknown to science.

  Yuichi pointed to the two formulations on the list. “These compounds I can make for you today, my young friend. Where did you find such a list?”

  “I can’t say. Please don’t ask. I just need the stuff.”

  Yuichi put down his pen. “I am intrigued by the two unknowns. I have copied the formulas. You come by tomorrow. Maybe I will have samples by then. Maybe I will give you these samples.” He looked away thoughtfully. “Yes, perhaps I can figure this out.”

  “Sir, I would be so grateful.”

  “These formulas are fascinating combinations of organic and inorganic materials. Look here, this compound has unstable hydrogen. If it were to come into contact with the right catalyst, it would produce a tremendous amount of energy.”

  “Energy?”

  “Yes. Energy in the form of charged ions transferring from one molecule to the next, its neighbor. This transfer, or traveling, of energy would replicate what we call electrical energy today. Rather than travel along copper wires, it would travel through a frictionless chemical medium at the speed of light.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Because it would seem you have given me the formulations for such a chemical medium also. I am hypothesizing that it would act as a conduit for energy.”

  “How is this important?”

  “We have the possibility of a new form of electronic current that could revolutionize the theory of electricity as we know it.”

  “Electricity based on chemical reactions?”

  The professor leaned toward Hawk for emphasis. “Young man, we are talking about the perfect transference of energy without physical contact. No heat loss due to the inefficient carrier. No degradation of energy due to the physical limitations of copper wires. I believe this opens the possibility of energy transmitted through air.”

  “You mean wireless electrical transmission? Is that possible?”

  “Of course. Think of the power of a lightning strike. Now consider taming such energy through ionic electron transference. The air is a mix of chemicals. This technology you have offered me could free up the radical ions in one chemical compound to react with oxygen and H2O in the air and be delivered at the other end as a corresponding chemical reaction.”

  “You mean like a lightning bolt?”

  “Yes! And no. Only lower level energy: Low, ungrounded energy, that could power devices that were themselves attuned to this form of power.”

  “So this energy could never power an electrical motor?”

  “Not as we define motors today using copper windings. No, this energy would power a whole new class of devices. They would serve similar purposes but be millions of times more efficient.”

  “So it’s like an organic device. Like a living motor?”

  “Yes! And more than that, electrified, codified data. Young man, you could create a supercomputer, a super brain. If these formulas prove stable, this may be a breakthrough in certain areas of biochemistry. Perhaps you could be kind enough to permit me to work now. There are chemical suppliers in town that can satisfy your other items on this list.”

  As Hawk left the campus he was beside himself with joy. He realized how fortunate he was to have found almost everything he needed. He had expected to spend weeks searching for these alien chemicals. Canada. You’ve got to love this country.

  He spent the afternoon driving around the city buying various chemical products. By the time the last store closed, he had completed his list. He checked into the upscale Radisson Hotel as a treat. He would stay overnight and visit the professor again the next day.

  While Hawk was pursuing the chemical components, Joe was rapidly learning about the spacecraft. After re-entering, he went directly to the Learning Stall. Instead of a single button, he touched a short series of buttons. Through some code that he had assimilated, he deliberately instructed the ship to teach him about more detailed workings. How he knew to do this, he could not specifically recall. He just knew.

  The chamber flooded but Joe remained lucid, at the edge of consciousness, this time. He began to absorb knowledge and understanding of many various elements of the ship. He understood that the craft derived its power, communications, and computing brain both electrochemically and electromagnetically. They interlinked the same way a human body’s organs work together. There were electrochemical impulses surging through an artery system that ran throughout the ship.

  Energy in the craft traveled through a sophisticated chemical channel. This was not a chemical reaction. Chemical reactions are slow. In the case of the alien energy transfer, matter did not move. There was no loss from heat transfer because the molecules never had to move. Only the magnetic field surrounding each molecular particle changed polarity enough to influence its next-door neighbor. That ion was charged, or discharged, which in turn influenced its adjacent molecule. And then the next, and the next neighbor. All in a nanosecond. Different tasks or commands altered the field accordingly until the energy impulse reached its assigned receptor. In the case of data transmission, for instance, data was coded as a positive or negative charge or both.

  Electromagnetic forces channeled magnetic energy to perform various tasks. Magnetic flux and light were central to the working of the craft. They were the core of the Brain of the ship. Nothing worked without magnetic force. This flux was more efficient than matter.

  Over the centuries, the alien civilization’s technology evolved – from fuel-burning chemical reactions, through nuclear reactions, and finally to matter-anti-matter annihilation as the energy source providing the thrust needed to escape the pull of gravity and to propel the mass of the vehicle itself on an interstellar flight.

  The ship taught Joe what Earth scientists like David Bohr had just figured out in the last few decades: all material comes in two forms, particles and antiparticles. Every particle has an antiparticle, which is identical in every respect except that its electrical charge is opposite. Thus an electron has a negative charge and its antiparticle, called a positron, has a positive charge, but otherwise is identical (in weight) to an electron. Protons have a positive charge and antiprotons have a negative charge. Just as one electron combines with one proton to result in one atom of hydrogen, a positron and antiproton can combine to produce one antiatom of electrically neutral antihydrogen (an example of anti-matter).

  Alpha III, Joe learned, ran on an anti-matter drive in which liquid hydrogen was mixed with antihydrogen. The hydrogen was heated by adding a tiny amount of antihydrogen. The antihydrogen would be annihilated completely, creating enormous heat and light energy. The resulting exhaust gas propelled the ship at speeds approaching 97 percent of the speed of light. Deceleration was achieved in a similar fashion. The anti-matter had to be contained in special magnetic fields surrounding charged-ion traps – a double container to protect against containment breach.

  Once in planetary orbit, or when landing on a planet, the ship would engage an antigravity device. Joe learned that there are three critical stages to planetary landings. First, the craft must slow to entry speed to gain a safe orbit. After orbit has been achieved, the craft applies a decelerating force to break orbit. Second, the craft must again decelerate, countering the effects of gravity using short-duration propulsion spurts. Finally, once the ship’s fall has been checked and the ship is in synch with the gravitational pull of the planet, a constant antigravity force is maintained to fly the craft within the planet’s atmosphere.

  During this phase, unlike the great forces required for initial propulsion, the ship merely has to levitate above the surface of the planet to defeat gravity. It is somewhat like an air bubble in thick syrup; it neither rises nor falls. For sudden acceleration, the sh
ip engages the anti-matter drive – for a duration of only microseconds, however. Otherwise, the atmospheric friction could overheat the craft.

  The ship was “alive” with various forms of charged energy which constantly coursed through the arteries or through the air itself. Joe visualized a small room crammed with the power of thousands of human brains – able to think, communicate, and compute collectively, all instantly. This was the thinking infrastructure of the craft, the intellect of the ship. All parts of the craft were integrated with each other through a liquid gel medium.

  The ship taught Joe that the universe was created twenty billion years ago. It was postulated that the “Big Bang” was an explosion of incalculable energy. It scattered matter, and some anti-matter, in all directions, expanding constantly outward. Our galaxy and our solar system exist in the middle of this expansion. Ours was not the first system to be created from the cosmic chaos, nor will it be the last. The aliens’ solar system was created about a million years sooner than ours. They lived on a planet similar to ours. They had evolved to a more advanced condition than humans on Earth because they had existed longer as a species on an older planet.

  Joe discovered that the aliens were a humanoid species that was superior to mankind. This was not a surprise – that they were much more technically advanced was obvious. But they were also “spiritually” mature. From the outset, their civilization had progressed in a manner similar to that of all human-like species throughout the universe, including our own on Earth. The aliens had experienced many distinct and important cultural setbacks in their evolution, such as wars of nationhood, wars of culture, wars of religion, wars of poverty, and wars of family power. For every human civilization, all wars were about power and submission. The aliens had also experienced the paranoia that still affects humans on Earth.

  The aliens’ civilization was not different or better than Earth’s. It was merely older. It was therefore more sophisticated.

  During their regressive war years, the aliens began to comprehend that Mind and Being are not the same. The mind, the brain, was merely an organic computing device. It was subjective and not objective, and therefore a faulty organ not to be trusted. It was designed to be the vassal of the Being. For humans, the opposite remained true. On Earth, mortal brains, not Beings, ran the planet. “Human beings” were really only half-evolved – they were human, but not yet Beings.

  For Joe Grayer, this was a humbling learning experience. He gained the perspective that dealing with humans would be the aliens’ equivalent to modern humans dealing with prehistoric cavemen. New vistas opened in his mind. He understood the function of the space vehicle. He comprehended the form it had taken. He experienced learning and understanding that would have taken many generations of human evolution to experience and learn. His brain was physically altered by the sheer growth of understanding and learning. Also, he retained knowledge about the species and its relative existence in the universe. In a matter of a few days, Joe had begun his journey from being merely a human, to a human Being.

  He emerged from the chamber in a serene mood. He walked slowly down a corridor toward an invisible door and placed his hand on the wall. The door opened silently and Joe stepped from the vessel. He sat down on a rock with his face lifted toward the late afternoon sun. It was still warm outside, slightly muggy. He took a long deep breath. It filled him with a sense of well-being. A breeze wafted through his light brown hair, stirring the odd curl that had formed as the Learning Stall’s green gel dried. The gel was neither water-based nor oil-based, and it left trace residue on his skin, clothes, and hair. He ran his fingers slowly through his hair and gently massaged his scalp. His mind felt somewhat numb from the workout it had just endured. “Brain freeze” was a reasonable description. Joe smiled. He felt like the oldest eighteen-yearold on Earth. In evolutionary terms, he was now about a thousand years more advanced than any other human on the planet.

  Suddenly he was hungry. He reached for his backpack, which was still sitting by the bike, and pulled out some sandwiches and bottled water. The water was warm, but it helped wash down the stale sandwiches. After eating, he lay down, resting his head against his backpack. He still had unfinished business on board the craft. He had not yet discovered the mystery of the missing crew. The vessel had traveled millions of miles and spent hundreds of years in space. And, as yet, there had been no information on the whereabouts of the crew.

  Joe’s knowledge of the craft did not provide any additional clues. There seemed to be no facilities for living creatures on board. The ship’s layout, as revealed to him, showed no storage for food or waste removal. He decided a further physical inspection of the craft was warranted. He got to his feet a little unsteadily. Fatigue was like a wave washing over him. The inspection would have to wait till tomorrow. Easing himself onto his bike, he went home.

  Hawk called about 7:30 that evening. The two had once again prearranged a time for Hawk to call the pay phone near their home.

  “Joe! I’ve got most of the material.”

  “That’s great. When are you coming back?”

  “Tomorrow. And guess what? I called home. Dianne got a message from Dad’s office saying that he was on his way to Elliot Lake.”

  CHAPTER8

  SUDBURY

  David Bohr had just arrived in northern Ontario with his old colleagues, Peter Wright and Major Connelly. At the hotel, he slid the key into his room lock and opened the door.

  His heart stopped for a second from surprise. Seated in a deep club chair, with his legs comfortably crossed, backlit by the picture window, was Frank Grayer. Grayer rose quickly and embraced his old friend.

  “Frank! I’d almost given up on you. Hadn’t heard from you for so long.”

  Grayer smiled warmly. “I know, I know, old friend. But I had little choice. You were under surveillance. They hoped you would lead them to the boys.”

  He ushered Bohr fully inside. The two men sat across from each other under the window. Grayer drew the inner shade for indirect light.

  “I gather you know all about the Elliot Lake find,” Bohr said.

  “That’s why I’m here, David. It seems a strange happenstance that my own sons may have discovered one of the missing ships. I became aware of this recovery operation yesterday. After I investigated the circumstances, I became convinced that the boys were in danger. Stell probably suspects that they are my sons.”

  “What would he have to gain by going after them?”

  “Same as before. He gets to me through them. He would hope to flush me out.”

  “When was the last time you saw the boys?” Bohr asked, although he suspected he knew the answer already.

  “Four years ago. I saw them once the first year they went to Canada. Although I talk to them frequently by telephone. I’m sure that’s not enough for them, though, and that they’re angry as hell with me for not being in their lives. They don’t understand. There’s a lot at stake here on this planet.”

  “So you and the boys can’t be together because you believe that they are in potential danger from Stell’s men?”

  “That’s right. Unlike me, they’ll have no defense against alien powers. It became evident that Stell could find me because of his network of spies. He has the second ship and this gives him mobility. Also, he knows my Signature. After years of me chasing him, he hunts me. So it’s five against one.”

  “Why are they so determined to eliminate you?”

  “David, you and I have covered this ground before. It has to do with power and control. Stell is a megalomaniac. He believes he is a powerful prince, when in fact he represents the remnants of a culture. The way he sees it, I am the one person who could mess up his scheme to establish an Abishot culture on Earth.”

  “And the boys?”

  “They’re related to me by blood. Now they are in danger because they have been identified.”

  “They’re totally innocent.”

  “Stell doesn’t care. Casualties of war. It’s
his way to get to me.”

  “They used their real names when they reported the UFO.”

  “A mistake. Now everyone knows they are Grayers.”

  “I know, Frank. I figured it was Joe and Hawk right away. But who else knows?”

  “I’m pretty sure Stell suspects that they are my boys.”

  “Stell uses his people on the inside of the Agencies to spy on you and the boys?”

  “That’s why my contact has been minimal.”

  “But, Frank, you report to the Secretary of Defense. Surely they can do something.”

  “They have. They’ve allowed me to spy on him.”

  “Quid pro quo.”

  “Exactly. They don’t trust either camp, and I can’t blame them.”

  “This Elliot Lake discovery is a fluke, then?”

  “I must confess I can’t explain it.”

  “Connelly doesn’t work for Stell.”

  “Stell uses people. He’s using Connelly to verify the origins of the wreck. If it’s genuine, Stell will be here in a flash.”

  “He’s the puppet master?”

  “Exactly. I have to reach the boys. I can’t go to them directly for fear that I’ll lead Stell to them.”

  “I can help.”

  “Thanks. I was hoping you’d say that. I need you to be my eyes and ears. You’re on your way to Elliot Lake, are you not?”

  “Yes. The plan is for Jim Preston and me to drive with an RCMP officer named Hunter to Elliot Lake to see if we can find the boys and get them to show us the site. Connelly and Peter Wright are flying there by helicopter to see if they can spot the wreckage by air.”

  “All right. I need you to let me know if Joe and Hawk are still safe. If the wreck is one of ours, then we must act swiftly. If it’s a false alarm, then I disappear.”

  “Frank, you can’t hide out forever. You need to be with your sons. They can’t go through their whole life not knowing who they really are.”

  Grayer sounded exhausted and frustrated. “Don’t you think I know that? I can’t confront Stell and his men by myself. They outnumber me. I’m not confident that I could hold off four or five at a time. Besides, the government has told me to back off.”