The Good Reaper (20 page)

“I just don’t know
Tyl
. She is far
away on a distant planet and I am here.”

***

Except for Syrma and my family, it seemed I had been
forgotten at
Baten
Kaitos
.
I had been there for two Earth years and so far my family had not grown tired
of the frequent trips to the prison. Syrma usually came in the morning on the
“4s” with my sister Alula, followed by my parents in the afternoon. My brothers
came randomly on the “8s” at all different times of the day. So when the guard
came to tell me I had a visitor on day 10, I couldn’t imagine who it could be.

When I arrived at the visitor room, it was empty except for
a well-dressed man who seemed to emanate an aura of importance. As I approached
him, he stood up to greet me. I was still used to the human tradition of
handshaking so I extended my hand. The visitor smiled and extended his hand.
“Greetings human,” he said with a hardy laugh. “I am Atik Arial-
Unukalhai
and I’m with the Council of Provinces (CP) in the
capital
Maasym
. Have you been keeping up with the
news about the CIPE Q76-P3 Exploration & Discovery Project Phase III?”

“So far all I’ve heard was that CIPE has opened discussions
on Phase III. I have no idea what it means,” I said.

“Briefly, they are considering moving up the time table to
implement Phase III and you are at the center of the discussions.”

“Because of the Earth woman who my
colleagues and I treated?”

“Yes. The speech you gave at your sentencing has become a
meeting opener for leaders of the CIPE and CP. As far as we know, this case is
the only one of its kind but letters of support for you and your sentencing
speech have saturated the CIPE database. It appears that at least 90% of P3
agents believe that humans are ready.”

“How can I help you?” I asked.

“Well, I want to set up a series of interviews with you,”
Atik said.

“I’m ready now. Where do you want to start?”

Atik reached into a briefcase he had next to his chair and
pulled out a printed document and slid it across the table to me. “Before we
begin, please take a look at this.”

I didn’t need to read very far to understand. The CIPE logo
appeared at the top of the first page and the title of the document said it
all: “Application for Conditional Release.”

“All we need is your signature and you will be released. We
can continue with the interviews at our office in
Maasym
.”

My first thought when I exited the
skycab
and saw Syrma standing on my parent’s front porch was
,
should I tell her about LeAnne. There wasn’t much point since I knew I would
never see LeAnne again. I wondered if I would ever feel the same about Syrma as
I suspected she felt about me. I wondered if over time, my feelings for her
would grow. I wondered if my feelings for LeAnne would gradually fade into a
distant memory. All these thoughts raced through my mind in the few seconds it
took to reach Syrma.

“Welcome home Naos,” Syrma said as she took the last two
steps toward me. “I am so happy you’ve been released. Now you can continue with
your life.” Syrma and I hugged until the crowd of people began stepping out
onto the porch. With nine brothers, my parents and my sister Alula it became
difficult to remember who I had hugged as I went from one to the other. For a
split second I wondered why I had not done a better job of keeping in touch
with my friends from my earlier years. I used to have such close friends and we
somehow drifted apart. I guessed that I was too involved in my own life and a
bit self-centered. In the few seconds it took for my big family to get settled
back inside, my mind was racing again. I assumed it was due to the emotional
level of getting released from prison. Aside from flashes of LeAnne that
quickly snapped across my mind, I was happy for the first time since I was
arrested back in Idaho. My time on Earth seemed to be like a dream or another
lifetime. It was so far away that it seemed unreal.

I spent the first few days at home telling stories of Earth.
No one cared to hear about my time in prison but the questions about Earth were
relentless. At times it seemed I had talked for so long that I was losing my
voice. There were questions about food and politics and the wild animals of
Africa but most of the questions from my younger brothers were about cars. My
brothers were all amazed by the concept that you could jump into a small
private vehicle and travel around by yourself or with a few friends while the
music blasted from the car speakers. They all seemed to like the big fast cars
from Earth’s 1960s and 1970s.

“Those are known as ‘muscle cars’ because they have big,
strong, fast engines,” I told them.

My brother Minkar was familiar with Earthly muscle cars. He
had an enlarged photo of a 1970 Chevrolet
Chevelle
SS
on his bedroom wall. “The
Chevelle
goes from 0-62 mph
in six seconds flat,” Minkar said. “That’s gas powered and it makes a lot of
noise.”

I was growing weary of all the talk and just when I wished
someone would rescue me, my wish
cam
true. My phone
was buzzing and when I looked down at the caller ID, I was glad it was Atik
Arial-
Unukalhai
. Atik had made arrangements for me to
stay at the Grand Council long-term residence at
Maasym
.
It was not glamorous or fancy like I had expected. My room was just a two-room
apartment with a small kitchen on the 18
^th
floor but it did have a
balcony with a view of the reddish sunsets of the great moon
Ididae
. The council commissary food was also not glamorous
or fancy but there was plenty of it. I assumed that the high-level senators ate
the same food and realized that the media often gave the government a bad rap
about wasting money on fancy living. It seemed that a theme of modesty
prevailed at the Grand Council headquarters. But the view of
Ididae
combined with the food made the whole experience
more like a vacation.

My time on Earth had made me a bi-cultural person. My
thinking of mundane things like dates and times was parallel like a person
raised bilingually. I was still mentally part of two separate worlds. The
interview lasted about three hours each morning for two Earth weeks. I narrated
my story, beginning with my arrival on Earth and onto the heartbreaking and
slow death of my dear friend Eli. The story of Eli was the saddest and most
emotional part of my interview. At least the story of LeAnne had a happy
ending. I went on to explain how I had met Cooper at the CIPE conference and how
I joined the secret Tseen Ke team dedicated to ending human suffering by
offering a dignified assisted suicide.

At the end of the two week meeting I was thanked for my
testimony and sent home. I became a news addict, watching and researching
everything related to CIPE Phase III news items. A preliminary Grand Council
vote on Phase III passed quickly and was given to citizens for approval. It was
a simple “yes” or “no” vote, “yes” to proceed with Phase III for planet Earth
or “no” to postpone Phase III for at least another five Earth years. On the day
of the vote, I was up early and cast my vote. In the evening, as the votes were
counted and broadcast, I wasn’t surprised to see the rural areas of
Zozma
and
Alterf
were voting
against it. It was well into the night when the votes from the largest cities
began being broadcast and by the time the sun was rising, it seemed
overwhelming. Unless there was some sort of surprise from the smaller cities of
Homam
or
Taygeta
which had
not been counted yet, Phase III would pass and become a reality.

The headline scrolled across the bottom of the media screen
just before the mid-day break: “Voters approve Phase III by wide margin.” I
felt a sense of pride and joy. Not only had I played a part in it but I was
proud of the Ranjisi race for their sincere desire to help the human race
evolve.

After a few moments of euphoria, my thoughts shifted to
wondering how Phase III would be accomplished. I wondered how we as a race
would approach the human race. I wondered how we would make them believe. I
knew that they would first reject the concept of our very existence. But then I
remembered how I felt when I was living on Earth. I had a strange and constant
feeling that there were humans who already knew. Once again I became a news addict,
absorbing every detail about Phase III that I could. It was a fascinating and
exciting time, especially for those of us who actually spent time with humans.

Since I arrived back on Ranjisan, I had experienced two
wonderful surprises. First I was released from prison and then P3 Phase III was
approved. My third surprise came with a knock on the door. When I opened the
front door, Atik was standing there. I was always happy to see Atik. He was
partially responsible for my being released from prison and he was also a
positive force behind the movement to approve P3 Phase III.

“Atik,” I said. “It is always good to see you. You always
bring good news.”

“Thanks Naos. Once again, I have news and I think it is good
news.”

“Yes, what is it?” I asked impatiently.

“We will be sending delegations to Earth and we want you to
come,” Atik said.

I was stunned and just stood there with my mouth wide open.

“Me? But I’m kind of an ex-con with a criminal record. Why
would they send me? I wouldn’t set a very good example.”

“On the contrary, your actions and your emotional sentencing
statement have been at the heart of the Council’s decision to move up the Phase
III timetable. You are somewhat of a celebrity. I and the rest of the Council
believe that you would contribute a great deal to the delegation team. I’ll
explain a little more and then you can decide.”

“I’ve already decided Atik. It would be an honor to be part
of the delegation. I accept,” I said. My smile reached from ear to ear. “Now
you can explain.”

“As always, there will be meetings?” Atik said.

“Of course, meetings upon meetings and
pre-meeting meetings?”
I said.

“And more meetings on the three month
trip.”

“Three months? It’s always taken six months.”

“We’ll be using a newer, faster ship. It’s also smaller.
There will be eight passengers and a crew of four. The eight will be divided
into two groups of four. We will make initial contact with the US and Russia
simultaneously. You and I will of course be with the US delegation.”

“It makes sense.
US
and Russia have
serious space programs. It makes sense that they would be
open
minded to the concept of our existence,” I said.

“Precisely.
Our thinking is that we
must first get high level officials in US and Russia to believe us. Once we
accomplish that, we will probably want to plan the announcement with a
contingent of world leaders. We aren’t sure yet, where or how the public
announcement will be made. Earth leaders will naturally try to resist telling
their citizens the truth. They will insist it will cause a worldwide panic. We
who supported Phase III believe they are wrong. It is part of the basic
reasoning for moving forward with Phase III. Earth governments have been lying
to their citizens about alien visitation for seventy five years. We think
humans are ready and we don’t think it will cause a panic.”

“So how will you convince them? How will we convince the US
officials? Where will we start?” I asked.

“The third person in each of the two delegations will be one
of your most well respected cell disease specialists. Our group will have
Gomeisa Oriel-
Angetenar
. He has been studying human
cancers. We’ll also bring a media library that will include photos, videos and
books about Ranjisan, plus we will have media packages from Tellus and the twin
planets.”

“Sounds impressive.
You mentioned
four people in each group. So in our group there will be you, me and Dr.
Angetenar
. Who will the fourth person be?”

“This will be the big clincher Naos. The fourth person will
be an infectious disease specialist. They haven’t named anyone yet but whoever
is chosen will bring along with them a cure for one of Earth’s infectious
diseases.”

“Excellent. Have you figured out how we will make first
contact? I’m guessing for the US it will be the FBI or the Secret Service.”

“Yes, this will be the riskiest part of the whole thing. We
can never be too sure of how they will react or what they will do. They may
just think we’re terrorists and put us in jail. But we have to start somewhere
and the FBI is the likeliest place.”

I thanked Atik for including me in the Phase III delegation
and walked him to the door. I was quite sure that he had something to do with
choosing me for the mission. I had accepted Atik’s offer and although it would
be weeks or months away, I was so excited I was in a state of euphoria. I
hadn’t even realized that I was the only one home, the entire length of Atik’s
visit. I would have to explain everything to the family, but that was fine with
me.

After Atik left, I sat on the front deck looking out at the
kokab trees, going through my mental checklist of all the reasons I wanted to
be a part of Phase III. Of course I believed in it. During my time on Earth I
had grown fond of humans. I knew we could end much of the suffering with our
advances in medicine. To me, Earth and the human race were kind of like a raw
piece of kokab that had not yet been carved into an artisan’s masterpiece.

But lurking somewhere just below the surface of my conscious
thought was LeAnne and the real possibility of being closer to her. I knew US geography
fairly well. I assumed that LeAnne had gone back to her parent’s house in New
York. The delegation would be going to Washington DC. I would be within a day’s
drive to LeAnne’s family’s house. It may be possible somehow, to see LeAnne
again. There was still so much I never got a chance to tell her. I knew that
she went on with her life and maybe she even forgot about me, but I needed to
know.

The family didn’t bother throwing me a “Going Away Party”
when I left for Earth for the second time. It was the third time I was leaving
them. First I left to go to Earth as part of the CIPE Discovery Team and then I
left to go to prison. Leaving my friends and family for the third time was a
non-event. “It’s just Naos leaving home again,” my brother Minkar remarked at
one of our last family dinners. He was right. I was always leaving to go
somewhere.

The only one that seemed to be really saddened by the whole
thing was Syrma. Syrma and I had been spending more time together. It was an
odd relationship in some ways. We were somewhere in that limbo area between
friends and lovers. Physically there was not much more than an occasional light
kiss but there was
a closeness
about our relationship
that anyone could see. Syrma seemed to take the news of my departure pretty
good when I explained that I would probably only be gone for a few months. When
I told her that, I really had no idea how long I would be gone so technically
it wasn’t a lie. But deep inside, I had a nagging feeling that my return to
Earth would be something much bigger. I had the feeling that something was
coming, perhaps something that would give my life direction and meaning.

On the morning of my departure, Syrma was the only one to
see me off. We talked for a while about the three month voyage to Earth and
about
Symra’s
university studies but then
Syrma’s
demeanor changed and she looked more serious.
“Naos, can you tell me about the woman you cured? How did you choose her?”

I really didn’t feel comfortable talking about LeAnne to
Syrma but I had no choice. I braced myself mentally and tried not to sound too
emotional. “It wasn’t long after we started performing Tseen Ke on humans. Her
name is LeAnne. I met her at the hospital where I was working. She seemed like
a nice person and she was in such misery. Although she didn’t actually ask me
to end her suffering, she implied it. She said that she wished someone could
make it all end. She said she was done with it all; all the treatments and all
the pain. She was done with the roller coaster ride of living with a terminal
illness. She was to be my first Tseen Ke subject. I met her family also. They
were nice people. I transported her at least three times a week, so we
gradually began speaking more openly about the possibility of assisted suicide.
She was all for it.