The Bonding (25 page)

He didn’t say anything, but immediately
walked over to the huge powerplant and gazed up in awe. The surface metal
reflected the light with a rainbow effect. Unlike an earth built engine covered
with bulky tubes, hoses and electrical harnesses, there were a series of tubes integral
with the metal, resembling veins. They were filled with a luminescent
substance, like some kind of life-blood. There were no seams or sharp edges
where it was bolted together or welded. It appeared to be one piece from top to
bottom and end to end. The intelligence that engineered it must have been
phenomenal.

Tarku touched the surface and a wave of
blue emanated from his hand and went out through the metal, like a ripple in
water. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he put his face against the metal and his
massive arms stretched outward as though hugging it. Suddenly, multicolored
waves in the metal surface surrounded his body. It was as though the engine
recognized that he was there and touching it.

“What’s happening?” the General
questioned Janet.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything
like this.”

Tarku continued for nearly thirty
seconds, then let go and turned towards them. He was smiling.

“What just happened?” Janet asked.

“That was incredible! I just felt the
engine.”

“What do you mean, felt?” she asked.

“The engine is a living thing – not
really alive like you and I, but it thinks and feels. It is a form of very
advanced artificial intelligence. This engine comes from a Quar spaceship.”
Tarku looked at the General. “How did you get this? Even we have never seen one
of these.”

“We found it near a crashed spaceship.
The ship was nearly destroyed. This engine was lying nearby, just as you see
it. We never found the occupants of the craft. We don’t know what happened to
them.”

“I’m sure that the Quar took them,” Tarku
said. “That is their way. Unlike the Annunaki, the Quar never leave one of
theirs behind.”

“Why wouldn’t they take the ship and the
engine?” the General asked.

“For the same reason the Annunaki left
theirs. They knew that you would never be able to reverse engineer it, and when
you finally could, then your technology level would be acceptable to them to
allow it. They also wanted you to know that you were not alone in the
universe.”

“Do you know how this engine operates?”
the General kept probing Tarku.

“No one except the Quar knows how it
operates. This engine propels their ships at over a million times the speed of
light. You should let me take this to our scientists. Probably, in about a
millennium, they will know how it works. Your scientists will not have this
technology for at least twenty millenniums. That is how much more advanced the
Quar are than both of our races.”

“I’m sorry, Tarku, but I can’t let you
take it. However, your scientists will be quite welcome to come here and
examine it.”

“That would not be possible. Our laws
forbid it. There is a great danger in giving new technology to a planet that is
not yet ready for it. It is much like taking a peasant and suddenly giving him
all of the wealth and power of a king. History has taught us that the results
are normally disastrous.”

“But we are a very intelligent race,” the
General pointed out.

“You are also a very militant race,”
Tarku replied. “And, when a militant race is given technology, they usually
turn it to military needs first, instead of the needs of the people.”

The General appeared to be a little
irritated with that answer, because he knew it was true. “How is it that you
know so much about our planet?”

“Our scientists, and scientists from
other galaxies, have been studying your world for many millenniums.”

“Really? How do you study us?”

“I’m not a scientist. I am an
intergalactic trader.”

“Hmmm,” the General muttered, nodding his
head. He felt like Tarku knew exactly how, but didn’t want to tell him. “What
do you trade?”

“Technology and minerals, but only with
planets approved by the council.”

“The council?”

“Yes! We are in a union of planets from
many galaxies, all trading technologies and minerals with each other.
When our scientists tell us that a planet has achieved light speed technology,
then our ruling council allows us to trade with them. Janet and I were on our
way to a new planet when we stopped here.”

“A planet in our galaxy?” the General
asked.

“No! But the most direct route from my
planet passes

by
the Earth. That is the only reason we are here.”

           
“Speaking
of that,” the General looked over at Janet, “I’ve got a little surprise for
you, Commander Shelby.”

           
She
looked at him with a wary expression. “What kind of surprise?”

           
“Your
mother and father.”

           
“What
about them?” she asked.

           
“I’ve
made arrangements for you to get together with them before you and Tarku
leave.”

           
Janet’s
eyes began to well up with tears of happiness, although she didn’t cry.
“Wh-what? When?”

The General could tell that he had just
made some big points with her. “When we leave here, we’re going to meet them.”

Janet looked at Tarku and back to the
General and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much. You don’t know what
this means to me.”

The General smiled. “You see! I’m not
such a bad guy. Come on! Let’s go.”

Janet was beside herself as she looked up
at Tarku. “This is even better than what we planned.”

Tarku smiled at her. “I’m happy for you,
Janet.”

           
They
got on the electric cart and headed back towards the entrance.

Chapter
Sixteen

           
They
boarded the same jet that brought them to area 51 and returned to Fort Worth.
The plane landed at Carswell and Janet’s mom and dad were standing there to
greet them. Janet immediately started crying as she and her mother hugged and
kissed. Her dad watched with tears streaming down his cheeks, then Janet hugged
and kissed him.

           
“Oh
my God!” Janet cried. “I thought I’d never see you again.” The three of them
couldn’t stop hugging.

           
“We
all thought you died on the shuttle,” her mother said crying. “But you know,
baby, there was something that I never told anyone. I always felt in my heart
that you were alive somewhere. God was trying to tell me.”

           
The
General and Tarku silently watched the reunion and smiled. Finally, they
stopped hugging and Janet looked over at Tarku.

           
“Mom,
Dad, this is the man who saved my life and has taken care of me for the last
three years.”

           
Up
to this point neither of them had even noticed Tarku. They were so riveted on
Janet that they were oblivious to everything else. They looked up in unison and
their eyes widened in disbelief. Neither had ever seen an extraterrestrial
being outside of the Hollywood fabrications. Tarku stepped forward and extended
his hand to Janet’s father.

           
“Hello,
Mr. Shelby. I am Tarku.”

           
Her
dad looked down at the massive clawed hand and slowly reached out, putting his
hand into Tarku’s, as he looked up into Tarku’s eyes.

           
“H-hello,
Tarku,” he replied, still in disbelief that he was actually shaking the hand of
a being from another world. “Th-thank you for saving my daughter.”

           
“You
are very welcome,” Tarku said, holding his hand firmly. Tarku didn’t know that
he was supposed to shake it. He simply held on for a few seconds,
then
let go. He turned to Janet’s mother and slightly bowed
as he greeted her.

           
 
“And to Janet’s beautiful mother I also
bid hello.” He again extended his massive hand. Her mother had the same
reaction as she looked down at the claws, but gently put her hand in his. She
was amazed at the warmness and softness of his skin and looked up and smiled.

           
Tarku’s
smile was kind and his eyes showed the emotion of the moment. Janet’s mom let
go of his hand and wrapped her arms around as much of Tarku as she could reach,
placing her head into his chest. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Thank you so
much for bringing my baby girl back to me."

           
Tarku
wasn’t sure whether or not to hug her, so he gently stroked the back of her
head. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she reached up and put both hands on
Tarku’s cheeks and pulled at him to bend over. As he did, she kissed his cheek.
It was odd to see this massive alien blush in what was obviously an awkward
moment for him. Janet was still crying as she watched.

           
The
General had been silently standing by and now stepped forward to introduce
himself.

           
“Mr.
and Mrs. Shelby, I’m General Redding.” He shook both of their hands.

           
“Pleased
to meet you, General,” her dad said. “Thank you for arranging this meeting. I
don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

           
Janet’s
mother looked at the General with surprise.

“It was you who arranged this?”

           
The
General nodded and smiled. Mrs. Shelby leaned forward and kissed the General on
the cheek also. He blushed as much as Tarku.

           
“Thank
you, General. As my husband said, I don’t know how we could ever repay you for
what you’ve done.”

           
“There’s
no payment required, Ma’am. It was my pleasure to bring you together.”

           
The
General looked over at Janet. “You know, when you leave here, you may never see
them again. Why don’t you and Tarku stay for a few days, to really say your
good-byes?

           
Janet
and Tarku looked at each other. They were both thinking the same
thing, that
no one on Zintandu was going to miss them for
several weeks. Janet was excited to be able to stay, but Tarku was a bit
concerned.

           
“General
Redding, what about my ship?”

           
“Your
ship will be fine right where it is. We’ve already isolated the entire town.
Nobody is going to bother it.”

           
Tarku
looked into the General’s eyes and stared for a few seconds, searching for
something, but he wasn’t sure what. He had an uneasy feeling that the General
was lying, but his intentions seemed sincere enough that Tarku nodded in
agreement.

           
“All
right, but we must leave in five days.”

           
Janet
looked at her mom and dad. They were excited and nodded to her. “Five days it
is.”

           
“Wonderful,”
the General agreed. “Commander, after you’ve had some time with your parents,
there are a few things that we’ll need to discuss before you and Tarku leave.”

           
“Such
as?” she asked.

           
“In
reference to your new situation. But go and enjoy a few days with your family
first. That’s the most important thing right now. And Commander, I trust that
you know the importance of discretion about your being here. The world thinks
your dead, and we need to leave it that way.”

           
“Don’t
worry, General, I won’t spoil our little secret.”

The general smiled and turned to Tarku.
“Tarku, I hope you will understand if I ask you
not
to accompany
Commander Shelby with her parents. I’m sure that the people of Fort Worth have
never seen someone from another world, and your presence could create quite a
problem.”

Tarku looked at Janet. “He’s right,” she
said. “There would be no easy way to explain who you are and where you’re
from.”

“And it would attract a lot of attention
to you, Commander,” the General added.

“I’ll be okay here with my parents,” she
assured Tarku. She looked at the General. “Where will Tarku stay?”

“He will be with me. I have about a
million questions to ask, and that should fill his time.”

Tarku still felt a little uneasy with
everything, but agreed. He kissed Janet, hugged her mom and shook her dad’s
hand one more time, then watched as Janet drove away with them.

The General patted him on the shoulder.
“Tarku, this is probably going to be the most interesting week of my entire
life. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to actually meet a person from another
world?”