IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
All rights reserved.
Chapter 10
When Carol got to the clinic she was ushered into a
big room where there were five gurneys. Everybody else left and
it was just her and the doctor. "This is the story that happens
all too often," the doctor remarked. "Some young men at the
training camp got some kind of intoxicant. They stole a truck and
were joy riding in the desert. Somehow when they got back on the
road they were going the wrong way. They hit a car, head
on. A family of four was in it; father and mother, two
daughters. The truck went up on the guard rail of a bridge, the
gas tank got ripped open. The gas ignited. Only one of the young
men was thrown clear. He's pretty smashed up. All of them are
pretty smashed up. The father's already brain dead. We don't
expect to be able to keep the others alive very long. I'm sure
the father would not mind if you took what you needed from his body."
Without a word Carol went over and put her hand on
the man's forehead. After a few moments she withdrew it.
"You're right!" she sighed, "He most certainly is dead. Even I
could not reverse that much damage. His soul has already
departed." She knelt down and kissed the man on the
forehead. "I'll do my best!" she muttered. Then she went
over to the youngest girl and began to work.
She did not know how long it took. But finally
she was standing up after helping the mother. "They'll live!" she
sighed. "It'll take them a while to recover, but all the damage
that would've killed them is repaired."
The doctor checked the father. "Still alive!" he muttered, "I don't believe it!"
Carol smiled. "That's because we're not done
yet," she answered. She went over to the young man.
"Incredibly little damage!" she remarked. "But a little can be
just as fatal if it's the right kind." She began to work.
Finally she straightened from him, too. There was a sudden
beeping. Carol looked to the instruments that were hooked up to
the father. The screen now showed only flat lines going
across. "Yes," she managed. "We're done now. His work is
finished."
She went back to the young man and leaned
down. "They're your responsibility now. You have to take care of
them. The reward will be appropriate. But do it willingly,
do it happily. Don't cause any more trouble!" The young man
moaned. "This never happened," she told the doctor, "I never did
this. If anybody asks I'll swear I was never here."
The doctor sighed. "I understand," he moaned.
He took Carol home. As they stopped at the gate the doctor
remarked "I have to ask! What does it feel like?"
Carol looked at him. "wondrous!" she answered.
"It isn't just me, somehow I'm connected to a whole bunch of others,
and we work together. The feeling of the unity is beyond any beauty
that I can explain to you. Perhaps the closest thing is holding my new
born child. The power that comes through you is
indescribable. I cannot call it love, it's something else.
It's the deepest most tenderest caring. It isn't passion I just
can't find words."
The doctor smiled. "I think you're doing pretty damned good!" he praised.
Carol returned his smile and went back in the house.
Nobody asked any questions, they knew they shouldn't. They knew
she'd done something and it needed to be kept private. But they
were all very proud.
The months continued to go by. One evening Carol was
working when a man came up the steps. "Well hello, Professor!" he
greeted, "Long time no see! Hi, Peter! Is that little lady down
there with the very full stomach your wife?"
"If you think she's full," Peter answered, "you
should see the Professor's wife! Mine's only a month behind
his. What are you doing here, Jerry?"
"I've gotta talk to the lady," the man answered. "Might want to interest her in a job."
"Whooa!" the Professor remarked. "Now, if you're
gonna offer her something, I want it understood. We go
along. We're rather attached to the young lady. She's got a
gift and we want to be around to share it."
"Won't hurt my feelings at all!" the man answered,
"Not one little damned bit! We'd be glad to have you!"
"Well!" the Professor managed, "I think we'd
better get our butts out of here so you two can talk. By the way,
Carol, he's one of the greatest. You can trust whatever he
says. He can get people to do just about anything."
"Oh, one of those guys!" Carol teased. "I'm in trouble, huh?"
The man laughed. "Not really!" he managed. "Can I sit?"
"Plant it!" Carol insisted.
The man sat down. Carol noticed he had to
position his legs with his hands, and she looked at them
curiously. "Artificial?" she asked.
The man nodded. "You move very well!" Carol praised. "You'd hardly know it. Now, what's going on?"
"Well of course you know," the man continued, "we've
got several colonies going on the moon, three colony ships are orbiting
it. Every flight that goes out they get bigger. We figure it's
about time for one of them to move on. And I'm gathering
crew. We're going to need people from every walk of life.
And we're especially going to need a lot of damned good
scientists. I've been asking around who's the most up and coming
astronomer. One name keeps coming up. Carol. So I'm
here but I'm not here. I'm making an offer, but I'm not making an
offer. I know it sounds a little strange but that's how these things
work. How would you like to go to Mars?"
Carol stared at him and mouthed the word "Mars?
These ships are one way, right?" Carol managed. "They go out but they
don't come back, along the way they keep getting built bigger and
bigger? In time other ships join them and they leave the galaxy?"
"That's the general idea!" the man admitted.
"That's the general plan. By the time they're ready to go the
colony ship will have 3,000 people, the warships 1,000. And true,
each ship that goes out will be components of the galaxy ship. But you
won't really have to worry about that. That's at least 75 years
away. But we've got Mars, the gaseous giants, Pluto and the
planetoids, we've got all kinds of worlds in this solar system.
And we want life on all of them! So if anything should happen to
old Terra Firma we'll be out there! Enough of us that if we had
to we could bring life back here. But we're not gonna have to. This
world will be around for our descendants to visit for a long
time!"
"You know," Carol remarked, "you look like him!"
The man smiled. "Nobody ever uses his name!" he
remarked "Or even his title any more. He's just him. Yes, I
do. I'm one of his clones. But he always called me his son."
"Oooh!" Carol managed, "I absolutely meant no offense!"
"None taken!" the man assured. "But it is the
joy of all nine of us that we can continue to work on his projects,
continue to fulfill his dreams. Now, I'll be in this area for several
days. There's several others I want to recruit. One is
being very stubborn. Maybe your going will convince him."
"Yes!" Carol agreed. "Mr. Asad should definitely be one to go."
The man didn't even look surprised. "They warned me," he remarked, "that you had the power."
"Well, I can just see the images in your mind,"
Carol answered. "It doesn't work with everybody. But I'd hate to
leave anyone here behind."
"Then, don't!" her guest encouraged. "Got plenty of
space. If your family agrees, we need everybody! And we're just
beginning. I'm just getting the top level people now. But
we'll be putting it together very fast. I'll give you the code to
a web site. Anybody you want to recruit put their name and
occupation in, and we'll see if there's an opening. If we can't
give them the exact thing they are, we might find something else.
But to have you....well, we'll take alot of others. But of course
they have to understand, you've not been contacted. If anybody asks
they don't know anything about a new ship leaving. There's no official
announcement until it lifts off."
"Understood!" Carol answered. "You grow up with the protectors, among their children?"
"Most joyous time in the world!" the man answered.
"I had fifteen mothers! We never lacked for attention! The
staff was like family, too. I spent time in the field with
several of them after they finished their tour and took their
places. The memories are beyond description! Some of the
things I've seen!" His voice faded away. Carol could not
imagine. She'd heard stories but she couldn't imagine.
"Well, I'll tell you right now," she admitted,
"if my family approves you've got a passenger! I suppose I might
as well be a prisoner there as here."
"Oh, no!" the man answered, "All prison sentences
will be commuted. If you agree to go it will be as a free woman!"
Carol looked at him. "Well!" she managed, "I
don't think I'll tell that to the family. It might put too much
pressure on them."
The man smiled again. "Gotta go!" he
snapped. "Not enough hours for a son of glory! Just
joking!" he put in.
Carol extended her hand and he took it without
hesitation, and she helped him up. "May I ask how?" she inquired.
"A mortar round," he answered, "when they attacked
The Golan Heights. Those people were idiots! They had four armies
on their backs in fifteen minutes. They were slaughtered! But
they got in a few rounds and I caught one getting my sister to
safety. Missed the best part though. That still works!"
Carol joined in his chuckle and watched him head
down the stairs. A few moments later the Professor and Peter came
back up. "The moon?" the Professor asked.
"For a while," Carol answered. "Then, Mars. You wanna go?"
The Professor went over, activated the computer and
typed in a web site. Carol sat down, motioned her two friends to
turn around, and typed in the code. She then entered their names
as astronomers and hers, as well. But she typed "On
condition." Despite that the web site answered "Approved!"
After the viewing was done she went down and woke Zorba. "You want to go to Mars?" she asked.
"Why ask stupid questions!" he answered.
"Where you go, I go and I wouldn't keep you from going. I know
what it means if you're accepted. So put my name in!"
Two voices piped up in the doorway "Us too, mommy!"
"I don't think you're old enough yet," Carol
answered. "You'll go automatically." The girls giggled and
headed back for their room.
"Mars!" Carol muttered, "The first ship to Mars! Whoa!"
She was almost too nervous but in the days
that followed one by one she drew in all those around her. Nobody
said no! Rapunzel remarked "The further I can get away from
Russia the better off I am! We're not taking any Russians are we?"
"I don't know!" Carol answered, "But if we are I'm sure they'll be good Russians."
Her friend grinned and slapped her on the
back. Life was roaring! There was no doubt of that!
It was roaring!