Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant (4 page)

“That’s impossible. Who could have designed something that can do all of that?”

“It was designed and built by the aliens I work for. I just made some modifications to it.”

The president looked amazed.

“Are you wearing one as well? Is that how you’re standing there looking so comfortable and warm? And how you pulled that little trick of yours?”

“No,” was all he said. “What say we head back to your office and finish this conversation where we started it?”

“You’ll get n-no argument from m-me.”

The president reached out to touch his sleeve, but he stopped him.

“Actually, I have a better idea. In case you still have any doubts about my story, we’ll take the scenic route home.”

“Scenic route?”

Instead of answering the president, he placed the president’s left arm over his shoulder, and the man then placed his arm around the president’s waist and flew up into the air. The man quickly made his way up to an altitude of 60,000 feet and flew towards Washington, D.C. at a slow enough pace that the president could enjoy the flight.

“Dear God! We’re flying!” the president exclaimed.

“Hang on,” the man said.

The man flew over the mountains and plains of Canada, and then made his way to the United States via the Great Lakes. He passed over mountains and valleys and rivers, and finally made it to Washington, D.C. and the White House. Throughout the entire journey the president was in awe of not only the man’s ability to fly but the sights he was seeing as well.

As they arrived in D.C., they hovered thousands of feet above the White House and then after a few seconds he teleported them back inside the Oval Office. Once safely back inside the man removed the bio-magnetic belt from the president and returned it to his suit coat pocket. The president then went and sat in the chair behind his desk with a heavy thud.

The president was clearly in shock and dismay about what had just happened.

“Mr. President, are you alright?”

The president took a few seconds to answer, but finally got his composure back and sat up straight in his chair.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine. I’m just having a little trouble grasping the enormity of what just happened.

“As I said earlier, it is a little hard to believe. If I had not experienced all that I’ve experienced, I would not have believed it possible either.”

“Everything I’ve ever believed… I will never be able to look up in the sky again without…fear. From my childhood I was taught that God created man and that we were the only intelligent beings in the entire universe. What fools the whole human race was…is to believe that. I’m not even sure what to believe anymore.”

“Mr. President, you are an educated, intelligent man, and you are having difficulty dealing with this knowledge. Now you understand why this information can never be revealed to the human race in general until they have matured significantly. Panic and fear would ensue on a scale you could not imagine.”

The president nodded his head in agreement at his assessment.

“Yes, no one must ever know of this until we as a species would be able to understand and accept it,” agreed the president. “Overnight I could see all of Earth’s major religions decrying this as the work of the devil, or the non-believers pointing and saying that they had been right all along.”

“Right about what?” the man asked.

“That God doesn’t exist. That…”

“That is ridiculous: who do they think created the universe? Most of the alien civilizations I have had contact with acknowledge that a Supreme Being exists and is the creator of the universe. They have different names for Him in their languages: The Architect, The Creator. But no matter what they call Him, they are all referring to the same being.”

“You mean that aliens believe in the existence of God?” the president asked in disbelief.

“Most of them do in some way. Yes.”

The president just shook his head in amazement.

“And humans are not alone in thinking they are the only sentient, intelligent beings in the universe. There are many alien civilizations - the more primitive ones anyway - that have the same beliefs.”

The president was obviously having a difficult time comprehending and coping with all of this new information.

“Mr. President, I hope that I have not made a mistake in approaching you with this information. If you cannot come to grips with what I’ve told you, it is within my power to erase everything I’ve told you from your mind. If I did that, it would be as if we had never had this conversation.”

“My God! You can do that, too?”

“Yes.”

The president got up from his chair and stood in front of the window and looked up at the night sky, his hands behind his back. He pondered Will’s offer for almost a full minute.

“I would be a poor leader if I chose to cower from my responsibilities to the people of the United States of America by sticking my head in the sand and running away from adversity! No sir, I will not do it!” The president turned back towards the man with a new resolve on his face.

“Somehow I thought that would be your answer. However, for your protection, you will not be able to discuss this information with anyone other than your successor when you leave office. If you ever try to discuss it, you will temporarily forget everything I’ve told or shown you tonight. Is that understood?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Good. Now let’s get down to the rest of our business.”

He then reached into his other suit coat pocket and withdrew a small metal object, about the size of a paperweight, and placed it on the president’s desk.

“What is that, may I ask?” said the president.

“It’s a communications device which can be used only by you or your successors to contact me if the need ever arises. It will respond only to you or your successor’s touch and no one else’s. You need to keep it in a secure place. The wall safe located behind the wall panel under the painting behind your desk will be fine.”

“How did you know about the…” the president did not finish his sentence.

“I have the ability to see through solid objects, Mr. President. Would you like for me to tell you what’s in the safe?”

“I most certainly would not, sir!” said the president incredulously, and then saw that the man was smiling.

“Good Lord, what I could do with a few soldiers with your abilities. I don’t suppose you could take care of a little problem I’m having with the Germans could I?”

“Not unless the Kaiser is an alien,” he deadpanned.

“But, it could end this war before it got too far underway, and…”

“Mr. President, I am forbidden to interject myself into the political affairs of Earth or any other planet for that matter. You will have to deal with those issues on your own. If I were allowed to deal with them for you, you would never mature as a species and would just expect someone else to clean up your messes. No, you must learn to deal with such matters as a species. I can only involve myself in Terran affairs if an alien civilization tries to interfere with Earth’s natural development or in some other negative way. I’m sorry.”

“I understand. But it never hurts to ask,” said the president.

“I must be going now, Mr. President. It has truly been an honor to meet you.”

“No, young man, the honor was all mine. I will do my best to live up to the responsibility you have bestowed upon me tonight. I will not take it lightly.”

With that the president reached out and offered the man his hand. The man returned the gesture and shook it.

The man then showed the president how to work the communications device, which he referred to as a
commlink
.

As he prepared to leave, the president had one final question.

“Wait a minute. You never told me your name, or at least a name I can call you. Not only that, but when it is time for me to pass this knowledge on to my successor, whom should I tell them to contact if they need to?”

“My first name is Will. I know that a chain of command is important, and rank is as equally important on this planet, as it is on many others. My equivalent military rank on the planet where I make my home is that of a colonel. A family surname is equally important when addressing humans. Therefore, I may be referred to as Colonel Will Clark.” Will decided to use a variation of his mother’s maiden name, Clarke.

The president nodded.

“Colonel Will Clark it is then.”

“Good night, Mr. President.”

“Good night…Colonel.”

Will nodded and then silently disappeared as he teleported out of the Oval Office in front of the president.

The president sat back down, and placed his hands in his face. He was spent.

Damn, I should have stayed at Princeton,
thought the president, who had been president of Princeton University before he entered politics. He sat at his desk a few minutes longer and then headed off to bed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep much, if at all, the rest of the night.

***

Within a few days of meeting with President Wilson, Will traveled to Great Britain, Canada and Australia, and met with their respective Prime Ministers, David Lloyd George, William King, and William Hughes, where he made them the same offer as he had President Wilson. He also gave each of them one of the same communication devices he had given to President Wilson. However, none of them required a trip to the North Pole to convince them of Will’s sincerity or capabilities.

Chapter
7

Helvellyn Mountain

Cumbria County, England

Summer, 1475 A.D.

Will had officially been a teenager for a couple of months. Along with the normal physical changes that occur with the onset of puberty, Will’s physical and mental abilities increased substantially as well.

His knowledge and understanding of higher mathematics and science were beyond comprehension. He completely understood the scientific concepts of quantum and celestial mechanics, engineering, linear equations, advanced calculus, astronomy, trigonometry, and even more advanced mathematics and science that no one on earth could possibly have knowledge of. He could solve complex equations in these disciplines in his head.

Additionally, he was now fluent in more than 300 languages, and all without any formal education.

His memory proved to be completely eidetic and photographic. Will could remember every single detail of his life; everything someone had told him; everything he had ever learned; everything he had ever seen or done. Everything.

Physically he was almost as large as a grown man and was becoming very muscular. His skin was tanned from the long hours in the sun working with his father on the family farm. Will was as strong as twenty large men. However, he was very quiet and insightful and kept his knowledge and strength to himself so as not to expose himself or his family to unwanted scrutiny from the people in his village.

Since his thirteenth birthday a couple of months ago, each night while asleep, Will had experienced a recurring dream in which he saw himself entering a cave emblazoned with symbols on the walls in an unknown language. But as he began reading the inscriptions, he suddenly woke up and could not recall what had been written on the walls in his dream.

As summer approached Will convinced his parents to let him go camping alone for a few days to put all that his father had taught him about living off the land into practice. They reluctantly agreed and allowed him to go on his own. For some reason Will was being drawn towards the Helvellyn Mountains. He, along with his brother and father, had been hunting and camping on various parts of the mountain many times.

It took the better part of a day to make the twenty-five mile trek into the mountains. Will was so fast he could have run the distance in less than half an hour, but instead he wanted to enjoy the hike into the wilderness. As Will reached one of the valleys he, his father and brother had hunted in before, he made camp and started a fire using a flint rock, dried leaves, small tree branches and brush.

He was getting hungry and went out hunting for game. Fifteen minutes into his hunt, he heard, and then saw, a large stag a hundred yards or so in front of him. He quietly removed an arrow from his quiver and notched it on the bow‘s string. However, at the last second, he decided to make things more sporting and, at the same time, put his abilities to the test.

He slung the bow across his back, returned the arrow to its quiver, and decided to kill the stag with his hunting knife instead. He slowly and quietly began his stalk of the stag. The eight-pointer entered an open area of the draw. At that point Will began running towards the stag, which heard Will’s approach and began running as well. Will quickly overtook and killed the large buck with his knife. He gutted and field dressed the animal and then put it on a wooden spit to cook. Afterwards he cleaned the knife and sheathed it. He buried the remains so it would not attract other predators.

After finishing his meal he lay down on his thin straw mat and went to sleep.

***

On the third night of his camping trip, Will could not sleep and got up to explore the mountain in the inky darkness; only the moon and stars lit the way for him, but his exceptional vision allowed him to almost see as well in the dark as he could in the daylight. Will was soon on a part of the mountain he had never seen before. It was as if he were somehow being
drawn
to this particular area. An hour into his trek he came upon what appeared to be the entrance of a small cave, the entrance of which was partially covered by brush and vegetation.