First Contact (part 8)
Earth's first encounter with extraterrestrial life is not what anyone expected.
— continued from part seven — (or start with part one here)
“What’s your plan?” Wilcox asked as Kaskahn piloted the ship.
“We may be able to negate the power of the amulet,” Kaskahn said, adjusting some controls on the ship’s panel. “At least long enough to get the amulet from Monorocco.”
Ayalana smiled. “I think I know what you have in mind.”
The ship raced across the planet, at speeds unheard of, from Antarctica to the ancient site of Stonehenge. Yet, for the occupants inside — General Jenkins, Major Wilcox, Officer Patrick, and of course, Kaskahn and Ayalana — it felt like they were hardly moving at all.
“Officer Patrick Stephens,” Kaskahn said, turning to the young officer. “Do you still have the ‘wow’ signal?”
“Do I still have it?” Patrick looked confused.
“Yes, do you still have it?” Kaskahn said, “a recording we can play back?”
The ship came to a stop, hovering in the sky a moment before it descended to a soft landing near Stonehenge.
“Oh, well, yeah,” Patrick replied, reaching for his phone. “I think so. I mean, it’s on the internet.”
“Good. Let’s go,” Kaskahn said, standing and motioning for everyone to follow him. “And bring the internet with you.”
The group made their way down the ramp past a group of tourists taking pictures and video of the ship’s landing.
Kaskahn and Ayalana approached one of Stonehenge’s large megaliths and, with their palms splayed, began feeling as if looking for something.
“What you call the ‘wow’ signal was intended to activate the wayfinder and broadcast our arrival protocol around the world until it found the amulet.”
“The problem is,” Ayalana added, “the wayfinder had not been properly maintained.”
“We know,” Jenkin’s said, rolling his eyes and waving his hand to move the conversation along. “You’ve mentioned that several times.”
Kaskahn stepped to the other side and knelt, still running his open hand along the giant stone.
“Only two of these stones make up the wayfinder that we built 200,000 years ago,” Kaskahn said. “The best I can figure is, the rest of the stones were added many years later by another civilization long after we left.”
Wilcox looked intrigued. “Why would they add extra stones?”
“You tell me,” Kaskahn said, continuing to search for something on the giant stone. “I wasn’t here. Is that information not recorded in your history books?”
Wilcox shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. “Not really.”
“If I can reactivate the wayfinder, I should be able to use the ‘wow’ signal to start the broadcast protocol and send a message to the amulet,” Kaskahn continued.
“Except this message won’t be our arrival protocol,” Ayalana said with a confident nod.
“Hold on a minute,” Jenkins said. “You said you’ve been sending signals from your ship to the amulet throughout your mission. Why can’t you just send a message to it again and skip all this wayfinder, wow signal business?”
Ayalana rolled her eyes as if that was a stupid question. “That might work if we only wanted to stop the amulet from doing more damage. But, with the wayfinder, we can broadcast a signal to undo the damage Monorocco has already done to everyone around the world.”
“Everyone?” Patrick whispered to himself. “The whole world?”
“Found it!” Kaskahn announced. Keeping his finger on the spot, he removed a cylindrical device from his pocket and held it to the giant stone.
“Ok, but why do you need Stephens to find a recording of the ‘wow’ signal?” Jenkins asked. “Why can’t you just broadcast the ‘wow’ signal again?”
Patrick quickly reached for his phone and began searching for a recording, as if the general’s words had just reminded him to look for it.
“It’s too late for that,” Ayalana said. “It’s an automated signal, only activated when we begin our return home.”
“It can never be easy, can it?” Wilcox commented, shaking his head.
A rumbling sound started quietly and began to grow louder as Kaskahn held the device to the stone.
“Since the wayfinder was out of commission when we began our return, it never received our signal.” Kaskahn said. “That means I can still use Officer Patrick Stephens’s recording to activate the wayfinder’s broadcast protocol and send a signal reversing the mind control effects of the amulet.”
“Right. Of course,” Wilcox said with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
The sound grew louder, like thunder that didn’t fade. Tourists ran for the safety of their vehicles, but Jenkins, Wilcox, and Patrick stood firm.
Wilcox yelled over the noise. “What is that you’re doing?”
Suddenly, the sound stopped.
“Activating the wayfinder,” Kaskahn said. “We’re all set.”
“Officer Patrick Stephens,” Ayalana said turning to him abruptly, “it’s ready. Play the ‘wow’ signal.”
Patrick fiddled with his phone a moment until a scratchy, high-pitched buzzing sound began to play.
“Is that as loud as it goes?” Ayalana asked.
Patrick turned the volume up all the way and held his phone out in front of him.
“Why is there so much cosmic interference?” Kaskahn said. “Your receiver must not have been properly calibrated.”
“Properly calibrated?” Jenkins said, his voice sounding annoyed. “It was 1977 when we received that signal. It’s a miracle we even heard it at all.”
“Give me that,” Ayalana said, taking the phone from Patrick. She held it close to the spot Kaskahn had just activated.
The stones of the ancient site began to vibrate, and the thunderous noise started again.
“It’s working,” Kaskahn said.
A few moments later, Wilcox’s phone buzzed. “Sir,” he said, looking at the screen. “He’s right. It is working.”
“What do you mean?” Jenkins asked, looking over Wilcox’s shoulder.
“The team,” he held his phone for Jenkins to see, “they’re checking in. They’ve captured the big head guy.”
“They’ve captured Doctor Monorocco?” Ayalana asked.
“Good,” Jenkins said. “Tell them to bring him in. The amulet too.”
— to be continued —
Read part nine.
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“The big head guy” 😂
Officer Patrick (Abbott): Hey guys, I can't help but notice there's a lot of backbiting right now. I think we're going to need a trust debrief after the mission.