Back from the Future

[Contact_21]

I've been gone quite a while but I finally made it back. I'm not sure where I was. It was a future, I hope, parallel earth. You see, there are doorways on earth that sometimes open. Much of it is classified by The Agency, but I can tell you this: the next time you read about a "black panther" being spotted somewhere and then disappearing without a trace, odds are he wasn't somebody's exotic pet.


Lazlo Agency File 3450 and excerpts from Special File c 341


My mission was simple: check out reports of strange lights low to the ground in Oregon. The lights were spotted at night and seemed to emanate from a rocky outcropping. Of course, people were afraid to get too close and the authorities couldn't be bothered. I arrived at a spot about 50 miles west of an old ghost town which was once part of a uranium mining operation back in the early 1950s. I was using one of the Agency vans during the day to get the lay of the land. When I spotted the outcropping, it was just under a mile from the main road, the only road for many miles around.

I parked and took out the magnetic field stength meter and a Geiger counter. The meter showed a slight deviation from normal at the outcropping but that's not unusual if it's ore bearing. The Geiger counter just gave me a standard background radiation reading. Something told me to get out the custom sound frequency meter. It was something the tech boys had put together and consisted of a custom microphone at the bottom of a long, directional 'collector tube.' I switched it to high frequency and scanned the rock but got nothing. I then unfolded the tripod and switched to low frequency on automatic scan. As the unit slowly turned, it hit a 'sweet pot' and lingered. The needle showed Extremely Low Frequency waves. Without getting technical, it takes a lot of energy to generate those waves. I was about to look a little closer when the rock in front of me shimmered slightly, sort of like a mirage. I blinked my eyes and it was gone, so I chalked it up to imagination.

Closer inspection of the rock showed nothing unusual but then I noticed a short scrape line at my feet. It started abruptly and ran about four inches. The ground was hard and it looked like someone had dragged a sharp stick across it. Well, it was hot, and I was thinking about my setup for later that night when I heard a few voices. I turned but there was nothing. A little wind in the middle of a place like this can take on that character.

Later in the afternoon at a local motel, I searched my laptop for area legends and history. I ran across news articles about a handful of UFOs being spotted near the mine in 1952, and ghosts being seen near the rock outcropping and in other areas nearby at irregular intervals. There was an article about an Indian tribe protesting the burial of town residents near one of their burial grounds but that was worked out peacefully. It seemed that there was nothing especially significant about this part of Oregon.

I got my equipment ready. A camera with a dual optical system that could switch automatically from infrared to normal light photography, and an electromagetic fence consisting of fine silver wire that would activate a light on a wristwatch style device to glow in varying colors if some kind of energy is conducted through it. This would go in a semicircle near part of the front area of the rock outcropping where I picked up the ELF waves.

Night came quickly and I was all set up. After twenty minute of waiting I was getting a little bored. But just like the stakeout cop who's waiting for a lucky break, I got one. A thin beam of light came from the rock. It looked like a dim beam of sunlight you'd see in the sky, except miniature in size. Then a moment later, it went out. I checked my camera and was very pleased to see a clear shot of the beam on it. My pulse quickened. Then another beam came on, a little brighter and a little bigger. This one moved along the ground and ended up on the tip of my shoe. Then everything changed.

I was in some sort of hallway. The concrete walls came up straight, angled inward slightly toward the top and met the roof. A row of soft lights ran down the center of the ceiling. A man appeared to my side.

"Right this way, sir." He led me down the hallway.

"Wait a minute! Who are you? Where is this? How..."

"Just follow me, sir, They'll explain everything to you."

My guide was unarmed and dressed in a business suit, all black. He appeared to be about 30 years old and walked in a brisk pace. I tjought if he had wanted to harm me he would've done so by now. My famous sixth sense was not activated by all this and a strange calm came over me.

"Here we are, sir."

A dark grey door was in front of me with a line down the middle. It looked like it was made of stone. It opened and I saw four men standing around an oval table made of similar material. The space was bare except for an empty fifth chair. I sat down, transfixed.

"Welcome to Level Seventeen, sir. I am Menger, this is Alex, Conrad and Olham. What is your name?"

"I... uh... (had to make something up), I'm Prescott Holt."

"It is nice to meet you, Mister Holt. I am sure you have questions, and now is a good time to ask them."

"Who are you people? How was it possible for me to come here?"

"Ah, Mister Holt. You obviously stepped into the Wave Accelerator Beam. You are our first visitor from the outside. We have been waiting a long time for a visitor and assure that we can provide for your needs during your stay."

"But what if I want to leave? I mean, how do I get back?"

"Once the Beam passes through its secondary cycle, we can return you in about four days."

"Four days? OK. In the meantime, I'd like to know more about this place if I can."

The one called Menger had a slightly bemused but cautious look on his face, but filled me in.

"I cannot reveal certain details which are classified but I can tell you this. We have been conducting work here for the purpose of advancing the cause of National Security. Your coming here today will allow us to enter into Phase One of our program. We will talk, just you and I."

The other three just got up and left the room. It was just me and Menger now.

"Tell me about the world above, Mister Holt. Has the war started?"

"War? What war? There are all kinds of wars going on."

"I mean the Beam War, Mister Holt."

"What do you mean by Beam?"

"Particle Beams, of course. Directed Energy Weapons. Surely you've heard of them."

"I've read a few articles. Experimental stuff..." I suddenly realized that I was in way over my head with this guy.

"Experimental? No. And there are other things waiting in the wings, Mister Holt."

"OK. I'm thinking I probably don't need to know all this stuff. I don't have a security clearance and you people are probably what? Department of Defense? Am I right?"

"No, Mister Holt. You misunderstand. We need you assistance in completing phase one of our experiment. You just need to answer some questions, that's all."

"OK. Go ahead." Probably the stupidest invitation I've ever uttered.

"Where is mankind headed? Will man survive as a race or destroy itself?"

"I, uh, don't know. I hope not. I mean, I can't, uh, predict the future."

"Interesting answer. Here, let me show you something."

One wall lit up like a giant projection TV but there was no screen. I saw the outline of a man and different colored lines were running through him with what looked like different colored fluids.

"Do you know what nanotechnology is?"

"Sure. They're using it to make all sorts of things."

"What if they used it to build a human being? How would that strike you?"

"They can't do that. I mean the brain alone. No, I mean even if they did, what would they do with them?"

"Soldiers and slaves, Mister Holt."

A chill ran through my body. I had the feeling of being thrown into the future and the impression that everything I was hearing existed somewhere.

"Are you all right, Mister Holt? Can I get you anything?"

"It's getting late. I'd appreciate if I could get something to eat and a place to sleep."

"Of course. Right this way."

I was led passed many doors but no one else was in sight. Nothing was marked. Finally, we stopped in front of a door and my host invited me in.

"Here you are. Food is inside and a bed."

For some reason, I didn't feel like talking anymore. I went in to a low table and a small bed close by. It wasn't much different than a lot of motels I'd been in but the lights were different. They just emanated from the ceiling. It took a few minutes to realize that what I thought was a sticker on the wall with the words "On/Off" actually controlled the lights.

I fell asleep, or at least I thought I did. My dreams were about the four men. They were asking me questions but I couldn't recall them later. I could see myself replying and it just went on and on, back and forth. Then there were scenes of beams coming from vehicles that looked like tanks. Then it went back to more questions.

"It's time to leave, Mister Holt."

I looked up and it was Menger. I did feel rested.

"Didn't you want to ask me some more questions?"

"You've answered all of our questions. Thank you."

It was then it hit me that four days had passed, but how? I stood up and looked at Menger closely.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the new man, Mister Holt. In fact, all of us are."

I don't know why, but it suddenly occurred to me to ask a question. "What year is this?"

"It's 2083."

As I was led down the hallway, I was trying to make sense of it all. I was taken to a small room with a silver ball on a pedestal in the middle and nothing else.

"Now Mister Holt. The transferral will take place in exactly 30 seconds. I cannot stay in the room with you. Good bye."

I checked my watch and saw that it still worked. A glow began to form on the sphere and I started a countdown. I had just enough time to work out a small explosive charge in my belt that had an adhesive on one side, powerful enough to blow out a small lock. I triggered it and placed it just below the ball. I left.

I was on the ground again, sometime in the late afternoon. My equipment was still there. I glanced toward the rock and noticed a sliver of smoke come up. Maybe, just maybe, this will help delay what's coming.




Contact_21

[Natasha]

Wow, I only heard about you!
Glad you are posting again nonetheless.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

Yes indeed. Welcome back, Contact. I’m glad you’re all right . . . or are you? Do you need anything we can provide?

[Ron Caliburn]

Been a logn time since we heard from you C21 - a lot has changed around here.

So what do people from 2083 want with people from 2007?

[Contact_21]

According to Victor Lazlo's book, Worlds Within Worlds, we coexist with other dimensions or parallel planes of existence. Every now and then, a parallel earth links to our earth. I think the parallel earth I visited assumed I was part of their past, and time travel seemed unremarkable to them. As smart as they were, it was obvious they didn't know certain things about people like me from our earth. Until I learned that I was on some future earth, I thought I'd been teleported to some super-secret government lab on our earth.

Hopefully, during my dream-like interrogation, I only confused them since my version of earth probably didn't match their version of earth in some details. I suspect they were the survivors of the Beam War they were talking about. Maybe they had incomplete or damaged records and thought I could fill in some of the blanks in their past. Maybe they wanted to prevent the Beam War or they were hoping I'd give them some clues about ways to survive in their own time. Don't know.




Contact_21

[Ron Caliburn]

Well as long as they don't do anything that causes a Beam War here . . . whatever a Beam War was.

[GhostSpider]

Beam War? Sounds like a B-sci fi-movie.

Welcome back to '07 Contact.

[Kolya]

Good to see you posting again.

[Cybermancer]

Sorry for the thread Cybermancy... er, I mean necromancy here folks.

It's been about four years since Contact_21 last posted here. I wonder when he is now?

An interesting story about a possible future? And only 72 years away.

It does bring to mind some futurists views on the so called Artificial Intelligence Singularity. Making people using nano-technology? Possible, if not now, eventually.

As for the beam war, well the weapons are in various stages of development. It was one of the interests of Nikola Tesla. Wikipedia has a couple of articles on the subject, suitable for the lay person.

The weapons have even made the news from time to time.

Once they start being deployed on any scale, the only ingrediant we'd need to have a 'Beam War' would be an excuse to have a war. What are the odds of that happening?

Oh, and the fun part of these weapons? They can be used from orbit. They can be scaled to whatever level you have energy for. They don't leave fallout, so are not as psychologically scary. In fact, they're tactically much sounder than nuclear weapons as you can invade and occupy the territory they've been deployed against without delay or worry.

I wonder how I missed this thread all those years ago?