An Ecology of MInd (32 page)

Leader 1* struggled to get his emotions under control and focus on what the entity was trying to communicate. "What do you wish me to understand?"

"Your people have a way of thinking and viewing the universe around you that is natural to you and has worked very well, until now. You have been
successful on your home planet and on over two hundred star systems. Your pattern of behavior and thought is to dominate and use other species or destroy
them. I am not saying that your way of thinking is wrong. I am saying it does not apply to the situation with this star system."

"I don't understand. It is the natural order of things."

"Yes, I understand your thinking that way, but please consider this situation. You meet a species that is much stronger than you and can destroy you
totally, but currently has no reason or desire to. You cannot destroy it because it is too strong. It requests that you not behave in a way that it objects
to. Following your normal instinct and behavior will make it angry and wish to destroy your species. What do you do?"

"Why would it make it angry? It is normal behavior."

"Would you want it to make slaves of your species?"

"No, but if it could, my wants would not matter. I would try to destroy it so it did not do that."

"What if it did not want to harm your species, but your attempting to destroy it, forced it to?"

Leader 1* thought very carefully. "It would be a mistake to anger the species you describe, but why if it could dominate my species would it not want to?"

"You have a creature on the planet you are from called a manau. You can enslave or destroy them. Why don't you?"

"There would be no purpose. They do not interfere with us and would not be a good labor source. They eat dead leaves."

"What if they started eating the eggs of your kind?"

"We would destroy them."

"Try to think of you and your species as manau and of me as your species. I am telling you not to eat our eggs. Eat whatever else you want, but not our
eggs. What should you as a manau do?"

"A manau does what is in its nature. Wishing otherwise serves no purpose."

"Consider this situation; you are hungry and there are two pieces of food before you with one being your favorite food and the other your second favorite.
I tell you that the piece of food you prefer, is poisoned and will kill you. What do you eat?"

"I would eat the food that is not poisoned of course."

"But your nature is to eat food that you like, why don't you eat your favorite food?"

"A desire not to die makes me overrule my tendency to eat the food I prefer."

"Now we are getting somewhere. Think of this star system as the poisoned food. If your species follow your normal tendency, you will die."

"It would be very difficult to kill my entire species."

"I could do it. The only way I can prove that is to kill your species. I don't wish to destroy your species, but if you force me, I will. You have already
seen things that I can do that you cannot, and I have demonstrated some abilities to your leaders on your home world. Please take those as an indication
that what I am telling you may be true. Is the risk of annihilating your entire species worth the risk of testing me?"

"You give me much to think about," answered Leader 1* noncommittally.

"I am quite serious about my wishes being of species survival importance for you and your people. I am also very serious that I do not wish there to be any
issues between us. I suggest that for now, this star system be put under the category of very dangerous and avoid. I have no wish to attack or endanger
your species."

"It would be a disaster for your people to try and sterilize this planet. I would not allow it and would take heavy retaliatory action. I dislike making
this a matter of threats, but you do not have the concepts within your language at present to communicate this in any other meaningful way. Some thought
about what I have tried to communicate will probably be useful to your species."

"I have prepared two life packs," communicated Kim. "One life pack is meant for you personally, and the other is intended for you to take back with you to
your leaders. They are expecting you, and I expect recent events and the message you carry will raise you a great deal within the social hierarchy of your
species. The life packs will go into much more detail than what I have told you so far. I have also included a number of concepts to be considered by
yourself and your species. I have used a combination of language and mathematical terms to try to convey the meaning of a variety of concepts such as
friend and ally."

"Whenever you are ready I can remove the barrier, and you can leave. I would like to give you my sincere thanks for your efforts in teaching me your
language so that we could communicate. I am sincerely glad to have had the opportunity to meet you, and wish you the best in your future endeavors.”

“Thank you,” answered a thoughtful Leader 1*. “We can be ready to leave very shortly.”

“Great, just speak to me when you are ready to depart so I can remove the barrier. If you prefer, feel free to jump out directly to your destination from
within the barrier.”

“You knew of that possibility?”

“Yes, also that setting the coordinates can be more complicated on a rotating moving body, like a planet.”

“Yes, I think we would prefer to fly out to space before jumping if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

THE ARMY AND NATIONAL GUARD were patrolling the area around the outside of the barrier for five days now. There were a number of groups of people trying
different tests on the barrier, but they really had learned little more than they had during their initial observations. The barrier reacted to nothing
they had tried on it. Any additional information was limited to adding to the list of more and more things that had no effect on it.

The barrier appeared to be some sort of matter, but it did not behave like matter. Nothing they did affected it in any way, and countless tests had done
nothing but confirm that fact.

It seemed to be a perfect sphere eight miles in diameter, and in places where it came into contact with something, it just continued through it. Stores,
houses, trees, freeway overpasses, it did not matter. The barrier just passed through them. If there was a house, the barrier was both inside and outside
the house.

While the soldiers did find the presence of the barrier and its implications to be unsettling, it had done nothing, as long as they had been there so they
were starting to take its presence for granted. The soldiers’ main job to date was to keep gawkers and others away. The problematical people were those
with loved ones that were within the area enclosed by the barrier.

It was another day of what had already become routine when the soldiers noticed that the barrier began to move. Not everyone around the barrier noticed it
right away, but the reactions of those who did, quickly alerted them all to the change.

The barrier was receding. The sphere just seemed to be becoming smaller and uncovering the land as it moved. At first glance, the grass and trees seemed
fine when the barrier receded and revealed it. Then in places people began to show up. The barrier just receded like a soap bubble shrinking and people
were being exposed along with everything else that had been behind the barrier. Raised on science fiction movies where the humans were made into alien
controlled zombies, most of the military people hastily raised their weapons and pointed them at the people that were beginning to be revealed.

The barrier was receding faster, and more people, cars, and homes were being revealed. All the vehicles seemed to be stopped and shut off. The people
appeared unhurt and normal but those that were closer to the edge of the barrier seemed shocked and frightened by the sudden appearance of soldiers with
weapons pointed at them.

There were shouted orders by the soldiers and confusion, fear and anger by the people from behind the barrier.

The speed the barrier was receding continued to increase, until it was faster than a car could drive. The missing fighter aircraft were uncovered, sitting
on the ground with the pilots in them. Once the barrier had receded to the centre point, the alien ship was revealed.

There was a shimmering around the ship, and then it began to rise into the air. It accelerated and continued straight into the atmosphere until it was out
of sight. There was no sound with this, no fiery rocket exhaust, it just moved. It seemed to leave faster than it had arrived.

IT WAS ABOUT TWO IN THE AFTERNOON when the black limousine pulled into Chris Wales’ driveway and stopped about two-thirds of the way up. Michael got out of
the back on the driver side carrying what looked like a bottle of scotch. He spoke to the driver. “Thanks Dave. You can go home. I don’t expect to need you
any more today. As we discussed earlier, try to give Dr. Wales a call tomorrow and see if he needs you."

“Yes sir, Thanks Dr. Pearson, have a nice day.”

Michael walked up to the front door and pushed the button beside the door frame. He heard the door bell ring inside, and he waited. It took about twenty
seconds, but he heard movement inside. Chris opened the door and looked at him in surprise.

“Michael, what a pleasant surprise, I thought you would still be working on something related to that alien ship and that big sphere around it. After you
left with those men I went and watched more on the news stories that Cody had called us down to see. From what you told us before you left I decided that
you were involved somehow in figuring out what was going on.”

“Yes, I was, but I’m done with that now. I brought a bottle of scotch and wanted to have a talk with you and see if we can solve all the problems of the
universe.”

“Of course” laughed Chris, "isn’t that what we always do when we drink scotch together. Come in, come in. It’s only me here today; Margaret is visiting her
sister in Philadelphia. Her sister was just diagnosed with breast cancer, and Margaret went down to give support and help out when she goes in for surgery
later this week.”

“Thanks Chris. Sorry to hear about Margaret’s sister.”

“Yeah, it seems to run in Margaret’s family, and I worry about Margaret getting it. So far, she seems fine when she goes for her exams and tests.”

“Chris, I brought a bottle of scotch. It's a special blend I put together myself. I thought it would be good to chat over. I wanted to have a serious talk
with just you, so I’m sorry for the reason but glad that Margaret, Nora and Cody are not here.”

Chris looked at Michael with concern in his eyes and said, “Sure, of course, come on back to the study. We’ll crack that scotch open, and you can tell me
what’s on your mind.”

Chris led Michael back to his study. When they passed the living room, Michael could see the two cats, Bing and Bubba lying across the backs of the sofas.
Bing watched him carefully with watchful paranoia, and Bubba opened his eyes about half way to see who it was before closing them and continuing his
snooze. When they got to the study, Chris got two glasses from the bar. He handed one to Michael and then sat in his favorite leather armchair. “Have a
seat Michael.”

Michael sat on the matching leather love seat and poured about a third of a glass of scotch in each of them and handed one of them to Chris. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

They both took a sip of the scotch.

“Wow," said Chris, “that is the smoothest scotch I ever tasted.”

“Yes, nice isn’t it.”

Chris settled back into his chair. “Okay, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about, or was that just an excuse to drink scotch. Either is fine by
me?”

“You remember how in my seminars to the students, I talk about how the reality of the world around them is not as is commonly assumed by most people. That
the past and present are different in some ways from their perception and understanding?"

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s actually much different than you realize. I’m going to tell you a story which you won’t believe initially, but I will prove parts of it to you.
At first, you will think that I am plain nuts. Some of it will startle you and some of it will probably upset you, but it is all true, as far as I know.”