The Alien Orb (34 page)

Dexter somehow knew that he was correct, and
when he glanced at the machine, he knew how to use some of its
controls.

For some reason a switch at his front drew
his attention. It was as though he had actually forgotten what it
was. He sensed that he wanted to activate it, and he put out his
finger; and he gently touched it.

A light brightly spread across a wall, from
the machine. It was projecting a circle of swirling lights, and he
sensed that it was not functioning properly. Just as he was going
to correct it, Burrell did it first, and it instantly adjusted,
into an image of a creature.

For a few seconds, he stared at it in
utter horror
–
he could not believe what he saw
–
the creature could not possibly be
a descendent of the human race. The creature could barely walk
properly. Where had its green claws, jaws, and warty skin
originated? Had some form of catastrophe turned mankind into
genetic mutants?

Chapter 8

The Last Black Hole
Experiments

Green shades gleamed over walls, from
unobserved places, illuminating everything. Machines poured out hot
air, heating the cold morning air.

Burrell resumed analyzing the complex
machinery, which he had found hidden in the dimness, and he
randomly experimented with their controls.

Basinger
’
s peculiar behavior had kept Dexter
awake. He had been actively sifting through information into the
early hours of the morning, rummaging through projected
symbols.

Dexter could not make out if he had actually
found anything. He had attempted several times to get his
attention, but he had been too busy, and had ignored him.

“
Is there anything about what happened
to civilization?
”
Dexter finally asked, approaching him.

Basinger reluctantly stopped what he was
doing.

“
Yes, I did find information that was
incredibly interesting, which could hold a clue to why civilization
fell, or changed!
”

“
What was it?
”

“
Well, by what I saw, I would say that
they were doing genetic experiments, to advance civilization ...!
There is no information about what happened to mankind. There is
evidence that they carried out some experiments in this region. I
believe that they were trying to create a superlative race, and
that they were trying to extinguish the flaws that their race and
civilization had. Their experiments were disastrous though, but
they continued, trying to achieve their goal! They made experiments
to animals, trying to get a solution. I believe that these
creatures, we saw, are the results of these experiments.
Civilization fell, after it had survived for an immense amount of
time! I do not exactly know how it happened ...!
”

“
That
’
s far-fetched!
”
Dexter exclaimed.
“
I would like to
see more evidence, before I believe anything!
”

Basinger suddenly looked as though he had
remembered something.

“
Do you recall when this machine first
mentioned them
–
when the projection first showed us the creature from its
records?
”

“
Yes!
”

“
Well, it mentioned one of the
super-species ...! I think that they created
them!
”

“
Are you sure ...?
”

“
If some of them still exist, they may
be able to answer our questions!
”

“
That may be
dangerous!
”

“
Some of the new species may be
...!
”

“
What else have you
found?
”
he
enquired, out of curiosity.

“
Actually, I think I might have ...! I
checked a list of machine diagrams, looking for the machines in
here, and guess what ...?
”

“
What did you find?
”

“
There was some form of black hole
mentioned beside one of the diagrams! I am sure that they used it
to instantaneously transport objects from one region to
another.
”

Dexter just stared at him, startled at the
thought of encountering another black hole.

“
How could they use it to transport
objects
–
it moves things through time?
”

“
They must have found a way to get rid
of its time travel properties. Then they must have put the exit end
of it in another machine. I am not positive
–
it only vaguely explained
it! Yet think of what all the scientists
’
black hole experiments could have
achieved, since we left! In that amount of time
...!
”

“
They had black holes
then!
”
he
spoke, shrugging his shoulders.

“
If it still exists, we may be able to
use it!
”

“
Use it for what?
”
he asked loudly, startling
the others.

“
We could use it to travel back in
time!
”

“
You want us to go into another black
hole, to travel back in time! That
’
s impossible!
”

“
How can it be used to travel back in
time?
”
Selina asked.

“
If they were able to control black
holes, they might also have been able to use it for time
travel!
”

“
Are you sure that it would not need
another machine
–
to pass through to
–
with the exit end of the black
hole?
”
Dexter asked.

“
The exit end, which we could travel
to, is back where we left!
”

“
Even if we do find this black hole
machine,
”
Burrell suddenly replied,
“
and it
’
s still functioning, how will we know if
it
’
s
capable of doing what you say? We could end up in a worse situation
...!
”

“
We can look for information about its
functions! I am going to search their records for more information
about it. We may be able to discover if it will
work!
”

“
If you insist!
”
Dexter answered.
“
But I think that
you will find out that it may not work! We have already been
through enough, and I do not want to go through any more black
holes! We can survive, and we can find out what happened to
mankind.
”

Burrell stood up, and he angrily left,
towards the other side of the room, to get some water.

“
All right let
’
s check it
then.
”
Dexter replied.
“
Where shall we start?
”

“
We can start by checking these
machines!
”
Basinger swiftly mumbled.
“
There is more information in here than you
realize! These machines may hold vital information! We also have
not found out what this structure is yet!
”

Shadows of branches stretched out, through
the vegetation, beyond the entrance. Squabbling sounds came from
somewhere, and Dexter realized that they only were the distant
noises of Selina and Burrell discussing something.

Basinger
’
s figure abruptly leapt from his
seat at the machine. He adjusted his sight, towards the
screen.

“
There
–
a mention of a black hole machine,
located in this sector!
”
he called out, rhythmically slapping his
hand on the machine.

“
That does not prove that it still
exists,
”
Dexter replied,
“
or that it has a power supply, which we can
use! The energy that it consumes must be tremendous! I
don
’
t
believe that we can go back in time
–
there is no proof
anywhere!
”

“
We do not fully know how the black
hole actually works, do we? We only know theories about it and time
travel. There really is nothing that suggests that we cannot travel
backwards!
”

“
I will believe it when you show some
evidence! Why were they not able to stop their civilization from
falling
–
if they could travel, back and forward, in time? And if these
black hole machines existed, why are there none of the past
inhabitants roaming this world?
”

“
They may have been unable to stop it
happening
–
even with a time machine! They only did things for logical
reasons, which would eliminate them traveling about for the sake of
it.
”

“
You could be right, but I still
don
’
t
believe it!
”

A loud thud made them simultaneously look
up, towards the entrance, where Burrell had bumped into a wall.

Something like a grunt came from him.
Basinger instantly understood the situation, and he walked towards
him, speaking in a low tone, so that Dexter could not hear him.

Dexter glanced at the machine diagram, which
Basinger had put on the wall. The representation barely resembled
anything, and the symbols representing the black hole in it were
barely believable.

He put on the head device beside him, and it
gave him some vague information about it. It being called a Star
Chamber grabbed his attention more than anything else. If they had
been as logical as Basinger kept on mentioning, then there must
have been a good reason for them to use that name.

He briefly wondered again what the structure
was for, and why it had a giant dish. Could it have been a military
base, for monitoring space? He began activating the machine, to get
it to show him more machine outlines. He examined their shapes,
increasing the speed, at which they appeared. Just as Basinger
stopped speaking to Burrell, he saw an interesting shape.

He immediately saw that it was a vehicle,
and he turned on the head device, to get information about it. A
surge of facts filled his mind, and he realized how the vehicle
functioned, and that it had to be occasionally charged
somewhere.

He wondered what other information Basinger
had found out about the Star Chambers.

Darwin
’
s barks gave him the impression that
he was in some danger, outside, but he knew that it was just
Burrell.

Basinger took some food, which Dexter had
taken from nearby plants.

“
It has a strange
taste!
”
Basinger spoke, chewing a piece.

Burrell instantly entered the structure, and
Selina then walked in, making faces at him, behind him. Dexter saw
that he was holding a small creature by the neck, which also
curiously looked as though it had been making faces at him, before
he had killed it with a spear.

Burrell threw it over the surface of a
machine, glaring at it, seeing if it was still alive. Dexter had
not seen its species before, and he wondered what it was.

He ate a piece of food that resembled an
apricot. Its bitter taste made him want to remove it out of his
mouth.

Basinger suddenly pressed a switch, which he
had not seen been activated.

It projected a swirling blur of light onto
the wall, which formed into an image of a similar structure, and
one of the creatures moved into view, wearing a golden robe; and he
observed its repulsive features. The creature he had originally
seen now seemed only mildly hideous. It looked different in the
daylight, with its green, slimy, warty skin glowing. He had not
seen anything like it before.

Its massive form made perfect jerks forward,
on its four limbs, and claws, going up a ramp, like a tiger
clambering up a tree. It was apparent that they had actually
designed the ramp for their limbs. Furthermore, it shot up one of
the pole ladders, which they also had obviously designed for them
to use, with the least amount of space.

Basinger stayed sitting at the machine,
holding his head, and Dexter briefly wondered why he was so
anxious. Then he returned to watching the others getting food.

A circle of light beamed out, onto the wall.
Symbols began flashing on it, as Basinger pressed buttons. It then
changed to columns of symbols.

Dexter realized that he had not found
anything that even suggested that an ice age had engulfed the
world. However, Basinger had the knack of using it, and he now was
searching through massive amounts of its data, with useless details
about the inhabitants of the region.

The incredible characteristic that
they had shown had been the machine-like way they had done
everything. There were no signs that they had carried out
any
real
leisure pursuits,
and they appeared to do the work that they had needed to
do.